Studio Monitoring Headphones.

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Hello all, I've not closely looked into this subject, but is it actually possible to write a complete track using a good quality set of studio headphones? I know nothing beats a set of studio speakers, but I'm just wondering, what with the state of technology is at present, a good set of headphones can be used to produce music accurately? Also, any recommendations would be good if poss. Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser I've noticed are at the forefront!

Cheers.
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J.S.Bach.(1685 - 1750). The greatest achievement in the history of music!

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When you have a good headphone (and you are familiar with it), it is possible to do a lot on them, like producing and even some mixing. However, in the end, I would at least spend some time with the track on monitors too. In my experience, it's often the kick drum and things like reverb that need some tweaking as soon as I hear it on my monitors in the studio.

I think it's possible to do 90% on headphones, but for the last 10% I think you need to check your mix on good monitors (in a good acoustically treated room) too, as some things simply are difficult to get right on headphones alone.

I have experience with the AKG K701 and K702 headphones and I love them for producing and some pre-mixing. They sound pretty natural, have a wide soundstage, nothing is hyped. Just make sure to use a decent headphone output, they need some juice before they start to sound good!
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Mixing to a degree yes as suggested you will want a decent set of monitor speakers and then check your mixes on as many sources as possible; hifi, car, small headphones, tv...you'll be surprised what your ears will pick up and identify on different gear.
Personal recommendation for home use Adam A7x monitor speakers and a set of Beyerdynamics 880pros. But it's all down to your budget really.
Last edited by MFXxx on Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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I recently bought the Focal Spirit Professional and they are really great. They are the first headphones I own (the actual others I have are Beyerdynamics DT-770 and DT-990), that I use alot while mixing, and the results when switching back to my Adams A7 monitors were never disapponting.

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all true, just want to add that i use toneboosters TB Isone with my AKG.
Whoever wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold, creative work instead of business, passion instead of foolery, finds no home in this trivial world of ours.

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I've been using the Ultrasone Pro 750 for the past 4 years and I'm truly very happy with it's performance. I tend to do most of my work at night (when the little ones are sleeping) and have to rely on my Ultrasones a lot. I agree with these comments below:

"Ultrasone are perhaps one of the most unique headphone manufacturers. They design their headphones to safely deliver a pleasing listening experience that is more spacial and open than any other design. Their unique S-logic technology allows this.

The Ultrasone Pro 750 is a closed back titanium plated driver headphone. The sound is detailed and dare I say cold. the stereo image is vast with an overall clean sound. I found them to be bass light, but not inaccurate. These headphones are designed to be flat and true. The high end on the other hand has a precision that reminds me of the way Adam audio speakers deliver highs. Fast, articulate and almost seperated from the rest of the spectrum."

http://www.ultrasone-headphones.com/en/ ... ro/pro-750
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Hi ive mixed. edm and a little guitar on headphones. I definitely could have worked better at it but I still got good results.

I use Senhesiser 280 hd pro 's . I found a good deal years ago. they work great for everything including mixes and mastering. theyre really great DJ style headphones that are pretty flat too in the hearing response, (WHICH IS SOUGHT AFTER). senheiser 280 are about good average elisteing "style" headphones that are actually pretty clear and have lots of bass capablility. The highs are great and not harsh. It produces distortion in mids a little, but im not sure why. it isn't bad because it will help your music sound good on bad headphones by you making them even better on yours.

For studio monitors, ive listened to many, ironically I find M audio bx5a's the better ones for 5's. probably 8's too, which is my next go for bigger bass, which is necasary on studio "monitors". Studio monitors often and are mostly sold individually. Rather on headphones ofcourse you get TWO EARS listeing available for one price.

I really like my GENERIC headphones. in green. They may have been only 8 bucks and I believe by a company called GENERIC, but wow they sound awesome for 8 bucks. they just only get half as loud, is what ive found, their stable at full loudness and are 64 ohm I believe. I think I would try studio monitors and the GENERICS. youll be surprised. they don't break and they have a kinda of short cord, so you can takem anywhere. I really do believe I would be able to do a mix on them,. I believe I found them on the search of "dj style headphones" at amazon

cheers. I highly recommend my advice on either the senheisers or some bx5 or bx8s. both can be found on sale probably and are well well WELL worth getting. GENERICS TOO.

