[Nate Najar]

what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

N

[Arny Krueger]

"Nate Najar" wrote in message


what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal
bleed but very comfortable with good sound? I have a
pair of sony mdr7506 and they sound terrible.

Sennheiser HD 280s are IMO smoother and provide better isolation, in a
similar price range.

[geoff]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Nate Najar" wrote in message


what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal
bleed but very comfortable with good sound? I have a
pair of sony mdr7506 and they sound terrible.

Sennheiser HD 280s are IMO smoother and provide better isolation, in a
similar price range.

.... but are like having your head in a vice. ATH-M50 are far more
comfortable, sound better, but have slightly higher leakage.

geoff

[Arny Krueger]

"geoff" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Nate Najar" wrote in message


what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal
bleed but very comfortable with good sound? I have a
pair of sony mdr7506 and they sound terrible.

Sennheiser HD 280s are IMO smoother and provide better
isolation, in a similar price range.

... but are like having your head in a vice.

That's part of the usual price for such good isolation.

ATH-M50 are far more comfortable, sound better, but have slightly
higher leakage.

I have both ATH M50s and HD 280s and I use them almost interchangably. I
believe that the M50s to have far higher leakage. On balance, they are both
fine sounding phones, but I would only take the HD280s to a live concert
recording session.

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 6 May 2011 22:46:26 -0400, geoff wrote
(in article ):

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Nate Najar" wrote in message


what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal
bleed but very comfortable with good sound? I have a
pair of sony mdr7506 and they sound terrible.

Sennheiser HD 280s are IMO smoother and provide better isolation, in a
similar price range.

... but are like having your head in a vice. ATH-M50 are far more
comfortable, sound better, but have slightly higher leakage.

geoff

I like 'the M50, but have not been able to feel really comfortable tracking
for accuracy because I have bonded so long with the MDR7506.

Regards,

Ty Ford



--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA

[Frank Stearns]

Nate Najar writes:

what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Interesting. Have they been hit hard with high level? What do you find objectionable
in them? (What vintage are yours? Wouldn't doubt that a materials change in a given
production run would affect sonics.)

Got mine in 2004; I use them for field work here. They've been a good for the money.
And from what I could tell auditioning a lot of phones, they were the least "plastic
sounding in the high mids". (I've even had some on-the-fly field mixes translate
reasonably well that had been done on those cans.) I've heard better, but the money
needed was quite a jump.

I'll be curious as to what folks have to say, as my mine are overdue for
replacement.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

Much the same here.

Frank
Mobile Audio
--

[Neil Gould]

Nate Najar wrote:
what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

Although I use Sennheiser headphones for both tracking and rough mixing,
they are different models. Unlike your preference, I want to hear what's
going on in the room while tracking, especially if there's more than one
person playing or if I'm playing an acoustic instrument. This is such a
personal decision that I don't think I'd make a purchase based on someone
else's specific recommendation.

--
best regards,

Neil

[Scott Dorsey]

Nate Najar wrote:
what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

They do, but they're great for tracking! The pitched up high end can
be a real help even when it's driving you up the wall.

Beyer DT-100 and its successors are more natural up top but you may find
you need a lot more level in them for tracking.

AKG K-240 leak a lot more but some people like them anyway.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

The MDR-V6 and family are also very good for hearing crap while editing,
but they are painful to wear for very long.

The Etymotic in-ears might be worth trying out too.... they are very natural
and the isolation is excellent but you can't share them around.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[adam79[_4_]]

Check out the Fostex T20RP mkII. They're cheap and have a balanced sound.

-Adam

Nate wrote:
what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.
and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.
N


--
Android Usenet Reader
http://android.newsgroupstats.hk

[LAB]

what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they sound
terrible.

As I wrote at the end of this page:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/headp...-akg-k141.html

Some time ago I bought a cheap AKG K518LE from HTFR (GB). It's a closed
headphone. BF response was very, very strong and there were resonances in
the mid-low region, then I added some glass wool and 47 Ohm // 10uF in
series to each speaker.
Now sound is very good. I like it more than K141. I'm satisfied; I use it
also with my mp3 player.
Cable is cheap, it breaks easily. I replaced it with another one salvaged
from an old Sennheiser HD40.

--
Gianluca

[ChrisCoaster]

On May 6, 11:59*am, Nate Najar wrote:
what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? *I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes. *ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. *I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

N
__________________

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Are we learning something?
(your mileage may vary)

-CC

[Scott Dorsey]

ChrisCoaster wrote:

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Are we learning something?
(your mileage may vary)

Yeah, but they're all different.

Don't forget Fostex and Etymotic.

And the headphones you want for tracking are probably not the headphones
you want for editing, which will definitely not be the headphones you want
for casual listening.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[cporro]

i like my akg 240s for checking mixes. but i never use them for
tracking vocals since the vocalists i've tracked with like to monitor
at the threshold of pain and that would bleed into the mic with an
open headset.

