Master Mi

Big thanks for the encouraging feedback. )) I'm pretty sure dynamic-compression-free organic rock (similar to the great rock music from the 70s and 80s) might have some great potential. In connection with some outstanding compositions and maybe with some ensouled messages it could provide attraction for the listeners of former-generation rock music listeners who can't stand modern rock music masterings which are quite overcompressed/lacking in dynamics and monotonously loud in many cases. At the moment, I don't have too much time for working on any kind of remixes or own compositions, unfortunately - 'cause of a pretty lousy work-(without)-life balance. But since I earn quite some money and can save about nearly 50 % of my monthly earnings, I might be able to invest some money in some additional music equipment stuff - like a decent electric Yamaha guitar - or buy some months of lifetime for escaping slave life at at least for a period of time and getting back into a more passionate and creative process. I'm totally keen on roaming within my inner universe and working on some interesting musical content. I also have a rough sketch in my mind for how I want to continue with this track. But since I work at different music projects in some kind of circles (for the sake of variety, joy/excitement and for developing several composition skills and new ideas within a shorter amount of time) with continuously improved soundtrack updates, there might be my Final Fantasy 7 remix "Fighting Fantasies" my next project - 'cause there 's still a lot to do for me. Until I find the time and ideas to get back working on this track, I hope you enjoy the momentary version.

I've created a little update for this remix. Here's the new version 1.1: >>> >>> https://clyp.it/ycsfcdj1 -------------------------------- The interesting thing is that I could finally check the mixing with the full potencial of my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones in connection with my new high-end headphone amp Lake People G109-P which seem to drive these high-impedance studio headphones quite optimally. According to these headphones I should have put a high pass filter on the AUX send reverberation of the piano intro to low-cut the frequencies below 150 Hz. But then I thought it wouldn't make too much sense to cut the lower reverberation frequencies if the piano is quite the only playing instrument in the intro. And the clarity of the piano part was not so different between low-cutting the reverberation frequencies and leaving the piano intro completely untouched. In this case the low-cut filter option rather kills a bit of the naturally realistic frequency response in a larger room. And even the reverberations of the lower frequencies have got something really nice the more the piano intro builds up after a certain time. So, I quickly returned to "rather-keep-it-simple-than-unnecessarily-overloaded" slogan and left the piano part kinda untouched. But I've enhanced the remix with lots of other nice stuff like pretty heavy acoustic pop drums, new electric bass and rhythmic guitar lines, additional lead guitar melodies as well as piano chords. If you 're interested in all the bigger changed I've made in this version, feel free to have a closer look at the upload description of my Youtube link for this remix.

