ATH-M50's are my workhorse cans as well. I like them a lot and have recommended them many times on this forum. But let's be realistic. They are most definitely not high-fidelity transducers. Frequencies about 6KHz are pretty much not there, in these and most other comparably-priced headphones. Transients are not well-reproduced, especially in the low end. The frequency response overall is plus or minus 10db, worse than we'd tolerate in conventional speakers.

I am not any kind of "purist". I do a lot of mixing on headphones. If you have a crappy room, headphones may be your only option. If you don't live alone and like to work late at night, headphones are your only option. Headphones are essential for detailed editing. Headphones are a crucial. They are just no substitute for speakers and a treated room.

To answer the original post, there is, to my knowledge, no such thing as flat-response headphones. At least, not that I could afford!

Psychobillybob


I don't think you are honestly going to find a set of headphones that accurately/flatly can give you what would be considered a good baseline for reference...

If you can live with a grand price tag, I'd say THESE just about do it, especially if have them custom fitted/molded to your ears.

bapu

Psychobillybob


I don't think you are honestly going to find a set of headphones that accurately/flatly can give you what would be considered a good baseline for reference...

If you can live with a grand price tag, I'd say THESE just about do it, especially if have them custom fitted/molded to your ears.

BTW, I have and use those, ATH M50s, Sennheiser HD600s, Sennheiser IE6 buds and I use all of them (in combination) more than I use my Mackie HR824s.

Again I write without actually communicating...

Here's what I fond with headphone mixes...no matter how flat, or un-flat the response is you will still need to adjust your mix to become pleasant to the ears...

A perfectly flat response is only valuable as a palette...no one wants to hear it that way...so find a set of headaches you feel comfortable with and learn to mix in relation to the color they provide...or in reference to the link you suggest, the color they do NOT provide...

The fact that many, many great mixes have been made on a set of NS10's is proof enough that "flat" is a relative term...

bapu

Psychobillybob


I don't think you are honestly going to find a set of headphones that accurately/flatly can give you what would be considered a good baseline for reference...

If you can live with a grand price tag, I'd say THESE just about do it, especially if have them custom fitted/molded to your ears.

I have some SONY MDR-7509HD,as I thought if I "buy the headphones I can't really afford",it will be WAY cheaper,than "buying the monitors I really can't afford"!

Anyway,they are ok,but like headphones in general,the real levels of Bass that are on the track,are sometimes a huge guessing game.
Bob 

I use Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro and I think they sound amazing - for the simple reason that I got used to them.

What I mean is - one can use "any" set of headphones as long as you know how they inherently sound. Some headsets lean towards "bassy", others might have a slight boost at 4kHz, etc... If you churn out enough mixes on your headphones, test them on various systems, take notes, go back to your mix and correct accordingly (using the same headphones), you will eventually learn to adjust your mix while compensating to the color that your headset provides.

Besides if you only want to use them for recording late at night, I don't see why you need another set of headphones. It's only when you come to mixing that you need to switch between headsets and speaker-monitors. That's important, because both media reveal certain issues in the mix that are very important.

For e.g., checking reverb on vocals on headset only, might leave it a bit too dry because they are closer to the ears so the reverb tail would be more pronounced. On the other hand, checking reverb only on speakers might leave too much reverb. So you need to check on both.

Ideally, you check on as many different systems as possible. Professional studios have 2 sets of monitoring systems, headphones and even one standalone speaker to check how the music translates to true mono.

But back to the original point - if you get used to the sound / color, you should be fine. That's why even the best mixing engineers carry with them music they are very familiar with so that they aurally test the system they're gonna be working on before they start their new mix.

I recently got a pair of ATH-50's and they are amazing. Much better for mixing with than my Grado SR80i's (which I still prefer for listening to CD's on however). 

The only thing I don't like about them is that they have a tendency to make your ears overheat and sweat. They are quite tight on the head, especially if you have a great big melon head like mine. My cheapo gym headphones now stink beyond belief because of the constant sweating on them, so I'm really hoping the same doesn't happen to my ATH-50's. I'm wiping them down after every use!

I also just recently paired my ATH-50's with a Focusrite VRM Box. It's revolutionizing the mixing process for me and I think your headphone mixes will improve 500% by using one. It simulates various studio monitors, as well as cheap computer speakers, TV and hi-fi speakers, in three room settings (studio, living room, bedroom). The general complaint is that the experience is nothing like listening to the actual speakers in an actual room. Of course it isn't. But what I think it does very well is to simulate the difference between these speakers in a way that's very useful as long as you frequently change the speaker setting as you mix. I love it because it freshens your ears regularly, and you are constantly introduced to problems in your mix. The Auratone simulation is proving extremely useful for me. It's also very advisable to listen to your reference mixes through the VRM box, and note the way the different speakers change the sound. 

In my current living situation I'm never going to be able to set up an acoustically treated room, and I'm never going to be able to monitor at a useful volume on speakers, especially late at night. The ATH-50's in conjunction with the VRM box provides me with what I believe is the next best thing. 

yorolpal


ATH M50s.  Amazing.  Industry standards.

I have these!
But sometimes when mixing with the M50s, I sometimes wonder if I have enough low end :)

i would not get caught up in the flatness or not of the frequency response...for an extra 2c i will opine that imo flat FREQUENCY response is less important than transient response and phase response... the latter two can cause listening to be painful and mix/tone adjustments to be major.. rather than some mild eq adjustments to compensate for freq response..