Best studio headphones for under £100?

If you want to use them for tracking as well, the only option here is closed to reduce the bleed.

The ATH M50 headphones seem to get a pretty good review and you should be able to pick up a pair for that kind of price on eBay. I plan on purchasing a pair myself soon due to all the good I hear about them.

Yep, that's exactly what I mean.

These headphones seem to be pretty well regarded as good for the price range for mixing as well. The plus side is you can use them for both tracking and mixing, though checking on your monitors is very important, of course. Primarily mixing and just checking on your headphones is probably going to be the better option, however. If you're going to be buying two sets, one for mixing and one for tracking, I'd probably suggest just pooling the money together and getting and one even better pair.

I can't comment accurately on open vs closed as I have no experience. I'll let others guide you there. I'm sure there could be some benefits to the open design, however.

Getting an average pair of open (assuming open are better) with an average pair of closed is probably not going to be as good as just getting one really good closed set which does the whole lot. If you're going to be doing lots of mixing on your headphones (usually due to noise restrictions) then you may want to just get the one really good pair.

The ATH M50 headphones seem to get a pretty good review

 
I have heard similar reviews on these phones.  I have 3 sets of Audio Technica phones; of vairous price ranges, and I have been extremely happy with the overall sound quality on all of them.  For the longest time, I did the majority of my mixing on a pair of them, out of neccesity, with pretty descent results.

This might help a bit:

http://www.soundonsound.c...s/studioheadphones.htm

Blimey, there's even some kind of consensus forming here....

Has everyone forgotten this is the Cakewalk forum, where we're all supposed to say "my ones are the best?"....

The SOS article from Jeff about covers it especially given you take out the ones completely out of the budget range.  It would seem the AKG 240's if a closed back isn't required and the Sennheiser HD280's or ATH M40's if it is.

None of them 3 would be an ideal choice for pure listening pleasure but for work, take yer pick.....

mattplaysguitar

Has everyone forgotten this is the Cakewalk forum, where we're all supposed to say "my ones are the best?"....

I got the HD 202's and they are definitely the best you can buy!!! I have two pairs of them and they sound heaps better than my iPhone earplugs so they MUST be good!!! Trust me!! I have never owned any other pairs of headphones, so I would certainly know!!

Two thumbs up!!!


;)

Me too...

And it doesn't make me cry when I sit on them or walk across the room with them still plugged in and break them all the time...

I have an assortment of headphones here, none of which are what I'd consider high-end, but each is useful in its own way for different applications. For mixing, the ATH-M50s are far and away the best of the lot, not because they have great isolation or extreme high-fidelity (they have neither), but because they translate well.

Among my collection are a pair of Sennheiser HD280's that JonBuoy linked to above. Sorry, JB, I have to disagree with that recommendation - for mixing, anyway. As you noted, their isolation is very good, which makes them a great choice for tracking or airplane listening. But they are unfortunately pretty useless for mixing, having a very uneven high frequency response and nothing at all on the low end. I have tried using them for mixing in the past, but when I'd subsequently switch to speakers I'd be dismayed that I wasn't even in the ballpark.

bitflipper


I have an assortment of headphones here, none of which are what I'd consider high-end, but each is useful in its own way for different applications. For mixing, the ATH-M50s are far and away the best of the lot, not because they have great isolation or extreme high-fidelity (they have neither), but because they translate well.

Among my collection are a pair of Sennheiser HD280's that JonBuoy linked to above. Sorry, JB, I have to disagree with that recommendation - for mixing, anyway. As you noted, their isolation is very good, which makes them a great choice for tracking or airplane listening. But they are unfortunately pretty useless for mixing, having a very uneven high frequency response and nothing at all on the low end. I have tried using them for mixing in the past, but when I'd subsequently switch to speakers I'd be dismayed that I wasn't even in the ballpark.

No argument there.  Mixing in cans is a preference thing I find them pretty level and like most SH's seem to have little meat at the bottom, but learning how they are gonna translate is the key.  To that end as I said any of the suggestions here will work depending on your how you get from a to be, I'm certainly not alone in using 280's for mixing.  But it is important whatever you choose you ought to spend a lot of time learning how they translate, that's going to be true whatever you choose.

If isolation is key though the 280's are pretty phenomenal, even though I've never used 'em on a plane...

Like I already said there's a choice of about three here that are the worthy contenders for the budget.  Take yer pick.

mattplaysguitar


If you want to use them for tracking as well, the only option here is closed to reduce the bleed.

The ATH M50 headphones 

I use these for tracking. They are GREAT headphone and and have VERY HIGH output. I used to use AKG K270s until they crapped out. Got the ATH M50 and have not looked back since.

Just ordered a pair of M50s.

Jonbouy

bapu

mattplaysguitar


If you want to use them for tracking as well, the only option here is closed to reduce the bleed.

The ATH M50 headphones 

I use these for tracking. They are GREAT headphone and and have VERY HIGH output. I used to use AKG K270s until they crapped out. Got the ATH M50 and have not looked back since.

Do they limit your lateral head movement then?

Given that they are twice the size of my pin head, ya.

bitflipper


Another plus for Audio-Technica: durability. My ATs show no sign of wear after more than 6 years' daily use. Many others have had their foam pads begin to deteriorate after 1 year, or had cables break. And I abuse those poor things, carrying them around, dropping them, using them on my exercise machine, falling asleep with them on my head. If they ever do die I'll most likely replace them with the same model.

Just hope that model still exists.

I just bought a set of the M50's and found that the ear pads can get bumped off easily, I fixed this with a few drops of Gorilla Glue. Now the pads are permantly attached to the base. I'm not real crazy about how the ear pieces flop around when not in use, but I do like the sound, they sound really nice. I really like the coil cord that came with mine. It keeps everything neat and untangled here. I probably should have gone to Guitar Center and check a few different brands out, but I didn't. I found these like new but used on E-bay for $99 bucks, so I did okay. Everywhere else they were $159.  I too have heard countless people rave about these. So I figured it was a safe bet. Again, they sound fabulous so I really can't complain.

I should have some Senn HD-280 pros in my hands soon. Seem to be the best quality for the price.

What in the bleedin' heck are you doing to those poor, innocent headphones, Chuck? lol