Of the speakers you listed, I'd put the Yamahas and Mackies at the top of that list. I am very much not a fan of the entry-level M-Audio and KRK stuff, although their respective high-end products are very good.

Of the headphones listed, I am not familiar with the Roland product but either of the other two would do fine. The DT770 and ATH-M50 are quite similar sound-wise. I think the AT's have a slight edge in comfort.

Headphones are like speakers in that you have to train your ears to work around their limitations. And all headphones have severe limitations; don't expect any of them to be flat, regardless of price. Choose headphones for comfort and perhaps isolation if you'll be using them for tracking, and don't obsess over frequency response. 

+1 on the ATH-M50.

I personally don't have a lot of experience with the different brands & models to compare.
So, FWIW -
Weight-wise, the ATH -M50 are a bit on the "heavy" side, but still very comfortable, and sound great!

Bristol_Jonesey


The question that nobody has asked is - what do you currently have by way pf phones/monitors?

Without that information it's real stab in the dark to suggest what to buy.

Actually, I moved a lot every year...I'm currently working as a sequencer musician here in China. Every 6 mos, if not a year, I move to another city, depend on my contract. So, I don't have a bunch of stuff for recordings. And since I recently got interested on learning into recording/mixing stuff, I decided to buy a software and join here in cakewalk's community 'coz I saw that a lot of experienced people are willing to help. And that is why I'm serious of learning from all of you.;-)
Anyway, back to your question... I only got Roland Tri-Capture for audio interface, X2 essential, VAIO Laptop Core i5, A very cheap and ordinary headphones that I used for skype and a laptop speakers, chinese brand.:-) 


Normally, I only got a room from hotel...so, I do not have a very good acoustic room like what you guys have.


eeyan

bitflipper


Of the speakers you listed, I'd put the Yamahas and Mackies at the top of that list. I am very much not a fan of the entry-level M-Audio and KRK stuff, although their respective high-end products are very good.

Of the headphones listed, I am not familiar with the Roland product but either of the other two would do fine. The DT770 and ATH-M50 are quite similar sound-wise. I think the AT's have a slight edge in comfort.

Headphones are like speakers in that you have to train your ears to work around their limitations. And all headphones have severe limitations; don't expect any of them to be flat, regardless of price. Choose headphones for comfort and perhaps isolation if you'll be using them for tracking, and don't obsess over frequency response. 

Big thanks for the advice bitflipper!.;-)


eeyan

Defiantly the Yamaha's. 
But that said I think for every person here there will be  a completely different suggestion. It's like the reviews on on line music equipment sites. Can you trust the opinions? 

What I do is read up as much as I can from as many sources as possible. magazine reviews, and the open forum reviews too. Compare product spec sheet, read the manuals,  Then I go and purchase the wrong thing every time anyhow because I become price conscious. , so don't take my advice. Just spend more money and get what your really want. 

But so far everything I did by from Yamaha has been my best move. 

Cactus Music


Defiantly the Yamaha's. 
But that said I think for every person here there will be  a completely different suggestion. It's like the reviews on on line music equipment sites. Can you trust the opinions? 

What I do is read up as much as I can from as many sources as possible. magazine reviews, and the open forum reviews too. Compare product spec sheet, read the manuals,  Then I go and purchase the wrong thing every time anyhow because I become price conscious. , so don't take my advice. Just spend more money and get what your really want. 

But so far everything I did by from Yamaha has been my best move. 

Same here, price conscious.:-) Thanks a lot Cactus!


eeyan

Looking at Amazon, the price for the Audio Technica ATH M50 looks pretty good.  Might want to try 'em out.


In the meantime, I really like using the Sennheiser HD280pro.  I've got two of them. 


Bitflipper had sage advice, "Choose headphones for comfort and perhaps isolation . . . . "  I find the Sennheiser's to be very comfortable and they provide great isolation.  Though, I've been out of the recording loop for quite a while (and starting to get back into it), I've used the Sennheiser's when I play drums at church.  The acoustic set is in a Plexiglas "cage" which could cause ear damage without any ear protection.  I found the Sennheiser HD280pro provides good for the ear protection and very good isolation as I am plugged into the monitor.  

I have the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohm phones. I mainly use them with the Focusrite VRM Box. The combination is fantastic. I have Dynaudio BM5A's which serve me well. I have a set of M-Audio SP5B's that I rarely use these days. The really want to get the matching sub for the BM5A's.

Rocky

I just wonder.. How do the Yamaha monitors sound compared to KRK's

1. Do the Yamaha sound more neutral with less bass and more mid-range and treble
2. Do Krk's have more like loads of bass , less mid-range, lot of treble 

or is it opposite ?

Do they sound Harsh, soft or neutral at those frequencies..

How can we get an picture of what it sound's like !

I think this maybe will give an better idea of what monitor and also headphones to go for...

Here is just few videos : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfD7RnC7P6Q
                                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ZXT_XZs04
                                       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jANkwzVCZo

I vote for this:

SPEAKERS - Yamaha HS50m   


headphones just wear you out