Alternative to K702 headphones for techno / electronic music?

I’ve been using AKG K702 for about 7 years but aside from the comfort and wide soundstage, the bass is so weak. I have Sonarworks 3 which has a profile for the K702 but even with that my mixes don’t translate well. I’m just very frustrated with these cans and ready to try something else. Some people swear by the Sennheiser HD-650. Some people find them too laid back and not ideal for production or mixing. Fyi, I only like open or semi-open back cans. Comfort is important as I use headphones 80% of the time when working on music. Thanks.

I’ve said it before but if you want a flat frequency response, Neumann headphones are where it’s at.

My father has the 650s, I don’t rate them at all. Actually I thought they were terrible, and that’s from a Sennheiser fan.

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Thanks! Is there a particular model you recommend that won’t force me to sell my Octatrack?

There’s only 1 model, the NDH 20. The price is extremely good for what you get, very well made and I don’t know of another pair of headphones as good for music production.

Perhaps there are in the super high end but I don’t know what goes on over 1000 £/$/€

FYI I make techno too

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Ok thanks. I’d have to sell my AKG K702 (too little bass) and Denon D600 (too much bass) and pay an extra $200 for these… I may do it as I’d rather have just one pair of excellent canst than having to cross reference on 2-3 ok ones.

Shure SRH1840. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/shure-srh1840

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Interesting! These seem to tick a lot of boxes for me as a replacement for my broken DT770 (closed back, accurate, good bass, comfortable). How easy are they to drive? I don’t want to use a headphone amp and will sometimes want to connect them directly to my iPad or an Elektron box with nothing else

I’ve used The 650’s for years. I like them. I make house and techno.

I use can opener with sonarworks

I found that makes a big difference. Place it before sonarworks in your chain.

In terms of the songs translating, I have found it isn’t really possible to achieve a perfect mix with headphones but it is possible to get close.

Been using Sennheiser HD8 DJ for 3 years while mixing techno sets out of a MODEL1.
These have a huge dynamic.
Selling them as I do not dj mix that much anymore :slight_smile:

I use beyer DT 880 pro 600ohms with lake people headphone amp and am happy with it…

Shure SRH1840 are my personal fav’s. They are so good.

Had 701’s also but they are too bright and fatiguing for me.

For anyone considering… don’t however try and buy them on ebay unless its with a known seller, it’s rife with knock off headphones and these in particular.

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Very easy to drive. I use them with my ipad all the time.

I used to have DT770 also. Pile of crap they were. Mine also broke

Thanks, good to know! They are definitely a front-runner in terms of potential replacements. I take it you’re happy with the bass from a techno production POV?

To be fair to the DT770, I broke them messing around with really low bass frequencies on the Model:Cycles :joy: It blew a driver, which sounded quite cool until I realised what had happened lol. I did quite enjoy the sound of them, but I found the bass didn’t translate very well, hence my looking to upgrade. Well, that, and I find it really boring to buy the same thing twice haha

+1 for this.
Sonarworks really is a gamechanger for mixing. I have a calibrated HD650 from sonarworks and I am very happy with them!

The bass on the NDH20 is extended and very clear. Not bloated like the DT770. It is powerful only when the music is, as opposed to all the time with the 770.

I am very happy with them. I have the Neumann KH310s and the sound signature is very similar.

One thing I have noticed using the headphones is I tend to add more distortion than is necessary, perhaps because they are very clear. Then when I put it through the monitors I realise it’s too much and turn the distortion down a bit. I don’t think that’s a bad thing about the headphones, it’s more just me.

I use headphones mostly to get things going - when I’m looping the same shit forever, I always make any big decisions on the monitors. I need to feel the music physically. But then I grew up listening to music out of big speakers my whole life, unlike many.

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Dt770 aren’t a pile of crap imho.
Been using for years and mixes translate well.
There are many better options no doubt, but they’re not crap . I’d say that they’re a good standard to judge other headphones against in my opinion

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The frequency response curve looks like the Swiss alps.

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Perfect, this is what I’m after! Thanks for the information

Just ordered a pair @Munro, saw them new for £325 which seems pretty good. I’ll let you know how I get on, I confirmed that I can return if they are not suitable :slight_smile: Thanks again!

I´m using Audio-Technica´s ATH-R70X with CanOpener and SW. Very neutral, but its open and not bass heavy.
Can also recommend the closed, very good bass translating, headphones from Phonon (4400 or SMB-02).

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