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headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:50 am
by dubesteppe
I am looking for either a new pair of headphones or speakers that have decent bass response and wont cut out any frequencies. I would like them to be below 100 dollars (im geussing headphones since monitors cost alot more) . Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you. :cornlol:

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:53 am
by jrisreal
You can get the Shure SRH440's or the Sennheiser HD280's

I have the Sennheisers and my friend has the Shures and unfortunately their both over $100 (unless you look on google shopping ;-) )

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:54 am
by dubesteppe
how is the bass response?

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:55 am
by dubesteppe
btw im seeing them for 80 on google shopping

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:57 am
by jrisreal
bass response....well theyre flat frequency so the bass isnt like HOLY CRAP THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!! but the plus is that you'd be hearing the audio AS IT IS instead of being colored by a built-in EQ curve like most headphones...and they DO have bass, so don't worry about that. But for the sennheisers, best performance is with a headphone amp.

EDIT: For all headphones, best performance is with the headphone amp...I say you should get the Shures man, theyre cheaper and pretty much same as good

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:58 am
by Kodachrome
jrisreal wrote:You can get the Shure SRH440's or the Sennheiser HD280's

I have the Sennheisers and my friend has the Shures and unfortunately their both over $100 (unless you look on google shopping ;-) )
Haha I've been meaning to buy a pair of 280's. If I posted a pic of my monitoring situation I'd get laughed off the forums.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:00 am
by mekha
If you really care about your hearing I would suggest monitors.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:03 am
by Kodachrome
mekha wrote:If you really care about your hearing I would suggest monitors.
Yeah but for those on the dole headphones might be the only alternative. ;)

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:04 am
by dubesteppe
i just bid for the 280's on ebay. but i just looked back and saw they were used :( thats not too gross isit?

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:05 am
by Kodachrome
dubesteppe wrote:i just bid for the 280's on ebay. but i just looked back and saw they were used :( thats not too gross isit?
You're prob better off just getting a new pair man, they aren't that expensive. If you do end up getting the used it wont be gross if you just use some disinfectant wipes.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:09 am
by dubesteppe
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-XB700-Di ... B001RB24SW i hope i dont win so i can get these :D

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:09 am
by jrisreal
dubesteppe wrote:i just bid for the 280's on ebay. but i just looked back and saw they were used :( thats not too gross isit?
depends :lol:

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:14 am
by jrisreal
dubesteppe wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-XB700-Di ... B001RB24SW i hope i dont win so i can get these :D
lol NO! Same friend as previously mentioned (dmisreal) had those before the Shures and returned them because they sounded bad and dont have extra bass...in fact, barely any bass and he said that all the lows, mids, and highs sound muddy (and the cups didnt even fit on his head...way oversized) :lol:

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:16 am
by Kodachrome
dubesteppe wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-XB700-Di ... B001RB24SW i hope i dont win so i can get these :D
Are you looking for cans for producing or just casual listening?

If for the former then you prob don't want the ones you just linked.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 5:24 am
by mekha
Kodachrome wrote:
mekha wrote:If you really care about your hearing I would suggest monitors.
Yeah but for those on the dole headphones might be the only alternative. ;)
That's not an excuse, if you are serious about music you will eventually end up buying much more expensive stuff. Music it's about hearing and that subject -hearing- should be priority; headphones will induce hearing damage rather quickly and all the hard work you are planning to expend on music production will end up affected by hearing damage if you dont make a good monitor investment.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 1:58 pm
by dubesteppe
im going to use whatever i buy to produce. and i listen to my music very quiet so i wont have hearing loss

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:07 pm
by benjam
Although I agree with mekha its easy to say that when youve got your set-up sorted. If you can id save your cash for now til you see a bargain on ebay.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 3:13 pm
by lyons238
i like my hd280's but you still need a decent set of monitors to check back to...sometimes its hard to tell what the song will actually sound like through headphones. i find that they reveal a lot of detail that might not even be heard on speakers and sound crappier on speakers. also bass response on headphones isn't ideal. it just cant be possible because bass waves are long and require distance to hear them properly. obviously you lose that distance with headphones, so headphones are designed to sort of cheat the system and allow you to hear the bass almost as if it was normal, but its not the true sound. that was sort of a bad explanation but i think you get the idea. headphones are great to use and have, but you at least need to check you mix on a pair of monitors.

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:11 am
by dubesteppe
well i won the bid on the hd 280's. and im just producing for fun if it ever gets serious then i will look into getting monitors to check the feedback and stuff. but for now the only people hearing my music is myself so it makes no difference to me

Re: headphones vs. monitors

Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 4:06 am
by iamjoncannon
lyons238 wrote: also bass response on headphones isn't ideal. it just cant be possible because bass waves are long and require distance to hear them properly.
and also the stereo image will be more noticeable on headphones because each side is isolated from the other.

but think about it: are you doing a track for headphones or for a club system? do you want to hear all the little details or the total mix? how often have you been in a club and thought 'wow i love how crisp the eq on that hi hat is'?

i have a decent set of both and find that stuff i do on headphones only sometimes sounds good on my monitors, but anything i do on my monitors will sound good on my headphones...if that makes any sense...