Headphones?

[ambermonk]

I've been using a Sennheiser HD-200 Pro set since about mid-March. Pretty good overall, but you definitely feel the bass.

[xox]

To be honest at the and it was either Neumann NDH 20 or Audeze LCD-1 and i went with the Neumanns mostly because

- they apparently have better build quality

- micro-dynamics (better resolution across complete frequency range)

- better defined bass

- apparently feels more even from bottom to top

- have truer timbre

- great imaging

The LCD-1 are better bc they’re

- open-back (but still the stage of a closed-back)

- have better comfort

- they’re easier to drive

- have a nice bag included

- a bit cheaper

Important to say is that some mastering engineers at gearslutz said that they are using the LCD1s daily bc the bigger Audeze hp are to heavy for them (735 grams!!!) and that these are good enough.

Edited April 26, 2020 by xox

[xox]

For me the problem with Audeze is that they build and sell 4.000 dollars hp and then they make a 400 dollars for the rest of us. Apparently they couldn’t get it cheaper and apparently they feel like a 150-200 dollars hp. (Is that true Nil?!)

For Neumann is totally different game bc Sennheiser owns them now and they have much more resources at hand. The NDH 20 headphones cost only 500 euros (many who heard them said “only” bc of the sound but also build quality) bc Neumann used Sennheiser HD630vb headphones as a base for building the NDH 20. All they had to do is to refine them and build a new driver. Otherwise they would probably cost double as much.

Edited April 26, 2020 by xox

[xox]

Attached you'll find an SOS review of Audeze LCD-1 headphones...if anyone is interested. I'm sending it here bc it's not yet available for free online reading.

audeze-lcd-1.pdf

Edited April 27, 2020 by xox

[Nil]

They "feel" nicer than 150€ Beyerdynamics and AKG pairs, or than 300€ Focal Spirit Pro (used to have them), though I don't have any first hand experience with more expensive models. They're made mostly of plastic, but don't feel cheap IMO. They clamp more than my good old K-702... but tbh, K-702 are so light on the head and comfortable, quite unrivaled in that regard.

As I'm completing a new EP, maybe I'll understand them a tad more. Once again, the bass extension is really good IMO, the rest feels recessed in contrast. They do open up quite a bit though. Now, my One15s are so impressive all across the spectrum that it's not a fair comparison I suppose, and I still spend 95% of my time on monitors.

[xox]

What i like on the LCD1 is the leather on earpads and headband! Laaamb...meeeheeheee... beautiful!

I don’t mind the plastic with all that nice leather. 

@Nil just is case you haven’t read this on Audeze’s official page...

 

Why does my headphone crinkle when I press on it?

Since air is trapped between your head and the diaphragm it creates a pressure zone, and as the headphones shift with movement you may hear a slight crinkling sound from the diaphragm. This is a normal occurrence with planar magnetic drivers and is nothing to be concerned about, it's the sound of the thin diaphragm moving back and forth with the changes in air pressure.
 

Sometimes as the driver film stretches slightly with age, the sound can become more apparent, and sometimes it may also lessen again. This is mostly influenced by factors in your environment (such as temperature and humidity), and we don't have much control over whether or not this occurs.

One important note is that we strongly recommend exercising certain cautions when handling planar magnetic headphones: trapped air can create high pressure and sudden pressure changes could damage the diaphragms, and this is not covered by warranty. The same is true when you put the headphones on or take them off-- it's not a good idea to press them hard and fast against the head, so we recommend slow and steady movement to allow the air pressure to stabilize

[david1806]

Hi Boom

It is only recently that I bought my first ever pair of dedicated studio headphones.  I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that in *ahem* years of having a home studio set up, I have only ever used 'normal' hi-fi headphones - shameful!  I think the reason that I have never really looked into it is because I have and never will do a mix using headphones, I have only ever used them for the times I can't use my monitors, like when it is 3am in the morning and I want it loud!  

So I got myself a pair of Shure SRH440 headphones, and obviously I am no expert in this field (!) but I can still confidently say that I am totally happy with them.  Sure, they ain't an expensive, hi-end model, but they do me fine - and they is loud!!  Although I still don't do my mixes using headphones!!  

Not sure if I can post links to products, so if this needs to be removed Mr.Moderator please do, and apologies!  
https://www.shure.com/en-GB/products/headphones/srh440

Edited April 28, 2020 by david1806

[Zephyr_Nova]

Product links are fine.

Never a bad idea to use headphones for fine tuning the details of a mix after you've got it sounding solid in the monitors.  It's useful for making things in the stereo field a bit more "3D" sounding, I've found... although I used to do most mixing with headphones, and there was a lot more focus on how WIDE everything was as a result.  What was going on right down the centre suffered a bit for it, but the left/right big/small action sure was interesting at times.  