High-end headphone amps for optimal use of high-impedance studio headphones like Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro and accurate mixing/mastering via headphones ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This one might be interesting for all those who live in ordinary flats and who want to compose or just listen to music and other media most accurately at all thinkable times of the day at which you can't listen to your studio monitors without annoying your neighborhood. When I started mixing music and listening to several audio stuff with my first high-impedance headphones Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro some time ago, I still had my very first Steinberg UR22 USB audio interface at which I had connected these headphones. The listening experience with this combination of audio equipment was really not that bad. But for accurate mixing and mastering I was afraid that the DT 880 Pro wouldn't get enough electricity just from the USB connection to work properly at their full potencial. The first things which might indicate I should be right with my assumption was the fact that the legendary DT 880 Pro obviously couldn't handle the bass and lower mids that well at this USB audio interface. It felt like the bass and lower mids lacked a bit in definition or as if there had been some kind of damping curtains at the lower frequencies - while the reproduction of the mids and higher frequencies seemed to be pretty good, compared to the sound reproduction of my studio monitor system or my Sony MDR-7506 studio headphones connected to the UR22 audio interface. And since I've read some comments of obvious Beyerdynamic DT Pro series users, in which they mentioned that these high-impedance headphones might not get enough electricity from most of the ordinary audio interfaces (guess they have especially meant all those audio interfaces which don't have one of those larger IEC/C19 socket connections for getting much more electricity into the electronic device), I thought about getting an additional high-end headphone amp. After gathering some information about good headphone amps for a few months, I finally decided to go for the G109-P from the German company for professional high-end audio equipment Lake People. It's also the company behind the legendary Violectric and Nimbus audio stuff. >>> https://www.lake-people.com/product-page/phone-amp-g109-p It's one of the headphone amps which can reproduce a very large frequency range from around 0 Hz to 150 kHz, while many other headphone amps seem to start with their frequency response at around 10 or 20 Hz. So, it should be a great device for reproducing the deepest sub bass frequencies. The Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro can technically handle a frequency range from 5 to 35000 Hz - so, it would be a pretty nice combo for the full listening experience with even a much larger frequency range than ordinary listeners might perceive. And with the stylish black colour and sturdy design it was like perfectly made for my small but totally decent home studio which already has a pretty stylish black design (don't like it if the studio looks like a happy rainbow - already have a beautiful and colourful little forest in front of my flat - but for the studio stuff I prefer the modest, spartan and uniform style). Don't worry too much about the technical information about the frequency response "0 Hz - 150 kHz (-3 dB)". I've phoned an employee from the company Lake People and he told me that the divergence within the frequency range from about 0 Hz to 50 kHz is just around 0,5 dB (just like the HPA series, the F series and the other products from Lake People) - so, it's a pretty linear frequency response. At first, I wanted to go for the G103-P - but after the employee told me, that the G109-P can reproduce still a little bit better sound quality with a slightly better definition than the other G models below the G109 and together with the fact that the G109-P (not the G109-S!) is one of the only G models which has a safety relais with power-up delay (with these you can leave the studio headphones always connected to the headphone amp without risking technical damage when turning on the headphone amp - although the employee mentioned that even the other headphone amps from Lake People wouldn't damage my permanently connected headphones), I finally decided to spend a few more money and bought the G109-P - as well as some TRS-to-XLR cables for balanced audio. According to the information of the employee, this headphone amp won't need much more than 6 W - so, you could say it's a kinda energy-saving electronic device as well. But for connecting this headphone amp to my home studio in the best possible way, I also had to buy a larger audio interface with more line output ports than my good ol' Steinberg UR22 USB audio interface had to offer. And before buying the headphone amp, it took me also a few further weeks to make a good decision for an appropriate audio interface. It was a pretty close battle between some several audio interfaces from the companies Roland, Tascam and Steinberg. But since Steinberg (belongs to Yamaha in these days) has an excellent reputation and a long history of German & Japanese cooperation/development in things like producing professional audio interfaces and software, I decided to stick with the Steinberg audio interfaces and went straight for the bigger brother Steinberg UR44. It has more than enough possibilities of connections, a completely separate power supply, furthermore 2 separately volume-adjustable headphone outputs and it's pretty well-known for its flat frequency response reproduction and its ultra-robust build quality. Of course I've tested the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones also with the Steinberg UR44 - especially in direct comparison to the UR22 USB version. Although there shouldn't have been too much differences between the UR22 USB audio interface and the UR44 audio interface (both supposed to have the same transducers), I could perceive a few differences. Besides the fact that you have to turn up the headphone output volume knobs at the UR44 a bit more to get the a similar volume as with the UR22, the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro seem to perform slightly better at the UR44. The bass and lower mids sound a bit more defined and cleaner on the UR44 with these headphones - and also the higher frequencies seem to have a perceivable wider range and obviously sound crispier as well. And even my studio monitor system sounds apparently a bit clearer in connection with the UR44. I'm not quite sure - but it could really be because of the better power supply of the UR44. But after connecting the Lake People G109-P headphone amp to some of the line output ports of the Steinberg UR44 and finally putting the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro into the new G109-P headphone amp, some kind of desired dreams and audio miracles started to happen. In one of the worst case scenarios I thought the headphone amp would only boost the original signal from the Steinberg UR44 interface just as an employee of a nearby music store told me. But that doesn't seem to be fully right - there's obviously much more audio magic going on. With the help of the G109-P the formerly perceived effect of damping curtains at the lower and lower mid frequencies vanished completely. The reproduced bass of the DT 880 Pro headphones doesn't only sound crystal-clear now. It also seems to drive the sub-bass at much deeper levels. The mids and higher frequencies seem to be even more crispier and much better presented at the DT 880 Pro in connection with the G109-P headphone amp. And yeah, the stereo panorama is kinda a (freshly polished) stage now. All this could really be because of the massive power supply of the high-end headphone amp that seem to drive the DT 880 Pro quite optimally. So, if you don't already own a professional headphone amp or one of those really expensive high-end audio interfaces with integrated high-end headphone outputs (as audio interfaces like Antelope Goliath HD or several RME audio interfaces are supposed to have) and if you want (or you are forced) to compose lots of stuff with high-impedance studio headphones or if you just want to enjoy audio with those headphones on a new, much clearer and more detailed level, don't hesitate to intensely inform yourself about several high-end headphone amps und get one. For composing via headphones, I'm really sure I'll get excellent mixing results in the future with my new trinity of professional audio equipment, consisting of: 1) Steinberg UR 44 audio interface -------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/steinberg_ur44.htm 2) Lake People G109-P high-end headphone amp --------------------------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/lake_people_g109_p_highend_phoneamp.htm 3) Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones -------------------------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt_880_pro_black_edition.htm >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt880_pro.htm If you additionally want to connect your studio monitor speaker system with an external high-end headphone amp as well, just have a look at the products from SPL (Sound Performance Lab), for example the SPL 2Control: >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/spl_2control_black.htm If you are unsure about which audio equipment you want to buy, make sure to find a professional music store where you are allowed to order, check out and compare different audio equipment in a silent atmosphere by yourself. ---- PS: And always make sure to primarily invest in vital food and life force before making investments in good audio equipment. There is absolutely no reason to starve for high-end audio stuff. But you can sell your expensive car and get a nice bike or season ticket for public transport instead. And of course you can flee from those mostly unnatural, noisy and unhealthy environments of big city centres with paradoxically some of the highest rental costs and pay much less for a cosy flat at the more natural outskirts, smaller towns or romatic villages instead. Anyway, most of those shady rent sharks, racketeers and big profit-over-life investors which make your easy 'n' carefree life usually harder without any meaningful reason, seem to shun the vital areas close to the forests and wild nature - you might increase the effect by creating urban legends with all the dangerous wild animals, nasty monsters and cannibalistic tribes, that might dwell in those lovely natural environments. In this case, you might be able to enjoy high-end audio equipment as well as a pretty modest, healthy and joyful life close to vital nature (including free tickets for high-quality and truly realistic philharmonic bird sound orchestras which might become your enhanced and naturally well-timed alarm clock). Good luck. ))

