Dec 11, 2009
What are the best headphones for mixing ?
This is a question I get asked a lot. But before I answer, the disclaimer:
Personally, I’m not happy mixing on headphones.
Of course I use them all the time, for an alternative perspective my monitors, and for listening in very fine detail for clicks, distortion etc. But for real judgements, speakers are the way to go. Headphones just don’t give me the visceral, physical feedback I want.
(So, don’t read this post, blow a couple of hundred quid on a pair of headphones, spend 6 months trying to mix on them and then come back blaming me for bad advice !)
Having said that, I know lots of people who do mix on headphones, and make a great job of it. Maybe you don’t have the space or soundproofing to crank speakers up in your own studio, or a large enough room for your studio. Maybe your studio is a laptop. Maybe you’re like me and use headphones at home in the evenings to avoid waking the children, or your partner !
So, what do I recommend ? As far as the brand goes, the answer is simple – Sennheiser
Which model to suggest is a little more complicated, though.
At home I have a pair of HD500s which I’ve had for over ten years – apart from needing new foam pads they’re still going strong. I like the open design and the deep bass. Strictly speaking, they have a little too much bass and treble, but I’m very used to them so I can compensate. But you can’t buy them any more, and I’m not sure of the current equivalent.
Luckily my suggestion bypasses this problem – so, without further ado, here it is.
My recommendation
Buy the most expensive pair of Sennheisers you can afford, that you like the sound of.
See ? Simple.
And before you all start moaning – no, that’s not a cop-out ! When I bought the 500s, I auditioned all the models available at the time, right up to twice the price. They all sounded a little (or a lot) different, but these were the ones that sounded “right” to me, listening to music I knew well.
You should do the same. Because the truth is, if you’re mixing, you’ll have these things clamped to you head for hours on end, and listening fatigue becomes even more of a factor than working on speakers. So, you’re unlikely to get a really good pair for less than £100, but after that, ignore the price and choose the ones you like. Make sure you listen to a variety of material, and remember that the better the headphones, the more flaws they’ll reveal in what you’re listening to.
No ! Not good enough – we need a model number !
Oh, all right. If or when my trusty HD500s finally give up the ghost, the next pair of headphones I’ll buy will be these:
Sennheiser HD650 Audiophile Open Dynamic Stereo Headphone
In fact, if you decide to follow my recommendation and use either of those Amazon links, that’s what I’ll put the commission towards : ) (I’m not an audiophile, by the way – but that’s a whole other blog post !)
[Update - Since I wrote this post I have indeed bought myself a pair of HD650s, and I'm delighted with them in every way. Strongly recommended. If you decide to get some though, bear in mind that like any speakers they need to be "played in" - in the case of my 650s, I left them running continuously with a variety of material for over 100 hours before I felt they sounded "right" and I started listening to things on them. Other advocate even longer - 200+ hours]
Listen, listen, listen
At the end of the day, provided they meet a decent level of quality, the truth is that headphones (or speakers) you choose are far less important than how well you know them. So take the advice in my previous post and learn what your headphones sound like, by listening to all kinds of music on them - a lot.
And finally
Several people I respect have recommended a plugin which emulates listening to speakers on headphones – the 112bD Redline Monitor plugin. I haven’t tried it, and apparently it takes a little getting used to, but there’s a free demo, so why not give it a try ?
And, here’s a great Sound On Sound article on mixing on headphones – it’s several year sold now, but still contains some great comments and suggestions.
How about you – any other suggestions for great headphones ? Grado RS1
Related posts:
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I use Sennheiser HD 580.
I use Seinheiser hd515s exclusively.
