Headphones (again)

josh

marathon solo-sessionahoy
Messages
8,297
Reaction score
48
Location
London
OK, so ive been listening to a number of different headphones, and am not entirely happy with any of the ones ive heard.
To reiterate: I want a pair of really quality headphones - i listen to most different genres of music out there although i would say electronica of various sorts (psy, breaks, etc) get the largest play of any single genre.
Also, would prefer closed-back - ive heard some really good open-backed ones but thats not really an option for me. Oh, and im not talking about for DJ use - most use will be done in my home.

So.
My choice has been narrowed between the Sennheiser hd25 (which everyone recommended before) and the Technics dh1200s (link below).
http://www.decks.co.uk/products/headphones/technics/rpdh1200

Ive investigated all the other DJ headphones, pios, sony etc.
My problem is that I find the Technics are slightly too bass-heavy for non-electronica music and you dont hear all the upper frequencies so clearly (although ive found them better than all other headphones bar the Senns.)
My problem with the Sennheisers is that they are too clean, too sterile. I found i can hear everything really clearly but it lacks warmth. So i do prefer a bit of bass-emphasis but not too much. I just want something in between the hd25 and the dh1200.

Sennheiser do a pair above the hd25, the hd250mk2
http://www.dv247.com/invt/7274
has anyone heard these? are they better than the hd25?

does anyone also have any suggestions for other headphones? cost is not such an issue.
also, where can i listen to them out? turnkey is ok, but doesnt have that big a range (it didnt have the hd250mk2s anyway). and i tried sapphires but they just do the usual DJ ones..

thanks for your help!

oh, sony do these MDR 7506 - has anyone heard? :
http://www.dv247.com/invt/9005
 
The best 40-50quid i ever spent was on a pair of Sennheiser EH2200's. I havent really listened to any other headphones so i can't compare them to anything.... but to be able to hear the whole frequency range un-coloured (especially going from shitty Hi-Fi speakers!!) was amazing! I may be talking bollocks but i think they have really helped, the same goes for any headphone in the 50quid area. I'm sure they all vary, but they all would give you a better impression of whats going on in your mix. (esp. in the bass, lets you hear all those freqs that you only really hear on a rig)

As a note, my sennheisers feel a little "plastic-y" (although they sound fine) if you wanted something for regular DJ-ing and general abuse i'd look for something s bit sturdier.

Good luck

Morgan
 
thank you - although as i said, these are for general listening - not DJing - i want something that will give me really good audio-listening at home or wherever :)
 
well, the headphones I was using before i got the sennies were a pair of Ministry Of Sound DJ headphones, which sounded great . Useless for mixing/DJing as they screw around with the bass, and make everything sound ultranice, even when it is shite, but great for listening as they have built in antidistortion thingies, which make everything sound all warm and jubbly at high volume.

They are really comfortable over long periods of use too. No sweaty ear, and I have big ears ;)
 
does no-one else find though that the 25's give a cold feel? i really find them not a warm enough sound..
 
I use the Beyerdynamic DT990. These are MONITOR headphones, more expensive than the ones listed here but significantly better than anything else I've tried (and I was looking for a good while)..

http://www.beyerdynamic.com/com/maerkte/bv_u_p/index.htm (they're towards the bottom of the page)

Oh and these are super comfy as well...

Turnkey sells them for 90 quid.
 
yeah ive tried these - the thing is that a) they're open, and b) have quite high impedance / really need a seperate headphone amp...
i will be plugging mine into a discman for a lot of the time..
 
Could be worth a listen - although DJ headphones usually imply bass-heavy emphasis, but they say 'flat frequency response'.

Has anyone heard these: Sennheiser HD250Mk2
http://www.dv247.com/invt/7274

although they seem to have pretty high impedance from stats i saw somewhere
 
If you need low-impedence 'phones, then you are pretty much limited to DJ sets...The are all around 30-60ohms whereas HiFi or monitor cans are around 500-600ohms

Beyer do a low-impedence model (think they are DT200), but they are designed for monitoring and durability and not long-term wear.

I use the Technics RP DJ1200...they are DJ 'phones, but I wouldn't say they have too emphasised the bottom end and they are reasonable comfortable http://www.decks.co.uk/products/headphones/technics/rpdj1210
 
If i am going to be using the phones for listening from a discman - the hd25 - have 60ohm impedance, they do a hd25-13 version which has 13ohms, will that make a big difference?

the 25-13 version is a fair bit more expensive though, for the difference i could get a red sound headphone amp with bass/treble eqs.. does anyone know if that model is good (see link above)?
 
13ohms will give more volume than a 60ohm set, but might not match the output impedence of the discman and so will end up with distortion...
60ohm is a reasonable standard...the next level being 200ohm and then 600ohm...
 
If you're after warmth and detailing then don't get DJ headphones like the one's you've listed as they're more designed for clarity I think. Apparantly the new Bose noise cancelling ones are rather tasty.
 
Back
Top