the best high-end headphone for editing

[StudioTinPanAll]

i"ve got about 15 different headphones here,
and for accuracy and total sound i love the sony mdr-7509
(an old mdr-v999 is also very sweet but hard to find)

grtz,

[baikonour]

Same here, Sony MDR 7509. they are not open though. but best accurate headphones I've ever heard.

[sprouseod]

Grado RS-1
the MOST detailed HF I have ever heard

[AlexLakis]

Love my Sony MDR-V600s. A little lacky in bass response, but they ARE headphones.

[yphs_mst]

Senn HD650 !!

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by sprouseod

Grado RS-1
the MOST detailed HF I have ever heard

Werd!

[oceantracks]

Since when can't you use headphones for editing????

Been doing it for years, just fine using Sony 7506...

TH

[nobtwiddler]

For evaluaton purposes, I use the Sennheiser 600 - 650's but for editing
the Grado Rs-1 is the best.

Paul
www.millbrooksoundstudios.com

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by sprouseod

Grado RS-1
the MOST detailed HF I have ever heard

absolutely. i use the RS-2's regularly. prefer them to the senn 650's any day. the top end is much mo betta.

--jon

[Rep]

When I deep in a mix and my ADAMs are hiding what is out of wack...
I put on my HD600's and they shine a flood light on what is wrong !
I have 6 pairs of different headphones and they are the most reveling by a good shot.

[True North]

I find these;

http://www.remoteaudio.com/hn7506.htm

to be the s$%t. They use the guts of a Sony 7506 but with better isolation which makes it great for tracking, remote audio situations and detailed listening. If you are going to plunk down $300-$400 for a set of cans they might as well be flexible and these things rock. I wont track myself on drums with anything else, good luck!

[JonCraig]

Originally Posted by True North

They use the guts of a Sony 7506

ack! they couldn't find better donor guts than 7506's? do they mod the drivers to flatten the freq response (especially in the upper mids)? or is it just a much more isolated 1k-3k assault?

7506's are to reference cans what mac & cheese is to a gourmet meal.

--jon

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by JonCraig

ack! they couldn't find better donor guts than 7506's? do they mod the drivers to flatten the freq response (especially in the upper mids)? or is it just a much more isolated 1k-3k assault?

7506's are to reference cans what mac & cheese is to a gourmet meal.

--jon

Folks love to slam them - and they are bright and harsh to my ears now, but I know engineers with great ears who TRUST them (like my friend Andy Hong - TapeOp).

I can use them at very low volumes - they do have suprising bas response.

[contramark]

i think i couldnt go without my sony 7506. i trust and know what everything sounds like through those headphones because they just seem to be extremely accurate throughout all frequencies. i feel they are very bad to monitor the volume of sub or bass sounds, because its just not there, but i think that what makes them so good. they never get muddy or overwhelming sounding like so many other closed headphones. also my ears never seem fatigued from them like other headphones.

[juicemaster1500]

I really don't see the point with the sony's when you already have the akg k271s.

I think the akg's hold up pretty well against the high end sennheisers too (haven't heard the 650's), but they're not as comfy.

[oceantracks]

Yeah, I've had great results over the years with 7506. I've even done late night rough mixes that translated great and ended up being kept the next day

The one gripe I have with them is that I've been through so many of them. They tend to short out around the headphone speaker itself...anyone else had reliability problems with them?

I've often wondered what the best sounding AND .....the MOST DURABLE headphone is out there...

TH

[JonCraig]

this reminds me of another NS-10 debate. a lot.

(of course, i like NS-10's... so i'm not sure where that puts me.)

--jon

[nek]

Sony MDR 7509
Love mine.

Side Note:
And I personally disagree with the idea that you can't edit and mix on headphone. I think that you can use anything that know how it sounds against the rest of the world. Also people are listening to their music more and more on headphones (earbuds) of some kind these days. It seams like it would be a good idea to know what your mixes sound like on headphones before you press "print" on your mix so to speak.

[Joost]

Will it be much better than the AKG 271s I own now? The thing is, when I EQ a section or turn on compression, I can hear the effects of that much better on my Genelec 8040's than on the AKG 271s. So I am looking for a headphone that will really let me hear the subtle changes better.

