Headphones For Dj Stuff/mixing

[mr ailsbury]

My brother stepped on his headphones (Kam KHP1500 PRO) a while back and smashed them up so my parents want to buy him some new ones for Christmas and give him a bit of an upgrade. Budget is £100-£150 tops.

Obviously I don't want to ask him about them 'cause its supposed to be a surprise and this close to Christmas he'd guess what we were up to and I know there are a couple of DJ's on here so I thought you could maybe point me in the right direction.

My first thought was to look at Pioneer headphone's cause I know they make the best CDJ's but then theres also Sennheiser who i've always loved for headphones, then Bose, Marshell etc.

http://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Pioneer-HDJ-1500-Professional-DJ-Headphones-Black/JYI - I've seen these that look cool, and the tech spec sounds good (from my very limited knowledge of what is good.) and they're in budget.

Can anyone suggest any other decent headphones to look at, brands to avoid etc

cheers for any help

[TROYston]

Dre Beats........................... Nah i kid i kid, Stay WELL away from them.

That is my input.

[Andeee]

Whatever you do.... Do not go anywhere near Beats by dre's.

Sennheisser, AKG, Audio technika do some good stuff.

Check a website out its called www.production-room.com a music tech shop based in Leeds

[showurcolours]

Those pioneers are decent, I'm 85% sure they're the pair my mate have and they are good.

I have some studio HD beats but they are out off the price range, plus they have a bad middle range but on the plus side, awesome bass.

My general rule for headphones is you get what you pay for.

I've also been told that Shure's SRH840 are extremely good, and value for money too.

If you're after earphones, ACS T15 (universal fit monitors) are a good shout.

In all honesty though, I don't think you can go wrong with Bose, Pioneer or Sennheiser

Dre Beats........................... Nah i kid i kid, Stay WELL away from them.

That is my input.

Which pair did you buy?

Whatever you do.... Do not go anywhere near Beats by dre's.

Same question goes to you too. Purely because most people who hate Beats buy the cheapest pair expecting they are going to be amazing, when you clearly get what you pay for.

[Andeee]

If you want to pay for bass be my guest.

I do music production and having too much bass in producing just does not help when it comes to mixing or mastering. i like to hear quality and a compressed clear sound coming through. Excessive bass does not help and can often make some music sound like arse.

Although i mainly mix through monitors i occasionaly use headphones late at night if everyone is in bed and am bored as hell. AlsoHeadphones are only used if i am audio editing/trimming to take out any background noises.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Andeee

[showurcolours]

I can see what you mean, I will admit some indie music doesn't sound too good through it because of all the guitars and all. But for anything else, mine hit the spot. There is a massive difference in which pair you buy though, the smaller ones are awful and lack any sense of quality at all. I've never tried them for mixing but I've DJed a few sets with them and I prefer it

[LukasMcNeal]

I'd recommend Sony VDR700dj headphones, used them when I had decks and they are great for mixing. Good size and the headband is perfect, they're about £100 I think.

[TROYston]

Which pair did you buy?

I decided to go for MIXR's for messing around on the mac. These were not worn out the house. The right side started to crackle with a month on light use and is now completely gone. SQ was good but anything mid my Z5500's are somehow better.

Along with these i decided on Powerbeats solely for gym use. The cable has slightly torn and the sound-quality is awful compared to my original Samsung inear's.

So with in a month, £300+ later i now own 2 sets, and both are fooked.

Ill stick to speakers.

[i like cunning stunts]

Samson sr850 cheap as chips and offer the quality sound of phones 5x as much.

[showurcolours]

I decided to go for MIXR's for messing around on the mac. These were not worn out the house. The right side started to crackle with a month on light use and is now completely gone. SQ was good but anything mid my Z5500's are somehow better.

Along with these i decided on Powerbeats solely for gym use. The cable has slightly torn and the sound-quality is awful compared to my original Samsung inear's.

So with in a month, £300+ later i now own 2 sets, and both are fooked.

Ill stick to speakers.

Sounds like really bad luck, if you only forked out the money on the studio's then you might have been better off, no offense.

Saying this, I have HD Studios with a Dre Beats phone (HTC Sensation XE) so my music always sounds crisp - yes I have bought into the brand and I don't regret it

[shercofray]

I have these and they are fricking awesome.

http://www.amazon.co...53881253&sr=8-1

Edit: Good value too.

Edited November 25, 2012 by shercofray

[Max Quinn]

Seinheisser HD25 mkII. Please just trust me on that one, basically industry standard for d&b djs. Nice size, decent sound, decent cable, you can't go wrong. I guarantee a good 80% of serious Dj's will recommend you those.

People reccomending headphones in here without DJing in mind I can understand, but you want a completely different thing when you're DJing as opposed to producing, general listening etc. As someone touched on earlier, too much bass is actually a bad thing for example as what you're lining up is the drum breaks.

[MadManMike]

I second Max's post. I have the HD25's, have had them for about 4 years and they're great.

I also second the posts about Beats 'phones, they're overpriced tat.

Sounds like really bad luck, if you only forked out the money on the studio's then you might have been better off, no offense.

Saying this, I have HD Studios with a Dre Beats phone (HTC Sensation XE) so my music always sounds crisp - yes I have bought into the brand and I don't regret it

And with all due respect, if you're listening to music on a phone and calling it crisp, your opinion is kinda void.

[showurcolours]

And with all due respect, if you're listening to music on a phone and calling it crisp, your opinion is kinda void.

