What headphones or monitors (speakers) should I buy?

[GallenWolf]

I want to +1 on the recommendation for AKG K240 MKIIs.... very nice phones for the price I think. I only have my SR80s to compare with, very different sound signature. I though the AKGs were very balanced, compared to the grados that were over the top detailed. Would love to try some DT880s down the road

Driven by my laptop output they're quite good, and really shine when driven by my audio interface.

[SPEED and HONOR]

I think any decent studio monitors or headphones will work for an amateur studio. In my case I have a pair of Behringer Truths and AKG K141 MKII studio headphones. If I had make an economic pick I would probably look for KRK studio monitors of the same size supposedly A5 or A6 size and AKG K701 studio headphones. I think that for mixing/ mastering and referencing. Any gear can do provided you have more than 1 source. The audio will give you a good aspect on one monitor but will sound bad on another. The real deal is knowing how to work with frequencies/harmonics, etc... to get a good sound. So probably I'd say for those looking for good solution for studio is to have both studio headphones (mine I use for mixing low frequencies and high frequencies) and use studio monitors for mids and balance. Though you might want to check overall audibility on studio headphones after that. It's also not a bad idea to check how the audio sounds with smaller mp3 player headphones or in a car to get the most polished impression, however keeping balance between all the versions is what will be decisive for the audio in the end. So good luck for those of you looking for gear, there is a lot to choose from!!!!

[Guardian_Force]

So, based on recommendations in this thread, along with some input I read across various other forums and reviews, I decided to plunk down $160 on a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50's as my starter set of headphones.

So far, I'm extremely pleased with what I'm hearing. These are no question a billion times better than the $20 Sony headphones I'd been getting by on (just for listening, not creating). These sound (to me) crystal clear. I realize now that cheap pair of Sony headphones in fact sound like mud by comparison.

I couldn't say anything truly specific about their range, since I'm by no means anywhere close to knowledgeable in those realms yet, but for newcomers like myself, I feel that if you're used to a massive amount of bass in consumer headphones, you might find the ATH-M50's a bit light in that area by comparison. I think someone at a different forum stated the ATH-M50's have bass in "quality, not quantity", and that feels right from what I'm hearing.

That said, I'm just powering it out of my laptop's headphone jack alone right now (no amp yet or external soundcard), playing lossless audio files in Foobar. I plan to make those items my next purchase.

I'll update my thoughts as a newcomer when I get a chance to demo some other solid pairs of headphones, since this thread was quite helpful in my purchasing decision. Thanks, all.

[SPEED and HONOR]

So, based on recommendations in this thread, along with some input I read across various other forums and reviews, I decided to plunk down $160 on a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50's as my starter set of headphones.

So far, I'm extremely pleased with what I'm hearing. These are no question a billion times better than the $20 Sony headphones I'd been getting by on (just for listening, not creating). These sound (to me) crystal clear. I realize now that cheap pair of Sony headphones in fact sound like mud by comparison.

I couldn't say anything truly specific about their range, since I'm by no means anywhere close to knowledgeable in those realms yet, but for newcomers like myself, I feel that if you're used to a massive amount of bass in consumer headphones, you might find the ATH-M50's a bit light in that area by comparison. I think someone at a different forum stated the ATH-M50's have bass in "quality, not quantity", and that feels right from what I'm hearing.

That said, I'm just powering it out of my laptop's headphone jack alone right now (no amp yet or external soundcard), playing lossless audio files in Foobar. I plan to make those items my next purchase.

I'll update my thoughts as a newcomer when I get a chance to demo some other solid pairs of headphones, since this thread was quite helpful in my purchasing decision. Thanks, all.

Those are decent headphones, make sure to differentiate though, that for sound in general there are room properties. Headphones will generally not cover much on that aspect. You can still pull out a good mix if you know how to work, or if the headphones are specifically made to sound in one way that might sound well in given conditions (clubs or such)

(out of topic, but interesting to know: )

That's why most mastering studios use very expensive Very Wide Field Loudspeakers. These are not the typical near fields studio monitors that they sell for normal prices, and these are pricey in general. To get the most out of the quality of your production. ( I guess you need your headphones for production, correct? ) You need to use your tools in a way you'll learn by yourself. For instance these headphones might help you judge the frequencies around the bass tones better than studio monitors, but they will not give you the final sounding image. They will help you on the mix but you will have to vary the sound output sources, to get good idea of the sound. Sometimes it will sound worse on 1 system, better on another, so you have to decide on which that is. Until you find a way to balance all those parameters, and make the mix commercial sounding masteringwise.

