I like the Sony 7509s for checking mixes, though quite a few folks like the Sony 7506s. I also use Beyer DT250s, DT150s, and DT100s, in about that order of frequency.

Jon

My vote is for the HD580/600, the best mixing headphones in the universe :)

I use some great headphones by a US company called Grado Labs. They look really nasty, but sound beautiful ! I've had a couple of pairs now. They are the first headphones I've ever used where things stay the same level in a mix when you use them as a reference as well as for checking the soundstage.

I second the HD580's. Incredible detail and flat sounding - great to check frequency balance (but don't judge your reverb level with them!)

I'm surprised by Jon's Sony 7506/7509 recommendation. Jon knows orders of magnitude more about just about everything than I ever will, but for me, those phones are great for tracking and useless for mixing. The 7506's have a harsh hyped high end and the 7509 's have a hyper-exagerrated bass. Sometimes that's a good thing in cue mixes, but i wouldn't want to make eq decisions based on them. I'm sure it's more a matter of knowing how to use them - Jon could probably make a great mix using two dixie cups and a string! :D

I still use my (15 year old) HD540s. But I'm liking more and more a pair of Beyerdynamic DT911s I picked up a couple years ago.

Scott

Boy, cans are just one of those personal things, like monitors. Thanks for the nice words, littledog, but just to clarify, I never mix with headphones...apart from cue mixes during tracking sessions, and so forth...and I would not have much confidence in the translatability of any mix I made only using a pair of cans. What I do use headphones for is to CHECK the mix...when it's nearly done...to catch parasites, pops and other oddities that I may not have heard on the monitors. The analytical detail on the 7509s comes in handy for hearing those things. On the other hand, for tracking vocals, I like the DT250s. It all depends. What I like you may not like at all, and that's cool.

Jon

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD25SP's that I use for checking mixes. Sometimes things will pop out at me, either little noises that slipped through or that something like the vocal or kick is way too loud.