How do you guys try out these mid-high end headphones? Not the easiest things to trial since not a case of walking into a high-street shop etc or is it a case of using online return periods?
Yes, first YouTube review to narrow down choices . Then go to store, bring your own music. Sit down and listen as much as you want. At least here in Germany.
You can also come next day as well listen a bit more and then make decisions.
I saw in states there Canjams many times a year in different cities. With almost if not all high-end headphone manufacturers.
I just googled, there was one on 18th of March in NYC
Wanted to share my stupidity in here.
For the first year or so of Syntakt use, I never put much hard thought into setting levels and mixing before I record. Iâd set levels as Iâm working on the track / parts, then when itâs ready to jam or record, I plug my Tascam recorder directly from the stereo outs on the Syntakt 95% of the time and set master volume so it doesnât clip, and press record. Iâd get the mix to where it sounded right in the moment, and almost always I ended up very happy with the results. No, not perfectly mastered, compressed, etc, but good enough to hear everything where I want it to be.
The last few months or so, every time I get something sounding sweet on the ST, I record it and take it to my phone, or car, anywhere else, and my mix sounds awful. Always super bass heavy, mids are weak and muddy. Iâd go back to the ST, tweak my mix, and once again it would come out sounding like trash.
Well, long story short, I remember now that I screwed up my last pair of headphones near the end of 2024 (cheap ones, Audio-Technica ATH-M30x) and in a pinch, I bought some to replace them on Amazon. And like a moron, I bought an INCREDIBLY cheap replacement (Tascam TH-02). Well, I guess the $20 cans are probably causing me to screw up my mix, yeah? 
Iâm thinking of going back to what I used many years ago, Sony MDRs (used to use v6, looking at the nearly-identical v7506) but I have incredibly bad luck / poise when it comes to handling cans apparently, as every time I buy a set I break them within a year somehow. Thatâs why Iâve been cheaping out.
I know people are going to tell me to take better care of my gear but I honestly think I do pretty well! I baby most of my gear. But I learned my lesson on going for something insanely cheap. Not sure how I could have forgotten this while struggling with my mixes.
Anyway, any recommendations for or against Sony MDRs would be nice 
I do recall they werenât the most comfortable to wear for extended periods. Iâm willing to spend a little more this time. Durability and âgood enoughâ sound quality are my main desires here.
regular cheap 10$ headphones that come with a smartphone usually show more mid-details/reverb balance than the most expensive models because they donât have linear soundâŚlike ns10 effect.
but only for final balance check - not for mixing
This is not criticism to op, but observation in general.
Many users have many thousands in gear, like synths, grooveboxes, effects, computers, etc. but not much investment into actually most important element in chain, like headphones and speakers, and room correction.
I know these things can get extremely high in cost, but itâs one of the things that will show most accurate sound coming out of your gear.
Off course depending on a budget you can balance what you wanna invest in first and what quality.
Saying this, i would recommend sennheiser hd600 or 650s, Neumann hd 20 or 30 and or more expensive Audeze lcd x, 2s, 3s, or any newest planar magnetic headphone released in recent years.
Some would say âyou need to learn headphones you are using, so you know their weaknesses and strengthsâ and i agree with this, but also having a good starting point is important.
Also i would recommend to go to local store, bring your own music, something you are very familiar with, and test them out. Check what kind of vibe you wanna go with.
Then later you can also mess with eq correction tools for flat frequency range/sound for mixing and mastering purposes if you are going through computer or a daw.
If not then try finding one that you think will give you a sound you want to hear.
There is a point of view that investing in headphones is a waste of money, which cannot be said about monitors and acoustic design you are right about that.
if it is possible to work without headphones, this is the best option. Mixing in headphones is not recommended - just check/edit. It is impossible to get a good mix in headphones! Headphones damage your hearing during long-term work
Honestly i am mixing and mastering my own stuff with headphones since 5 years now and canât be happier with the result.
I am no professional so i canât say itâs perfect, but i can say i get the sound out of my machines and pc the way i want them to sound
I disagree. There is no good or bad in this, only what personally fits. Off course one need to be careful with loudness, like with speakers as well. And to make regular breaks
I would even add that bad quality speakers/headphones can do much worse to your hearing that better quality stuff.
From personal example, i used to own Bayerdynamic dt 1990 pro, highly regarded for mixing and mastering, and after hours of work 8k resonance they are famous for used to make my head spin after hours of producing.
I learned my lesson, and figure out the issues. Now i donât have that problem, and i am wearing headphones i would say almost all day
2 Likes
I understand you, my thesis makes sense only in the context of a conversation about a commercial/professional work, mix engineers do not mix completely on headphones, this is just an additional tool.
in 20 years I have not heard a good headphones mix from any person or any colleague, but I immediately heartypical mistakes in headphone mixes (
in myself and in other people)
2 Likes
Thatâs also fair. And yes you can do better mixes in professional environment with proper gear. But op(i mean this thread) was looking for pair of headphones if i am not mistaken.