[20abox]

Hi guys, I just found out this old thread and I was wondering if one of you could help me.

Since a couple of days I'm trying to find monitors.

However, I'm a kind of a beginner and I don't want to throw the little money I have everywhere. I want to start to record my stuff and maybe trying to remix some of my favorite VGM.

I'm open to suggestions (monitors and headsets) with a good quality VS price ratio. And... since it's black friday maybe there's something good out there!

Thanks !

[GallenWolf]

If you are just starting out, why not just use what you have? If not, for headphones the AKG240 MKII seems like a popular suggestion.

And welcome to ocremix

[20abox]

Thanks for the suggestion,

I thought that mixing and mastering with regular speakers/headphones was a bad thing to do (It's what I have).

However, I guess that over all the remixes on this website not everybody has a professional home studio and does that as a job. (I really hope so ahahah)

[calvinthedestroyer]

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Master Mi]

On 12/7/2009 at 12:51 AM, Arcana said:

Hey all.

I have a possible $400 to spend on stuff and I'm considering something like monitors. However based on this thread I've heard a few things.

First, my room is definitely untreated. Is this a huge factor? Like, does it basically mean I waste $400 if I put them in an untreated room?

Second, the thread recommends against low-end monitors, like those in the $400 range. I am wondering, with the recent explosion of inexpensive studio monitors, if this still holds true.

Currently I mix on headphones but I'm kind of getting mixed results with them and I am wondering if I can improve my mixing abilities. Perhaps you can recommend if monitors are a good idea, or if I should consider something else (for example, to simply mix more, or read a book) until I can get a stronger setup.

Regards,

Maybe it's a little bit late for a helpful reply...

But after searching for a similar topic and reading your comment, I thought of something that would really fit your needs - as I was in a similar situation years ago.

Ever heard of the Yamaha MSP studio monitor series?
They are the flagship of the Yamaha company as far as studio monitors go, and arguably some of the world's best studio monitors you can get right now.
The MSP series is even better (better audio resolution and flatter frequency response) and also a bit more expensive than the Yamaha HS series - here are a few official links from Yamaha to compare the two series:

https://de.yamaha.com/de/products/contents/proaudio/musicianspa/products_studio_monitor.html

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp_studio_series/index.html

The MSP studio monitors have been hard to get in stores for a few years now (especially the MSP 5 and MSP 7 - more recently the MSP 3) - this may have to do with the MSP series designer retiring (but it appears they are opening a new line of the MSP series, starting with the Yamaha MSP 3A).

The MSP 7 and MSP 5 got a younger brother, the MSP 3, a few years ago (followed by a newer model, the MSP 3A) that would be great for your needs (I own the MSP 3):

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp3/index.html

https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/msp3a/index.html

I use the MSP 3 (65 - 22000 Hz) in connection with a small Japanese subwoofer, the Fostex PM-SUBmini 2 (enhances the frequency range in the lower bass section down to 40 Hz and is only turned up just a little with the lowest crossover setting - so, it's really just a very subtl deep bass support for the MSP 3 to have a good impression of a kick drum or the bass right between your feet).

I've placed them on the desk in my living room, which is about 6 meters (length) * 4 meters (width) * 2,50 meters (height) in size.
I don't use any kind of professional acoustic treatment in this room because I really like the cozy, bright and sunlit Mediterranean atmosphere of my living room.
There is only more or less unintentional acoustic treatment like wallpaper on the walls and the ceiling, two thick carpets filling almost the whole floor, a bigger couch and a wall unit on the sides, a standing model of a punching bag in the back corner and some smaller wooden furniture - that's all.

And because I got problems with bigger (and even slightly bass-boosted) 5-inch studio monitors like the Adam T5V flooding my room with nasty bass reflections and making it impossible for me to mix my tracks accurately or even enjoy listening to music, I decided to look for a smaller version of studio monitors.
After this, I got the Presonus Eris E3.5 as kinda useful entry-level reference studio monitor speakers (where I really enjoyed listening to music on a higher quality level without annoying room reflections - though, for accurate mixing they are not optimal because they sound a bit overpolished, so the mixings often sound too good too quickly before they are actually finished).

A few years later, after already owning a professional studio headphone solution, I also wanted to get professional studio monitors in a similar size like the Presonus Eris E3.5.