Haha, thanks, man. :DD I guess that was more detailed stuff than I could technically digest at the moment. xD But if you 're interested >>> I already went for the ultra-nice headphone-mixing-audio-combo: - Steinberg UR 44 (audio interface) - Lake People G109-P (headphone amp) - Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (headphones) Be sure, this combo might blow even your meticulously analytic mind away with a suprising smile. But I'll start a new thread for this topic because it will contain much more information about the headphones and headphone amp stuff. And thanks again for your great ambition to teach me about all those things which hold the world of audio technology together in its inmost folds. ))

The main background of my whole intention to enlarge my studio equipment is basically that a guy from a music store told me that my 250 ohms Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones might not be driven properly on my Steinberg UR 22 USB audio interface. He said that some frequencies (I think he named especially the top end frequencies und deeper bass frequencies) of these headphones might perish or won't sound as clean and truthful at my current audio interface - so, I should rather go for a good headphone amp. Another customer in a product rating corner mentioned that the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro with the full frequency response range from 5 to 35000 Hz sound much better and cleaner on a good headphone amp. And so, I looked for some higher end stuff of headphone amps, got stuck to the Lake People G103-P (has a very large frequency response range from 5 to 150000 Hz!!! - so, much more than the Presonus HP4, for example - at which the frequency response range goes only from 20 to 20000 Hz). But I recognized that I would need more line outputs on my audio interface. 2 line output connections go already into my Fostex subwoofer - so, there 's nothing else left for my preferred headphone amp and I want to keep the heaphone output on my audio interface for the lower impendance headphones. So, my decision was to buy a new audio interface first and sell my old one to a friend who wants to start with composition and music. There are 2 other audio interfaces which are still in my mind and which have a good power support, lots of line input and line output ports and which have already 2 headphone output ports. 1) Tascam US-20x20 (also good ol' Japanese hightech stuff with USB 3.0 support!!!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.thomann.de/gb/tascam_us_20x20.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjIiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D >>> Without the nasty stands (don't really know if you can demount them completely) which bring the interface obviously in a slightly skewed position, I could easily place my monitor screen on this pretty big interface. or 2) Steinberg UR44 (the bigger brother of my momentary UR22 USB audio interface and highly established stuff, grown in a long-term German-Japanese development) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.thomann.de/gb/steinberg_ur44.htm >>> I'm still thinking about getting this one, because with the Steinberg products I already know what I have and lots of people say that these are very good. But even for this one I need to enhance my desktop with some further attachments to get enough place for my equipment. I'm thinking about getting some attachments for my desktop whereon I place my Presonus Eris 3.5 studio monitor speakers and under which I can also place something (like the new audio interface on the left side and the Lake People headphone amp on the right side of the desktop). Maybe I'll build some handcrafted stuff with the wood of my desktop design before I tend to buy some faltering stuff in a furniture store. But, yeah - with the Roland Rubix 24 (which is also a high quality Japanese studio gadget, I guess - and I kinda love its highly stylish design, by the way) I could just concern about the audio stuff without caring too much about my desktop. But there still some people who say that the Roland Rubix audio interfaces have a pretty prehistoric audio driver settings design where you should choose between levels with numbers from 1 to 7 or things like that... instead of choosing between spezific buffer size settings with the usual values. Guess I'll have to think about this topic a bit longer before making too fast decisions.

