Topic: Headphones for M/S

[mwz]

Any suggestions for an under $200.00 set of cans to use w/ a Mac to mix with?

[F.O.Bean]

i really dig my sennheiser HD 280-Pro's FWIW, i bought them mint uised for 80, so theyre prolly worth at least 120-ish new id imagine, as long as you have a nice/decent headphone amp, these smoke

[Brian Skalinder]

Are you going to use the headphone output integrated into the Mac?  If so, don't bother spending big cash, a fairly inexpensive pair of Sony MDR-7506 should do the trick.

Using them in the field, or at home in post?  If the former, IMO you'll want a pair that provides good isolation, and to me that means in-ear 'phones like the Etymotic ER-x, Shure ERx or some such.  I've found the ER-6 (that fit my custom molded plugs) isolate very, very well.

[mwz]

Are you going to use the headphone output integrated into the Mac?  If so, don't bother spending big cash, a fairly inexpensive pair of Sony MDR-7506 should do the trick.

Using them in the field, or at home in post?  If the former, IMO you'll want a pair that provides good isolation, and to me that means in-ear 'phones like the Etymotic ER-x, Shure ERx or some such.  I've found the ER-6 (that fit my custom molded plugs) isolate very, very well.

I'd rather mix in post - a pair of AKG K240's are on the way.  The ER-6's I have are lacking on the bottom end.

[RebelRebel]

ER-4s....

They are a lot better than the 6s...(I have 6s too)


I use them for all my live recordings..Wayne Brissette reccomended them to me and Ive used them ever since(even using them over my 600 buck senn hd600s)

J+R has them for 179...

[joekar]

I love my ER-4's


Peace,
jk

[china_rider]

I've got the AKG 240s (55 ohm version) and think they sound is great.  Love em.  Plus you can find them on ebay cheep if you look around.

That being said I would not bring them to a show.... They sound great but they don't block out external noise that well.

[Brian Skalinder]

I'd rather mix in post - a pair of AKG K240's are on the way.  The ER-6's I have are lacking on the bottom end.

Love my AKG K501s.  One of these days I'll try out the K240s.  Enjoy 'em!  Still curious...are you driving the 'phones with the integral headphone output on your Mac, or a headphone amp, or something else?

[Gutbucket]

Another plug for the ER4S.  Great sound, stellar isolation for monitoring use.  I find both the bass and isolation improved dramatically using some modified foam earplugs instead of the silicone or small foams that come from Etymotic.  Just puched a hole through some good quality, high db reduction foam earplugs with a leather puch and pushed the capsules through so inside end was flush.  My laptop/R-09/portables can just barely drive them loud enough, but they sound stellar with battery powered headphone amp.

The ER4P's are use the same capsule but have a lower impedence so they'll work fine streaight into portables or a laptop.  The only difference is the cable and its' resistance.  I had a guy make me up a cable that changed my ER4S to ER4P, has the cable coming out of the capsules at a right angle so they don't stick out of you ears so far and has far less microphonics than the stock cable. 

I want to get some custom inserts made, more in the search for good sounding earplugs.  I'd like to try them for the phones too, but the foam plugs work great.  Just takes a little while for the foam to expand and 'set' right.  Nice to have the isolation when you need it along with great sound.

I've heard people like the Shure in-ears too.

[mwz]

I'd rather mix in post - a pair of AKG K240's are on the way.  The ER-6's I have are lacking on the bottom end.

Love my AKG K501s.  One of these days I'll try out the K240s.  Enjoy 'em!  Still curious...are you driving the 'phones with the integral headphone output on your Mac, or a headphone amp, or something else?

Headphone output on the mac right now.

[mmmatt]

Another plug for the ER4S.  Great sound, stellar isolation for monitoring use.  I find both the bass and isolation improved dramatically using some modified foam earplugs instead of the silicone or small foams that come from Etymotic.  Just puched a hole through some good quality, high db reduction foam earplugs with a leather puch and pushed the capsules through so inside end was flush.  My laptop/R-09/portables can just barely drive them loud enough, but they sound stellar with battery powered headphone amp.

The ER4P's are use the same capsule but have a lower impedence so they'll work fine streaight into portables or a laptop.  The only difference is the cable and its' resistance.  I had a guy make me up a cable that changed my ER4S to ER4P, has the cable coming out of the capsules at a right angle so they don't stick out of you ears so far and has far less microphonics than the stock cable. 

I want to get some custom inserts made, more in the search for good sounding earplugs.  I'd like to try them for the phones too, but the foam plugs work great.  Just takes a little while for the foam to expand and 'set' right.  Nice to have the isolation when you need it along with great sound.

I've heard people like the Shure in-ears too.

I LOVE my ER4p's.  I also have the sen hd280's and I like to bring both to gigs.  I like to share my cans with friends or management and I don't want to share my earwax so the 280's do that for me.  Also I have used the senns so long I like to check my mix with thoes as well as the ety's.  Often durring the show I will turn the ety's down all the way.  Damn near pure silence!  Then after my ears get used to just the ambient sound comming through the plugs, I can listen very softly and monitor no problem.  To get the full sound I crank them up for a bit when my mix is critical, but most of the time I monitor quitetly.  The bass is surprisingly realistic at the venue through thoes little plugs.  The 4p's have a little presence bump that compensates pretty well for the ambient noise that get through the plugs.  This presence bump is distracting in a quiet environment though and I prefer my senns there.
     If I had the cash I would buy a nice pair of open back phones for mixing at home.  Neither the senns or the ety's are spectacular for that IMO.

Matt

[daveydave]

For future readers of this thread...I'm another taper who does his own mastering and i love my Sony 7506's.  If you want to truly hear what you recorded without having a headphone process what you are listening to, these rock!  They are very flat. 

They do a great job at isolating low's mids and highs.  Do an online search and you'll find them for $100 or less.  Once my current set is done, I won't need to shop for another, I'll just order up another set of 7506's and be happy knowing i got exactly what i wanted.

dave

[ttrego2003]

i also use sony 7506.

[Jimna]

i have Sennheiser HD480's.  love them.   

[F.O.Bean]

I have Senn HD280 Pro's and think they ROCK!