[songman]

Sennheiser HD 650 and Ultrasone 650 Proline

[0VU]

If the headphones have to be a closed design to eliminate external noise then Sony MDR7509 are my favourite. Comfortable, clean and reasonably low colouration.

If the surroundings are quiet enough and leakage isn't a problem then it has to be Sennheiser HD650. More comfortable, lower colouration than the Sonys (or almost any other headphone I've ever used) and very neutral/detailed.

Either way, if you're using them for anything important, get a decent headphone amp! The amps built into even very high quality gear are generally rubbish and can be bettered by designs costing very little. For a really high end performance (and fairly high end price!) the Grace m902 (or m904/906/901) is superb and makes a huge difference to the performance of a decent pair of cans. (It also does a lot more than just drive a pair of headphones.)


If cost is no object, you can live with a bit of an acclimatisation period (they take some getting used to!), and have a really quiet listening environment - they have no isolation at all - then Stax SR-007 Omega Ref. II cans imo are, in some ways, the ultimate reference and are the most comfortable cans I own. With a preamp/energiser (they're electrostatic) you're looking at something that costs as much as a reasonable pair of monitors but for the money you get something that'll equal, and often better, the detail and transparency of even the very best and most esoteric monitor/room combinations. They're expensive and take time to get used to but there's nothing to touch them. (The HD650/m902 combination does, however, them a good run for their money for a lot less outlay.)

[audioboy6]

You can't go wrong with the senn 580, 600, or 650. Depending on what your budget is. You might also want to check out the AKG 501s. Also if you go to headphone.com they have a lot good information. It is a little on the consumer hifi side of things but it is a cool site, with some good stuff.

[Synth80s]

Sennheiser HD-650s are definitely the best I've ever used. Fantastic depth of field, clarity and bass that extends low and sounds so natural, you'll think you're listening to speakers. I pulled them off once late at night thinking I accidentally had my monitors on at the same time!

I've also used Sennheiser Ovation 565 IIs, HD-280s, various AKGs and Sony 7506s. The Sony's are great for tracking when you want the track to have a little extra eneergy at the top and bottom, but they aren't accurate enough for mixing or editing IMO. I never really dug the sound of any AKGs.

-Synth80s

[yeloocproducer]

Originally Posted by max cooper

Werd!

Yep. But be careful... grados sound so detailed in the high freqs that if you stay up all night editing in them, you'll damn near lose your hearing. But they are GREAT for accuracy. Maybe just for your last draft? That's what I do sometimes...

[mikesilence]

DT770 PRO!!! Great sounding headphone.

Greetz,

Mike

[Trp]

STAX are the best I´ve used (but they are pricey).

As far as dynamic (and less expensive) headphones go: Sennheiser HD 600.

[zemlin]

Another GRADO fan here. Also another who doesn't want 7506s anywhere near his ears.

The main thing I find I cannot do with the Grados is choose the right reverb for a mix. I can get things sounding sweet in the cans and when I go to monitors it just sucks. I have not tested my other cans in this scenerio to see if I have the same issue.

FWIW, I have the bottom-of-the-barrel RS80s. Someday I'll get some wood ones, but I need to get some more mics first.

[themick]

I use a pair of PROline 750s (the closed version of the 2500s) for monitoring and mixing with my laptop setup and they work great. Good detail and placement. I experience very little ear fatigue as well so they are great for long mixing sessions.

[James Lehmann]

I have both Sony MDR-7506 and 7509's here.

Why?

I couldn't get consensus on which was better so I had no option but to go the tried and trusted Gearslutz route of grabbing both!

When I first started using the 7509's I thought there was something wrong with them as they sounded dull compared to other cans, but after persevereing with them I really like them now - very neutral and well-balanced. The 7506 by contrast sound much more exciting but the high end is seriously shrill, which may be good for emphasising clicks and pops but isn't an accurate representation of the music.

I used to use Beyer DT990's which were fantastically comfortable but consistently baffling when trying to mix vocals, and no good for tracking as they are open (although there is closed version the 770).