Best Mixing / Mastering Headphones below $200

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I imagine this has been covered before but my initial search didn't find this exact subject.

I have now purchased two sets of headphones for mixing: first the ATH-M40x which were fine but probably pushed the bass a little. Clarity is just ok.

So after a few years, I got the BeyerDynamic DT 990pro. These are open back and I love the clarity, the mids and highs seem very good. But for me the bass response is odd. I can hear the lows, but they seem weak. So I basically mix everything but bass with them.

What are other people using for headphone mixing?

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AKG K240 Studio: They're fine, I guess.
I don't do mastering and mixing is not a separate process, for me.

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I have some old Wharfedale studio monitors that I use for most of the process, but I have a completely untreated room and want to be able to listen and mix with different references.

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Since we have a similar thread every other month (or week) have a look at this one if you're considering Beyerdynamic :
viewtopic.php?p=8866050#p8866050
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You might try the Sennheiser HD 560s. Match that with the Oratory headphone profile and run that in EqualizerAPO, should give you pretty workable results. Or maybe a Drop x Sennheiser HD 6XX.

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Ghostwave wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 2:38 pm Since we have a similar thread every other month (or week) have a look at this one if you're considering Beyerdynamic :
viewtopic.php?p=8866050#p8866050
I was hoping to hear about other brands. I may not be using the search function right, because I ended up getting a bunch of hits for a thread for "Fear of Bjork."

Thanks for link.

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Odd that you say the bass is low on the 990s - I use those, and TBH I find them a bit too bass-heavy. What are you using them with? Can't remember if there are different versions but mine are 250 ohm so I suspect the laptop output isn't enough to drive them properly, and most mobile devices won't have the output to drive 250 ohm. TBH I haven't tested them out in my studio - UR22 should have enough output to drive headphones properly. Having said that - I rarely have headphones loud for the sake of my ears, yet all the media advice is to have powerful enough headphone amps to drive them better and crank them up - well, I'm not going to ruin my ears by blaring music inside my head via headphone. I managed to keep my hearing this long at least...

DT990 pros are good headphones IMO, but not all devices are suited to 250 ohms...

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kritikon wrote: Tue Mar 26, 2024 6:59 pm Odd that you say the bass is low on the 990s - I use those, and TBH I find them a bit too bass-heavy. What are you using them with? Can't remember if there are different versions but mine are 250 ohm so I suspect the laptop output isn't enough to drive them properly, and most mobile devices won't have the output to drive 250 ohm. TBH I haven't tested them out in my studio - UR22 should have enough output to drive headphones properly. Having said that - I rarely have headphones loud for the sake of my ears, yet all the media advice is to have powerful enough headphone amps to drive them better and crank them up - well, I'm not going to ruin my ears by blaring music inside my head via headphone. I managed to keep my hearing this long at least...

DT990 pros are good headphones IMO, but not all devices are suited to 250 ohms...
This is very helpful. I'll check out my system to make sure it is set up properly.

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I got some Sennheiser HD250 and they're wonderful soI imagine the 650nis even better. I looked at frequency responses before I bought and Sennheiser was a clear winner. The AKGs were also recommended.

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Samson SR950 - The linearity, details and pleasure of listening are phenomenal...first 30 min,then clap force start to hurt you ears and after hour you already hate them ... :):):)

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Sennheiser HD 560S
Absolute bargain!
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Hifiman he400se. Planar magnetic, superb fidelity. Great bass. Does need the oratory eq to really sing though. Incredible value to performance ratio.

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It makes sense to add another bill for VSX

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+1 on VSX, although Realphones supports the DT990's. I personally get better results with VSX than with Realphones.

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Depending on what you're mixing, but if it's club music at that range I'd recommend sennheiser hd 25's.

They're a bit vibey with good bass, so they are great to listen to music with, which makes them easy to learn the sound of. Like all headphones you'd need to check your mixes on a few speakers.

Not perfect but a great all rounder.

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