Edited April 28, 2020 by Zephyr_Nova

[chim]

Headphone mixing is mostly fine but the price of admission is learning to working around the pitfalls. Left-Center-Right panning and other wise mixing methods are less attractive on headphones. It's easy to go for wide Haas delay and mono-incompatible stuff. I like dealing with dry transients, some really bad drums can have deceptive tails on monitors.

[xox]

Am so close on buying Audeze LCD-X...

GGGas is killing me!!!!! ️️️️️

[mcbpete]

I've had to send my AKG K812 Headphones back as the right channel seems to have gone bad after just 11 months (think it's a dry electrical joint to the headband - seemed to be quite a common fault reading around), but as they don't have any more in stock I'm got a refund rather than a replacement.

I was looking to get the K872 instead once I got the refund, however they too are currently out of stock (well there's one available but it's >£200 more than it was previously available for). I live in a flat with slightly clonky neighbours above and to the side of me so the sound isolation of the closed model would actually be a plus!

I have loved the AKG range since I got the 240s around 20 years ago (then upgraded to the 701 a decade later, and last year the 812), and adored the 812s until they stopped working. So should I just stick with the devil I know and grab the 872s when available or has tech moved on since 2017 (and AKG/Harman is pretty much no-more) and I should be looking for something else ?

[thawkins]

Vouching heavily for Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (sturdy metal construction, my previous pair lasted for 8y until I messed up and punctured one of the drivers when cleaning it of hair) with Sonarworks Reference Headphone Edition.

Also you can pretty much get every replacement part on their website.

Edited January 15, 2021 by thawkins

[TubularCorporation]

[iococoi]

[Braintree]

The latter pic looks like a cashew from the civil war.

[xox]

On 1/14/2021 at 5:58 PM, mcbpete said:

I've had to send my AKG K812 Headphones back as the right channel seems to have gone bad after just 11 months (think it's a dry electrical joint to the headband - seemed to be quite a common fault reading around), but as they don't have any more in stock I'm got a refund rather than a replacement.

I was looking to get the K872 instead once I got the refund, however they too are currently out of stock (well there's one available but it's >£200 more than it was previously available for). I live in a flat with slightly clonky neighbours above and to the side of me so the sound isolation of the closed model would actually be a plus!

I have loved the AKG range since I got the 240s around 20 years ago (then upgraded to the 701 a decade later, and last year the 812), and adored the 812s until they stopped working. So should I just stick with the devil I know and grab the 872s when available or has tech moved on since 2017 (and AKG/Harman is pretty much no-more) and I should be looking for something else ?

I wanted to tell you that this is the right question for gearladies.com but you already know this

can’t help you myself sorry. i have the neumann ndh-20 (which are superb) and eying for the hedds and slate audio’s phones. Had several lower priced akg and beyers before; which sounded great but was terrible for music production and mixing! 

[mcbpete]

Kinda thinking on going in a slightly different direction and getting some LCD-2 Classics ( https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2-classic ). Apparently they're really good for listening/enjoyment purposes though I have their sound profile on the Sonarworks correction software when using it for production and mixing duties. Been toying with either the closed or open versions but think (despite clonky neighbours) I'll get the open as they apparently have a much more neutral frequency response and more precise soundstage (and are 100 quid cheaper)

Anyone have any experience with these phones (either closed or open) ? @xoxDid you have any experience with the Audeze range before getting those Neumann's (or did you not get either in the end) - Obviously I can't actually test drive any of them with London being completely locked down (seemingly until the end of time). The headphone world is a confusing place online with completely contradictory reviews on every 'phone I've looked at !

[Squee]

I don't think I've mentioned this, but I bought the Beyerdynamic 1770 DT a couple of months ago and I run them through Sonarworks' calibration and wow! That combo is brilliant. I can instantly hone in on harsh frequencies or muddy bass. It's just *chef's kiss!*

[xox]

4 hours ago, mcbpete said:

Kinda thinking on going in a slightly different direction and getting some LCD-2 Classics ( https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-2-classic ). Apparently they're really good for listening/enjoyment purposes though I have their sound profile on the Sonarworks correction software when using it for production and mixing duties. Been toying with either the closed or open versions but think (despite clonky neighbours) I'll get the open as they apparently have a much more neutral frequency response and more precise soundstage (and are 100 quid cheaper)

Anyone have any experience with these phones (either closed or open) ? @xoxDid you have any experience with the Audeze range before getting those Neumann's (or did you not get either in the end) - Obviously I can't actually test drive any of them with London being completely locked down (seemingly until the end of time). The headphone world is a confusing place online with completely contradictory reviews on every 'phone I've looked at !