PS

I just listened to my cheap 8 dollars GENERIC brand headphones I believe thyre called. Im blown away, these are clean and clear, and sound BETTER for mastering than my senheisers. CRAZY! Im blown away, thyere incredible. must be made by some rich people. They sound medium up front but they don't distort. Also theyre SO SO SO VERY FLAT!
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solidtrax wrote: I think it's possible to do 90% on headphones, but for the last 10% I think you need to check your mix on good monitors (in a good acoustically treated room) too, as some things simply are difficult to get right on headphones alone.
this is the same advice people give on toms hardware when somebody just wants a basic cheap older pc because they don't have enough money to buy a new pc. if you dont have, do your best with what you do have.

you NEED air, you don't NEED monitors, it would be nice to HAVE monitors, just as it would be nice to HAVE a brand new modern pc. if you have neither, then you have neither. you can have just as much fun with an older/very old pc using old/very old plugs or studio monitor headphones. and if you want speakers and you can't afford studio monitors, just get some cheap desktop speakers, hell, buy them from a thrift store if that's all you can afford.

man, i swear people with money don't realize that those that don't have money can find a perfect solution that matches their budget. will his mix suffer without studio monitors? for sure. but if that's all he can afford he can still find much happiness and satisfaction. im not directing this at anybody because who knows what his budget is, but its for those in the future who have not much money and read this.

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I actually have a cool little link here I hope. I found something similar.

Theyre like mine but they look way more cool.

http://www.amazon.com/Adjustable-Circum ... es+generic

http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Kermit-He ... 91&sr=1-18

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh= ... 1398368936
Ableton Live 8 Suite 64 Bit, Sylenth1 64 Bit,Rapture, Zeta+2,Synthmaster, Dimenison Pro, Mo' Phatt. and Waves plugs.
DELL i-3770 3.9ghz, 12GB RAM, INTEL SSD,
M-Audio Bx8 D2
Oxygen 49
TC ELECTRONIC impact twin 64 Bit
Fast Track Plus
Grace and love

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AstralExistence wrote:
solidtrax wrote: I think it's possible to do 90% on headphones, but for the last 10% I think you need to check your mix on good monitors (in a good acoustically treated room) too, as some things simply are difficult to get right on headphones alone.
this is the same advice people give on toms hardware when somebody just wants a basic cheap older pc because they don't have enough money to buy a new pc. if you dont have, do your best with what you do have.

you NEED air, you don't NEED monitors, it would be nice to HAVE monitors, just as it would be nice to HAVE a brand new modern pc. if you have neither, then you have neither. you can have just as much fun with an older/very old pc using old/very old plugs or studio monitor headphones. and if you want speakers and you can't afford studio monitors, just get some cheap desktop speakers, hell, buy them from a thrift store if that's all you can afford.

man, i swear people with money don't realize that those that don't have money can find a perfect solution that matches their budget. will his mix suffer without studio monitors? for sure. but if that's all he can afford he can still find much happiness and satisfaction. im not directing this at anybody because who knows what his budget is, but its for those in the future who have not much money and read this.
Wow, I think you are way to negative about my post that is only trying to be HONEST!
I have been selling computers for 10 years in the past and I was one of the people who was actually HONEST to people, not trying to sell them the very best, but really listening to their wishes and demands. However, if somebody would tell me that he wants to have a computer that is so powerful, that he can - in real time - produce a track with 10 instances of DIVA, 10 instances of LuSH-101 and a lot of other EQ/Dynamics/FX plugins for all his 64 channels of audio, I would not recommend him a $400 computer with a Celeron CPU. Yes, you can make music on a $400 computer, but it would not realize his wishes, I would give him the ADVICE to get a faster computer. It's up to him what he does with my HONEST advice. Sure, it's totally possible he has no money.. sorry for him, but he has to lower his expectations.

