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Post by ben on Nov 16, 2014 14:18:17 GMT -6
Does anyone have opinions on headphones that are suitable for mixing? In today's portable world, it's not always practical to be in a tuned studio with great monitors. My mix room has great gear, but the room is not tuned very well (yet), and my production room has small cheap monitors that don't translate. I've used Senn. HD600's and HD280's and they both sound drastically different, neither of which are good to mix on.
It would be great to have a set of cans that I can trust to translate on other systems. Am I daydreaming or is there a solution?
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Post by indiehouse on Nov 16, 2014 16:51:59 GMT -6
I have a pair of Focal Spirit Pro's. They're worth checking out.
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Post by ben on Nov 16, 2014 18:11:55 GMT -6
I have a pair of Focal Spirit Pro's. They're worth checking out. I've read that many people like those. Do you find that your mixes on them translate well? I'm about to get an iPad and mix from the car. lol. |
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Post by mulmany on Nov 16, 2014 18:16:20 GMT -6
Give me a week... I have a set of the Shure 940 coming in this week. I really need to find a good balanced set of cans for my ears.
Unfortunately headphones are more difficult to recommend since we all have different shaped ears.
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Post by geoff738 on Nov 16, 2014 18:44:06 GMT -6
Unfortunately headphones are more difficult to recommend since we all have different shaped ears. Yeah, plus the fact that headphones (as with speakers/monitors) can be well regarded and in a similar price range and yet sound almost completely different. I think you really just have to try them out. That said, I have the Focals and while I have yet to do a mix with them, they sure are revealing. Was using Ultrasones before for checking stuff on phones and they sound nothing like the Focals. Cheers, Geoff |
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 18, 2014 13:40:43 GMT -6
I've heard Requisite Audio is coming out with an "earth shattering" take on this... requisiteaudio.com/ |
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Post by indiehouse on Nov 18, 2014 14:42:16 GMT -6
I have a pair of Focal Spirit Pro's. They're worth checking out. I've read that many people like those. Do you find that your mixes on them translate well? I'm about to get an iPad and mix from the car. lol. I tend to not mix on headphones, but they are useful for checking bass/details. |
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Post by ben on Nov 18, 2014 20:01:33 GMT -6
I've heard Requisite Audio is coming out with an "earth shattering" take on this... requisiteaudio.com/Uh oh, more product hype. It seems that everyone is always coming out with the "latest and greatest" thing, and then a year later, nobody buys it anymore. That's what I'm afraid of with the Focal's. Just like the HD600's that everyone said were amazing, I bought into the hype and was let down. Granted, they sound great, but not great for me for mixing. I hope Requisite delivers, and sure I'll keep and open mind. I just wish there was somewhere around me that I could listen to all of these suggestions and make a decision. I'm so sick of "buying to try". ::steps down from soap box::: |
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Post by mdmitch2 on Nov 18, 2014 20:09:45 GMT -6
Earlier this year, B&H was selling beyerdynamic dt880's for about $200.... not sure why, and not sure why they went back up to $300, but I bought a pair at the time. I was doing some work for a client that had a pair and he was noticing things that I wasn't picking up on my headphones and monitors, so that was enough reason right there to try them out. They've become my favorite headphones by far for checking mixes, but I really haven't worked with them THAT much yet.
They are very natural and wide sounding, but revealing of detail and sibilance in a useful way that's not too 'in your face' like the grado's I had been using for that purpose. Smooth and non fatiguing and crazy comfy for my big head. Bass is present, but not at all hyped.
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Post by jimwilliams on Nov 19, 2014 10:06:26 GMT -6
Sony V6 since the mid 1980's.
To know them is to love them.
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Post by ben on Nov 19, 2014 18:32:17 GMT -6
Sony V6 since the mid 1980's. To know them is to love them. Hey Jim, I've owned the V6's and numerous pairs of 7506's (DJ at a radio station - all the jocks had them!) There's a special place in my heart for them, but I've never been able to get a translatable mix on them. The high end is a bit crispy, but sounded great when you were on the air. I'm just going to collect a half dozen pairs of cans, get a headphone distribution box and use them all. lol. |
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Post by dandeurloo on Nov 20, 2014 22:42:40 GMT -6
What amp do you use to drive your phones?
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Post by mulmany on Nov 21, 2014 8:22:32 GMT -6
So, I got my Shure 940 in yesterday and started the break in process.
First impression after 2 hrs of listening, these are nice cans. The lows are great and not hyped and the top is very articulate but not fatiguing.
Next test is listening through the super beast head amp on my recording rig.