i forgot to mention that i also had two pairs of cheap Audiotechnica ATH50 headphones before and now again i have another pair bc they're great for listening to music, to feel energy but they're almost completely unusable for production and mixing, especially compared to the neumanns. the ATH50s are great for listening and you can even quite correctly hear what needs to be changed but when you start working you're not sure anymore bc everything is an approximation with them, like ''i guess this could be it'', then you go and listen elsewhere and no, that wasn't that. really strange! the neumanns are totally a different story! with them you say '''maaaaaybe this could be problematic and should be changed! let's try to change it! oh, i see, like this...'', and you're almost always right! they give you these ''maybes'', tens of them and once you're left without them, the track is probably finished. with them you can push a track to microscopic levels if you wish so. you say to yourself ''could i make it better? could i push it further?'' and they will show you what and how to change the stuff as long as you have time and energy for that. you need to learn them, those macro and microscopic ''maybes'', the bass without distortion, totally natural sound... but it's possible. 

at the time i've bought them i had Neumann kh120a speakers and i thought that the headphones sounded fantastic! it was much easier to balance a track on them than on the speakers but speakers always give you that feeling of physicality headphones can't. but i sold the speakers and bought Quested v2108 speakers which show the physical aspect like nothing i've ever heard before. i also had PSI a17m speakers for a week in my room, which were unbelievably precise! microdetails, stereo image, frequency response... everything! better than the Neumann headphones but once i've heard the Questeds it was over for me! i was totally in love! that beefy but precise sound was what i was looking for but didn't know until that moment. why am i talking about this? because after i've bought the Questeds i wasn't craving anymore for that beefiness and the sense of physicality big Audeze headphones apparently have. when choosing headphones it matters a lot which speakers you have imo! and how good is your room acoustically. i was thinking about getting the LCD-X (wouldn't buy lesser Audeze's) but i've never heard them. ppl say that they have big problems with the recessed upper mids and without using a corrective eq they're unusable for monitoring, (maybe good enough for early production?), high-end Audeze hp are too expensive so i skipped them all together. The Neumanns are relatively cheap bc Neumann is a Sennheiser's company and they had the HD630 headphones they used as a base for development of the NHD-20; otherwise they'd cost closer to the 1k mark or even more if it was made by a small company from the ground up. the only headphones i'm thinking now (just bc to contrast the Neumanns) are HEDDphones and Steven Audio's headphones (gearslutz' latest hit!), but non of them that i NEED atm. just gassing like a proper 'slut, that i am! lol

what to say? if i were you i'd buy the best headphones i can and if you don't have the money for some ultra expensive ones i'd wait until i have, but that's just me. so, i'd just skip the LCD-2 and buy the LCD-X! ...or the HEDDs for ultra precision without eqing them or maybe Focal Clear Pro or if you want a closed-back ones get the Neumanns!

Edited January 16, 2021 by xox

[mcbpete]

Yeah I might save up a bit more and wait for the LCD-X's to come back in stock on Amazon.co.uk - annoyingly the card I bought the AKG812s last year had expired, so for safety I went for an Amazon credit note rather than the faff of sorting stuff out with the bank, so I'm kinda stuck with buying a replacement headphones through them.

Apparently Audeze revamped their drivers around 2016 (think I've got that date right) so obviously the LCD2 Classics have the newer drivers as was released in 2018. I'm wondering if it'll be a bit of a gamble with the X's as to whether I get an older or new model ?

[xox]

5 minutes ago, mcbpete said:

Yeah I might save up a bit more and wait for the LCD-X's to come back in stock on Amazon.co.uk - annoyingly the card I bought the AKG812s last year had expired, so for safety I went for an Amazon credit note rather than the faff of sorting stuff out with the bank, so I'm kinda stuck with buying a replacement headphones through them.

just be sure that you buy the latest version of the LCD-X bc Audeze made the last revision a month or two ago (i don't know what was changed)

[mcbpete]

Aha, I'm wondering if that's why they're currently out of stock in Amazon (only the LCD2 Open and LCD2 closed are there. The Mobius,4 & X are all 'currently unavailable'). Hopefully that'll mean when they're back in stock they will be the newer revision !

[xox]

30 minutes ago, mcbpete said:

Aha, I'm wondering if that's why they're currently out of stock in Amazon (only the LCD2 Open and LCD2 closed are there. The Mobius,4 & X are all 'currently unavailable'). Hopefully that'll mean when they're back in stock they will be the newer revision !

possibly! but if i were you i'd ask Audeze directly prior to buying them where (and when) can you buy the latest revision in the UK

[xox]

just to push a bit further in that direction

 

[TubularCorporation]

Honestly if I had unlimited budget I'd probably go with some flavor of custom fit, multi-driver in-ears over conventional headphones.