Haha, thanks for the in-depth guide. ^^ And yeah, I was really impressed of the obviously powerful headphone device of the Roland Rubix 24 as well. 40 mW (20 mW left + 20 mW right) into 47 ohms seems to be pretty much. Even my already pretty powerful Steinberg UR 22 USB audio interface seems to have only an output level of around 12 mW (6 mW left + 6 mW right) into 40 ohms, compared to the Roland Rubix 24. http://download.steinberg.net/downloads_hardware/UR22/UR22_documentation/UR22_OperationManual_en.pdf But yeah, in other words... The set-up for the audio-interface+headphone-amp combination in my imagination would technically work well, right?

I know - it might be a funny question for the studio hardware experts out there. But I want to go absolutely sure before buying some new equipment. My intention is to buy a new audio interface with additional ports where I can connect an external high-end headphone amp for the best possible use of some high-impedance studio headphones (Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, 250 ohms) and some lower-impedance headphones (like my Sony MDR-7506, 63 ohms) at the same time (so, in the end a hardware solution with 2 separate volume controller units for 2 different headphones). The headphone output of the audio interface should be used for the lower-impedance headphones (so, I don't want to connect the external headphone amp there). And the headphone output(s) of the high-end headphone amp should be used for the high-impedance headphones. I'm pretty sure I have to buy an audio interface with 2 additional line output ports and make a connection between both elements from there to the input ports of the external headphone amp. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Is it correct or do I have to choose an audio interface with 2 additional line input ports instead (so, that the signal goes the other way from the headphone amp to the audio interface? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If my first assumption is correct I'd go for the following studio equipment: - audio interface >>> Roland Rubix 24 (4 line output ports, impedance balanced >>> guess it's to handle like normal balanced ports) https://www.roland.com/de/products/rubix24/features/ - headphone amp >>> Lake People G103-P (2 balanced XLR input ports) https://www.thomann.de/gb/lake_people_g103p_phoneamp.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjIiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D For the connection between both elements I'd use 2 standard balanced male mono 6,3 mm jack to male mono XLR cables. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Is that okay or would you prefer some special cables for this purpose? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Besides, I've got the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones (Black Edition, 250 ohms) meanwhile and I've connected these to my Steinberg UR22 USB Audio Interface (the first version - not the new MK II). If I listen to a youtube soundtrack like "Rock Box" by Run-D.M.C. with the loudest volume setting on Youtube, for example, I just have to turn up the volume control unit of my Steinberg audio interface at around 11 o'clock to listen to this track at my preferred loudness level. >>> In comparison to the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro I have to turn up the volume control unit at around 10 o'clock, if I use my 63 ohms Sony MDR-7506 studio headphones (so, not too much difference in this case). At least this USB interface seems to have a not so bad headphone amp for high-impedance - as well as for lower-impedance - headphones. And just in connection to this USB audio interface the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro sound already pretty amazing - wide sound stage (as if you sit in a little home cinema), very clean, detailed, linear and full sound. And with these studio headphones you cleary hear, if reverb and certain frequencies are too much or stick out in your mix or get in conflict with other track elements - exactly what I was looking for. The bass of the Sony MDR-7506 might be a bit tighter (at least at my Steinberg audio interface). But I'll save some money for another audio interface (maybe the Japanese Roland Rubix 24 with 2 additional line output ports) at which I can connect a high-end headphone amplifier designed for high-impedance headphones (maybe the German Lake People G103-P headphone amp). So, maybe this combination will bring the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones to their full potencial. In the end it might be around further 500 bucks with uncertain results. But nevertheless I will be able to use some lower-impedance headphones like my Sony MDR-7506 on the Roland Rubix 24 audio interface and some high-impedance headphones like my Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro at the Lake People G103-P headphone amp at the same time. So, it would be also a really nice combo, if you wanna listen to some music projects or plan some big gaming or movie evenings with good friends and without annoying the neighborhood in the later evening hours. As soon as I've got the new stuff, I'll give a little feedback if there are further sound improvements of my high-impedance 250 ohms Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro studio headphones when connected to the Lake People G103-P high-end headphone amp. So, stay tuned, dudes. ))

Hm, the Sennheiser HD 600 seem to have a similar frequency response like the AKG K-702. Since the HD 600 is a 300 ohms model, does it mean these headphones work correctly with a normal USB audio interface or do you use further amps or stuff like that for composing and mixing with 'em?

How do you upload or post pictures of your home studio stuff? Is the attachment function for admins only or do you use an external upload platform for implementing your own pictures on OCR?

