Topic: Monitor Reference Headphones....any recommendations?

[rdptha2nd]

I know nothing about monitor reference headphones and I am not having much luck searching for them on the net and knowing the differences between the $50-$70 range and the $500 range.

Does anyone have any suggestions for which I should buy (I don't plan on spending over $100)

I am not a professional, but I want to use them for playback and mastering.

Thanks for the help-

Ron-

[Nick Culbreth]

try doing so research on head-fi.org, lots of great info there.

[Tim]

try doing so research on head-fi.org, lots of great info there.

agreed. Off hand I would recommend the Sony MDR-7506... they are versatile (can be used at home or at a show or in a studio) and comfortable and sound great. They'll be right at $100. If you will only be listening at home and can use open cans I would recommend the Grado SR-80's for about the same price.

I'd recommend trying to stretch your budget a bit and add a headphone amp. Some come up here or on ebay or audiogon.com

I recommend headroom.com as a good place to shop.

Hope that helps....

[nickgregory]

I have a headroom airhead amp and a set of Grado SR80s and love them...the open design takes a little time to get used to, but now it sounds more natural to me than the closed design

[Nick Culbreth]

Off hand I would recommend the Sony MDR-7506... they are versatile (can be used at home or at a show or in a studio) and comfortable and sound great. They'll be right at $100. If you will only be listening at home and can use open cans I would recommend the Grado SR-80's for about the same price.

I'd recommend trying to stretch your budget a bit and add a headphone amp. Some come up here or on ebay or audiogon.com

Lots of good advice.  I'm a big fan of open headphones, if you're just going to be doing your listening at home I think open is the way to go.  In your price range the Grados SR-80s are probably your best option, if you're willing so stretch your budget a bit the Sennheiser HD-580s are wonderful and can regularly be found new in box on ebay for around $140.

I'll also second Tim's advice on adding a headphone amp, it's not an essential in the beginning but a good headphone amp makes a huge difference.  For a long time my playback rig consisted of source > Music Fidelity X-Can V2 > Sennheiser HD-580 and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better setup for the money.  Good luck on your search.

[macdaddy]

I have a headroom airhead amp and a set of Grado SR80s and love them...the open design takes a little time to get used to, but now it sounds more natural to me than the closed design

a pair of sr125 cans here, but i echo nick's sentiments...

(also use a creek obh11 headphone amp)

[bluegrass_brad]

I use the Sony 7506.  I see more FOH and Monitor engineers using these than any other kind.  I love mine.  They have great reproduction and are way beefier (made of metal rather than plastic, but still very light and comfortable) than any other headphone I looked at (and I pretty much went and tried just about every headphone in the $100 - $300 price range. Audio Technica, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser).  I wasnt looking for open phones though, as I use them for FOH and Monitor's. They fold up so they can be stored in the little carry bag they come with, so just shove them in teh backpack or whatever.  Another really nice feature of the 7506 is that you can replace any part on them.  They come with a blow up part diagram and part #'s, so you can order that part and fix it if any thing goes wrong.  These are designed to last a very long time.  I know guys that have had the same set for almost 10 years and used them regularly for live gigs. Just my .02.

[BobW]

Senn HD-600s

Grace and Benchmark both say nice things about Sennheiser.
I got my first pair in 1972.  HD424s, now owned by my niece, who still uses them.
I've only owned three pairs of Senns in my life and all never failed me.
I never travel without them.

Think of it as an investment.  And don't blast your eardrums out.