• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Best $300 headphones for music production

krumpol

Member
Joined
May 23, 2021
Messages
76
Likes
97
Location
SVK
DT880/990 velour stock pads (EDT990V) needs to be changed after 24-36 months when wearing the headphones for 4-6 hours daily. Good thing is they are cheap, being sold for ~24 EUR/pair where I live.
 

MayaTlab

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
924
Likes
1,512
No idea how long it takes for pads to wear out to the degree shown in the picture. I guess years? I’m sure it doesn’t so fast that there’s a noticeable change in a day or even a week.

I assume the process of sound changing as parts age happens with other pads and headphones too, but I haven’t seen any comparison in terms how much degradation of materials affects sound per-headphone. First time I’ve seen a graphic comparing this kind of stuff.

I've experienced quite significant pad wear in a matter of weeks with the Hi-X65 :
But the pads design is basically exactly how I'd do it if I wanted quick pad wear to be a problem (thin, memory foam, excessively complex construction).
No experience with Beyer headphones other than the recent 900 pro X which pads are completely different from the 880.
The HD6... series pads also degrade over time but it's usually a question of a couple of years of decent use before requiring a replacement.
 

GaryH

Major Contributor
Joined
May 12, 2021
Messages
1,348
Likes
1,804
Thank you for sharing this graphic.

No idea how long it takes for pads to wear out to the degree shown in the picture. I guess years? I’m sure it doesn’t so fast that there’s a noticeable change in a day or even a week. If the change is gradual and slow, the mind gets accustomed to it like any other slow change.

I assume the process of sound changing as parts age happens with other pads and headphones too, but I haven’t seen any comparison in terms how much degradation of materials affects sound per-headphone. First time I’ve seen a graphic comparing this kind of stuff. Because there’s only one data point, I can’t tell if an aged DT880 changes sound more than an aged HD600 or whatever else model.

In general though, terrible is a strong word, I don’t think many people who have used this headphone for the suggested purpose feel that way about them. They wouldn’t have their clearly positive reputation and ubiquity otherwise. If you feel that way, I’m sorry to hear that.

In any case, I suggest them because it was a good choice for me in a similar situation, and hope this opinion can help OP or others out.

No claim of their immunity to the passing of time, naturally. Change pads if they fall apart after some years of course, thankfully they sell replacements.
Beyerdynamic pads are infamous for wearing out fast, in less than a year with daily use according to Oratory (professional acoustic engineer and former studio audio engineer who made the above measurents):
Beyerdynamic earpads (DT770/880/990) deteriorate within a year. It depends on how often you use the heapdhones, if you use them every day it will be less than a year.
(From the comments on his EQ pdf for the 880 with worn pads.)

Here are the same measurements for the 770 and 990:
Harman 2018-Beyerdynamic DT770 (fresh earpads)-Beyerdynamic DT770 (worn earpads)-Beyerdynamic ...png


And here the HD600:
graph.png


Not as bad, but still not great. It seems Sennheiser pads take longer to wear out than Beyers though, the latter being pretty much the worst in this regard, so yes, they're a terrible choice. Imagine how ridiculous it would be if movie color graders used display monitors that were not only uncalibrated so they had to 'get used' to their deficiencies and mentally compensate for this, but their color output changed significantly over time too, which they had to mentally adjust too without even measuring how much has changed and in what areas. That's the equivalent of using Beyers with colored stock frequency response (that doesn't match with the response of good speaker monitors in a good studio room) which changes over a short period of time due to poor pad durability, and is just another of the many reasons for audio's circle of confusion which has resulted in such tonally inconsistent mixes across produced music over the years.
 
Last edited:
OP
raistlin65

raistlin65

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 13, 2019
Messages
2,279
Likes
3,421
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Beyerdynamic pads are infamous for wearing out fast, in less than a year with daily use according to Oratory (professional acoustic engineer and former studio audio engineer who made the above measurents):

Good guess this is why the DT 700 and DT 900 Pro X have thicker memory foam pads than they're older siblings. Bet the pad wear is much slower.
 

MayaTlab

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
924
Likes
1,512
Good guess this is why the DT 700 and DT 900 Pro X have thicker memory foam pads than they're older siblings. Bet the pad wear is much slower.

It isn't really memory foam to me, they bounce back pretty quickly.
But so far one thing that impresses me is how they keep their shape and how, very much unlike my experience with the Hi-X65, they don't seem to have much of a break-in period (FR has remained quite stable so far). Not that I would mind the latter if it happens fairly quickly, then stabilises and is factored in by the engineers when designing the sound profile, but in the case of the X65 it seems to be "here be pads, anything goes, FR target who dis ?".
I personally quite enjoy the material as well.
 
D

Deleted member 27694

Guest
My evaluation of the DT 900 PRO X is up.
Hoi Solderdude, thank you for your detailed evaluation. Out of the top of your head could you compare it to the Sundaras. I own and like the 1990. What I like about the 900 is that it should be very very easy to drive to high volumes. (I like it loud :) ) Bedankt!
 

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
I don't own the Sundara's and have not heard the recent iterations.

I can only tell you that the DT1990 is the better headphone (compared to the DT900X) but only WITH EQ (in my case the passive filter).
Without EQ and when driving it directly from portable gear I would use the DT900X in that case.
The Sundara I heard years ago did not impress me much.
 
D

Deleted member 27694

Guest
I don't own the Sundara's and have not heard the recent iterations.

I can only tell you that the DT1990 is the better headphone (compared to the DT900X) but only WITH EQ (in my case the passive filter).
Without EQ and when driving it directly from portable gear I would use the DT900X in that case.
The Sundara I heard years ago did not impress me much.
Thank you. I think I pass already have the HD560s in my collection.
 

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
IMO the HD560S (with upper treble range reduced a few dB) is 'better' than the DT900X on for me the more important aspects.
 
Top Bottom