Sennheiser HD 280 don't look too bad from the frequency response - but it's not too far away from my Sony MDR-7506. I wonder why the Yamaha studio headphones aren't constructed in a way they would represent their pretty nice studio monitors - the frequency response in nearly all models seems to be completely different than their HS or MSP series of studio monitors. The AKG K-702 look a bit more interesting for me, 'cause the frequency response from the lower to the higher frequencies is slightly rising there. I'm not quite sure how electromagnetic waves (frequencies) go through your auditory canal, until they get to the sensory cells in the ear. But if the process is similar to the physical way of frequency reflections of studio monitor speakers in the room (bass frequency waves remain longer in the room than higher frequency waves), then the AKG K702 could bring a fairly flat sound reproduction to the sensory celly in your ears. The feature with the replaceable cable is also really nice. But for some reasons it totally drags me in the direction of the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro Black Edition. Except the little peak at 6000 Hz they seems to have the flattest frequency response I've ever seen at headphones (if all the measurements of the headphones are all fairly correct so far). >>> https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/beyerdynamic-dt-880-pro.php I'm still not sure, if I can connect the DT 880 Pro (250 ohms) without problems (or without another amp for headphones) to my Steinberg UR22 USB audio interface and get the full sound quality out of it. If somebody already has experiences with using these (or similar 250-or-more-ohms headphones) in connection with an USB audio interface, please let me know. Until I got more information about the DT 880 Pro, I'll stick with my Sony MDR-7506 which are actually pretty good except the lil harsh high frequencies. The hint with Sonarworks isn't too bad there, 'cause it inspired me to create some EQ-masks as master plugins for my Sony MDR-7506 headphones and my Presonus Eris 3.5 studio monitors. For creating these presets I used a multiband EQ plugin from my DAW to counter some of the sticking out frequencies (of the frequency response graphs I got from internet) on an imaginary, fixed horizontal axis a bit for getting an even more flat frequency response and a less harsh sound of my Sony MDR-7506 headphones. I only use these selfmade EQ presets as master plugins which I can switch on or off anytime - it the mixing sounds good with both settings (EQ on & off) I guess it can't be too bad in the end. Just don't forget to switch off the EQ master plugin before measuring/adjusting the loudness and exporting the track.

Since there seems to be no possibility of uploading pictures directly on OCR, I'm looking for some decent picture upload platforms with following condition: 1) The account should be free. If there's a weekly upload limit of 3 or 4 pics - no problem with that, 'cause I will upload just a few pictures within a year and primarily for music production content, I think. As long there's no overall upload limit (let's say 10 pics are free - if you want to upload more pictures you need to pay for a premium account), it's okay. 2) All the others who have no account at this platform should also be able to see the content. It would be also a nice feature that - if you post your link with the picture from the upload platform on OCR - instead of just the link the whole picture will show up in your OCR post (just like the Youtube links). 3) The upload platform shouldn't compress the uploaded pictures once again, 'cause I still use the standard Windows Snipping Tool (which already uses compression on the saved screenshots) for getting the necessary cuttings from my DAW interface graphics, for example. I want to upload pretty clear high definition pictures with sharp contrasts where you can see the fine scales and all the necessary details without problems. Besides: I've just found out that you can also save your Snipping Tool screenshots as PNG files (which have a better definition and picture quality than JPEG files there). So, if you know some good platforms for uploading pictures at these conditions or if you even use these platforms for sharing pictures with the OCR community, please let me know. ))

