Ableton Forum

Hi all,

I'm in need of a good in-ear headphone for production. I currently use an apogee duet and with krk 8s or mdr 7506 for the creation process. The 7506's are lacking the low end I want and I will be using a 2012 MacBook stock soundcard during travel.

This is just for creation not mixing .

Any ideas?

Tom

So because your big Sonys don't have enough low end, you are looking to rectify that with tiny in ear buds?!

Good luck with that.

TomViolenz wrote:Good luck with that.

The emphasis is in ear. There's less air to push and the perception of a given frequency spectrum is quite different between the various types of ear buds, open and closed headphones and monitors of different ranges. And yes, it's quite possible for a tiny bud to produce 5Hz.

I've had pairs of Panasonics and Creatives that claim a frequency range from 5Hz to 25kHz, and have sorted them out for an unpleasant bass heaviness.

The 7506s are known to be constructed for midrange presence, quite popular as tracking headphones or with on-location recordists.

Like most things you put on your ears, you get what you pay for before the diminishing returns kicks in...

I like the Shure 325's for a reasonably priced dual-driver design, from a reputable company with a great warranty. The 5's are worth it for that little bit more, but you've hit the point of diminishing returns.

A lot of folks on http://www.Head-Fi.org like the Westones, but I've never messed with them. The guys on that site tend to know their stuff, though everything they say should be taken with a bit of salt (ok, maybe the whole salt mine).

Personally, if isolation isn't a HUGE issue, I'd still go with regular open-backed headphones. My personal faves for working off a MBP are the Grado SR80e's - $100 and you have to pay at least 3 times that to get anything really "better". I've never found a cheap closed-back phone I like better than the Sony MDR-6/whatever-the-consumer-name-is, around $150. You'll DEFINITELY get better bang-for-buck out of headphones than in-ears - they are all pretty inarticulate (IMHO and Experience) before you get to the $300 mark. The physics just work against them - you really need 2 drivers to make a good, articulate in-ear, and that pushes the prices up...

The reason I recommend the Grados over Senn/Beyer/etc. is both price and that you want to work off the headphone out of the MBP. None of the other good phones I have used work nearly as well off the built-in output than the Grados - just my experience, but they really are in another class when powered off a questionable amp (which any built-in output is).

Anyway, good look with your search - I've been looking for a good "portable production" rig for a long time, and am finally happy with a Duet2, MBP, and the Grados. My home rig is the same, for the moment, but replace the Grados (which I still use as a reference) with a Lake People headphone amp and Sennheiser HD800's - before you say "yikes, $$$", I must say that I am coming from a treated room and Barefoots, and the HD800/LP/Isone/Apogee rig is almost as good for 1/8th the price!

Oh, and speaking of Isone, I highly recommend it for getting a "more realistic look" at working on phones - http://www.toneboosters.com/ - it is a "speaker and room sim" that is cheap and effective. No affiliation, just a fan of the product - and it is cheap!

I use the Shure 425's and like them a lot, pretty decent low end for how big (small) they are. I don't find I have to make too many tweaks once I get back in the studio and listen on the big monitors, though obviously there's always a few small things. Comfy too.

dented42ford wrote:I like the Shure 325's for a reasonably priced dual-driver design, ...

You must mean the SE425, like Tarekith's. One step below are the SE315, which are a single-driver design "with Tuned BassPort" (Shure's marketing speech). I have those for casual listening and like them for their neutrality.

i use Audeo PFE 232 and don't miss any low end response. Clear and deep, like them a lot. Also the best ergonomics, only 16 grams.

chrk wrote:

dented42ford wrote:I like the Shure 325's for a reasonably priced dual-driver design, ...

You must mean the SE425, like Tarekith's. One step below are the SE315, which are a single-driver design "with Tuned BassPort" (Shure's marketing speech). I have those for casual listening and like them for their neutrality.

Yup, typo.

I can also testify that Shure in-ears have good bass response. I just did a comparison test with a pure sine wave at 16 Hz (C -1) through my SE535's and AKG K712's, and I could hear it better in the in-ears.

The big, open AKG's obviously sound much nicer and are more accurate for mixing, though.

For traveling really light, the Shure in-ears are very good. They are durable and isolate really well, which is important on trains and planes.

If this is your first in-ears, just make sure you try all the included ear plugs they come with too. FIT IS CRUCIAL with in-ears, otherwise you get terrible bass response. Must be a tight fit, but still comfy.

Etymotic : ER•4® microPro® Earphones
I also have custom ear molds from an audiologist and Sensaphonics.
I have two sets of these and they are awesome.