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Hi all. I'm looking around here to find the collective expertise with headphones for home recording. I've just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD380 cans and I'd like to find out what folks here say about them.

What I want is twofold. First, I still don't own near-field monitors (!) so for a while I'll be using these phones to mix. I hear they reference well, so that led me to them. Second, I plan to use them when tracking vocals, so I'm attracted by those who've said that the HD380s don't bleed much.

Anyway, where do I look for all this sage insight? Many thanks.

Comments

pcrecord Thu, 04/03/2014 - 05:36

So you bought some headphones and need to be confirmed that it was a good choice ?? And you also are looking for people to reassure you that they don't bleed much?? Honestly I think you should have ask for opinions and reviews before you buy.

Anyway, if you needed to be told that you made a good choice, here it is : 'You made a very good choice' !!
But, just remember that mixing with any headphones (even hi-quality) is not the best choice. The stereo image is quite different from speakers.

No arm or derision intended, just my honest thoughts.
You're in the right spot for any questions. This forum helped me a lot and I hope it will do the same for you. ;)

b1j Thu, 04/03/2014 - 06:47

Thank you for replying. Yes, you've summed me up pretty much.

Actually, though, I've been reading reviews and opinions elsewhere for about a year. When I pulled the trigger I was well aimed up. I just rediscovered this place the other day, after a long absence from it, and I thought I'd look in, yes, for confirmation from people who use them for tracking and mixing. Only human.

I was just wondering if there is a heading called Headphones anywhere here. There doesn't seem to be.

anonymous Thu, 04/03/2014 - 08:06

Boswell mentioned a headphone device a few weeks ago (see links below) that apparently "simulates" different live speaker/nearfield monitor models ( Yamaha's, Genelecs, KRK's, etc.) in a variety of environments - bedrooms, studio control rooms, etc)

Personally, I've never used it, so I can't speak from experience; the general opinion from pros in the field is that this simulator is not meant to replace a good pair of monitors - but for those that aren't in the position to afford a pair of good monitors right now, or for those who are in apartments or other residences where mixing late at night through speakers isn't an option, it may be an alternative to consider; and, if you are planning on mixing pretty much exclusively through cans anyway, you may want to look into it.

$99 (US)

http://store.apple.com/us/product/H8645LL/A?afid=p219|GOUS&cid=AOS-US-KWG-PLA

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FWIW

Boswell Thu, 04/03/2014 - 09:45

b1j, post: 413265, member: 45339 wrote: ... It can only use an S/PDIF input, however.

Not so. It can act as a standard 2-channel headphone output interface via USB. The S/PDIF input is used when you already have an audio interface (e.g. for driving powered monitors) that has an S/PDIF output. All the VRM loudspeaker emulation is done in software on the host.

Josh Conley Thu, 04/03/2014 - 18:03

i read the thread title and was going to answer back that we all just use Senn HD's
:)
i have 2 pair of 280's myself and love them.

but im going to tell you a secret...
it doesnt matter what headphones you buy, just as it doesnt matter what monitors you have.
what matters is how accustomed you are to your playback environment, and how accustomed you are to your cans man! use them. build a library of reference mixes from bands you want to emulate, and USE them to help you.
now, those 500$ cans, and 5000$ monitors sound like liquid sex, but you only need that if you can afford it.
ypu bought a quality piece, the rest is up to you

mixing on headphones only is a mistake, but another topic entirely

b1j Thu, 04/03/2014 - 23:22

Boswell, post: 413269, member: 29034 wrote: Not so. It can act as a standard 2-channel headphone output interface via USB. The S/PDIF input is used when you already have an audio interface (e.g. for driving powered monitors) that has an S/PDIF output. All the VRM loudspeaker emulation is done in software on the host.

Yes, that's what I meant. You'd need an interface with an S/PDIF output to go into the VRM input. My interface only has a ¼" TRS output, so I don't think it would be compatible with the VRM unit, unless there can be a TRS - S/PDIF adapter. But is that even possible?

b1j Thu, 04/03/2014 - 23:26

Josh Conley, post: 413275, member: 47953 wrote: i read the thread title and was going to answer back that we all just use Senn HD's
:)
i have 2 pair of 280's myself and love them.

but im going to tell you a secret...
it doesnt matter what headphones you buy, just as it doesnt matter what monitors you have.
what matters is how accustomed you are to your playback environment, and how accustomed you are to your cans man! use them. build a library of reference mixes from bands you want to emulate, and USE them to help you.
now, those 500$ cans, and 5000$ monitors sound like liquid sex, but you only need that if you can afford it.
ypu bought a quality piece, the rest is up to you

mixing on headphones only is a mistake, but another topic entirely

Josh, I agree with everything you've said (except maybe you all use Senn HDs!). It's up to me to build my ear with those phones. I also know and believe that mixing only in phones will be very limiting, but I need to put up with that until I can tune out a mixing room and acquire the hardware. So, years from now I'l probably want to remix everything. So be it. Thanks for the thoughts.

Boswell Fri, 04/04/2014 - 01:58

b1j, post: 413283, member: 45339 wrote: Yes, that's what I meant. You'd need an interface with an S/PDIF output to go into the VRM input. My interface only has a ¼" TRS output, so I don't think it would be compatible with the VRM unit, unless there can be a TRS - S/PDIF adapter. But is that even possible?

Not directly, no. The point about using the VRM speaker emulations on headphones is that the only output you need while doing it is the headphone drive, so the separate USB interface temporarily replaces your standard audio interface. When you have a mix that sounds as you want it on a range of different speaker emulations, switch back to your conventional audio interface and try it out on studio monitors and then hi-fi, car audio, MP3 etc.

This reference emulation mixing is an iterative process - no matter how experienced you are, it's unlikely you will get it right first go.

b1j Fri, 04/04/2014 - 06:46

Boswell, post: 413286, member: 29034 wrote: Not directly, no. The point about using the VRM speaker emulations on headphones is that the only output you need while doing it is the headphone drive, so the separate USB interface temporarily replaces your standard audio interface. When you have a mix that sounds as you want it on a range of different speaker emulations, switch back to your conventional audio interface and try it out on studio monitors and then hi-fi, car audio, MP3 etc.

This reference emulation mixing is an iterative process - no matter how experienced you are, it's unlikely you will get it right first go.

So you mean that I would connect my audio interface to the Mac as always, then just connect the Focusrite box also to the Mac via USB, and when I want to use the virtual references, I would switch the audio output in my DAW to send the mix to the Focusrite box? So there would be no connection at all between my Presonus interface and the Focusrite? I don't think that's want the connection schematic for the Focusrite device showed, but it sounds doable. Is that what you meant?

Boswell Fri, 04/04/2014 - 07:58

Yes, in essence. The Focusrite user manual (such as it is) is not good in this area, as it assumes that if you have a normal audio interface, it has a spare S/PDIF output. It does not cater for the situation where that is not the case.

I have never had to use a VRM as a secondary 2-channel output while the primary audio interface remains connected, but if the DAW and OS can cope with switching between outputs, I see no reason why the VRM should not work as intended under those conditions.