Since I'd been focussing much more on this topic lately, I've updated this posting with new studio headphone models and relevant facts of these models. Edit: My big choice is actually between those headphones: 1) Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (5-35000 Hz, 250 ohms, semi-open) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt880_pro.htm (also available as a slightly cheaper Black Edition) >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_dt_880_pro_black_edition.htm frequency response graph >>> https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/beyerdynamic-dt-880-pro.php 2) Sony MDR 7506 (10-20000 Hz, 63 ohms, closed) ----------------------------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/sony_mdr7506_kopfhoerer.htm frequency response graph >>> https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-2/graph#386/2031 3) AKG K-702 (10-39800 Hz, 62 ohms, open, with replaceable cable) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_k702.htm frequency response graph >>> https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-2/graph#332/2031 4) Beyerdynamic Custom Studio (5-35000 Hz, 80 ohms, closed, with replaceable cable, headset customization options and 4 adjustable bass levels) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> https://www.thomann.de/gb/beyerdynamic_custom_studio.htm frequency response graph (depends on bass slider settings) >>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/vdu9ty3w3l0m95z/DT770-CS.jpg?dl=0 I've already got the Sony MDR-7506 which are really good (except the little bit overemphasized 10000 Hz area which can make the sound a bit harsh). They have a high-definition sound as well as a very good stereo imaging and they'll be kinda comfortable after wearing them for a few days. The only problem might be that the frequency response sinks drastically at the frequency range over 15000 Hz - so, you might have some difficulties to hear some frequency clashes or conflicting reverberations effects in the high frequency area clearly enough. I'm thinking about getting some further studio headphones for a more accurate and larger higher frequency section. The Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro Black Edition for just 185 euro really seems to catch my attention in this case - but I'm really not sure if I can just connect this 250 ohm version to my Steinberg UR22 USB audio interface without a further headphone amp. But they really have a smooth flat frequency response graph (except the little 6000 Hz peak): >>> https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/beyerdynamic-dt-880-pro.php I don't really want to have the standard DT 880 (no-pro) 32 ohms hi-fi model, because the hi-fi series seem to have a much less flat frequency response and harsher higher frequencies - as you can see here: >>> http://en.goldenears.net/11302 The AKG K-702 seems to be really interesting, too (also has a replaceable cable). It has only 62 ohms (so, no amp needed, I guess) - but there I'm afraid that I'll have a similarly harsh sound like on my Sony MDR-7506, according to its frequency response graph. Another interesting model I've found lately is the Beyerdynamic Custom Studio. It has a quite large frequency range. According to the frequency response graph these headphones also seem to be pretty flat until over the 15000 Hz region (except the little overemphasized bass section below 200 Hz where I'm not sure which bass level setting they've used in this measurement) - obviously no harsh high frequencies here. >>> https://www.dropbox.com/s/vdu9ty3w3l0m95z/DT770-CS.jpg?dl=0 It has only 80 ohms - so, it might work well without a further amp. Another big advantage of this model might be that - in addition to the replaceable cable - nearly all other parts of these studio headphones are replaceable, too. You can also buy an additional special accessory cable with a microphone and use it as a pretty good headset. I wonder if they can keep up with the DT 880 Pro since they play in a similar price league of the same developer. Does anybody already have tested these studio headphones and can give a little comparision of the mentioned models?

...if that's your understanding of the term "working", then you might say so. But I'm sure that if you had worked (for example) only one year in 2010 and another year in 2015 for the same company XY, you probably wouldn't have said at the end of 2015: "I've been working for 6 years at company XY." For me language is a tool which should help to communicate honestly, precisely and to avoid misunderstandings. So, I'd rather say: "Since 2014, I've worked for about 2 months on this remix."

Nope, I just started working on this remix about 4 years ago as I've already wrote in the 5th comment above yours.

I guess I'll use a different set of drums for the next version (but I won't work on this one for a very long time) - although... I kinda like the snare drums and toms of this drum VSTi. Maybe I'll mostly change the kick drum and the cymbals and have a bigger focus on the panorama and a cleaner mix with less frequency issues for the next version. Dude, it 's much more an authoritative order to buy that Samplitude stuff than just an advertisement. )) Haha. ^^ Nah, it wouldn't be a good ad for the company to describe one of their highly promoted products (Magix Music Maker) as pretty bad or quite useless for MIDI-based music production - while I really love to talk about their less promoted but really excellent products (like Samplitude Music Studio and Samplitude Pro X Suite). I've already wrote Magix that they should stop putting energy in the development of Music Maker ('cause as a rather useless beginner DAW with a much weaker program engine primarily made for loop-based stuff it will totally ruin the first impression of their new standard user customers) and focus more on their semi-professional Samplitude Music Studio and professional Samplitude Pro X (Suite) or Sequoia instead. As it seems they have integrated their stronger hybrid engine in the latest version of Magix Music Maker 2019 instead - but I'm still a bit sceptical towards this, 'cause I really had a hard and very long time (especially as an absolute beginner at DAW and music production stuff) with Music Maker until I figured out that the shitty program engine of Music Maker caused all the troubles. But as you remarked correctly - the MIDI editor of the Magix DAWs is absolutely great and full of very useful functions. I think it's because Steinberg (Cubase) and Magix (Samplitude) were some of the first companies who invented full-grown high-end DAWs for the consumer market. So, they might have a pretty big pool of knowledge and experience at making great software-based DAWs. Samplitude was also made in cooperation with a university of my beloved hometown - so, I'm a bit (undeservedly) proud of owning it and working with Samplitude Pro X3 Suite ... and soon >>> Samplitude Pro X4 Suite - which also has some pretty cool enhanced MIDI editor functions as you can see in the video here >>>

