Mixing/Mastering Headphones: HD-600 or DT-880 Pro or..?

[creativeforge]

Sorry, I fixed the quote above

No worries!

[3ee]

I don’t trust software like Sonarworks cause each unit of any particular headphone is different,

I'm not talking about the "general" calibration profiles that SonarWorks offer (although they are not half bad either). The headphones I have are individually calibrated, meaning they actually took this particular set of headphones out of the box, calibrated them and created a unique calibration profile just for me.

Yeah, the 'general' profiles are a hit and miss thing so they aren't 'half-bad' seems accurate

I am aware that Sonarworks sell individually calibrated headphones although I find them grossly overpriced, sorry! Cool idea tho but I prefer to do them myself and have done with great success!

Out of curiosity, if you play a relatively slow speed sine-sweep do you notice any deviation from 'absolutely flat' here and there? They do claim to get the correction tight within 0.9 dB from flat.

[rasmus_b]

Out of curiosity, if you play a relatively slow speed sine-sweep do you notice any deviation from 'absolutely flat' here and there? They do claim to get the correction tight within 0.9 dB from flat.

No, I didn't test them with sine sweeps. What I did notice though was that I was suddenly able to create mixes on headphones that translate well

The biggest difference for me was going from no calibration to the "general" profile. This really helped me get low end right (below 300 Hz or so). The individually calibrated pair of DT 770s I got later made less of a difference.

[currentsound]

It's very hard to find anything better than Audeze LCD-X headphones for mixing and mastering IF YOU MUST use headphones. Still not as good as using actual monitors though.

I had the LCD-X in my short list for a long time and still am interested to at least give them a good check.. also the HD-800S ... but the winner for me seems to be the Focal Clear, at least from what I’ve studied on the internet..

The LCD-X is said to do bass particularly well all the way down with good tonal balance, dynamics/impact and detail... and that’s about it as I understand.. I have no idea until I give them a listen.. the HD-800 OTOH lacks bass amount and impact, are more bright and very detailed but are a bit harshy and unnaturally wide (the mid/center image is elongated)... The Focal Clear so far seems the winner for all categories, a “jack of all trades” but in a good way.. perfect as a reference headphone for mixing and mastering.. but am a bit worried about the ‘clicking’ problem when the driver maxes out in some instances..

Have no definite idea until I’ll have a good listen though... and yes, so far I didn’t came across a ‘perfect’ headphone for mixing/mastering and probably never is... the new Heddphone from Hedd looks promising tho

You'll go crazy trying to interpret comments online. You have to hear them. I have not heard the Focal Clear headphones. If you couldn't listen to them to compare them I'd say the Audeze headphones are still the way to go. You can't compare them with specs. They're not even made from speakers. I don't know how it works exactly but you can run your finger over them and feel the fazor and the fact that they are bumpy. They use Planar Magnetic technology. Making sound from magnets instead of from a tiny speaker. The difference is massive. You can't really compare it to a normal pair of headphones. Everyone that has heard mine is blown away. They end up hating their few hundred dollar pair of headphones. If you had to mix on headphones, you can't get much better. In saying that, they remind me a little of Genetic monitors in the fact that everything sounds too nice. They are not a replacement for my Adam A7s. They are not mid forward. They have a higher top end and louder bass. Personally, I'd struggle to mix on them only. I just start the mix on them if needed and use them for beat-making. I don't finish the mix on them. They are a little too flattering. They are also very heavy on your head. However, still the best I have heard in a headphone. I have the latest revision. They keep trying to improve them more.

[cristian2cu]

IMO, mixing could be finished somehow with headphones (I do not agree with this method) but mastering...hmmm. Real mastering never!
Sonarworks, it is a help for homestudio but first you need to get used with.