Best flat monitor headphones for recording with bass response.

[jimmyjames77]

Hey my AKG K141 monitor headphones are going bad on me and I'm looking into some more monitor headphones for recording. I like the AKG K141s but I feel they lack any "real" bass response.
Can anyone recommend any phones that are flat response with actual bass, not added bass, that aren't a jillion dollars?
Thanks,
Jim.

[IB3K]

I like the Senn HD-280's. Good isolation, not all that expensive, and decent bass. They say you can improve the bass a bit by using this stuff called "blu tack". I didn't notice such a huge difference, but if you search around you can find the modification (it's pretty easy). Also these get better the more they are broken in.

I've also tried the Sony 700dj and they seem a bit on the extreme side of bass. I didn't like these much at all.

A website called head-fi.org is pretty helpful.

[jimmyjames77]

Thanks I'll look into those.

[jwl]

Originally Posted by jimmyjames77

Hey my AKG K141 monitor headphones are going bad on me and I'm looking into some more monitor headphones for recording. I like the AKG K141s but I feel they lack any "real" bass response.
Can anyone recommend any phones that are flat response with actual bass, not added bass, that aren't a jillion dollars?
Thanks,
Jim.

i like the beyer dynamic dt 770's. these are not expensive. 200.00 maybe. also i like the sony mdr-v900. these are a little more but still reasonable. they have a coil cord which i hate, but they are comfortable and sound good. both of these cans are very musical sounding for not alot of cash.

peace, jeff

[IB3K]

Surprised more people have not responded to this. I can add some more. With headphones I have found big differences at three price levels. There are the sub $50 ones that I have never found anything that's good, the $60-100 ones, the $150-200 ones, and then the super high end ones that are $400+. Sadly closed headphones are not the ones selling like hotcakes so we are seeing less selection of these, but I am seeing more of the in ear canal type of phone which may take over this sector.

$60-100
The standard phone that I see in studios all the time are the Sony MDR-V6 (also called Sony MDR-7506). These are kind of like the loaners. But they are good in every way. The Senn HD-280's I think are slightly more comfortable to wear but maybe a bit more "muddy" than the Sony's. Though one finds one muddy and the other perfect, and the other thinks one is not muddy but the other tinny, so... Anyway I'm happy to stand by either of these as good cans at this price range.

$150-200
I think you get a pretty big jump in performance at this range. I have not used the BD HD770 but I have owned the BD DT250-80 which are pretty close in price, and they were nice. These were my last set. They are clearer than the HD-280's. They're a little rolled off on top with better bass (which is fine if you are a bass player). Overall, these seemed the best with lower quality sources like listening directly from a laptop computer, probably an ipod too. But I gave these up a little over a year ago for the Ultrasone HFI-700.

The Ultrasone's are my current choice. They are good quality and not so expensive that you're not paranoid all the time about leaving them out. I won't say they are the last word in phones but they are reasonable and have good representation across the spectrum. They are more articulate than that of the Sony V6 and HD-280 and the overall sound of the phone is faster and cleaner with tighter bass than what I found in the BD that I owned.

I do think that the next generation will be the in ear stuff because I think a lot of R&D is going into the technology and I think there is some crossover from the hearing aid industry. Hope that helped.

[jimmyjames77]

[quote=IB3K;4799078]

$150-200
I think you get a pretty big jump in performance at this range. I have not used the BD HD770 but I have owned the BD DT250-80 which are pretty close in price, and they were nice. These were my last set. They are clearer than the HD-280's. They're a little rolled off on top with better bass (which is fine if you are a bass player). Overall, these seemed the best with lower quality sources like listening directly from a laptop computer, probably an ipod too. But I gave these up a little over a year ago for the Ultrasone HFI-700.

The Ultrasone's are my current choice. They are good quality and not so expensive that you're not paranoid all the time about leaving them out. I won't say they are the last word in phones but they are reasonable and have good representation across the spectrum. They are more articulate than that of the Sony V6 and HD-280 and the overall sound of the phone is faster and cleaner with tighter bass than what I found in the BD that I owned.
QUOTE]
So do the Ultrasone's have that "real" bass response? You know, if I were to take off my phones and listened to my monitors, which have a sub woofer, would I have to start over with what I thought sounded good and punchy in the phones and then throw them up to the speakers and it's totally different? I know they are very different and I don't mix with phones but I can not mix in the day time due to someone sleeping.
I too am surprised more people have not responded.
I guess bass players don't mix...

Hmmm guess I did that quote wrong. haha

[IB3K]

[quote=jimmyjames77;4799321]

Originally Posted by IB3K

So do the Ultrasone's have that "real" bass response? You know, if I were to take off my phones and listened to my monitors, which have a sub woofer, would I have to start over with what I thought sounded good and punchy in the phones and then throw them up to the speakers and it's totally different? I know they are very different and I don't mix with phones but I can not mix in the day time due to someone sleeping.
I too am surprised more people have not responded.
I guess bass players don't mix...

Hmmm guess I did that quote wrong. haha

OK I understand. Well you're starting to get into philosophical questions about "producing". I'm no producer. Most producers take the approach that the product is finished when it has been fully tweaked, and flanged, and limited, compressed and whatever else they do to it. After that they don't want anyone messing with it by changing the eq or trying to "enhance" it. Kind of like a chef that doesn't allow salt and pepper on the table. For me, my job is done when I have finished playing the music in the million different ways anyone can think of playing it. So as long as I can hear what I sound like, what the other stuff sounds like, and hear the differences in tone, then I'm happy. Doing final mixing is a different beast.

I can tell you what I see and what guys in the studio tell me. Final mix stuff is not really my thing. For that kind of stuff I have seen the Sennheiser HD650, AKG K701, beyerdynamic DT880 and 990's, and believe it or not even the Sony MDR-V6. I don't know how any of these work for final mix things.

That said, no headphone delivers a perfectly flat response, all are colored to a degree, some more than others. And IMHO it doesn't matter all that much anyway when you consider if people are going to listen in a perfectly flat environment? Or you can look at it another way, in the end some guy is just going to rip it to 96kb and play it through ear buds on an ipod.

[57pbass]

www.gradolabs.com

[el_Kabong]

I recently bought a set of BD dt150's I'm very happy with. A touch on the warm side but clear, punchy and a solid bass response. Very comfortable in spite of (because of?) the way they look. Good isolation and I believe you can get parts for them too.