Hi there

Has anyone used these headphones ? I have a set of HD 25s which I find great for tracking/live mixing but I want something a little better for studio mixing.

Any other headphones I should be looking at?

Regards
Paraic

The Senny HD650s are very popular, but I would suggest also trying the AKG K701 /K702, and the Beyer DT990. All are open-backed. I'm sure others will have more recommendations, but these are the open-backed cans I would recommend. I personally prefer the AKGs, but would be quite happy to use any of them, and do have HD650s here as an alternative (in addition to various closed back headphones).

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Hi Paraic!

I love my Sennheiser HD650's, and have mixed various albums with them

We've actually compared a lot of different studio headphones in this round-up, so have a read to find out more:

www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/articles/studioheadphones.htm

I also wrote a feature on how to get the best out of headphones for mixing purposes here if it's of any help:

www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec03/articles/mixingheadphones.htm


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

If you can stretch to them, the Shure open-backed phones (SRH1840) are lovely.

I think the hd650s paired with an SPL 2control might give me what I'm looking for. Thanks for the help

one of these days i might be able to afford them. as it is, i am told that my HD580s are very similar but "colder" in the bass range. i couldn't imagine doing my audio restoration work with any other headphones than my senns.

At that sort of price the best do seem to be the Sennheiser HD 600 & HD 650 and the AKG K701 & K702.

At a higher price the new HD 700 are worth looking at, and the HD 800 (what I now use) are superb.

The HD 700 comes half way between the HD 650 and HD 800 in both price and quality IMHO.

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John - Sound-Link ProAudio
President - Federation Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons

Quote John Willett:

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At that sort of price the best do seem to be the Sennheiser HD 600 & HD 650 and the AKG K701 & K702.

At a higher price the new HD 700 are worth looking at, and the HD 800 (what I now use) are superb.

The HD 700 comes half way between the HD 650 and HD 800 in both price and quality IMHO.

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The new Shure ones Sam suggests above really do warrant a place on any list like this. They're stunningly good, even at the price. They're rather more pricey than the HD650s but much cheaper than the HD800s. I've always found my 650s to be great in the mid-range and HF detail, but slightly lacking in detail at the bottom end, sounding faintly wooly when working in some genres. Great for acoustic/jazz/classical styles, but very much second best to a couple of other models for rock/pop/electronica. Will be interested to try the HD700s to see if this aspect has been nailed any better.

[*no, I don't own them, but have done a 'shootout' between them and my own 650s, which I've also compared directly with the various AKG, Beyerdynamic, Ultrasone (ugh), Sony and other leading 'pro' headphones. And no, I don't own shares in Shure!]

I really love my HD650s. Got them a couple of months ago.
Prior to that I had a older cheaper model closed-back of Sennheisers, that were nice and accurate in their own way, but simply didn't have the bass...
so I was forever struggling a bit, having to compare them with the room sound from my monitors (Event TR8XL's)

Finally, with the HD650s, I have headphones that basically sound the same as the monitors! I was taking them on and off my head and could barely tell the difference! (well, I could tell a small difference, but it was easy to adjust too). This has saved my neighbours upstairs from much thumping bass through their floor!

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~~~ A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen as you are tossed with! www.feline1.co.uk ~~~

Quote John Willett:

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At that sort of price the best do seem to be the Sennheiser HD 600 & HD 650 and the AKG K701 & K702.

At a higher price the new HD 700 are worth looking at, and the HD 800 (what I now use) are superb.

The HD 700 comes half way between the HD 650 and HD 800 in both price and quality IMHO.

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I would definately agree that the HD700 and the HD800 are superb, however I think that the sound signature of the HD600/HD650 is somewhat different. Many are not keen on the latest Sennheiser High End headphones when coming from HD650's.

Your best bet might be the Beyerdynamic T1 or T90?

Quote PWannell:

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Quote John Willett:

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At that sort of price the best do seem to be the Sennheiser HD 600 & HD 650 and the AKG K701 & K702.

At a higher price the new HD 700 are worth looking at, and the HD 800 (what I now use) are superb.

The HD 700 comes half way between the HD 650 and HD 800 in both price and quality IMHO.

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I would definately agree that the HD700 and the HD800 are superb, however I think that the sound signature of the HD600/HD650 is somewhat different. Many are not keen on the latest Sennheiser High End headphones when coming from HD650's.

Your best bet might be the Beyerdynamic T1 or T90?

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Agreed that the 700 and 800 sound different - but when I moved to the 800 from the 600 and 650 I found that the 800 was so very much better I did not enjoy the 600 and 650 anymore.

In fact, when I first listened to the 800 - after listening to what I thought was a couple of hours, I found that 6 hours had gone by and it was 2:00 in the morning.

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John - Sound-Link ProAudio
President - Federation Internationale des Chasseurs de Sons

Quote John Willett:

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... when I moved to the 800 from the 600 and 650 I found that the 800 was so very much better I did not enjoy the 600 and 650 anymore.

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I agree after listening to the 800, i couldn't return to 650.
800 to me was efforetless. 650 was trying oh so very hard in comparison, resulting in a boxy sound.
Considering the price difference this is to be expected, nevertheless i prefer a different sound to the 650 boxyness.

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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The Senny HD650s are very popular, but I would suggest also trying the AKG K701 /K702, and the Beyer DT990. All are open-backed. I'm sure others will have more recommendations, but these are the open-backed cans I would recommend. I personally prefer the AKGs, but would be quite happy to use any of them, and do have HD650s here as an alternative (in addition to various closed back headphones).

hugh

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Hugh - how would you characterize the differences between the Beyer DT 880 Pros and the 990s?

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Alexis -Cubase 6.5.0/SX3.1.1.944, XP SP2, 4GB RAM (1GB not accessible, but used just to balance the computer so it doesn't tip over); Delta 66 in Omni i/O Studio; Motif8; UAD-1

I use the 650's and I'm very happy with them. Did an A-B test against KRK Rokit 5's and couldn't tell the difference. You can wear them for hours, very comfortable.
Mick

I can't recommend the AKG 702s enough.

My "fat" mixes sounded flat and boring. Revealing flattering monitors in a small room
and other flattering open headphones such as the cheaper sennheiser HD 598, which I think makes a good match, neither are fatiguing and if they sound good on both cans chances are your mix is good.

The 598 is slightly flattering for sure, but puts a different spectrum of sound in focus, and they are both lightweight and easy to wear.

If you already having something like that and are looking for even response and clarify the 702s won't steer you wrong. Might be a little depressing at first, lol. Thats when I put the 598s on cheers me up add some more parts or eliminate some, fix the arrangement, then back to the 702s for critical mixing.

Good luck! Cheers,

-pabloAugustus

p.s. offering melodica chord progressions, solos, subtle interjections on a variety of all metal vintage honer melodicas collected thoughout the years, as well as steel pan work. Refundable of course. Recording through a Universal Audio LA610 cleanly into a fireface with both nice tube and solid state mics.

p.p.s Can we add our overdubbing work in our sigs on this forum? if not I'm sorry. I'll check rules and edit....