300-700$ DT990pro Opgradering

[dogusycblt]

Hello, I am a dt990 pro 250ohm user. I would like headphone advice in the range of 300-500$ for producing and mix mastering rather than listening to music. My dac topping dx1
1-Sennheiser hd6xx
2- Hifiman sundara
3-hifiman edition xs
4-steven state vsx

 

[Curupira]

Hello, welcome to ASR!

The Sennheiser HD 6XX is a staple of the mixing industry and is specially used for mixing and mastering classical music. It's versatility for being neutral extends it's uses beyond that genre though, and it's only shortcomings would be when mastering more modern genres with lots of subbass content, because it lacks extension down there. You can and should circumvent that by using it in conjunction with flat measuring speakers: as sure you know, mixing solely with headphones is very tricky and should be avoided. One important caveat with the Sennheisers is the fact that you will have to change the ear pads every so often in order to get the most of them: with time the pads compress and the sound becomes muffled, with less highs and, perceptually, more "loose"/"boomy" bass.

Other options are the Sundara you mentioned, the Hifiman HE400SE and the Sennheiser HD560s, but they also have the subbass problem. A more expensive option exists also in the Sennheiser 490, which was designed for "producing", but it's twice the price of the former ones and shouldn't be much better.

I'd stay away from the edition XS for mixing because it has a bright signature that will artificially emphasize "detail", not unlike your current DT990s.

 

[dogusycblt]

Merhaba, ASR'ye hoş geldiniz!

Sennheiser HD 6XX, miksleme endüstrisinin temel taşıdır ve özellikle klasik müzik miksleme ve mastering için kullanılır. Nötr olma konusundaki çok yönlülüğü, kullanımlarını bu türün ötesine taşır ve tek eksikliği, çok sayıda alt bas içeriğine sahip daha modern türleri mastering ederken olur, çünkü orada uzantıdan yoksundur. Bunu, düz ölçüm hoparlörleriyle birlikte kullanarak aşabilirsiniz ve aşmalısınız: bildiğiniz gibi, yalnızca kulaklıklarla miks yapmak çok zordur ve kaçınılmalıdır. Sennheiser'larla ilgili önemli bir uyarı, bunlardan en iyi şekilde yararlanmak için kulaklık pedlerini ara sıra değiştirmeniz gerekeceği gerçeğidir: zamanla pedler sıkışır ve ses boğuklaşır, daha az tiz ve algısal olarak daha "gevşek"/"gümbür gümbür" bas olur.

Diğer seçenekler bahsettiğiniz Sundara, Hifiman HE400SE ve Sennheiser HD560s'dir, ancak bunlarda da subbass sorunu vardır. "Üretim" için tasarlanmış olan Sennheiser 490'da daha pahalı bir seçenek de mevcuttur, ancak öncekilerin fiyatının iki katıdır ve çok daha iyi olmamalıdır.

Miks için XS versiyonundan uzak dururdum çünkü şu anki DT990'larınızdan pek de farklı olmayan, yapay olarak "detayları" vurgulayacak parlak bir imzası var.

Thank you very much for your answer. Steven State VSX what do you think about these headphones and can you suggest a reference monitor instead of all this that can improve his work's acoustics a bit? A monitor like Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro and Adam T5V. and the music I make is progressive house, edm, eurodance, so basically bass and kick

 

[Curupira]

They

Thank you very much for your answer. Steven State VSX what do you think about these headphones and can you suggest a reference monitor instead of all this that can improve his work's acoustics a bit? A monitor like Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro and Adam T5V. and the music I make is progressive house, edm, eurodance, so basically bass and kick

The Steven State are fine if you want a closed headphone, they sound ok right out of the box but have shy treble and subbass. Their bass seem to be punch focused because of the emphasizes around mid bass. If you EQ them to a good target like the Harman Target (they don't need much), they'll be good.

There are also other options for closed ear headphones. The Beyer 1770 for instance comes to the mind but I wouldn't get it because of the treble and a very deep null resonance inside the cup around the pinna region. On a cheaper (and better) side , you can get a Shure 840A. It will sound right out of the box and it was made with production in mind (Harman neutral, detachable one end cable and foldable/tiltable earcups):

Also, when I talked about studio monitors I was talking about active speakers, not headphones. They're a whole other rabbit hole and I encourage you to get a pair of you still don't have one: while it is possible to mix purely with headphones, the end result will almost always sound weird on other equipment and even on other headphones.

I'm not qualified to recommend speakers, as I don't know much of the NA/EU market, but if I was forced to pick a pair, I'd recommend the JBL 305p or the 306p line of active speakers
With them, bigger often is better (bigger woofers means less distortion when playing louder). The only caveat with them is that some unit produce hiss around the tweeter when not playing music, and that hiss is specially noticeable when sitting close to them.

