Reason and Headphones

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RobC
Posts: 1833
Joined: 10 Mar 2018

23 Dec 2018

two shoes wrote:
22 Dec 2018
Imo you're better off with a small set of full range nearfields turned down low than the best headphones ever made, at least for stereo mixing and two track work. Yes, you'll get more detail out of the headphones and hear things you'd probably miss at first with monitors, but your sacrificing the stereo soundstage completely and I have yet to hear a plausible explanation of how one is supposed to create a good stereo mix with no stereo image :) Maybe if you have years of experience going back and forth between monitors and headphones on the same mixes cause you're a full-time engineer and you have a really good handle on how something is going to translate from headphones to stereo, but I don't know of anyone in this category who would try to mix on headphones or recommend it to anyone either.

There are plugins out there designed to make headphones behave more like monitors for this reason, including something called HM-1 or something like that in the RE format, but these have never worked well for me. I think you'll get more mileage in the long run from learning to mix on a small set of nearfields at low volume (i'm assuming volume is the issue that's driving you to try and mix on headphones in the first place) even ones in the same price rang as a good set of headphones.

All that said, there is the question of how much sense it makes to mix everything in stereo in a world full of people listening on earbuds or in cars - the rare listener who's sitting down in the sweet spot of a good set of loudspeakers probably isn't streaming your latest headphone mix from Spotify or Youtube in the firstplace. I get this argument and I'm all for discussions of the relative merits of mono vs stereo vs quadraphonic, etc in a world where streaming low bit rate audio to shitty earbuds is the dominant listening paradigm, but that's a different question than should you try to mix in stereo on headphones - the answer to that question is and always has been an emphatic no.

So unless you've already abandoned the idea of mixing in stereo (in which case i want to hear more about what you're doing instead and why) my two cents is get the best pair of nearfields you can and turn them down low enough so they don't wake the baby or bother the neighbors or whatever it is. Get good at that and when you do have the chance to turn them up to normal listening levels you will feel like you have hearing superpowers.
If I can add a point to this:

You can position sounds in 3D with in-ears in a way that can sound so real, it fools you. In-ears and speakers stereo field don't translate the same way. They are different media, different experiences.

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Biolumin3sc3nt
Posts: 662
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

23 Dec 2018

I went for the Cardinal Sin of mixing in my Beyer 770 Pro's - 250 ohm, for too long before visiting the family. I'm using a RME UCX with has a shit ton of gain. I was on the Mom's couch with a huge headache and I was a Lobster for the whole night. Day 2, I still don't wan't to listen to anything but Christmas jams at super low volume.

Be Carefull out there

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BRIGGS
Posts: 2134
Joined: 25 Sep 2015
Location: Orange County California

23 Dec 2018

RobC wrote:
23 Dec 2018
BRIGGS wrote:
23 Dec 2018


Those look interesting! How do they compare to the Shure IEMs?
I only had Shure headphones. They had a bass drop, and mid emphasis. The E40 has a more detailed sound.
Thanks! Right up my alley!
r11s

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4filegate
Posts: 922
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

24 Dec 2018

Biolumin3sc3nt wrote:
23 Dec 2018
Be Carefull out there
Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them?

When passing on the headphone to a third party, please pass on the manual as well.
safety instructions.JPG
safety instructions.JPG (77.41 KiB) Viewed 1683 times

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theshoemaker
Posts: 595
Joined: 21 Nov 2015
Location: Germany
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16 Feb 2020

Guys you won't belief it. The Superlux HD687 is as good as the AKG 702, or almost as good. Still the same "cheap plastic" qualitiy build issues, but the sound ... that hit me by surprise when I wanted to buy the 702 as a replacement for my broken HD681
:PUF_figure: latest :reason: V12 on MacOS Ventura

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VIVIsect
Posts: 177
Joined: 28 May 2017

16 Feb 2020

I used the same pair of Sony 7506 for many years. A while back I picked up a pair of DT 770 PRO 80ohm on sale. It took a while to get used to the (pretty drastic) sound difference, but now I love 'em. My faithful 7506s have since been retired to my bedroom closet.