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Post by ben on Nov 21, 2014 10:51:43 GMT -6
What amp do you use to drive your phones? I'm using the SPL MTC 2381 |
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Post by jimwilliams on Nov 21, 2014 10:56:04 GMT -6
What amp do you use to drive your phones? I use a custom made jobbie using a LME49713 current feedback opamp in the loop of a Harris HA5002 current buffer chip, it's 2000V/us slew rate, 130 mhz bandwidth, .0005% THD and outputs 1/2 amp per side. It's direct coupled using a servo running at .2 hz. Drummers love it as it reproduces their kit with extreme fidelity at excessive levels. i usually turn it up to around '7' or so and wait.... wait..... wait...... until I hear that feeble cry of "is it possible to turn the cans DOWN? |
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Post by tonycamphd on Nov 21, 2014 11:08:32 GMT -6
What amp do you use to drive your phones? I use a custom made jobbie using a LME49713 current feedback opamp in the loop of a Harris HA5002 current buffer chip, it's 2000V/us slew rate, 130 mhz bandwidth, .0005% THD and outputs 1/2 amp per side. It's direct coupled using a servo running at .2 hz. Drummers love it as it reproduces their kit with extreme fidelity at excessive levels. i usually turn it up to around '7' or so and wait.... wait..... wait...... until I hear that feeble cry of "is it possible to turn the cans DOWN? you're such a bastard jim lol 8) I want one! do you sell them? |
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Post by matt on Nov 21, 2014 11:26:41 GMT -6
Sony 7520 here, along with Beyer 770s for general use while tracking. The 7520 is one loud set, but they are clean and have wide response to my ears. But I don't really mix with them other than checking pan and such.
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Post by dandeurloo on Nov 21, 2014 14:44:26 GMT -6
I found a pretty sweet little headphone amp that I modded as well. It really helps. I tried a few different chips in it. I can't remember what I landed on. I could find out. It was a great mod and price when all was said and done.
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Post by jimwilliams on Nov 21, 2014 20:18:42 GMT -6
I use a custom made jobbie using a LME49713 current feedback opamp in the loop of a Harris HA5002 current buffer chip, it's 2000V/us slew rate, 130 mhz bandwidth, .0005% THD and outputs 1/2 amp per side. It's direct coupled using a servo running at .2 hz. Drummers love it as it reproduces their kit with extreme fidelity at excessive levels. i usually turn it up to around '7' or so and wait.... wait..... wait...... until I hear that feeble cry of "is it possible to turn the cans DOWN? you're such a bastard jim lol 8) I want one! do you sell them? Naw, too easy to make. If you want I can give you the schematic. Maybe post it here for the DIY's? |
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Post by tonycamphd on Nov 21, 2014 21:26:57 GMT -6
you're such a bastard jim lol 8) I want one! do you sell them? Naw, too easy to make. If you want I can give you the schematic. Maybe post it here for the DIY's? oh yeah! that would be awesome jim, i'll PM you my email address, when i get it i'll post it in the DIY forum, or you can just do it? either ways cool by me. Thanx man! |
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Post by mulmany on Nov 28, 2014 17:57:33 GMT -6
Just did an extended time using my new Shure 940 headphones for mixing. I am impressed!
Did some entire mixes on the cans, then switched over to the monitors to check things out. Translated great to the 2 set of monitors. Need to check on normal system in the outside world, but I am confident they will work. My ears like them a lot.
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Post by acegunn on Dec 4, 2014 18:50:00 GMT -6
Naw, too easy to make. If you want I can give you the schematic. Maybe post it here for the DIY's? oh yeah! that would be awesome jim, i'll PM you my email address, when i get it i'll post it in the DIY forum, or you can just do it? either ways cool by me. Thanx man! did you ever get a schematic for this? Sounds like a fun project. |
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Post by popmann on Dec 4, 2014 19:19:19 GMT -6
To the OP....in a word....no. That said, "mixing" is quite a lengthy process....and decent phones are certainly capable of doing a lot of the work. For example, I use them a good bit in the beginning--when working through phase issues on the drum kit and any other multimic'd sources....and setting the pan for close drum mics to best match up with the overheads.
Then filtering out bottom is usually a fine thing to be doing with phones....and all the plumbing section of the job....setting "manual gating" on tracks to ensure the smoothest fade to silence....
So, lots of mixing work can be done--some of it even better in phones--but I certainly wouldn't finish the mix with them. The same way I wouldn't finish a mix on stereo speakers. Headphones are almost always intended to sound good....whether they hit that or not...and that's the wrong thing for translation.
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Post by svart on Dec 4, 2014 19:22:04 GMT -6
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Post by tonycamphd on Dec 4, 2014 19:40:30 GMT -6
oh yeah! that would be awesome jim, i'll PM you my email address, when i get it i'll post it in the DIY forum, or you can just do it? either ways cool by me. Thanx man! did you ever get a schematic for this? Sounds like a fun project. not yet, i've been meaning to go by and see jim for a few weeks now, and i still haven't, i'll ask him when i see him though. |
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