Headphone advice for playing synths and more...

[Fogflip]

I am currently auditioning the bm6a mkii and waiting for the a7's to show up. Unfortunately i cant always use my monitors because of my living situation my apartment has what i would consider thin walls and noise can easily be heard. I would like a pair of headphones that i can play in (synths,guitar, rhodes drums etc). I will not really be using these for mixing unless its late etc etc. But want something i can listen to loudly get a great sound and be happy wearing for a while. My top three choices are Sennheiser 650, 600 and akg 701. I will be doing about 80 percent of my recordings with these headphones on because of my apt. Thanks in advance guys i know i posted it on another forum as well lol but def need help also wouldn't mind your input on those two monitors either.

[Stab Frenzy]

I don't have any experience with any of those models, but I've found one of the most important things with headphones is how comfortable they are. There's no point getting some that sound amazing if they are annoying to wear for longer than half an hour or so.

I currently use Sony MDR-7506s which I find are really comfortable on my head, and I know the sound of them cause Ive been using them for years. Also they're good cause I do a lot of live engineering and they have good isolation for that compared to open and semi-open cans. I had some AKGs before that which sounded good but weren't comfortable (I bought on sound without thinking about comfort) and when I left them behind at a gig I didn't bother to go back and pick them up.

So that's my advice, consider comfort.

[twisted-space]

I have the senn HD600's and can tell you that they can sound fantastic and I find them very comfortable but....
1.You're going to need an reasonable headphone amp to get them anywhere near their potential.
2. If you listen to them loudly YOU WILL seriously damage your hearing. Even a short time at high volume can cause permanent hearing loss. Extended listening at high volumes WILL cause tinnitus and/or deafness. I'm not joking here, if you value your hearing at all you need to exercise caution.
3. All the headphone you mention are open, so will provide no isolation and will bleed sound out.
If you need isolation you should look at closed back headphones.

I auditioned all three set that you are considering, and found the HD600's suited me best (but I have HD650 cables on them).
I thought the HD650 had a somewhat exaggerated low end and the AKG 701 where a bit strange in the mids, almost cold sounding. Of course everyone hears differently so YMMV.

[schmidtc]

I always go easy on the landlord, but I had 1100 watts monitoring left over from my DJ days, and I never got a noise complaint until I got the A7's.

Beyerdynamic DT-770's are nice. They're not loud as h**l, but they give a nice clear, wide dimension to mix in. Most hi-fi shops should have a pair around to let you demo.

[Stab Frenzy]

Beyerdynamic DT-770's are nice. They're not loud as h**l, but they give a nice clear, wide dimension to mix in. Most hi-fi shops should have a pair around to let you demo.

Yeah they're really good, I'd use them if it weren't for the fact that my cans have a good chance of getting lost/trashed/stolen from working in live venues.

[Solderman]

I also use Sony MDR-7506's, and agree about the comfort part, but I would say never mix with them. They give a false sense of high-frequency presence, without actually boosting the highs. The other thing I like best about them is they make it very easy to tell where something is panned, especially if it's not quite centered and you need to fine-tune that.

[balma]

Have you tasted AKG DJ series?

Mine are similar and I don't complain, not at all:

[Stab Frenzy]

I also use Sony MDR-7506's, and agree about the comfort part, but I would say never mix with them. They give a false sense of high-frequency presence, without actually boosting the highs. The other thing I like best about them is they make it very easy to tell where something is panned, especially if it's not quite centered and you need to fine-tune that.

I would say never mix on any headphones.

[wiss]

There is really only one rule, COMFORT....

I own headphones ranging from $20 to nearly $500. I would say that the comfort of the headphones is 1st and sound is 2nd.

[balma]

There is really only one rule, COMFORT....

I own headphones ranging from $20 to nearly $500. I would say that the comfort of the headphones is 1st and sound is 2nd.

Agree. If their shape or pressure over your ears, hurts after 20 minutes, get another ones, because you can't focus for that s**t.

Specially if you compose or program using them. Long hours require maximumm comfort to avoid distractions

[Fogflip]

Hey thanks guys for the input i got to demo a pair of hd600's i found them comfortable and they have great sound i think im going to go that route.