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xboix
Posts: 281
Joined: 22 Oct 2019

16 Feb 2020

I have three different pairs of expensive closed-back headphones Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and AT, all costing three figures. And I almost always prefer to use my £12 open-back Sonys that came from the supermarket. I even use them for vocal recording much of the time. The bleed I get is minimal and I sing better with them compared with closed-back.

I use the closed-backs to check a final mix but there is just something about them that I don't really get on with. The sounds I hear are just not as natural. I imagine one day I'll be tempted into buying yet another set of "big name" 'phones and I imagine they will also disappoint me!

I also check a final mix on the Sonys, on budget monitors, on ear buds, in the car, on the hifi and on a crappy Bluetooth speaker that claims to be stereo but that has two tweeters but only one woofer! I usually learn more from them than I do from the expensive headphones.

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Kategra
Posts: 327
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

17 Feb 2020

ATH-M50X and DT990 Pro, both individually calibrated with Sonarworks. I swap between them depending if the child above plays with hard balls on concrete floor or not :(
PS.

BTW, they sound the same calibrated, they just feel a bit different because M50 are closed back while the DT are open back.


i run my mains trough Sonarworks also. I highly recommend Sonarworks!

Allrounder - I recommend the ATHM-50X because they isolate better and are easier to drive. Downside is they heat your ears more then the others, hate have them on more than 3 hours in the summer.

The DT990 PRO are harder to drive and are open back... so you will hear everyting around you.. I also have the AKG701 - but without individual calibration. They start distorting in the sub - bass region if pushed. I use those for practicing electric guitar at night, they present a big stage, spacious feeling.

https://store.sonarworks.com/collection ... headphones
They usually run 2 sales each year you can wait if cash is low.

Rackman
Posts: 110
Joined: 28 Dec 2019

17 Feb 2020

+1 for DT990 Pro.

Careful as there is a very similar looking model with a closed back.

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plaamook
Posts: 2593
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: Bajo del mar...

17 Feb 2020

ScuzzyEye wrote:
17 Dec 2018
antic604 wrote:
15 Dec 2018
DT990 Pro. They're awesome in any DAW :)
ionly wrote:
15 Dec 2018
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250ohms. Can't beat them for comfort and checking detail. The closed back design is also perfect for recording
Heh, I have the DT880 Pros to round out the collection. ;)

But I can't really recommend them. Their semi-open design is supposed to be the best of both worlds (closed- and open-back), but it's actually the worst. They don't have quite the bass response of the 990s, and you can't use them for vocal tracking because of bleed.

Same. After a few years of using them to watch films I sold em.
Perpetual Reason 12 Beta Tester :reason:

You can check out my music here.
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Or here.
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plaamook
Posts: 2593
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: Bajo del mar...

17 Feb 2020

xboix wrote:
16 Feb 2020
I have three different pairs of expensive closed-back headphones Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and AT, all costing three figures. And I almost always prefer to use my £12 open-back Sonys that came from the supermarket.
Same but worse. I use sony £15 ear buds for composing on the fly. Shit monitors and Senn HD25's to check things out after.
That's three albums now and when I send em off to the label to get mastered they always say the same thing. Mix sounds great, don't really need to do too much.
DOn't really know what to say about all that.
Perpetual Reason 12 Beta Tester :reason:

You can check out my music here.
https://m.soundcloud.com/ericholmofficial
Or here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73uZZ ... 8jqUubzsQg

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Brosefski
Posts: 86
Joined: 08 Oct 2018
Location: Up north somewhere

18 Feb 2020

DT770's. Beyerdynamics is awesome.
:reason: :recycle: :re:

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ScuzzyEye
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Joined: 15 Jan 2015
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18 Feb 2020

Whoa, necrothread rising from the dead.

I'm still using my DT880 Pros, but saving up for a pair of DT 1770 Pros. Just a few other production upgrades to happen first.

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Kategra
Posts: 327
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

19 Feb 2020

Kategra wrote:
17 Feb 2020


https://store.sonarworks.com/collection ... headphones
They usually run 2 sales each year you can wait if cash is low.
LOL, today they have a sale on their Beyerdynamic range:

https://store.sonarworks.com/collection ... cial-offer

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