This is a preview or early conception of a remix for the soundtrack "Faded", originally composed by Alan Walker. Since the original - as many other remixes of this track - tend to go into the electronic music style, I intend to create a much more organic and lively soundscape with classical instruments and some rock guitar stuff. I'm not quite sure in which way I'll go on with this track - but I guess I'll get some great ideas over the time. I think with the reinterpretation of the piano intro I'm kinda done already. I also had the idea to give this track a deeper meaning by contributing my remix to the natural natives, indigenous peoples, nomads, ancient tribes, their cultures and ways of seeing things in life. I'm very interested in these ancient human beings, because I think they had a much stronger life force and soul due to their stronger bond to the living nature than most of the modern people and I'm pretty sure they had some kind knowledge or energetic profile which could be a key to solve many problems of the modern world, like diseases of civilisation. So, I think we should live in a way that these indigenous people and cultures won't fade away completely and that these ancient tribes can live in a way they would do without us. They might be our last living legacy and connection to the vital nature and life itself. Original Soundtrack >>> ---------------------------------------- Newest version of my remix: 1.1 >>> >>> https://clyp.it/ycsfcdj1

Hahaha - it's been a long time since I laughed so hard about a source sound. xD PS: Just got it that it's not the game music of the NES game Thundercats. ;D

Thanks for your hints. )) So, you 're a professional guitar player - this might explain a lot. Your tracks sound indeed very clean and well mixed. Some of the frequency/hall/delay overlappings could be there because I've used a ping-pong delay effect on several guitars and the electric piano (which also panned on both sides) as well. I mostly use default or self-made presets for my virtual instruments (so, for the drum VSTi as well) and set these as I think that these might be fitting for the conditions of the track. In this remix I mostly use the Rock Drums from Magix. I guess you already know this VSTi - if not, here's a little Drum Groove I've created with Vita Rock Drums and some video material of this VSTi. >>> The little synth-like guitar sound of the electric piano as rhythm is intended by me. I totally love this one. But for the lead guitar sound my intention was to let it sound kinda truthful and realistic. But I guess I can't compete easily with VSTi stuff against a pro guitar player. ^^ ---------------------------------- Samplitude Music Studio and Samplitude Pro X from Magix have the same excellent MIDI editor like Magix Music Maker - but much more settings and a very stable program engine which doesn't hinder you to work with complex VSTi and plugin stuff in a project.

Awesome powerchords and drumming skills. Very well mixed - now I understand and I have a better comparison to my remix, especially what you described as muddy or frequency clashes in my Lufia remix update. You 're Russian, right? If that's the true power of communism I want to have that in my country as well. (Unfortunately West Germany and NATO fucked up our beloved GDR - and now capitalism & fascism bloom like cancer once again. Guess we have to metal them out.) So, teach me your legendary dark red metal guitar skills, dude. ))

Dude - thanks 4 the feedback. But that sounds... ... kinda devastating. xD The time just means I began with the Lufia track 4 years ago (and with music production in general about 5 years ago) - but I've worked with lots of other projects during this time. So, I go on with my remix updates in circles just as my time and mood allow or really push me to go on with a certain track. And there are also lots of months during a year I don't do anything within music production as well. With the guitars I hope you don't mean the electric piano stuff in there which may sound similar to a guitar 'cause I used it together with my guitar amplifier called Vandal. Besides - I'm not using those Vita guitars since a pretty long time now. I rather work with the guitar VSTis of my Independence Pro Suite and Vandal as an amplifier. And I think the samples sound kinda realistic - but just have a look at the raw solo samples (they first show the acoustic guitar samples and the electric guitars afterwards). >>> https://www.producerplanet.com/de/article/acoustic-electric-guitars-2983/ It might be a tough decision in mixing to balance out properly between assertive drums/basses and assertive melodies - but maybe I'll go for much better drum samples in the future. But I still have some drum kits in my Independence Pro Suite which I haven't really used in my tracks at all. What do you think - do these drum samples satisfy your ears much more? >>> https://www.producerplanet.com/de/audio/drums-381/ Hm, strange - I've listened to this track on many systems (Presonus Eris 3.5 studio monitors, my former Adam TV5 studio monitors, Sony MDR-7506 studio headphones, my HD MP3 player and my good ol' Panasonic LCD TV) and on all of those it sounded pretty clean. On which speaker system did you listen to this track? And yep - it's about half as loud as most other tracks 'cause I master my tracks uniformly at EBU R 128 loudness standards - it's similar to the loudness levels of the 70s or early 80s where the loudness war didn't play a major role in music production. ------------------------------------------------------ PS: Wouldn't recommend Music Maker at all if you work a lot with VSTis and plugins 'cause of it has rather weak program engine that tends to crash if too much is going on in a project (it's much more designed to work with loops as a building block concept and just a few VSTis). Rather try out/upgrade to the newest Samplitude Music Studio from Magix - it's at the same price level with limited amount of MIDI tracks (although they raised them from 16 to 32 in the new Samplitude Music Studio 2019), but it has a totally stable hybrid program engine which doesn't tend to crash and which plays your VSTis and synthesizers correctly. And you'll also keep your previous Magix content if you upgrade from Music Maker to a newer version of Samplitude Music Studio. Show me some of your tracks with electric guitars and drums you prefer and tell me which samples you have used for it - I'm totally interested how your guitar and drum stuff performs in a track.

