bitflipper


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.

Bit would you believe my experience has been the opposite of yours with the 280's? I wonder if it has anything to do with when they were made? Are yours older or newer? I got mine about 3 years ago and they actually have a bit too much meat in the low end....if you can believe that? Agree on the awesome isolation and also that I can't mix on them at all.
 
The best one's I have that I can literally mix on would be the AKG K-240 DF's. A little more pricey but well worth it in my opinion as a really good choice for "engineer cans". They sound exactly like my monitors with a little less bass and they've been my favorite for about 25 years now.
 
We just got a few pairs of those KRK KNS 8400's for the new studio for a discounted price from a friend that owns a music store. They work really well and sound excellent. The 6400's were really good too but I thought the 8400's sounded a bit more like what I was used to hearing through my monitors. http://www.krksys.com/krk-headphones/kns-8400.html Pretty cool cans that are solid, affordable and I love that they have a cord that you can change if it goes bad.
Ah Beepster, I see you went with the 280 HD's...a good choice, you'll like them. Best of luck! :)
 
-Danny

Well if we're going to go with "pricey" I have a pair of THESE which are custom molded to my ears. These have a pretty darn flat response.

Oh poop. I missed the comment about the HD280s not being suitable for mixing. That's exactly what I need them for. I spent a lot of time mulling that choice over too. All I've ever seen were positive reviews about them. It sucks not being able to take stuff out for a test drive before plonking the dough. I may have to review my options again. Blargh...

Beepster


Oh poop. I missed the comment about the HD280s not being suitable for mixing. That's exactly what I need them for. I spent a lot of time mulling that choice over too. All I've ever seen were positive reviews about them. It sucks not being able to take stuff out for a test drive before plonking the dough. I may have to review my options again. Blargh...

Like with all cans you're gonna need to 'learn' them really well.  Quite a few people I know mix with them including myself, I can also understand the reasons why some would prefer not to mix in them.

But it's like I was alluding too earlier that there will normally be as many recommendations as there are people recommending them which is why I was surprised to see a sort of consensus appearing here of just a few candidates.

The best course would be to try them out for yourself either by getting re-assurance from your dealer that you can return the ones you don't wan't or actually trying them out in-store, because we're all different.

I like the 280's particularly because they are more like anything that I've gotten used to over the last 35 years for tracking (and I've usually made a lot of noise while doing so) so I learned them to mix with which is something I've only been doing for the last 5 years or so.  Which kind of shows up why 'personal recommendation' will only tell you part of the story.

But you'll be able to mix with any of the recommendations on this page provided you 'learn' them well and the 280's would and do certainly figure high every time on an 'all-rounder' list.

Bit would you believe my experience has been the opposite of yours with the 280's? I wonder if it has anything to do with when they were made? Are yours older or newer? I got mine about 3 years ago and they actually have a bit too much meat in the low end....if you can believe that? Agree on the awesome isolation and also that I can't mix on them at all.

Interesting. We both conclude that we can't mix on them, but for completely opposite reasons. You could be right about a design change; mine are about 8 years old, so maybe the low end was improved in the intervening years.


JonBuoy's absolutely correct about "learning" headphones. The more hours you spend listening to music, especially other peoples' music, on them, the better they'll translate for you. But you can't learn what you can't hear. If a pair of headphones have a very poor response over 6KHz or below 100Hz, for example, they're going to have limited applications.


Still, I do like my Sennheisers a lot. They're comfortable and quiet. I have used them on airplanes and they sound better than Bose "noise-cancelling" headphones that you see so many passengers wearing these days. For less than half the price, too.


Which brings me to my own question for you all: what under-$500 headphones would you recommend for pleasure listening? Not critical listening for mixing and diagnostic purposes, but just to kick back and be enveloped by nice sound. I've auditioned some Sony headphones that sell for around $500 that sounded quite luscious, but my personal boycott of Sony is still in effect. 

bitflipper

Which brings me to my own question for you all: what under-$500 headphones would you recommend for pleasure listening? Not critical listening for mixing and diagnostic purposes, but just to kick back and be enveloped by nice sound. I've auditioned some Sony headphones that sell for around $500 that sounded quite luscious, but my personal boycott of Sony is still in effect.  

Sennheiser HD600. These are what I use on the non-DAW side of the room when listening in the songs forum or tutorial vids. Form my mp3 player while on the go, I use my Sennheiser IE6 buds.

I've auditioned some Sony headphones that sell for around $500 that sounded quite luscious, but my personal boycott of Sony is still in effect.

That's interesting. That makes at least two of us, I wonder if their profits have noticed yet? I boycotted them after some of the most shoddy customer service I've ever received from any company when I made the mistake of buying one of their PDAs several years ago.

I did once buy a pack of their CDs that were on sale for a £1 though.

FastBikerBoy
I did once buy a pack of their CDs that were on sale for a £1 though. 

Did the ear pads fall off?

I hated myself for weeks afterwards.

Good morning, all. Thanks for the thoughts. IDK... I've been pretty hell bent on getting the HD280 Pros for at least a few months but if they are just out and out missing bands of frequencies I'd imagine there is no amount of "learning" that can be done. However I may be stuck with this decision... partially out of cost restrictions and partially out of foolhardy stubbornness. When it comes right down to it they'll definitely be better for mixing than anything else I've ever owned and even with a frequency gap I'll still have the monitors to double check stuff. Not to mention my two big old stereos, two sets of computer speakers and a couple of TVs I can route audio to to get other reference points (wish I still had access to bar PAs).

That said maybe I'll pick your brains on the other two options I was looking at before settling on the Sennheisers. I decided against them because of various poor reviews but perhaps they are worth another look...

Funnily enough looking back at my research the Audio Technica ATH-M50s were on my list... http://www.amazon.com/Aud...&qid=1327443079&sr=1-1

Sadly I don't think I can afford them just yet. They're gonna be at least an extra $50 (probably more up here in Canuckerland) and pathetic as it may sound on top of everything else I just don't think I can swing it this month but I need something NOW. IDK... I'll think about starving myself a little longer or something. :-(

The other pair are the Shure SRH440... http://www.amazon.com/Shu...&qid=1327444091&sr=1-2

These are less expensive than the Senns but I also have a feeling that is gonna translate into significantly poorer quality. Anyone ever tried them for tracking/mixing/mastering?

Either way I have to make a decision within the next couple of days (actually should probably decide by tomorrow so I can see what my retailer has in stock) as I'm making an order this week.

Sucks being broke and having to scrounge the lower price brackets for stuff. Cheers.