Semi-OT: Headphones recommendation

[Theo Verelst]

I recall a nice Audio Technica from an audiophile ipod demo showcasing portable sound recordings, which was convincing though probably I'd want a little more mid-low power and maybe the sampling was in the way. Of course I know they make new products all the time but like their popular studio mics I think some of their headphones are known to be good and good value for money.

 

My AKG K271mk2 came with straight and curly wire. I tested the shortest (the curly) versus the long (4 meter or so) straight cable plus extension cord, and for most purposes I found little difference on my Lexicon DA converters and 192kHz 24bit low distortion converters I use between the wire lengths. The wires connect at the phones themselves, so you can replace the whole wire easily.

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Yeah, Sony occasionally makes good product, but the big problem I have with them is inconsistency in branding from year to year. So once you pick out a good model from amongst a lot of bad product, it's discontinued and it's anybody's guess which new model most closely maps (if at all) to the one that was good. They're also not well-known for customer service and reliability.

 

Looking at the header again, I see that "Semi-OT" confused me as requesting advice for "semi-open" headphones. Not sure why headphones would be off-topic for keyboard players! Whatever.

 

Interesting about the additional break-in period for the AKG K701's. Good to keep in mind should I buy a pair.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Grado makes great product, but they don't stay on the head very easily if you're moving about at all, which will likely be the case while playing keys, mixing, or recording. That's the main drawback and is why I do not currently own a set. They make all price ranges and all are good.

[Dgas]

Or try a set of these:

 

http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee466/Dgas2011/Daves%20Guitar%20and%20Amp%20Service/Hammond%20Headphones/?action=view&current=HammondHeadphones.jpg

[Mark Schmieder]

Here are the links for the best-known dedicated headphone websites:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/

 

http://www.goodcans.com/HeadphoneReviews/

 

http://www.headphonereviews.org/

 

http://www.headphone.com/

 

Also, try audiogon.com for their peer reviews and also frequent classified postings from geeks who are on the constant upgrade path.

 

 

[Bobadohshe]

But with headphones it is not so. If something's hard panned, you only hear it in one ear and it's incredibly distracting and not true to the way we really hear music.

I'm guessing you got the Beatles mono box set.

 

Very funny you bring it up. The Beatles also proves my point.

 

I was listening to Abbey Road in stereo on that very same recent trip and couldn't handle it through phones. Had to go to the mono box set. But through regular speakers I much prefer the STEREO mixes of The Beatles. I know the mono mix was the thing for them back in the day but for me the stereo adds another dimension.

[Mark Schmieder]

Trying... to... resist... responding... to... off-topic... comments... :-)

[_Maximus_]

Btw has anibody tried the new krk cans?

[Mark Schmieder]

Not yet -- haven't seen them in a store. I'll bet Gtr Ctr will carry them, whether pro audio shops that carry KRK monitors bother or not.

 

I think they said they've engineered them to compensate for the problems of binaural mixing -- it's been awhile since I read the spec sheet.

 

I use Redline Monitor plug-in when using headphones during mixing. But as KRK has a room correction device for loudspeakers, I think they might have integrated some of that for the cans (however much of it is appropriate).

 

It's definitely interesting how many "new" players there are in the headphone market of late.

[_Maximus_]

It's definitely interesting how many "new" players there are in the headphone market of late.

 

for them i guess it makes sense, krk has a good distribution chain, a unique look, and i might actually be able to get them in my country for a listen

[LX88]

Once again, I am going to go in completely the opposite direction here.....

 

My ears actually get fatigued from wearing over the ear phones for very long while I am practicing. Not my eardrums, but the actual ear part of my head. So I started searching for an alternative. In other words, good Walkman type phones that don't cover the ear.

 

Just by chance I discovered a pair of COBY CV H42 phones in a thrift store a while back. That's right.... COBY. I can hear the gear snobs snickering all the way to China.

 

But wait. It's very hard to find phones that produce clonewheel organ sounds accurately. And remember, the leslie speaker rolls off at 6Khz or so.

 

The Cobys work very nicely for me with the Numa organ. But also , they reproduce the sounds of my Yamaha Nocturne digital piano quite well too. And don't sound too bad for MP3 players and portable CD players.

 

One thing I am noticing about these is that the diaphragms seem quite large, so they seem to handle organ bass very well. The response of digital instruments seem very smooth with these, kind of like listening to ribbon tweeters in a good home hi fi set up.

 

After my initial pair boroke down, I ordered some on Amazon.com. They were $1.98 but the shipping equaled the actual cost.

 

Of all the Walkman type phones I have heard, these seem to work the best for me. And they come amazingly close to professional phones as far as functionality, unless you want to blow your eardrums out with high level playback.

[Steve Nathan]

Sony occasionally makes good product, but the big problem I have with them is inconsistency in branding from year to year. So once you pick out a good model from amongst a lot of bad product, it's discontinued and it's anybody's guess which new model most closely maps (if at all) to the one that was good. They're also not well-known for customer service and reliability.

 

Wow. Sorry to stay OT, but inconsistency from year to year??

I've been using 7506s for over 25 years, and every pair has performed just like the one before it. And their service has also been remarkable. Any pair of 7506s that ever blew during the warranty period, I shipped back to SONY and a new pair arrived within days.

Perhaps you are talking about the "Consumer" products.

[Griffinator]

Sony occasionally makes good product, but the big problem I have with them is inconsistency in branding from year to year. So once you pick out a good model from amongst a lot of bad product, it's discontinued and it's anybody's guess which new model most closely maps (if at all) to the one that was good. They're also not well-known for customer service and reliability.

 

Wow. Sorry to stay OT, but inconsistency from year to year??

I've been using 7506s for over 25 years, and every pair has performed just like the one before it. And their service has also been remarkable. Any pair of 7506s that ever blew during the warranty period, I shipped back to SONY and a new pair arrived within days.

Perhaps you are talking about the "Consumer" products.

 

No idea. They still sell the MDR-V600's that have performed faithfully (and accurately) for me for near 10 years (I have several sets, and my most used set is just starting to suffer from foam dry-rot). MDR is supposedly the consumer line, so...

 

(PS: I agree 100% with the first review on this page. You ought to give them a spin. For $60, it's not a bad risk...)

[Mark Schmieder]

Yes, Steve, I was referring to Sony in general -- including their professional products -- and not to their headphones specifically. By the time people started recommending their headphones to me, I was already burned on the brand for the reasons mentioned above. There are few brands I steer clear of more consistently than Sony. Being big is no excuse, as Yamaha has more coherency to their product ranges.