Headphones for practice and general listening at home.

[Ramsay777]

Found myself going down the rabbit hole here, looking for some thoughts and advice.

 

Currently using an Ampeg SGT-DI for headphone practice regularly and I'm finding my current headphones to be lacking a bit - they're Audio Technica ATH-M20x, which are fairly entry-level at £50. They seem to distort quite easily and bass response is poor, if I EQ more in they tend to get "mushy". They aren't very comfortable for long periods either.

 

Could my distortion problem be due to using active basses? I've got a Musicman Sterling and Fender Jazz with a J-Retro, if that's the case then I need a pair that can handle a hotter signal.

 

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x seem to come up often but I'm a bit put off after using the lesser model. Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro also seem to be popular.

 

Budget of around £200, maybe a bit more, i'm sure I can pick up a nice upgrade for that?

[JoeEvans]

I absolutely love my Beyerdynamic DT 990s.

[PaulThePlug]

That's a lot of $£€...

Have you tried the Senni HD206 @ £20ish of the 'bay?

Might be worth a look at the specs...

[Ed_S]

I use DT 770 Pros for pretty much everything, so naturally they'd be my recommendation. I also have a pair of AKG K702s that can be useful when mastering as they're open back and quite 'honest', but I prefer the sound of the Beyers for practice, and I find them more comfortable even though they're maybe a bit heavier.

[HIPCHIP]

I use the Boss Waza Air Bass.  Basically a practice amp in headphones.  A little expensive but sound good and you can walk around playing anywhere you want and not bother anybody.

[Bolo]

Beyerdynamic 770 for closed back or 990 for open back are great headphones and there are aftermarket cushions available to further customise them. Can't go wrong there. The higher Ohmage ones are harder to drive well, for barely any improvement IMO.

 

Akg m50 have a smaller but enthusiastic fan base.

 

Sennheiser hd 25 for good on-ears, HD 300 for over ears or if you want to stretch a bit the HD 600 are fab.

[LeftyJ]

10 minutes ago, Bolo said:

Sennheiser hd 25 

Can confirm, I have a pair of these that I love. The dual headband (with adjustable spread between the two) makes it very comfortable to wear and it stays in place very well. Sounds great too, with a lot more oomph than I would have expected from the fairly compact shells. 

 

I also have AKG k240 Studio and k171 Studio headphones, of which I prefer the latter (closed back, on-ear) for their bigger lows. The k240 has a little better clarity but they're not far apart. 

 

Of these three, I've come to much prefer the HD-25.

[Marvin]

I use AKG K52 on ear headphones. They're entry level at about £40, but I really like them.

[Cliff Edge]

I use KZ ZS10 Pro IEM’s straight out of the Focusrite. 

[fretmeister]

For wired cans I have Beyerdynamic DT770 closed back and Senn HD599 SE open backs depending on what I need.

 

Both good, but I do have a large noggin and the Senns are more comfortable. I use them with my Helix when recording.

 

If I’m just noodling then I have the Boss Waza Air headphone amp thing. Amazing bit of kit. I’ve played far more since getting them. Expensive, and I was a bit nervous about buying them, but they’ve turned out to be a great buy. Boss needs to update the app though, it’s clunky. 

[Random Guitarist]

Assuming you treat gear well and it's an investment for a few year, I'd suggest squeezing the budget up to £260 and going for Sennheiser HD650s. They are very good.

[Dan Dare]

Closed back cans are better because ambient noise can't cause problems. You generally get a better bass response from them, too, which is handy. I have an ancient set of Beyer 770s that do the job for me.

[tauzero]

I've got the ATH-M20x and don't have any problems with them. I use them with active basses all the time. Are you sure it's the headphones and not somewhere earlier in your signal chain?

[vbance]

I use Shure SRH940 for practice and for mixing through GarageBand. They look awful imo but sound great and I wear them for hours on end with no discomfort.

[Rich]

I've been using the same set of Sennheiser HD280pro cans for nigh on 30 years. They're on their second headband and third set of padded ear bits, but they still sound the absolute business. I would recommend them highly. 

[PaulWarning]

there's been load of these Headphone threads the same names keep cropping up, I've got some Audio Technica ATHWS1100's, best headphones for bass I've ever heard, they'd be no good for mixing though, all the bass would be gone when listening through anything else 😊, unfortunately they are as rare as hens teeth.

 

[Boodang]

Got the Drumeo IEM’s recently and I’m blown away by the quality of reproduction. Now using them for everything audio. And two birds with one stone, monitors for practice/recording at home, and stage monitors for gigs. 

