Nord User Forum

[Berretje]

Hi!

Congrats with your new friend!
I guess this question is very personal. The best practice for a suitable is to go to a music store and try several headphones out.
Try to switch as much between several models. And specially when you get used to a specific type, switch to the next one and then back to the first one.

Good luck with your search quest!

Gr
Bart

[DanielD71]

Hello
I have the inear shure se-535 for rehearsal and the sennheiser hd 558 to practice by myself at home.

Regards

[maurus]

AKG K240 MkII.

[mjbrands]

Look out with headphones with a high impedance (say 70+ ohm). They require a more powerful headphone amplifier to get the same volume or in practical terms, they probably won't go very loud on a media player, ipod, etc. but also the Nords. Very high quality headphones (and headphones for 'studio' use) are generally higher impedance.

Some vendors also sell different versions of the same headphone. For example, you can get the Beyer Dynamic DT 770 Pro and DT 990 Pro headphones in a 32 ohm, 250 ohm and 600 ohm variant. The 32 ohm one would work fine with an ipod, but with the 600 ohm variant you would hardly get any volume.

My favourite two headphones are my Audio Technica ATH-A900 (closed back) for rock/acoustic/vocal/classical music and my Beyer Dynamic DT 990 Pro (open back, 250 ohm) for electronica/metal/pop. I also have an AKG K271 (closed back, excellent dampening of outside noise) which sounds quite nice and a Sennheiser HD-595 which sounds quite muddy and bass-heavy.

Closed back headphones generally have less bass but you don't bother the people around you because they don't leak as much noise as an open one does. They generally also dampen outside noise somewhat (the AKG K271 and K240 do this quite well), so you can listen at lower volumes. The open backed ones generally have more bass and a wider sound stage, though this last thing is somewhat subjective. If you have a quiet listening environment, an open back headphone will likely give you a better sound quality. If your listening environment is more noisy (or you don't want to disturb other people in the same room), a closed back one might be a better choice. Your ears generally also tend to sweat more in a closed back one. I generally stay away from on-ear headphones, I prefer over-ear headphones which completely cover the entire ear.

There are very good in-ear headphones, but there are even more really bad ones (the typical Apple ear buds for the iPhone 4S and earlier are a good example). Good in-ear headphones ('personal monitors') can be quite expensive, but generally have even better sound dampening qualities. I have a set of older Shure in-ear monitors which sound quite good and dampen outside noise by 21 dB (lowering the level by 3 dB means halving the volume), but they hurt my ears and it takes a few hours (over consecutive days) to get used to them again. After that, they don't hurt anymore. I suppose you could say the Shure in-ear monitors are mainly meant for gigging musicians that take care of their hearing (hearing loss is of course quite common amongst musicians).

On a side note: I use a Sennheiser PC-350 headset when gaming. It has leather-like earpads. Since mine were very worn, I put on a replacement velours set meant for my Sennheiser HD-595 headphone since they're the same shape and fit. After that, the PC-350 sounded horrible. It doesn't have a lot of bass to start with (unlike the HD-595), but low to mid frequencies were now completely absent resulting in a very nasal and unlistenable sound. I wasn't expecting the type ear cushion used to have such a large impact. It now has a new set of cushions actually meant for the PC-350 and sounds fine again.

[soratach]

I'm using AKG271 at the moment and I couldnt be happier, although if you practice in a closed room, no outside noise, then i'd recommend you get an open back headphones.

[Spider]

I currently use a pair of Denon AH-D2000.
Closed back, over-ear, good outside noise dampening, excellent confort even after hours of wearing.

Best headphones I have ever tried.
They honestly changed my musical life, both for listening to CDs and for playing keyboards on headphones.
Amazing soud quality with any sound (both acoustic and electronic), amazing "tri-dimentional" sound (I don't know how else to describe it), amazing bass response (almost too much, I had to re-learn to listen to music at about half the volume I was used to... which is good to preserve your hearing for a few more years)
Excellent build quality, will last a lifetime.

I think they're out of production now, but surely you can find them used on ebay.

In the same series, there were the AH-D5000 and 7000, but they are ridiculously overpriced for fractional improvements in sound quality, the "basic" 2000 is definitely the best price/quality ratio you can find (DISCLAIMER: it is not basic at all, and not cheap either... but it's worth every penny!)

[sakari]

ATH-50;M---

[Michael Wright]

AKG K240 MkII.

These

[Frantz]

Hi

I'll confirm what has been said above, if possible, go try in a shop on you ears with a few tunes you know well. I did that and even with a portable MP3 player, this was not a waste of time at all. The choice was done quickly with no hesitation.

For me the Sennheiser HD 380 has perfect balance and accuracy for creating keyboard patches, mixing (I know this should be done on monitors but with this headphone ... It's ok for me), or tracking artifacts. You can record vocals too because it's attenuation is good, it's well closed. The only drawback maybe it's comfort after 1 hour.

I use a Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohms to play on the NS2 because I can keep it 2 hours without being tired. I find it very comfortable and with a bit less bass ( reviews say around 80hz and I think it's true) so my ears are not tired with the sound.

These two headphones have nothing special, they are widely used in radio / tv / studio.

If you don't mind about making or hearing external noise, semi open or open headphones like the Akg k702 or the Beyerdynamic Dt990 are popular and generally appreciated too.

F.

[drparticle]

Sennheiser HD 25-1 II

These are pricey, but I love the comfort & light weight. I've tried other Sennheiser and some Sony and Shure, for comparison. I don't use open back as I'm playing the NP without bothering my girlfriend, sometimes at 2AM.

I really enjoy them for the acoustic pianos. These headphones don't sound as nice with the EPs on the low notes. They are fine for general music listening as well.

As always, listen at moderate volumes to avoid hearing damage.

My $0.02

- drparticle