headphones, <$100, closed ear. what do you use and like?

jibberish · November 15, 2012, 08:28:47 PM

i want to get at least 2 sets of closed ear phones for tracking. i dont want to spend a ton. i cant appreciate it at this point in time. i would be really interested in the $49 sleeper that really works well for tracking.

TIA

Mr. Foxen · November 15, 2012, 09:27:10 PM

I have Sennheiser HD20 I've used for everything and lent for recording purposes. They aren't super comfortable, but they sound good and most importantly, haven't broken and I've had them 4 years.

Lumpy · November 16, 2012, 04:58:44 AM

Audio Technica ATH-M50 -- They get great reviews, I have tin ears so I probably don't appreciate them. They were maybe $120 on sale?

Before that I had the Sony ones that everyone recommends (industry standard) but I'm sure I didn't really get all the subtle nuances with those either. Sony MDR-7506. The Sonys eventually fell apart (pads started to disintegrate from my toxic sweat and oils) and from dropping them on the floor too many times, one of the earpieces broke free (shitty design, IMO). So I don't really recommend them, unless you're okay replacing them every few years.

(The Audio Technicas may very well end up the same as the Sony's, but I've had them for less time so I dunno)

xayk · November 16, 2012, 09:33:57 AM

Second the ATH-M50's. I picked mine up for about $70 from a DJ who had them as a backup pair and never used them. I've sold about five pairs to friends either through demonstration or sheer enthusiasm. Super comfortable for long sessions, even with glasses. Dig the hell out of them.

zachoff · November 16, 2012, 10:35:06 AM

I have these:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/71dd92207f175a82/index.html

One of the last things I bought from Guitar Center for $40 on one of their sales. They're decent. I've heard better and I've definitely heard worse.

Jake · November 16, 2012, 11:37:16 AM

I've had the (now discontinued) Sony MDR V600 headphones for a quite a few years now and am very happy with them. Sound good, are comfortable, and mine have not broken or anything. But The previous post is correct that the padding falls apart and sheds. Not to the point of being unusable, but just leaves little black flecks near your ears sometimes.

It might be worth your while to find whatever their successor is. I know they sell replacement pads on eBay for under $5 with free shipping.

jibberish · November 18, 2012, 01:01:27 AM

i started looking around online before i go listen, and y'all seem to have covered the main ones..they pretty much all show up on pg 1 of big box websites.

my desktop just bit the big one.i think hard drive lost sectors, i'm done with it. 10 yer old beater emachine. everything is broken on it except the cpu. heat sinks falling off. i like it because i have the side off and i have my soundblaster and hd just hanging out. different video card..but win xp and 1gig of ram is plenty for music stuff..or was..buh bye...

that's just a chunk of change out of the blue that is going to slow the studio down..but im stoked for for four cores and 8 gigs of ram and a new do-whopper video card

sent using hunt-and-peck on my primary craptop, WHICH, btw, is sitting on a cookie rack 1/2" off the table surface

jibberish · November 18, 2012, 07:08:14 PM

ok, i snagged a set of sennheiser hd-205, they are the recording model, not the bottom hevy dj model. i will see how i like these before i get more. that m-50 is pretty luxury. i may end up with some of those at the end of it all and have w/e else for when other peeps are here.

i hate working on a laptop, esp typing..
so i grabbed an asus with a quad core amd andd 8gigs of ram and some decent radeon onboard graphics and win8, be back in business soon

edit: trying not to blog out but this is all under my "make a studio" umbrella, including the pc end of things.
got this asus win8 machine going. onced i figured where the "start screen" fits between "on" and actually being at the desktop, i rolled. i havent done anything to test it's schmoltz yet, but it feels zippy and smooth. looks nice through the little 19" lcd i hooked up.
asus cm1745-05. best buy $510 out the door. i wanted the quad core and the 8gigs of ram. the video card, tho reasonably loaded for high res(512k), is not a game card..it will get replaced once i consult with my son.

laptops rule in other ways for music stuff, so it isnt being replaced, i just hate doing the internet on one

jibberish · November 20, 2012, 01:42:06 PM

well I have been horsing around with those sennheisers for a bit, and they are pretty decent for $50. they are balanced freq range, fairly clean, and definitely cut out background well. They get pretty loud. they get raggedy too loud, but they didn't crap out at the max volume my ears could take that I tried.

I hope the headband tension relaxes a bit over time heh.
these are absolutely not high fidelity, so I would not use these for serious listening to recorded music.
but I got them for tracking..so ....
the jury will be out until I do track, but I think they will be just fine.

it came with a fako-leather bag. is it a fake? haha.

edit: did I have to restore windows 8 less than 24hrs after I bought the pc? yes I did. video driver FUBAR blew 'er right up heh heh heh

RnRJanitor · November 22, 2012, 10:20:29 AM

I was going to suggest something from Sennheiser. I just picked up the HD202-II's yesterday to replace my cheap work headphones. They're cheaper than the ones you got, but they still sound great. They have big, fat, defined bass that's not too boomy or mushy. I gave them a workout with Floor, Dove and Torche, they handled it like a champ.

Lumpy · November 22, 2012, 10:37:46 AM

People say that the trick is to find speakers and headphones that are accurate, and not that make your music sound good (that's what stereo speakers do -- make things sound good).

That being said, any speakers/headphones can be useful if you figure out how they are biased ('these speakers are ice-picky' or whatever) and play your mixes on different systems to test. (One thing I like to do... turn my subwoofer off, so that I can hear how it would sound playing on a system with no real bass reproduction below like 65 hz or whatever.)

jibberish · November 22, 2012, 01:55:57 PM

for stereo listening I would have to get something way better. but these level of phones are nice for music. I wanted reasonably clean, balanced freq resp and external isolation, and entry level until I get the feel.. also I want several pair for when several people are here. any phones I don't really like, I need anyway and I will work my way to what I really can spend long sessions with doing production vs tracking only.

I am liking these sennheisers, for what they are.

lordfinesse · November 22, 2012, 10:40:35 PM

Love my ATM-M50's. I didn't mention them before now because they are (or were, anyway) above the OP's budget. If they're within reach though, I'd go for those.. you won't be disappointed.

jibberish · November 23, 2012, 02:53:51 PM

M50 love is in da house

I wil definitely spend some time with them before getting the next set of phones.

I need 2 sets and ideally 3 would cover most anything. I can see en entirely possible scenario of me getting a 2nd set of the sennheisers and the m50's for all my own headphone needs vs just tracking during recording where we need several sets.

my fucking studio, I get to drive the Cadillac if I want to 8D

peyotepeddler · November 24, 2012, 12:54:06 AM

a bit over your budget, but audio technica's a700 and a900's are stellar!

RAGER · February 09, 2015, 05:44:38 PM

Picked these up yesterday. We''ll see how they do.

Corey Y · February 09, 2015, 05:54:04 PM

I have a pair of those HD280, but I've really been wanting to try out the ATH-M40x lately. I was hoping some place on line would have a sale and I could get them and a new popper stopper for what I have in my Paypal balance, but it seems like it's the only pair of headphones in that range that MF isn't putting on sale for Presidents Day.