And after researching for a long time and getting a nice tip from an employee of a music store, I got more and more into the Yamaha MSP series, especially the smaller MSP 3 model.

After ordering a few MSP 3s for a friend, I didn't like them at first because my mixes with them sounded kind of fuzzy and less clean.
But the amazing audio resolution of these studio monitors was some of the best (along with the Neumann studio monitors) I've ever experienced with any type of speaker.

Right after borrowing those studio monitors from that friend and doing a first mix on them, I was impressed how much better the track sounded later on all the studio monitors in the music store and all the other sound systems - even though the MSP 3 still showed me some weaknesses of that mix, the track sounded really fantastic and clean on the other studio monitors compared to my earlier mixes.

And then I kinda fell in love with the MSP 3 and bought them for myself a few years ago.
Since then, I've never wanted other studio monitors.

...

And the good thing is - the MSP 3 (as well as the newer model MSP 3A) are pretty close to your budget.
A pair of them costs around 400 to 500 bucks.
And of course, with the MSP 3 or MSP 3A, you don't have to worry too much about the acoustic treatment of your room.
The design of these speakers is really nice, and the fairly low wattage of about 20 to 30 W per speaker makes them a really energy-efficient and sustainable professional studio and sound engineering tool these days.

If you can't find a dealer near you for the still available Yamaha MSP 3A, maybe try the Thomann online store for professional audio equipment:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_msp3_a.htm


If you want to get an idea of the sound and audio resolution of the Yamaha MSP series, put on some professional studio headphones and check out the links below (there are also some frequency response measurements of the MSP studio monitors in some videos):

MSP 3
--------

MSP 3 vs MSP 3A
-----------------------

MSP 5
--------

MSP 7
--------

MSP 7 vs Tannoy Reveal Active MK1 vs Presonus Eris E8
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope I could help you or someone else with my information and experience about studio monitors. ))

Edited December 14, 2022 by Master Mi

[Xaleph]

I'm running Sennheiser HD 600 for headphones.  I'm looking to get monitors - I appreciate your post Master Mi ?

[H36T]

I exclusively use M50x for when I'm working on the tracks but after a session I'll listen on my Sony ear wf1000xm4 buds on my phone and sometimes my HD650's just to see how things sound on different sources.

[jonestruckzs]

Right now, I'm looking to buy AKG K271 (around 279 bucks Canadian here) and either a pair of Samsons (600 bucks) or KNK's (1300 bucks).

[Master Mi]

On 8/9/2023 at 9:59 AM, jonestruckzs said:

Right now, I'm looking to buy AKG K271 (around 279 bucks Canadian here) and either a pair of Samsons (600 bucks) or KNK's (1300 bucks).

I don't have any listening or even mixing experiences with Samson studio monitors - but the other studio monitors (guess you mean some >>> KRK <<< studio monitors) are quite some decent middle class studio monitors (which tend to overemphasize the bass a bit too much in my opinion - so, if these models are 5-inch-woofer models or even larger ones, you might have to care about acoustic treatment in your studio room).


For the studio headphones...

If you really want to go for some AKG-K-271-MKII studio headphones, they are reduced around 40 % at the Thomann store (just choose your right language/currency and save settings afterwards).
https://www.thomann.de/de/akg_k271_mkii.htm

For AKG models they are not bad - seem to have some very pronounced mids (which is quite rare at frequency responses of studio equipment - still much better than pronounced bass), but there seem to be some bigger jumps in the frequency response (around 20 dB in the audible frequency range):

https://www.headphonecheck.com/test/akg-k271-mkii/

(Check out the frequency response on the right side under "Measurement Results", click on the picture with the graph and choose "Frequency response: Detail" afterwards.)


If you want to get some AKG (the company was re-established as Austrian Audio in 2017) studio headphones with a more linear frequency response for more accurate and precise mixing, I would rather go for the AKG K-701 or the AKG K-702:

https://www.headphonecheck.com/test/akg-k701/

https://www.headphonecheck.com/test/akg-k702/

...

I still have to check out some AKG models in the future.

But from all the studio headphones I've tested until now, my favourites were always the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro (if you get the Black Edition, buy some silver ear pads and attach them instead of the black ear pads for an even flatter frequency response).

According to my personal listening experiences, no other models of studio headphones could beat their flatness of the frequency response, their relaxed and natural sound, their amazing audio definition or the high precision of the staging/panorama/depth.

I also use them for watching movies because it always feels like you are sitting in a big iSense cinema or like your are straight in the middle of the action.