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What would you guys recommend for a pair of studio headphones that are actually worth buying, for under $100? Also, can good studio headphones be used for accurate mixing (to serve as monitors for someone who might not have have the $ for real monitors at the moment)?

Thanks!

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anonymous Thu, 11/17/2005 - 03:29

:D

Greetings,

I can't recommend any headphones for under $100 as I live in the U.K. and, therefore, have no idea what's available and at what price point.

However, I can address your second issue. In my experience, it's difficult for headphones (just like monitors/speakers) to cover all bases with one single design. For tracking, especially with regard to vocals, avoiding bleed is a very high priority hence 'closed-back' headphones. For mixing, clarity and detail are all important and this is achieved using an 'open' or 'semi-open' design.

I doubt you'll find an accurate pair of open/semi-open back headphones for less than your budget, but as I said I don't know this for sure. I'd be surprised, however, if you couldn't find a good quality pair of closed back headphones for that price.

HTH

anonymous Thu, 11/17/2005 - 05:50

sennheiser hd280 for a hundred bucks.

to the second question: NO, NEVER EVER MIX WITH HEADPHONES.

don't even think of starting to mix with cans, you will just ending up fooling yourself and develope bad habbits / techniques. cans are for tracking and listening.

rather use the worst speakers on the planet and get used to them and their sonic behavior before you can afford propper monitor speakers.

ughh... headphones for mixing NO, NO, NO...

a.

anonymous Thu, 11/17/2005 - 06:03

axel wrote: rather use the worst speakers on the planet and get used to them and their sonic behavior before you can afford propper monitor speakers.

I agree with this 100%. Use an old stereo with an aux in. I mixed on my old Awia stereo for 6 months before I got my first set of "monitors"

Also, the HD280's rule.

Wes

anonymous Fri, 11/25/2005 - 11:02

I'll keep it simple. If you are ONLY playing engineer and are not planning on doing male vocal tracking the Sennheiser 280Pros are the finest overall with superb isolation and super wide frequency response. If they are double duty as in you are doing your vocal tracking AND engineering no quesiton.....the AKG K240 Studio's. They are the most comfortable and will not have the annoying resonance issues when vocal tracking that the Sennheiser's have. Both are $99.95

anonymous Sat, 11/26/2005 - 14:23

I agree with the others here that have stated that you (one) shouldn't mix with headphones instead of monitors - I should have put that in my original post.

However, it's always good to have a pair (or preferably more) around to use for comparative referrence - a large amount (if not the majority these days) of the end users will be listening through headphones/earbuds so it's good to have an idea of what your mix'll sound like to them.

HTH

anonymous Tue, 12/13/2005 - 16:14

I agree with this 100%. Use an old stereo with an aux in. I mixed on my old Awia stereo for 6 months before I got my first set of "monitors"

Also, the HD280's rule.

Wes

haha.... thought I read a post of mine.... I did exactly the same thing.... even an Aiwa.... and when I was in the States in Sep. I picked up a pair of HD280s on the recommendation of the guy at Guitar Center... on sale to boot.... haven't regreted it one bit. In fact I used them on the flight home and was blown away by things I had never heard before on a frequently listened to disk....

Tony