Etymotic in-ears. i use these and some gun muffs. i think your rec
scott. i like the Etymotics and can listen to them a long time. not
sure which models i got. take a bit of time to get them in and out of
your ears and you have clean them after a bit. but with gun muffs they
would great for figuring out mic placement. probably over 40db iso.

[William Sommerwerck]

My favorite 'phones for monitoring live orchestral recordings was the Sony
MDR-CD6. They had an unusual combination of high sensitivity, high
power-handling capacity, and excellent sealing. You could stand directly
behind the conductor and obliterate the sound of the orchestra.

Unfortunately, no one makes anything like these anymore. And I'm not sure
they'd be what you want.

[ChrisCoaster]

On May 7, 10:10*am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
ChrisCoaster wrote:

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Are we learning something?
(your mileage may vary)

Yeah, but they're all different.

Don't forget Fostex and Etymotic.

And the headphones you want for tracking are probably not the headphones
you want for editing, which will definitely not be the headphones you want
for casual listening.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
_______________________

I just want the set that f$%ks with the sound the very least.

-CC

[Scott Dorsey]

ChrisCoaster wrote:

I just want the set that f$%ks with the sound the very least.

Such a thing does not exist.

It's made worse by the fact that when you seal the back of the headphones,
you emphasize the big resonance of the ear cavity itself. You can compensate
for this, but everyone's ear has a slightly different volume. So if you
stick the same pair of headphones on two people and insert measurement
microphones in their ear canal, the _measured response_ will be different.
Consequently the headphones most neutral on my head may not be the ones
most neutral on yours.

Add to this the fact that for tracking and editing you don't actually
want the most accurate headphones. There's a reason for that whacking
huge top end boost on the Sonys; it's remarkably useful even though it
may be unpleasant.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[William Sommerwerck]

"ChrisCoaster" wrote in message
...

I just want the set that f$%ks with the sound the very least.

That means either electrostatics, or pricey dynamics. I doubt such phones
will reveal want you want or need to know about your recordings.

[Arny Krueger]

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in
message

"ChrisCoaster" wrote in message
...

I just want the set that f$%ks with the sound the very
least.

Which sound? The sound that comes up the cable or the sound in the room
you're in? If you are recording while sitting in the same room as the music
is playing, both are very important. Read Scott's recent post - the sound
of headphones has a lot to do with the actual details of the construction of
the listener's ears. Even if the brain weren't part of the equation, no two
people hear headphones or earphones the same.

That means either electrostatics, or pricey dynamics. I
doubt such phones will reveal want you want or need to
know about your recordings.

The type of drivers has almost nothing to do with it.

By most informed accounts, Sennheiser and others do about as well with a
very old basic technology: dynamics, as others do with exotics.

At the high end, price seems to be set by how gutsy the marketing department
is. Look at the migration of the top end of Sennheiser's line. AFAIK the
difference between 650s and the old, dropped-from-the line 580s is not that
much. My suspicion is that the 580s sounded way to good for their price
point. Some $#!! stole mine, and I still haven't been able to pony up that
sort of money for that sort of thing. Then Sennheiser moved the goal posts.

[geoff]

Scott Dorsey wrote:
ChrisCoaster wrote:

Beyer, AKG, Sony, Sennheiser

Are we learning something?
(your mileage may vary)

Yeah, but they're all different.

Don't forget Fostex and Etymotic.

And the headphones you want for tracking are probably not the
headphones you want for editing, which will definitely not be the
headphones you want for casual listening.
--scott

ATH-M50 do it *all* for me. Maybe my MDR7506 for editing sometimes.

geoff

[Peter Larsen[_3_]]

Nate Najar wrote:

what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound?

Sennheiser HD25, use earplugs if it is loud around you. Their
stereo-perspective translates well and allows meaningfull and correct
adjustments of a mic pair. I have regretted it when I tried using the M50
headphonees for on site monitoring. I am not familiar with measurements of
them, but I tend to assume a narrow high frequency peak. Also they have a
full bass, but it gets misleading if you'r in the room the audio exists in.
The slimmer bass-range of the HD25 and their modest - 6 to 12 dB assumed -
isolation works better in real life usage when you need to be be able to
evaluate stereo.

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Ears are different, ours do however seem to be similar.

and then I need a pair for editing/checking mixes.

AT M50, they have a great tonal balance that translates well to
loudspeaker-playback IF there is no simultanous performance-audio to confuse
you. I like them at home when loudspeaker-playback would be unsuitable, but
they seem to cause ear fatigue when levels stop being modest. Which is why I
suppose a narrow peak in the treble-range.

ideally I'd have
the same pair- just something comfortable and sounds good. I don't
use phones THAT much, nor for any extended period when editing, but
occasionally I do use them.