Have you ever tried a beats phone, with spotify premium (every song is 320KBPS)? I highly doubt it. Therefore your opinion is void =)

Not being funny but my set up beats (no pun intended) most headphones or speakers

[JD™]

Have you ever tried a beats phone, with spotify premium (every song is 320KBPS)? I highly doubt it. Therefore your opinion is void =)

Not being funny but my set up beats (no pun intended) most headphones or speakers

No, it doesn't. It's good that you're happy with your setup, but there's some real audiophiles on here who know what they're talking about. Anyone professionally involved in music, and allowed to be unbiased, will tell you that there aren't many things worse than a Beats setup.

[showurcolours]

No, it doesn't. It's good that you're happy with your setup, but there's some real audiophiles on here who know what they're talking about. Anyone professionally involved in music, and allowed to be unbiased, will tell you that there aren't many things worse than a Beats setup.

Well I've DJed and produced music with them and found them fine. I should add that my set up is portable, and in that respect, my set up is better than other speakers and/or headphones. If you play music from an iPod even with 'better headphones' - it still doesn't sound as good, from my experience. That's what I was trying to say, probably should have made the effort last time.

[LukasMcNeal]

I can't believe you are trying to argue beats? They are shit! The only thing they are good at is being loud, they have no clarity or depth.

[Max Quinn]

I can understand the market for beats sure, if you wanna look super trendy an wear them round your neck 24/7 then that's your call.

For DJing however, you will probably get laughed at by whoever's standing behind you waiting to play their set haha. I'm currently using Tinchy Strider headphones when I play out, cos I left my hd25s on a coach, I'm poor and they were free, but my do I get some funny looks. Not to mention the fact that DJing is nowhere near as pleasurable.

[mr ailsbury]

Seinheisser HD25 mkII. Please just trust me on that one, basically industry standard for d&b djs. Nice size, decent sound, decent cable, you can't go wrong. I guarantee a good 80% of serious Dj's will recommend you those.

People reccomending headphones in here without DJing in mind I can understand, but you want a completely different thing when you're DJing as opposed to producing, general listening etc. As someone touched on earlier, too much bass is actually a bad thing for example as what you're lining up is the drum breaks.

Ahh I forgot about HD25's! We used to use them at uni for monitoring/editing sound in films. Beast headphones cheers for that!

[MadManMike]

Well I've DJed and produced music with them and found them fine. I should add that my set up is portable, and in that respect, my set up is better than other speakers and/or headphones. If you play music from an iPod even with 'better headphones' - it still doesn't sound as good, from my experience. That's what I was trying to say, probably should have made the effort last time.

Dude, I'm by no means saying I know everything, but I've been DJ'ing for 12 years, producing for about 6 and have previously worked in a high-end hi-fi shop for a couple of years. I've tested headphones and speakers ranging from £10 to £10,000 for applications ranging from home cinema to studio production.

If you think 320kbps streamed audio to a phone is a good judge of sound, again, your opinion is void.

Beats are well marketed, they've fooled a lot of people into thinking they're the best things ever, but in reality they aren't. They're not shit, but they really aren't as good as everyone makes out. Sure, they might have a lot of bass, but that's not an indication of quality.

[showurcolours]

I can't believe you are trying to argue beats? They are shit! The only thing they are good at is being loud, they have no clarity or depth.

Thanks for your constructive criticism.

[showurcolours]

If you think 320kbps streamed audio to a phone is a good judge of sound, again, your opinion is void.

Beats are well marketed, they've fooled a lot of people into thinking they're the best things ever, but in reality they aren't. They're not shit, but they really aren't as good as everyone makes out. Sure, they might have a lot of bass, but that's not an indication of quality.

Yes they are well marketed and somewhat well made. If you can find any other portable devices offering a higher bit rate and better clarity then by all means suggest it, because quite frankly any product by apple doesn't come anywhere near.

I think everyone clearly has just jumped on the 'lets hate against the guy with beats bandwagon' - you all need to chill the f**k out.

If you all re read my original post, I don't even suggest beats, I simply say that I use them. Also, I've never claimed they are the best (defining best by sound clarity and quality) headphones available and infact I have at one point said 'you get what you pay for'. I have also admitted that at some frequencies, they are poor.

So before you all say shit like 'your opinion is invalid/void' or whatever, try finding a portable setup that offers better sound quality for under 280 (I'd add the phone onto the cost, but I got it on contract).

I'm not even going to bother posting on this topic again because what I have said at the start has been so construed that there is literally no point. I'll think twice before offering an opinion next time.

[MadManMike]

1) You're shitting the bed for no reason. Some people are jumping on the bandwagon, but I'm not, I'm just stating facts.

2) This "argument" (Which you yourself have made) is not to do with portable devices, so why even bring it up?

3) If you're asking me to suggest a £280 pair of headphones for a phone, I'm not going to do that. Anyone that spends £280 on headphones for a MOBILE PHONE has more money than sense.

4) "You get what you pay for" - clearly not, in this case.

5) We're perfectly chilled out, it's you on the massive defence mission.

6) You're comparing expensive headphones to "apple products" - huh?

[Max Quinn]

I think everyone clearly has just jumped on the 'lets hate against the guy with beats bandwagon' - you all need to chill the f**k out.

If you try and reccomend an inferior product for the topic posters needs because you've waded into answering his question without having the proper knowledge to do so, I'm not trying to piss you off when I call you out, I'm trying to make sure the poster at the top isn't gonna waste his £150.

Showing 'ur' colours mate.

Anyway, sounds like you know what to do Mr. Ailsbury. I much prefer the MkIIs for the coiled cable, particularly useful when djing so you're not tripping over some massive cable stumbling around the booth.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Max Quinn