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What Headphone or In Ear Monitors do you recommend

#2
I've been looking for new phones/in ear also. I have a couple friends that are professional recording engineers for a living. They haven't steered me wrong yet. One loves his Grado Labs SX80. Says what ya hear is what ya get. They're great headphones, but open back. So if you're looking to track without any outside noise they might not be best for you. He uses them for reference/mixing . The other swears by single driver in ear monitors. He uses the Shure SE215's. He loves 'em. Says they reduce outside noise and reproduce accurate. I just purchased a set yesterday. Haven't received them yet, but excitedly looking forward to trying them. Both those guys can afford much more expencive phones, but love what they use. The SE215's are only $100. The Grado SX80's are $125. So very reasonably priced. If you're looking more in the $50 -$70 range, my Audio-Technica sound really good, but after 45 min to an hour they get kinda uncomfortable.
Also have heard good things about Beyer Dynamics, but have not tryed them myself.

Good luck in your search.
 
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#3
I, and a few others here have had a good run out of KZ ZSN pros, they are right at the bottom of the price ladder but punch well above their price point. I think I paid about $20.00 for my last set. I need to replace them because I managed to tread on one! Currently my backup are KZ EDX which are also working quite well considering they are the even cheaper version. The response curve for these is not quite as flat as the ZSN pros.
 
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#6
I use AKG K-240 MKII headphones. They have a very wide and flat frequency response, with a semi-open design, and are very comfortable to we are for extended periods. They're also very common/typical studio headphones that you may be able to audition in the studio/pro-audio section of your local music store.

 
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#7
I don't recommend IEMs for recording. They have noise isolation for stage. Stage is different than recording for me.

For recording there are two common scenarios:

1) monitoring while playing
2) mixing

For #1 - almost any headphone will do but a common one is the Sony MDR 7506. They're in studios all over the world. Almost any recent-ish album you like has been through a pair. You can in a pinch use them for mixing.

for #2- mixing? The common wisdom is using monitors is better than headphones. However, I think for mixing the real trick is knowing what great albums sound like on your mix setup. If that is headphones, great, if that is a monitor setup great. Being able to have a great sound on almost any playback system (phone, laptop, car, monitors, headphones), and is easier if you really know the playback system well (or sometimes why studios have some great monitors and then some really limited monitors).
 
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#8
-Meze Alba (IEM) $160
-HD560S (open) $180
-HD620S (closed) $300
-AKG K371 (closed) $140

I found used, AKG K371 for $70 (ebay) and they are better than some $500+ headphones---very balanced.

Meze Albas come stock with a DAC+Amp dongle. Also rated the best sounding IEM under $600.
 
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#9
funkinbottom said:
I've been looking for new phones/in ear also. I have a couple friends that are professional recording engineers for a living. They haven't steered me wrong yet. One loves his Grado Labs SX80. Says what ya hear is what ya get. They're great headphones, but open back. So if you're looking to track without any outside noise they might not be best for you. He uses them for reference/mixing . The other swears by single driver in ear monitors. He uses the Shure SE215's. He loves 'em. Says they reduce outside noise and reproduce accurate. I just purchased a set yesterday. Haven't received them yet, but excitedly looking forward to trying them. Both those guys can afford much more expencive phones, but love what they use. The SE215's are only $100. The Grado SX80's are $125. So very reasonably priced. If you're looking more in the $50 -$70 range, my Audio-Technica sound really good, but after 45 min to an hour they get kinda uncomfortable.
Also have heard good things about Beyer Dynamics, but have not tryed them myself.

Good luck in your search.
Click to expand...
I’m no engineer, but I’ve been using Shure SE 215s for over 10 years now both in the studio and live performances for monitoring purposes. For $100 it’s a really good value.

Before buying, I had a long talk with a Shure customer service rep about my needs and expectations with my open “checkbook” willing to buy any of their offerings. He said there are some definite advantages of multi driver systems. If you are into ultra high fidelity with the ears that can discern it which very few do, multi drivers are the way to go.

The problem is what humans hear is different from each other. Hearing frequency range sensitivity is not a straight line top to bottom. It’s a series of curves of sensitivity. Two engineers in a studio mixing the same tracks with the same ear piece might end up with different results for instance. Or outside in a non sterile environment, some are more sensitive to bass, other to ultra high frequencies.

However, in the real world of making music SE 215 do a great job. Ultra Hi-Fi, no, but if you don’t have the quiet sterile environment to enjoy what they do, or the ears to hear it, why pay for something you’re not going to get?

On a sidebar, I’m not a fan of open back cans at all unless I’m in a soundproof room, which is never. So I much prefer sound isolation.
 
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#11
#13
Leigh Semmens said:
I, and a few others here have had a good run out of KZ ZSN pro , they are right at the bottom of the price ladder but punch well above their price point. I think I paid about $20.00 for my last set. I need to replace them because I managed to tread on one! Currently my backup are KZ EDX which are also working quite well considering they are the even cheaper version. The response curve for these is not quite as flat as the ZSN pros.
Click to expand...
6/9 of my bandmates (including myself) use the KZ ZSN Pro X w/ Comply tips. I was unenthused with the bass response and clarity of < $200 Sure iems and the multi-driver setup does it for me. It's a lot of IEM for $55!
 
#19
Senheiser HD 280 Pro Amazon open box. Those have worked the last 2yrs fine. Never tried my SE215's, but if I move around enough they can work themselves out. Maybe for tracking bass. I can see the benefit to having the cord directly behind you instead of under or over your shoulder. Might have to try that actually.
 

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