If you read my advice again, you see that I don't say it as a fact that you need good monitors, I say that I THINK that you need good monitors, so it's my OPINION. Perhaps I should have been even more careful when stating my opinion in case somebody like you reads it all in a negative way. I should probably have said something like "In my opinion, based on my own experience, I believe it's a good idea to have (good) monitors to be able to check your mix you did on your headphones."

When people ask for an opinion about something, I should be allowed to give my opinion. What good will come from it when all the responses he gets are:
"Sure, you don't need anything else, you can do everything with headphones and there is simply no reason to get (good) monitors. And don't get an acoustically treated room, it's all a myth. Besides, you are using headphones, so the acoustics of your room are not important. Headphones are the best, monitors are for loosers, they are absolutely not needed, never, ever! It doesn't even matter what headphones you have, as long as you are familliar with them, all headphones will do the job just perfectly, even the $5 headphones that sound crappy! All you have to do is make sure your music sounds exactly as crappy as some of your reference songs and your have nothing to worry about!"
Untold Stories Vol.1 - 64 Arturia MiniFreak presets
Analog History - 84 Behringer DeepMind 6/12/12D presets
Earth & Stars - 139 Free Patches for SuperMassive
Website

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It has been so long since attempting to mix with phones, the memory is foggy. Talking ancient history. Maybe with practice it could work ok. It takes practice with speakers as well. No instant gratification unless a person is lucky enough to be a 'natural'.

Problem I recall mixing with phones, was hearing things TOO WELL in the phones. I'd tend to bury important things such as vocals, because in the phones the vocals were easy to hear, every word inteligible, even set way back in the mix.

Or at least the phones-mixed vocals would often sound buried when heard on speakers. I made similar mistakes with assorted istruments, mixing them too quiet on phones because the phones made very quiet tracks too easy to hear and identify, but on speakers sometimes one couldn't even hear those same quiet tracks in the mix.

Maybe some brands of phones could ameliorate the problem, or maybe some folks wouldn't have the problem at all.

There are so many brands and models nowadays, could drive a person crazy trying to decide what to get.

The most pleasing sounding phones I had were electrostatic stax phones, but they are way too expensive and not very practical for generic studio purposes. The stax were completely open inch deep tubes over the ear, with a very thin electrostatic film suspended in the middle, and wire mesh to protect the film.

For my taste were a little bit light on very low bass and very high treble, but they made other brands of phones at the time (by comparison) sound like listening to music with yer head in a cardboard box. In fact, one could make the stax sound like other typical well-regarded headphones of the time, just by holding one's hands alongside one's head, a couple of inches away from the phones. It was shocking how easily the ear could get accustomed to the closed sound in ordinary phones, and not even notice a problem until hearing a set of phones where all of a sudden it didn't sound like yer head is in a box.

I like etymotics earbuds, though there are a couple of competing brands said to be as good or better. High quality earbuds with a good generic adapter fit, or even better with custom earmolds, couple to the ear really well, avoiding the "boxy" feeling an entirely different way than open phones.

You need closed phones or good-fitting earbuds for tracking with microphones, or live sound work. For mixing or listening I'd go looking for open back phones or good buds. So that only narrows it down to a million choices including scads of new brands I've never heard of, along with the old standby's. :)

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Yes thanks for the replies, very interesting read, many thanks!

The best thing to do is find a reference track you know sounds right through your monitors, and then see how it compares through some headphones, it's a start!

The KRK KNS 8400's have had some favourable reviews, but there are many!
http://soundcloud.com/origin-1

J.S.Bach.(1685 - 1750). The greatest achievement in the history of music!

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Would there be a particular set of studio headphones geared to more harder hitting genres like D n B or Trance?
http://soundcloud.com/origin-1

J.S.Bach.(1685 - 1750). The greatest achievement in the history of music!

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Everything solidtrax said.

As for recommendation: Denon AH-D7100. And "lower-end" - AH-D600 and Sennheiser HD 25-1 II. Because, very unusually, the results are correct, without any serious errors in frequency response or levels.
"Music is spiritual. The music business is not." - Claudio Monteverdi

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Of course it's possible. But get semi-open or open headphones (BD 880 Pro, Senn HD 600 or AKG K701).

Read this: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan07/a ... phones.htm

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