 

[markanini]

What kind of content are you producing and mastering?

 

[DVDdoug]

Here are some excerpts I've collected from Recording Magazine.

This is from "Readers Submissions" where readers send-in their recordings for evaluation:

As those of you who have followed this column for any length of time can attest, headphone mixing is one of the big no-no's around these parts. In our humble opinion, headphone mixes do not translate well in the real world, period, end of story. Other than checking for balance issues and the occasional hunting down of little details, they are tools best left for the tracking process.

And this is from a mixing engineer:

Can I mix on headphones?

No. But in all seriousness, headphones can be a secret weapon and it really doesn’t matter what they sound like…

Over time, after constantly listening back to my work from different studios on those headphones I really started to learn them. They became sort of a compass. Wherever I went… It became a pattern for me to reference these headphones to see if what I was hearing was “right”…

I learned them, I knew them, I trusted them. It didn’t matter whether or not I loved them…

So, can you mix on headphones? Probably. I just think you really need to put some time into learning them first…

This is from Floyd Tool's book, Sound Reproduction

Headphones entertain masses of people. Professionals occasionally mix on them when conditions demand it. Both rely on some connection to sound reproduction, that is, loudspeakers in rooms, because that's how stereo is intended to be heard. Stereo recordings are mixed on loudspeakers.

 

[dogusycblt]

What kind of content are you producing and mastering?

Edm, prograssive house, eurodance

 

[dogusycblt]

They


The Steven State are fine if you want a closed headphone, they sound ok right out of the box but have shy treble and subbass. Their bass seem to be punch focused because of the emphasizes around mid bass. If you EQ them to a good target like the Harman Target (they don't need much), they'll be good.

View attachment 397185

There are also other options for closed ear headphones. The Beyer 1770 for instance comes to the mind but I wouldn't get it because of the treble and a very deep null resonance inside the cup around the pinna region. On a cheaper (and better) side , you can get a Shure 840A. It will sound right out of the box and it was made with production in mind (Harman neutral, detachable one end cable and foldable/tiltable earcups):

View attachment 397186


Also, when I talked about studio monitors I was talking about active speakers, not headphones. They're a whole other rabbit hole and I encourage you to get a pair of you still don't have one: while it is possible to mix purely with headphones, the end result will almost always sound weird on other equipment and even on other headphones.

I'm not qualified to recommend speakers, as I don't know much of the NA/EU market, but if I was forced to pick a pair, I'd recommend the JBL 305p or the 306p line of active speakers
With them, bigger often is better (bigger woofers means less distortion when playing louder). The only caveat with them is that some unit produce hiss around the tweeter when not playing music, and that hiss is specially noticeable when sitting close to them.

Thank you very much for your valuable comments, so is your recommendation open headphones? I mean, I am not in favor of buying closed. I just want my mix and mastering to be balanced and good.

 

[dogusycblt]

Here are some excerpts I've collected from Recording Magazine.

This is from "Readers Submissions" where readers send-in their recordings for evaluation:


And this is from a mixing engineer:


This is from Floyd Tool's book, Sound Reproduction

You mean you need a speaker? thank you..

 

[solderdude]

The most logical upgrade from DT990 pro is the DT1990 Pro (with treble filter).
Maybe .... the DT900 Pro X...

Another one is theSennheiser HD490 Pro and possibly the OLLO S5X.

For closed look into Austrian Audio Hi-X60 and Audeze LCD-XC

 

[markanini]

Edm, prograssive house, eurodance

Like DVDdoug showed with his excepts, headphones are not ideal and require skill to use as a main mixing tool. I personally use Kali LP6v2 and whatever IEM I have on hand as a secondary reference. The IEM serves to help me make decisions about the low end. The Kalis are placed as well as I can in an imperfect room, and I prefer this much over using an IEM or headphone as my only option.

 

[dogusycblt]

Like DVDdoug showed with his excepts, headphones are not ideal and require skill to use as a main mixing tool. I personally use Kali LP6v2 and whatever IEM I have on hand as a secondary reference. The IEM serves to help me make decisions about the low end. The Kalis are placed as well as I can in an imperfect room, and I prefer this much over using an IEM or headphone as my only option.

How are your mixes coming out? I was thinking of buying kali lp.

 

[dogusycblt]

The most logical upgrade from DT990 pro is the DT1990 Pro (with treble filter).
Maybe .... the DT900 Pro X...

Another one is theSennheiser HD490 Pro and possibly the OLLO S5X.

For closed look into Austrian Audio Hi-X60 and Audeze LCD-XC

I wonder how the kali reference monitor

 

[markanini]

How are your mixes coming out? I was thinking of buying kali lp.

Quite satisfied. My mixing process involves referencing commercial mixes, so the speaker selection isn't super critical. Kalis are a fine choice IMO, check out Erins review: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kali_lp-6v2/