Sennheisers for Recording / Home playing?

[hbarcat]

I'm a huge fan of Sennheiser phones and regularly use the 280 the 600 and 650 cans.

I most often use the 280s for practicing bass and the 600 series for pleasure listening and tracking.

If you need to isolate your sound from someone who is sleeping nearby then I would absolutely recommend that you don't use the 6xx phones because there is a lot of sound bleed. The 280s are very quiet.

Also, the difference in price, would imply that the 6xx phones are 2x to 3x better than the 280s but I don't agree. The 280s are pretty darn close in sound quality. Actually, I prefer the bass response of the 280s to the more expensive versions, which are really superior in that they have smoother mids.

I've been using the 280s for practicing bass along with recorded music about 10 hours per week for the last 20+ years. I have 3 pairs of them and can't recommend them enough, especially considering the price.

 

[SteveCS]

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Also, the difference in price, would imply that the 6xx phones are 2x to 3x better than the 280s but I don't agree. The 280s are pretty darn close in sound quality. Actually, I prefer the bass response of the 280s to the more expensive versions, which are really superior in that they have smoother mids.
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Totally agree. I picked the 280 after auditioning several models from several brands for about 4 hours one morning at Andertons. For general listeming and mixing it was not easy to pick, but when playing and tracking bass I kept coming back to the 280.

 

[hbarcat]

Totally agree. I picked the 280 after auditioning several models from several brands for about 4 hours one morning at Andertons. For general listeming and mixing it was not easy to pick, but when playing and tracking bass I kept coming back to the 280.

The 6xx phones are slightly smoother in the mids and have a bit more detailed highs than the 280s. But to my ears, the 280s have a tighter bass sound that seems more "present", without being boosted or out of balance.

So many headphones bump up the bass frequencies because a thumpy bass is popular with a mass consumer that listens to hip hop and house music. The Sennheiser HD280 Pro has a remarkably clear and articulate bass without being boomy or louder than it should be.

 

[socialleper]

For recording and practicing I don't like open back headphones at all. I want to cut out all room noise. The HD280 are good for seal, but they have no bass response. Most Sennheiser headphones have pretty lousy bass. I use the Neumann NDH20.

 

[el murdoque]

I've got a stellar deal on a pair of HD650s, so I had to get them. They should arrive soon.
I have a headphone amp capable of driving them.

On top of that I can borrow the HD280 Pro, so I can do an A/B comparison.


Fun fact: I've never listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety.
Guess what I'll do when I get my hands on the 650 and have an hour of spare time

 

[hbarcat]

I've got a stellar deal on a pair of HD650s, so I had to get them. They should arrive soon.
I have a headphone amp capable of driving them.

On top of that I can borrow the HD280 Pro, so I can do an A/B comparison.


Fun fact: I've never listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon in its entirety.
Guess what I'll do when I get my hands on the 650 and have an hour of spare time

I've discovered the "down side" to audiophile gear. The sound is only as good as the weakest link.

Most people only know what music is like when the source is low quality mp3 files, played through cheap software decoders and converters and even cheaper hardware like tiny computer speakers and earbuds.

So when you upgrade to good quality headphones or monitor speakers then you need to upgrade the amp to drive them. Once that's done, higher quality digital interfaces are necessary, or the previous upgrades are largely wasted.

Even then, the best sound system will still sound like crap if the source music is lossy, compressed mp3 files, so you need to pay more money to download higher quality files and then accept that your music collection will take up a whole lot more gigabytes of space.

That's where I'm at, now. Paying $10 - $15 each to download my favorite albums in 96kHz, 48bit format, and playing them with a $700 music player with $500 headphones. I have a fairly pricey stereo amp and speakers in my home studio and I even upgraded my car stereo.

But I'm done. I've seen friends go down that rabbit hole and they never come back. Thousands of dollars disappear and it's never enough.

I believe that I've reached that magic point where the law of diminishing returns takes over and spending more money on further upgrades will only increase my poverty level faster than my music enjoyment level.

 

[hbarcat]

For recording and practicing I don't like open back headphones at all. I want to cut out all room noise. The HD280 are good for seal, but they have no bass response. Most Sennheiser headphones have pretty lousy bass. I use the Neumann NDH20.

The HD280 are considered to be very flat in frequency response, including the bass frequencies. In decades of using them to mix with, I've never considered them to be bass deficient.

I do know that many other headphones, particularly those that are used by DJs or for casual (as opposed to critical) listening, have an artificially boosted bass response, because many consumers prefer it.

If someone is used to those as a listening standard, then switching to "flat response" headphones will make them sound weak on bass.

V Moda headphones are a good example of this. They're a highly regarded and well built, quality product, but most of their models are very bass heavy. Which is one of the reasons so many people like them.

I once spent $300 on a pair of them (without trying them first) because there was a huge deal that I couldnt pass up.

Wow. Ths bass was huge! But I couldnt use them for more than 30 minutes or so before my ears became fatigued. The treble was completely overwhelmed, and it was difficult to even hear cymbals and other high frequency content.

There is no way I'd ever consider using them to mix with.

 

[socialleper]

The HD280 are considered to be very flat in frequency response, including the bass frequencies. In decades of using them to mix with, I've never considered them to be bass deficient.

I do know that many other headphones, particularly those that are used by DJs or for casual (as opposed to critical) listening, have an artificially boosted bass response, because many consumers prefer it.

If someone is used to those as a listening standard, then switching to "flat response" headphones will make them sound weak on bass.

V Moda headphones are a good example of this. They're a highly regarded and well built, quality product, but most of their models are very bass heavy. Which is one of the reasons so many people like them.

I once spent $300 on a pair of them (without trying them first) because there was a huge deal that I couldnt pass up.

Wow. Ths bass was huge! But I couldnt use them for more than 30 minutes or so before my ears became fatigued. The treble was completely overwhelmed, and it was difficult to even hear cymbals and other high frequency content.

There is no way I'd ever consider using them to mix with.

Headphones that are too linear can be a little bit of a problem when mixing because then you over compensate and end up with a bass heavy mix. Been there done that.
The problem with the Sennheiser 600 series is that in an attempt to be flat and linear, they actually create an unrealistic sound signature. They are narrow and mid focused. They are great for vocals and guitar because of that, but destroy anything with sound stage and wide dynamics. Drums and bass guitar sounds lifeless on them. If you are tracking, fine, they resolve well. But I would steer clear of those or the HD 280 for mixing because they don't sound like anything anyone is using to listen to music on.
For practicing in a DAW I don't like the 280 because it makes bass guitar sound meh.

 

[Al T.]

I play through Sennheiser 6xx headphones and I think they sound very good for bass. I plug them into an EBS 150 watt Drome combo and play while my wife works in an upstairs office with no comments made. For other music listening I use a Schitt Audio Heresy Magni headphone amp and a Modi DAC. No rabbit hole danger with them,$220.00 for both and you could spend 2 or 3 times that and hear no difference.

 

[JMX]

The (Mass)Drop Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee is the best bargain IMO, closely followed by the 6XX. The Jubilee is easier to drive, too, @150 Ohms compared to the 6XX's 300 Ohms.

For pure monitoring purposes, I still quite like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X.

 

[bass-shy]

Gotta bump this one. I'm looking at Sennheiser cans and so far, the HD-300 is at the top of the list. I've tried them out at GC and they sound good and are comfortable.

Are there any other models that you guys recommend? Either open or closed back is fine as they will be used for direct recording (no mics), quiet practice and also for casual listening at home.

I already own and like the A-T ATH-M50x, Sony MDR-7506, AKG K245 and Shure SRH-440 and 240a. Just looking for something different.