Reminds me, I need to get that SRD5 fixed .... hopefully it only was the
resistors that blew when my NAD302 hummed wildly some time ago due to a
semi-pulled soundcard mini-jack. Which is to say that things Stax tend to be
good but beware of second hand electret-versions, I have had to discard a
pair ... the energized ones are more durable. Grado's are also great for
@home-use, a friend has a pair that I should not have tried to use for a
recording, I ended up putting the main pair too close to a choir.

Yes, it is non-simple, as non-simple as selecting phono-cartridges. What
complicates that is possibly also the playback room's influence -
loudspeaker euphonics included - what complicates the headphone-choice is
that the acoustic impedance of your specific ear canal influences their
response.

N

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

[FL]

On May 6, 11:59*am, Nate Najar wrote:
what are decent headphones for tracking with minimal bleed but very
comfortable with good sound? *I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

I had been using the Sony 7506s for years because of their closed-back
design giving me isolation for location recording work. I also used
them at home for editing. As time progressed, I became more aware of
ringing, such that a short impulse that should sound like a click
would sound like a "ping". As I frequently determine edit points by
playing up to the transition point - located just after the attack of
a note - and then comparing with the edit point in the other take, I
really need phones that give me good, clean transients. I decided that
the Sonys had to go.

I made up a test CD of various pieces of music I was very familiar
with, along with a track of single sample long clicks, and another
track of some very short noise bursts. I went to my local store where
I was allowed to audition some AT M50s, Beyer 770s, AKG 271s, and a
pair of Sennheisers whose model number I can't remember, but was in
that pricerange (approx. $250 - $350 CDN).

I thought that the ATs and the Beyers sounded very similar, but both
had a harshness in the upper frequencies which I associate with uneven
frequency response. The AKGs just sounded clogged, and the Sennheisers
were also harsh sounding to my ears. All of these had better transient
response than the Sonys (clicks sounded like clicks).

I then went to an Apple store where they are selling the new B&W P5
headphones. If you've been to any Apple store, you know what a noisy
zoo those places are, and the first thing I noticed about the P5s was
how well they isolated me from the ambient noise. Then I listened to
my test CD - transients were perfectly clear and precise, and the
music was very even and resembled most closely my memory of my
speakers at home (also B&Ws). Given that these phones have very low
input impedance to facilitate their use with iPods and such, I felt
that they would be very useful in a variety of listening situations,
particularly those where the higher impedance Sonys (at 600 ohms) gave
me reduced listening levels. I was sold.

I've been using the P5s now for about six months, and I continue to be
very satisfied with their sound and their isolation. They do tend to
squeeze the head a bit, but I've found that they've relaxed a bit with
use.

As Scott mentioned, closed back phones do create a resonant cavity
with the ear canal, so what is a pleasantly even frequency response
for me may not be for you.

[Scott Dorsey]

FL wrote:
I had been using the Sony 7506s for years because of their closed-back
design giving me isolation for location recording work. I also used
them at home for editing. As time progressed, I became more aware of
ringing, such that a short impulse that should sound like a click
would sound like a "ping". As I frequently determine edit points by
playing up to the transition point - located just after the attack of
a note - and then comparing with the edit point in the other take, I
really need phones that give me good, clean transients. I decided that
the Sonys had to go.

See, I find the ringing that exaggerates transients makes it easier to
hear transition points for editing. It also exaggerates any sort of
low level noise badly out of proportion which can be good for listening
for chair squeaks and paper rustling sounds.

had a harshness in the upper frequencies which I associate with uneven
frequency response. The AKGs just sounded clogged, and the Sennheisers
were also harsh sounding to my ears. All of these had better transient
response than the Sonys (clicks sounded like clicks).

Have you tried the Grados? They don't block outside sound and my experience
is that they tend to make things sound artificially good, but they are very
handy for some things.

I've been using the P5s now for about six months, and I continue to be
very satisfied with their sound and their isolation. They do tend to
squeeze the head a bit, but I've found that they've relaxed a bit with
use.

I will give them a listen myself!
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Ty Ford]

On Fri, 6 May 2011 11:59:54 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Nate,

Please define terrible?

Regards,

Ty Ford


--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA

[Arny Krueger]

"Ty Ford" wrote in message
al.NET
On Fri, 6 May 2011 11:59:54 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Nate,

Please define terrible?

Rough high end, mid-bass accentuation, no real deep bass. Poor isolation.

[Nate Najar]

On May 9, 5:50*pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"Ty Ford" wrote in message

al.NET

On Fri, 6 May 2011 11:59:54 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Nate,

Please define terrible?