Most room like cans Ive heard. Accurate
I do not own a good pair of monitors yet. I mix almost entirely with headphones. I check with intervals on my stereo (good B&W speakers, old midrange Denon amp – has difficulties with the lower midtone area so any issues there surface quickly listening to that configuration). My favourite headphones are actually in-ears: Denon AH-C551 – less than EUR 100 and they sound incredibly well across the tonal spectrum. Call them “poor man’s monitors”
AKG K271 MKII
- The most comfortable headphones I ever wore. It happens to me every now and then that I realize I’m sitting here for two hours with the headphones on, in complete silence. (As you might have guessed, usually that doesn’t happen while I’m actually *working* with audio…)
- The sound is less bass-y than comparable headphones – particularly Sennheiser – but I consider that a good thing, it comes closer to a “natural” speaker sound. The highs are very crispy. I’ve never heard so many details in a headphone yet; thus listening to MP3 can become quite a pain…
- Nice detail: putting them off disables a little switch = no sound! You’ll appreciate it if you need to switch between speakers and phones constantly.
cheers
Hey, how do you feel about Sony MDR 7506??
Thanks for the advice, Ian. I’d love to be able to rely on my speakers but the room I’m usually in makes the bass-end really loud and boomy, so I end up using headphones a lot. Need to ask Santa what he reckons
Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro
Big +1 on Redline Monitor – this plugin saves me a great deal of time because I do spend a lot of time mixing in headphones. RM does an amazing job of replicating the stereo field of monitors right in your headphones so your panning decisions actually translate pretty well to the studio.
Open back Ultrasone Pro 2500. Incredible stereo/surround field. Easy on the ears. Wicked!!!
Hi Ian. Ta for your advice and putting this post together. Most helpful indeed for advising Santa
I used to mix on Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pros, when I didn’t really have the option of studio monitors. They might be a bit muddy in the bass end, but they are very comfortable to wear. However, I agree with your opening point – when I made the switch to mixing on monitors, the difference was remarkable, and I could never go back to headphones (except using them as a quick reference check). Imaging and definition is just so much better with speakers – its not something you can appreciate until you try it.
Right now I’ve got the Sennheiser HD280pro’s. They’re great for tracking and okay for mixing.
As with most things, whatever headphones/monitors you use, you need to learn how to mix on them. I know an engineer in Nashville who gets great mixes on some old MDR7506′s. Yuck. I hate the MDR’s, but he has learned how to mix on them.
Sony 7506.
I rock the HD600. Remember that these upper range headphones have high impedence so a headphone amp is highly recommended to drive the cans. Otherwise these rock.
For the price Sennheiser HD650 are so over-rated.
I purchased some and sent them back the next day lol.
Maybe they are ok if you have a headphone amp but if you use them straight from a device such as laptop for example the audio level is very low due to them being open headphones. For me they defeated the purpose as people in the room could hear the sounds just as much as i could. I was also told this model, in particular, were more suitable for classical music due to the ambiance and at that boff stuff.
What bugs me most is all these people saying “you should not use headphones for mastering”. This is just plain stupid. Considering, thanks to iPods and MP3players, many people listen to music on these devices with headphones, it makes no sense NOT to use them in some degree when mastering. Im not saying you should use headphones 100% of the mastering stage but you should always cross referance your changes in headphones to cater for this MASSIVE audience who use headphones.
For me, I prefer to use the reverse technique, I have always used headphones for mastering and mixing and then used speakers to referance.
I just find this method more beneficial to me based on my ears and my circumstances ie working at night when most of the country is asleep lol
Regardless what people think, everyone has their own way of doing things that works for them.
Im currently looking at the “KRK KNS-8400″ headphones, KRK make professional studio monitors and these headphones are designed for us who cant use monitors for many reasons, such as neighbours, children or just plain cost.
Hi Jz,
Thanks for the comment ! Maybe if you had let the 650s play in you would have been more impressed – I was quite unhappy when they came straight out of the box, but when I came back to them 100+ hours later they sounded very good indeed.
I disagree about the classical comment – I think accurate monitoring suits any style of music.
I agree though that everybody works differently, and if you get a great result mastering on headphones, good for you ! However here’s my opinion:
- If it sounds great on speakers, it WILL sound great on headphones
- If it sounds great on headphones, it MIGHT sound great on speakers – or, it might not…
Hope the KRKs work out well for you !
Ian