[Steve_M]

I use headphones a lot as I'm a sound recordist by trade. The trouble with headphone recommending is it's so subjective. What I like, you might hate. You need to try a few to get a sense of what sounds good to you.

 

Having said that though, I usually mix professionally using HD25's (I still have a couple of pairs of the Irish built ones, before the factory burned down) on location which are great for speech, etc and great for music listening as they do hype the bass by default. Not the best for mixing in my opinion.

Have tried many over the years (DT48/HD25/HD26/DT250/DT100/Ultrasones, etc) and they all have their pros and cons. I have been using Sony HDR7506 for mixing and music at home, after a recommendation by Andrew Scheps, and think they are just amazing for £90! Also like rehearsing/listening on my Shure 535, which are also my IEM's for stage use currently, although these are quite expensive at around £350.

 

As has been said above, check the impedance of the headphones you're buying. Higher impedance cans don't function well unless they are being driven by a good headphone amp. As a general rule, look for a set under 100 Ohms if you want to use on electronic devices, media players, etc.

 

Good luck on your journey! Hope you don't have to spend as much as I have over the years 😉

 

[MichaelDean]

I've fallen in love with my DT990s all over again after replacing the ear cushions. I've had them over 10 years and they'd lost any structure to the foam, so they weren't sealing properly and the bass response was poor, plus the headband had gone. I got some new parts from AliExpress for a lot less than the official replacements and it's like they're brand new again. They're the same fit as the DT770s if you prefer closed back. I almost wish I had both sets.

 

I don't know if you're a glasses wearer, but I also find that they are very comfortable wth glasses. The ear cushion is thick enough to comfortably go over the arms of your glasses while still giving a good seal.

[ped]

I think the requirements for practice and listening to music are quite different.  I like DT770s for practice because I get some isolation and they sound fairly spacious so my bass sound isn’t cluttered in top of the music I’m playing over. They sound good at lower levels too. But I don’t like them much for purely listening to music. 

[Ramsay777]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks, i've been checking them out. I think closed-back are going to be the most suitable for my current set-up although it does seem that some folk run a pair of them AND a pair of open-back depending...

 

I've got stretched ear lobes so I reckon on-ears won't sit great or maybe even get a bit uncomfortable.

 

The DT770s keep cropping up, they're priced well too so im gonna give them a spin, courtesy of Santa. Might even venture into trying a set of open-back in the future... Cheers!

[SumOne]

For Bass practice, I use the Audio Technica ATH M50X as they give a fairly neutral sound and are somewhere between the Sennheiser HD-25 and the HD-560 in terms of noise isolation and comfort and they have a good long coiled cable. They don't last forever - I'm on my second pair, the foam covering on the ears and headband is particularly thin/weak.

 

For home listening and other stuff though, horses for courses, but I'm a bit of a Sennheiser fanboy:

 

If you want tough, loud, good isolation, then the HD-25 have been DJ and broadcast industry standard for over 30 years for good reason (I still regularaly use my pair that are about 25 years old). But they are best suited to stuff like DJing, they can be a bit uncomfortable to wear at home for a long time and there are headphones that sound more neutral that are better for production stuff. 

 

I like open back for listening to music at home if the house is quiet, it feels more 'open', a bit more like you are in the room with the music rather than it directly pushed into your head. They don't block out outside noise though - great if you want to hear the doorbell, not great if you want to block out someone else watching telly in the same room. Sennheiser HD-560 are light, sound good, very comfortable. They'd be my go-to for listening to an album at home in a quiet room. Not always best for Bass playing if you're doing stuff like slap as you can hear the acoustic outside noise as well as the amplified headphone signal.

 

If home listening and wanting wireless and noise cancelling then I like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 as they are quite comfortable, good noise cancelling, good sound, bluetooth. You can plug a cable into them for Bass practice but my main use of these is train and plane journeys and work calls rather than Bass playing.

 

....or, the Boss Waza Air Bass are great, I had some and sold them but am keeping my eye out to get some again. On paper, they're not much better than using an NUX Mighty Plug with the ATH M50X (a combination which saves about £200), but getting rid of that headphone cable is quite a bit more liberating than you'd expect, tough call to say if it's £200 worth of liberation though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by SumOne

[soulstar89]

On 17/12/2023 at 08:29, Marvin said:

I use AKG K52 on ear headphones. They're entry level at about £40, but I really like them.

I have these as well. They are not bad tbh. I use a nux Melvin Lee Davis preamp pedal with them. They do the job. They response to eq and different I.R cabs and amps. 
 

Down the road I will upgrade but I’m not in any rush tbh.