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Author Topic: Headphones help  (Read 14202 times)

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Offline Todd R

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2012, 04:12:15 PM »
Craig -- If you're interested in Grados, I've got a pair of SR225's I'd sell you for a good price.  Broken in, but really very lightly used and in excellent shape.  The vast majority of my listening is on speaker-based systems, so they've never gotten much use.

That said, I'd really skip them if you're interested in mastering.  Grados sound excellent, but I don't think they're very good for mastering.  Just not much in the way of low end as Page says, so it's hard to get a sense of how your final mix will be since the very lows aren't well captured.
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Offline Fried Chicken Boy

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2012, 04:14:03 PM »
^^ I've had my Grados for years and, IMO, would definitely consider them on the "bright" side.  If you're looking for bass, the Grados ain't it.  As page recommends, a tube amp will bring a little warmth to their sound but, on the whole, I don't consider them accurate in the low end.  Great for casual listening but the last cans I would grab for critical listening.

In addition to the ATH-M50 (I use mine constantly), I would also take a look at the Shure SRH440.

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #17 on: March 14, 2012, 09:46:53 PM »
I guess the issue isn't so much that I'm "looking" for bass as it is that when I am mastering the shows I record the Sony's - IMO -- give a poor reflection of the bass in my recording. On the headphones the bass will sound nonexistant but yet when I crank it up on the home system or hell even in the car it sounds much richer, fuller. hard to mix my shows when I'm dealing with that...
B&K4022>Sonosax>744

Offline page

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #18 on: March 15, 2012, 12:10:41 AM »
I guess the issue isn't so much that I'm "looking" for bass as it is that when I am mastering the shows I record the Sony's - IMO -- give a poor reflection of the bass in my recording. On the headphones the bass will sound nonexistant but yet when I crank it up on the home system or hell even in the car it sounds much richer, fuller. hard to mix my shows when I'm dealing with that...

Yeah, headphones trend toward bass shy, you see the roll off in the graph. Finding a pair that have bass that mimics a speaker system isn't impossible, but takes some thought. Of the two I mentioned, I'd go for the AKGs, but I'd really look at the M50s, they have a response that is closer to a full hi-fi speaker system.

If your lacking low end in your headphones, skip the Grados. They require a tube amp to get close to normal in the bass region, I sold my pair after a week.

page thabnks for the graph although I would say that every review I have read of the grados say it takes on average of 2 weeks to break them in ... so is it possible you got rid of your before they were broken in?

I ran them with whitenoise for about 60 hours and didn't notice enough of a change to keep them. Just not my cup of tea.
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Offline todd e

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #19 on: March 15, 2012, 01:40:50 PM »
maybe consider the original source material?  like the b&k's.......  (joking clearly)
however, you are never gonna be able to easily/perfectly match speakers to headphones, just too hard to truely immitate.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2012, 01:48:13 PM by todd e »

Offline Todd R

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #20 on: March 16, 2012, 11:04:47 AM »
I guess the issue isn't so much that I'm "looking" for bass as it is that when I am mastering the shows I record the Sony's - IMO -- give a poor reflection of the bass in my recording. On the headphones the bass will sound nonexistant but yet when I crank it up on the home system or hell even in the car it sounds much richer, fuller. hard to mix my shows when I'm dealing with that...

This is exactly the issue I had with the 7506 cans, so I dumped them.  After doing some research, decided that the Grado SR225 seemed like they were supposed to be good cans, so I got those.  I found them very nice to listen to, but not for mastering.

I had the same feeling with the Grados as with the 7506 -- couldn't really hear the low end, so I didn't know if mastered a recording with way too much bass or too little.  I chalked it up to:  mastering just doesn't work on phones, so use a speaker-based playback.

After all the fluffing of the Audio-Technica ATH-M50, I got a pair of those.  Whoa, what a difference!  I finally feel like I can master on headphones.  I still prefer speaker-based mastering, and always check the mix back on speakers before committing, but I can at least approach the mastering task with the M50's.  The M50's do have some bloat in the 100-200hz range I hear, but I can get used to that and master around it (and have some bass bloat below that, but I don't notice that as much).

Not to say they are the only phone that works for mastering, but far better than the 7506's and SR225's I've owned.  And I wouldn't necessarily say they are a better set of cans for general listening.  In many ways I like listening on the SR225's for typical headphone playback.  I don't use phones too much though for general listening lately.

Here's the frequency graph of the 7506, SR225, and ATH-M50:

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2012, 06:41:21 PM »
Lil bro, fwiw I use the 7506/600 version and like you I am on multiple sets.  I think in the price range these are hard to beat but I have heard good things about the ATH-M50.  Never used them though.  I have learned ot do one of two things when mixing on the sony's.  I have a custom EQ curve I dump in on the master channel for playback to compensate or I just mix "knowing" that the low endis there.  For me I found the low end that I felt was missing was due to the physical thump you can feel in your chest with speakers something headphones can't deliver. 

Offline todd e

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #22 on: March 27, 2012, 10:10:54 AM »
just replaced the sr80i grado headphone pads with the L cush, worlds of difference. 
the stock pad is weak, sound leaks all around the side.  the L cush is like a mini-amphitheater!



Offline bhadella

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #23 on: March 27, 2012, 11:05:41 AM »
just replaced the sr80i grado headphone pads with the L cush, worlds of difference. 
the stock pad is weak, sound leaks all around the side.  the L cush is like a mini-amphitheater!

Where did you pick these up?  I've been mod'ing my grados and would love to get a different cushion. 
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Offline todd e

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #24 on: September 02, 2012, 12:57:49 PM »
GoodCans.com

had both l-cushion adn g cush, they are grreat to show other folks pros/cons to the open headphone

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #25 on: September 14, 2012, 12:08:33 PM »
any opinions on the Beyerdynamic DT 880 vs the DT 990?  thanks.


Offline jlykos

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #26 on: September 14, 2012, 06:19:47 PM »
any opinions on the Beyerdynamic DT 880 vs the DT 990?  thanks.

Maybe these posts from Ken Rockwell will help.  He's a photo guy, but actually knows his audio better than this photography, at least IMHO.

Beyer 880: http://kenrockwell.com/audio/beyer/dt-880.htm

Beyer 990: http://kenrockwell.com/audio/beyer/dt-990.htm
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cashandkerouac

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #27 on: September 14, 2012, 11:08:12 PM »
^ thanks. 

Offline yates7592

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #28 on: September 15, 2012, 03:35:37 AM »
You need Sony MDR-7520's, a big step up from the 7506.

These are phenomenal headphones, I use them to master my recordings and they are totally reliable for getting the bottom end spot on. The bass response is way better than any other cans I've used, the only ones where you actually feel the bass in your insides - like listening through a PA or speakers. However, they are very neutral headphones, they do not overemphasise the bass, nor the mids or highs, ideal for studio work. I pair them with a Yulong D100 DAC which is also very neutral.

Offline fmaderjr

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Re: Headphones help
« Reply #29 on: September 15, 2012, 04:42:17 AM »
You need Sony MDR-7520's, a big step up from the 7506.

That's not too surprising since they cost 5 or 6 times as much.

If you can't justify the cost of 7520's, the ATH-M50's are a clearly audible step up from the 7506's and they can be bought new for $130 or less (around 1/3 the cost of the 7520's).
« Last Edit: September 15, 2012, 08:34:06 AM by fmaderjr »
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