C'mon guys - really no opinion about the new version? Wanna get some constructive feedback about the things you like in this bigger update and things you would make better/improve.

If you're still looking for a very well equipped high-end DAW I've seen pretty a genereous special offer for my DAW "Samplitude Pro X3 Suite" (includes coming upgrade for "Samplitude Pro X4 Suite" in December and "Sound Forge Pro 11") for just around 200 bucks - special offer lasts until November 25, 2018. I got the notice of a close friend whom I've recommened this special offer for his ambition to create some soundtracks for his planned RPG Maker game, that the versions are download content only (so, no DVDs - upgrades in the future will come with DVDs as I am used to, I guess). If that 's acceptable for you and if you have a good internet connection, then have a look at this highly interesting special offer. >>> https://www.magix.com/us/music/samplitude/upgrade/20180112-samplitude-pro-x/

... unless you have a source track with the original frequency exposure to make a better comparison between different speakers in relation to the source track itself - like in one of the videos above I've posted. Let's take this one again: In this case you rather need a studio monitor system or headphones that don't have to be that flat at all - but which make a good definition of the sound within its fully perceptible frequency range. If that's the case you can make a good comparison of the presented speakers to the original source material. And in this video you (or I) can hear that - for example: - the Adam A7X have a pretty clear - but boosted and sligthly roaring bass - compared to the source track - the Dynaudio BM5 MKIII have a boosted and roaring bass which lacks in definition and tends to bleed into the mids - compared to the source track - the Yamaha HS7 are the studio monitors which are very close to the source track and which only differ from each other by a slightly different coloration of the sound (I guess it's also because of the used materials of the studio monitors which always reflect, absorb and transform an individual spectrum of frequencies in their own way...) Based on studio monitors within comparisons like this you can also make vague comparisons to all other studio monitor speakers where you don't have some source frequency material - for example if you take the Yamaha HS7 as a close reference for further comparisons. So, it's not completely impossible to make fairly good decisions based on comparisons like this if you have at least some studio monitors which make a very good definition of the wholly perceptible sound (no matter if nearly flat or not) and at least one comparison of different studio monitors with an original source track where at least one studio monitor pair is very close to the source track. ... ... and of course - if you don't forget the big influence of the room you want to put these studio monitors in. ;D

So, if Sonarworks can't detect and eliminate room reflections (thought it could do it approximately 'cause of the 24 points room measurement method) it would make more sense to buy fairly flat and much smaller studio monitors (with a small sub which makes a tight 'n' dry bass maybe) that don't make too heavy low frequency reflections in your cozy couch-wallpaper-and-floor-covering-'n'-carpet-treated room. @SnappleMan Dude, if "20x13x8 room" is not a special term for any kind of a plain vanilla cave then you obviously have something like an awesome small cinema for music production (hope it won't freeze your ears in the winter 'cause of the immense heating costs :D). If you already have a simple pair of Yamaha HS7 studio monitors, be content and don't invest into more expensive little downgrades like Adam A7X. I've listened to them in the store and they sounded kinda impressive (I guess I was deceived by the powerful bass) - but they sound (figuratively speaking) a bit more like "an engine than nature" and they seem to have some slightly extended basses and high frequencies where especially the basses could bring some problems in your room at home cause of the low frequency waves tend to stay much longer in the room. I guess I had exactly this problem in my room which induced me to bring my Adam T5V (which are similar to the A5X) back in the store. If you compare the A7X und the HS7 to the source track you might recognize that the HS7 are slightly closer to the original sound in this case: The wattage of the HS7 (about 95 W) is also much lower than the A7X (about 150 W!!!). If you can't stand the plastic-like sound of the Yamaha with the sometimes a bit harsh sound, check out the Presonus Eris E5 (only 70 W - sound similar, but a bit warmer and less harsh - and just around 300 bucks as a pair!!!) in comparison. >>> I guess you won't regret it because the Presonus studio monitors do a pretty well job (kinda flat and very faithful sound, choice of materials - which are also important for a nice and faithful sound, design, price) - although I'm just fine with the smallest and newest ones (E 3.5) with which I don't have too much annoying bass frequency reflections in my small room. Maybe give all your favourites a try, order all these in your local music store and compare them with the Presonus studio monitors. I'm totally interested how you would decide after this. ))