Rough high end, mid-bass accentuation, no real deep bass. Poor isolation.

bingo.....

they're very thin, harsh and distorted. not fuzzy distorted, just
nasty sounding. I want something full, clear and clean. and good
isolation would be very useful so what's in the headphones doesn't
bleed into tracking microphones. and preferably I could use the same
headphone for setting up stereo location recording. but if there's no
one size fits all, I'll get two different ones.

but that's what I'm looking for.

N

[Ty Ford]

On Mon, 9 May 2011 19:53:28 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

On May 9, 5:50*pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"Ty Ford" wrote in message

al.NET

On Fri, 6 May 2011 11:59:54 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Nate,

Please define terrible?

Rough high end, mid-bass accentuation, no real deep bass. Poor isolation.

bingo.....

they're very thin, harsh and distorted. not fuzzy distorted, just
nasty sounding. I want something full, clear and clean. and good
isolation would be very useful so what's in the headphones doesn't
bleed into tracking microphones. and preferably I could use the same
headphone for setting up stereo location recording. but if there's no
one size fits all, I'll get two different ones.

but that's what I'm looking for.

N

That's majorly inconsistant with my experience. The MDR7506 are smiley faced
EQed, but they are clean. If you're hearing distortion, it's probably what's
in the system. A lot of Chinese LD and SD mics have a lot of trash.

Regards,

Ty Ford

--Audio Equipment Reviews Audio Production Services
Acting and Voiceover Demos http://www.tyford.com
Guitar player?:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWaPRHMGhGA

[Frank Stearns]

Ty Ford writes:

snips

That's majorly inconsistant with my experience. The MDR7506 are smiley faced
EQed, but they are clean. If you're hearing distortion, it's probably what's
in the system. A lot of Chinese LD and SD mics have a lot of trash.

Ty's probably hit it on the head with these phones -- they will alert you to
distortion elsewhere in the system; they might even exaggerate such distortion if
they themselves are already at the threshold of audible distortion. Doesn't take
much more to make distortion clearly audible.

Though perhaps a nuisance in some settings, this could be a useful trait in others.

For years I've been running some higher-end end gear (Grace, Gefell, Neumann), so
system distorsion is pretty low. But before I tweaked the old Soundcraft in 2005-6,
I do seem to recall some nasty sound from those phones that "went away" as the
electronics got upgraded.

Frank
Mobile Audio
--

[Frank Stearns]

"Arny Krueger" writes:

"Ty Ford" wrote in message
ual.NET
On Fri, 6 May 2011 11:59:54 -0400, Nate Najar wrote
(in article
):

I have a pair of sony mdr7506 and they
sound terrible.

Nate,

Please define terrible?

Rough high end, mid-bass accentuation, no real deep bass. Poor isolation.

Between 2000 (I that's when I think Nate said he got his) and 2004 (when I got mine)
they perhaps changed some things. My 7506s have a reasonably smooth top end (perhaps
tipped up slightly but not much), mid bass seems about where it should be, and some
exaggeration in the 40-80 hz range.

But I also wonder about the fill material in the cups that seat around your head. If
this became stiffer with age rather than nicely squishy when new, you'd indeed lose
low end.

One stupid thing that happens with these phones: the wire leading into the driver
can get caught in the yoke, cause the cup not to seat all the way. The mid bass does
then rise, and the very low end goes away. Top can get apparently harsher too,
because the bottom half of the spectrum has been so screwed up.

YMMV.

Frank
Mobile Audio
--

[geoff]

Frank Stearns wrote:

Between 2000 (I that's when I think Nate said he got his) and 2004
(when I got mine) they perhaps changed some things. My 7506s have a
reasonably smooth top end (perhaps tipped up slightly but not much),
mid bass seems about where it should be, and some exaggeration in the
40-80 hz range.

Maybe they are broken, or have zapped your ears' HF response ;-)

geoff

[Frank Stearns]

"geoff" writes:

Frank Stearns wrote:

Between 2000 (I that's when I think Nate said he got his) and 2004
(when I got mine) they perhaps changed some things. My 7506s have a
reasonably smooth top end (perhaps tipped up slightly but not much),
mid bass seems about where it should be, and some exaggeration in the
40-80 hz range.

Maybe they are broken, or have zapped your ears' HF response ;-)

Eh? What? Speak into the ear-trumpet, sonny, I can't hear you otherwise. g

Seriously, could be that for phones, I don't expect all that much, given how much
I hate that plastic high-mid signature of so many phones. When I do need
them, I keep them pretty low in volume, though, maybe that helps.

If you want to talk ugly and shrill in the very top end, I do have some cheaper
Sennheisers of old and new vintage. You could play, oh, say, solo violin at 80 dB,
hold one of the cups near a wall, and use it in place of a painter's heat gun to
remove old wall paper. Just about. w

Frank
Mobile Audio

--