Best headphones for noisy environment

[GearNostalgia]

Sadly I have no good way to isolate my studiospace from the racket of the kids. Closing doors shut can not cut out the rattle from legos, cartoon network and all that. So I will ahve to get some isolated headphones. Do you think a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-770 M? Or what else do you think will work? I want to get something that has a good and full sound for mixing so I would like to stay away from active cancelling technology.

[yellowmix]

Yeah closed back is your best bet but keep your expectations realistic. It'll attenuate outside sound but won't fully block children activity levels in a home. Nothing can.

Closed back tends to limit the soundstage so you'll just have to adjust.

[yellowmix]

Could also try to find a closed back planar magnetic which would help in the soundstage department, as well as bass. It does suffer in the highs but you could correct that with an EQ curve or if Solarworks supports it.

Is all compromises really.

Could maybe build some damping structures, hanging movers blankets on lightstands or something. That's more for blocking in room reflections, not sure how well it would work to attenuate sound traveling thorough the home structure itself.

[GearNostalgia]

Back planar magnetic? Never heard of that. WIll have a look just for curiosuty, but my options of building stuff is very limited. It is a standard room and we must have closets in there for storage so it is all compromise as you know. I know isolated headphone is not optimum mixing tools, but hey most people listen to music on 20 bucks in ears on Spotify anyway

So I am jsut trying to get the best isolated phones I can and so far the Beyer DT 770 M seems like a winner by specs. Are they?

Could also try to find a closed back planar magnetic which would help in the soundstage department, as well as bass. It does suffer in the highs but you could correct that with an EQ curve or if Solarworks supports it.

Is all compromises really.

Could maybe build some damping structures, hanging movers blankets on lightstands or something. That's more for blocking in room reflections, not sure how well it would work to attenuate sound traveling thorough the home structure itself.

[Josiael]

The Seinheiser HD 201 is very usefull and reduce noisy invironment very well.

[jochicago]

My $0.02,

In my extensive research for my own purposes, the DT 770 came up as the best closed backs for mixing, period. They have the closest sound to open backs anywhere near their budget range. Also more balanced sound than the higher models. You can't go bad mixing with DT 770. I'd still prefer open back, but if you need the sound isolation the DT 770 are the best bet.

Also: TB Isone
https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_bustools_v3.html#tabs-7

I put this at the end of the master bus, and it creates a room environment inside the headphones. For me it only comes on at intervals because I enjoy the detail I get from my DT 990 Pros as-is, but when I'm panning and when I'm trying to get some perspective of the room feel, I turn the Isone on for a couple minutes and it's a huge referencing solution. You could leave it on longer if you enjoy the feel of monitors and don't want to do without.

I'm not a pro so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I don't feel I'm lacking anything mixing in headphones. I have studio monitors, and they are off most of the time. I only check on them for referencing every now and then. Mixing in the headphones is a joy. I don't annoy the people around me, and I hear more detail than I get from the monitors.

[Woody450@live.com]

I love the higher end Vmoda cans - they're probably quite scooped but they're pretty sick for Djing and the likes

[andymcbain]

The Focal Spirit Professional. Discontinued but you should still find pairs kicking about. The most flat sounding and well isolated closed back I've tried... Inner fidelity would seem to agree.

[royce84]

Seinheiser HD 201

[GearNostalgia]

The Focal Spirit Professional. Discontinued but you should still find pairs kicking about. The most flat sounding and well isolated closed back I've tried... Inner fidelity would seem to agree.

Never heard of them, but now I checked em up and they seem to have a good sound, but there seems to be a lot opinions about them beeing uncomfortable to wear and breaking down easy. What is your impression about that?

[GearNostalgia]

I have not considered them cause I am not very impressed with other gear Roland has released the last 5 years and cause they look weird, but if they pop up with more good cred I may have to change that sentiment.

I love the higher end Vmoda cans - they're probably quite scooped but they're pretty sick for Djing and the likes

[GearNostalgia]

Thank you for your input, the DT 770 remains a top candidate.

My $0.02,

In my extensive research for my own purposes, the DT 770 came up as the best closed backs for mixing, period. They have the closest sound to open backs anywhere near their budget range. Also more balanced sound than the higher models. You can't go bad mixing with DT 770. I'd still prefer open back, but if you need the sound isolation the DT 770 are the best bet.

Also: TB Isone
https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_bustools_v3.html#tabs-7

I put this at the end of the master bus, and it creates a room environment inside the headphones. For me it only comes on at intervals because I enjoy the detail I get from my DT 990 Pros as-is, but when I'm panning and when I'm trying to get some perspective of the room feel, I turn the Isone on for a couple minutes and it's a huge referencing solution. You could leave it on longer if you enjoy the feel of monitors and don't want to do without.

I'm not a pro so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I don't feel I'm lacking anything mixing in headphones. I have studio monitors, and they are off most of the time. I only check on them for referencing every now and then. Mixing in the headphones is a joy. I don't annoy the people around me, and I hear more detail than I get from the monitors.

[RexXx]

Mackie MC-250 ist also a candidate for mixing, but better isolation will have the DT-770 Pro.
DT-770M is mainly made for drum tracking.

Mackie MC-250 reviews:
viewtopic.php?f=74&t=518457&p=7286679#p7286679

[GearNostalgia]

There is another contender. Have you listened to both the MD-250 and DT-770? Which sounds most neutral? I like to have a flat response, but of course isolating away kids and TVs from other rooms is high on my list. Currently I have a pair of Sennheiser Game One. Super compfy and sound is nice(but I think they are a bit bassy and flattering perhaps). But most of all they have zero isolation from the household sounds which is why I am looking around. I could live with the sound if they were more isolated.

Mackie MC-250 ist also a candidate for mixing, but better isolation will have the DT-770 Pro.
DT-770M is mainly made for drum tracking.

Mackie MC-250 reviews:
viewtopic.php?f=74&t=518457&p=7286679#p7286679

[RexXx]

I checked the Beyer DT-770 Pro 2-3 times in a store and have the open brother DT-990 Pro, which uses the same drivers.

Besides the Mackie MC-250 and DT-990 Pro (250 ohm), I have or had some semi-open and closed cans from AKG, Audio Technica, Beyer, Superlux.

I wouldn`t call the MC-250 completly flat, but well balanced. Also they take EQ very well.
As Mackie says, they are made for critical listening and mixing. And that`s correct.
Basically they go in the similar direction as Beyers, but doesn`t have the annoying sibilance many people hear on Beyers.
Bass goes very deep, doesn`t sound hyped.
Stereofield is very good.
Other people can describe the sound better, that`s why I posted the review list and because there are not many reviews out yet.

Isolation is better than semi-open cans, but not really the best for a closed headphone.

They are very easy to drive (32 ohm), have removable cable and ear-pads.

Better isolation, build quality, long time support will have the Beyers.

Because hearing and comfort feeling is very individual, the best is check or order as many headphones as you can!


Some headphone tools:
Sonarworks - Reference Headphone Edition (headphone eq)
Toneboosters - Morphit (headphone eq)
Equalizer APO (free, system-wide eq & VST host for Windows)
Dotec Audio - DeeSpeaker (free, crossfeed / near-field speaker simulation)
Dotec Audio - DeeMonitor CM (extended version of DeeSpeaker, free & exclusive with Computer Music magazine)