Ableton Forum

What headphones do you use?

I had a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50X Studio Monitor Professional Headphones. Gave them away: too tight, tips of ears painful, headache after a very short period of time &c.
Decent enough sound, many swear by them...

Any suggestions for alternatives?

Cheers!

I always come back to my BeyerDynamic DT 770 Pro.......

I prefer IEMs myself, and have been really happy with my Shure SE846s the last few years.

Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 250Ohm, which are supported both by sonarworks and Waves NX. Which is useful if I need to use them for mixing or checking out the deep bass my monitors might be rolling off.

For closed-back use when there’s a risk sound from the headphones might spill into a microphone, or if I’m in a noisy environment like a gig I’ve used an old set of Sennheiser HD25s for many years. They’re small, light and tough.

My BeyerDynamics are also supported by Sonarworks, works like a charm I must say. I have two Samson Headphones, also supported by Sonarworks for if I work with guests in my studio.......

mito wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:37 am

What headphones do you use?

I had a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50X Studio Monitor Professional Headphones. Gave them away: too tight, tips of ears painful, headache after a very short period of time &c.
Decent enough sound, many swear by them...

Any suggestions for alternatives?

Cheers!

TBH I use those same headphones. Never had a problem. Yeah they're tight for a bit but they loosen right up after about a month and become really comfortable.

Sony MDR-7506. But I don't mix with them. I just find them overall pleasant to listen through. A little bass-heavy and the coverings wear out easily.

Beyerdynamic DT770s. 250 ohm. Trusty old tough things.

jonljacobi wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 03, 2019 4:53 pm

Sony MDR-7506.

I use these in my field recording bag simply because they are able to fold down into a nice little ball.

I like to use a number of different headphones from time to time as they all have their differences. The ones I have on my desk to use are:

AKG K240
AKG K712
Sennheiser HD280 Pro
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
KRK KNS-8400

The K240 were my first set 15 years ago and still going strong. Replaced the ear cups on them tho.

K712 are the most disappointing out the lot. I prefer the sound of the K240 personally and the elastic on the K712 for the auto-adjust headband wore out after 2 years and I had to replace it. Quality wise too, the K240 appear better quality to me overall.

HD280 Pro I kind of like but they feel cheap and the ear cups I can see will fall apart after 3 years just because of the thin vinyl cups

ATH-M50 I actually really like. They are not the self adjusting like the AKG but the sound is pretty nice and they have more warmth than both the AKG. They are very isolating too so once they go on not much noise from outside bing closed back.

KNS-8400 are the pair I like worst of all of them. They are the pair I use on my DJ setup and for monitoring camera audio etc. I don't like the headband padding as it creates a pressure that feels like someone pressing on your head after a while. Sound is a bit flat too.

I use them all tho because after you get to know the characteristics of each then moving from one to the next helps bring to light issues that don't appear in one set from the other.

jestermgee wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:06 am

I use them all tho because after you get to know the characteristics of each then moving from one to the next helps bring to light issues that don't appear in one set from the other.

On that subject...

I also use standard Apple earbuds, the wired kind that come with phones and iPads. Partly because they’re often convenient for listening to music/videos generally and partly because there’s millions of sets of them out there and lots of people use them all the time. So it’s useful to know what mixes sound like in them. I also have a set of the cheaper end of the Beats range which ramp up the bass. Horrible things and the opposite of hi-fi, but useful to have.

Also a set of Shure in-ears which can replace the HD25s if I don’t want to look like I’m wearing headphones or the foldback is inadequate.

Apple earbuds are the new NS10.

Apple earbuds aren’t as bad as NS10s. How those things ever became something of an “industry standard monitor” for any purpose other than “let’s see how this sounds with no bass or top end when played through some really bad speakers” has baffled me for years. Yet I know people who still like them, swear by them even for mastering and will pay lots of money for good condition used ones or used parts.

If Yamaha re-released them, or a new speaker designed to give the same response, they’d probably sell loads - but rather like Roland and the 303/808/909 the idea doesn’t seem to appeal to their marketing department, despite used prices going ever higher.

I refused to work on NS10s, hated listening to those things regardless of how some people liked them.

When I attended the SAE college in Amsterdam, we has NS10's too. Really hated them, always used the Genelec's in the studio, never bothered about the white coned ones.......

Maybe that was shortsighted, but could not listen to them!

Thanks for all the replies!

Complete noob to Ableton (in fact, a simple drummer who's got bored of lugging a heavy drumkit about, up & down flights of stairs &c, wanting a thoroughly portable computer-based set-up to take on travels),

So, my initial purchases were too hastily done (not enough research before heading off into the bush!)

Current set-up:
MacBook Pro mid-2012 (with a new 500gb SSD)
I plumped for the BeyerDynamic DT 770 Pro 250ohm
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen USB Audio Interface

Problem: too quiet in the headphones, (as I'd have known if I'd done the requisite research)
Probably should have got a Focusrite with its own power supply too, not the USB one

Solution? buy a separate headphones amp? eg., Fiio E10K Headphone Amplifier?
Perhaps a problem with these? viewtopic.php?t=227415

Any suggestions much appreciated!