Joestanton24
5 September 2015
So, I'm starting my first year of college in a music performance course. I need a pair of decent headphones for under £80.
I have done research but I can't decide what pair will be best for me. I have looked at AKG's, krk's, samson and Sony.
I will be using these in the studio and for mixing tracks. I want a pair that has a nice low end but also keep crisp and clean high's.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advanced!
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Are you planning on using these headphones as just a way to moni
Are you planning on using these headphones as just a way to monitor while you perform/record, or are you planning on using them to mix with as well?
If you're only planning on performance, then you should go with a pair that gives you the sound you like. You'll also want a pair that is "closed", to lessen the chance of headphone bleed from being picked up by the microphone you are performing into.
If however, you are planning on using them to mix through, then you'll want a certain level of accuracy, and not "nice low end and crisp clean high's". You'll want those HP's to be as sonically "flat" as possible, with no hyped frequencies that will end up skewing the mix for you and lying to your ears, or altering the sound and preventing you from hearing what is really going on with frequencies, imaging and levels. You'll also want a pair that are comfortable to wear for lengthy periods of time.
The bad news is that you probably won't find a pair of HP's that are of the "mix- accurate" type for £80 ( $120 U.S.). The good news is that this will limit your choices down to performance-grade HP's, so you won't have to worry about spending a lot of time trying to choose. At that point, you just need to find a pair that sounds best to you. ;)
Unfortunately, what sounds best to you doesn't necessarily sound "best" to someone else, so it's difficult to advise you. Is there a music store near you where you can go and listen to several different models in your price range? If there is, take music with you that you are familiar with, and that will give you the best indication of how it will sound through the various models.
If not, well, you're kinda at the point of a crap shoot, and you'll just have to pick a pair... and if they don't work out, you can return them. A word of caution on that - make sure you know the store's return policy; because some stores will charge a "re-stocking fee", and you might not end up getting all your money back.... so make sure you ask about the store's policy on returns.
For your budget, I would start with these:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ATHM40x
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MDR7506
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HD280Pro