Ok now i see that whole conversation was moved by admin
2 Likes
thatâs right, you canât do without headphones either.
you advised hd600 or 650s, Neumann hd 20 or 30 I agree and would recommend open headphones that sit comfortably on your head.
and the curves of the headphones are all individual and the brain gets used to everythingâŚ
Personally I use akg k240 and K701âŚ
1 Like
I am rocking Audeze LCD X, and i am in love with this pair.
I do run it trough sonarworks
1 Like
I would say that your problems are probably not with any MDR-7506 so much as learning your gear to the fullest.
Definitely, buy cans that wonât break. That much I hate replacing cables and broken earpieces and have done so on much more expensive ones.
Plenty of artists/engineers use cheaper speakers/headphones and donât need to ârevealâ everything in your average mix. What you need is probably consistency, if that makes sense.
MDRs are fine, easily replaceable, and not unusable. And upgrading from them can be fine, but wonât make your mixes necessarily better if theyâre not great on any other reference.
I think being comfortable with what you have is probably more useful than running the gear treadmill forever chasing what is better, when is it ever âgood enoughâ?
3 Likes
Itâs kind of myth. I had a friend who was producing only on headphones and was able to get really good sounding mixes.
I used to produce mainly on monitors but from some time I am literally forced to produce only on headphones. And I believe there are many people like me. So even if not recommended I am pretty sure some of them are able to make very decent mixes on any kind of equipment like closed headphones.
By the way, recently bought Neumanns NDH 20 and I am very happy with them
Someone recommended them not only as good headphones but also for their great sound isolation. And I must admit than I am able to do whatever I want with kids playing in the same room and my partner watching something on a TV or listening to the music. And thatâs with no ANC
2 Likes
nope
If these mixes are in the public domain, you can give a link to them. Iâm absolutely sure they sound like a mix made on headphones
headphones canât reproduce monitor sound even with environment simulation software
the nice thing is that not caring about âdoing the right thingâ lets people just do the thing if they donât have the space to do everything in the âtechnically perfectâ manner, even if people here or on Gearspace feel they arenât good enough, because the mixes werenât done with speakers in a professionally treated room.
Because of course that is the next reason why someoneâs mixes couldnât be good, and generously leads to people then stapling cheap foam wedges or thin eggcrates to their walls.
1 Like
I think it is going to be another dispute of technical purism against a rational approach.
The truth is that the majority of people donât care about production process and they are happy with a good composition and decent mix.
And even if they listen to other track, which is much better produced it is likely they will not give a flying you know what about it.
2 Likes
Iâm not good enough to comment on this personally but Iâve watched interviews with numerous successful techno producers who produce pretty much entirely on headphones (often DT770) so Iâm inclined to agree. Personally I enjoy producing on headphones much more than monitors I think, I like the closeness of the sound.
Neumanns NDH 20
I have these too! Absolutely amazing headphones. The stuff I make on them translates really well and they are just a joy to listen to
3 Likes
for producing and arranging its ok but for mixing - no.
and not because I want it that way, but because thatâs how the physics of sound perception works monitors vs headphones.
I understand that everyone has their own idea of ââwhat a good mix is⌠Iâm talking about this level
if we are talking about a hobby or non-commercial mixes, then you can mix in headphones and on anything)
Why would someone be asking for headphone recommendations if they already owned a $50,000 studio though?
You have to learn the art somewhere, Monolink didnât start out owning any of the sort-
As creative goals and technical abilities change, so does the need for different tools of expression, be it instruments, software tools or recording equipment. Can you describe this path for you, starting from your first studio/first instrument? What motivated some of the choices you made in terms of instruments/tools/equipment over the years?
I guess having a budget makes all the difference, haha. I always wanted to have a big studio with lots of analog gear but simply couldnât afford it. So ripping plugins was the only way for me to go ahead. I had my guitars and one mic to record with.
So advice to tell people what they canât do would have stopped your favorite mixers before they were able to improve their financial situation.
âStop doing Xâ is one of those distractions from making art thatâs really better suited for influencer hot takes than it is useful in practice.
2 Likes
you are right, i donât argue⌠but there is a sad truth, you canât win a race with a crappy carâŚyes, it sounds bad, and I immediately said that I only mean what concerns the commercial side. There is a certain level of access not only for the sound engineerâs skill but also for the studio
but if someone wants to learn how to mix, itâs better not to spend money on great headphones, but to save up for monitors and room acoustics! - this is the main message!!
make beats on any 50 $ headphonesĐ° then mix on 500$ monitors with 500$
acoustic treatment âŚno spend 1050$ on headphones or 1050$ on monitors without treament! a simple logical rule