Hifiman planars for music production

[solderdude]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and I'm a music producer. ASR has helped me quite a lot in my music production, especially the mixing and mastering part by providing the actual frequency response curves and distortion values for each headphone and speaker. This greatly helps me in identifying the right gear to purchase which contributes to making my mixing and mastering more consistent and aligned with what might be considered as "sounding right".

To give an example, these 2 songs were mixed 4 months apart with 2 types of headphones.

Song 1 Mixed & Mastered with Bayerdynamic DT990 <-Dynamic driver

Song 2 Mixed & Mastered with Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Closed <- Planar driver


While the final result is subjective, I personally feel that Song 2 is a better mix, and it took me a shorter time to achieve the right balance using the Aeon 2.

Finally some words about headphones and music production instead of this silly words play going on lately.
I don't think the DT990 is well suited to mix on, perhaps with proper EQ it is.. but what is proper ?
The DCA2 closed seems to be better suited, also right out of the box.

 

[Jimbob54]

Finally some words about headphones and music production instead of this silly words play going on lately.
I don't think the DT990 is well suited to mix on, perhaps with proper EQ it is.. but what is proper ?
The DCA2 closed seems to be better suited, also right out of the box.

Well said. One of several dumpster fire threads at the minute and no one even mentioned MQA or all dacs sounding different/ the same.

 

[GaryH]

and its distasteful to use the same argument that is used against them. if you want to help them then discredit this kind of logic. its just the first thing that came to mind for me since i spent a lot of time fighting against this sort of thing

ideas spread like a virus even though you probably dont intend it to it might make its way into other contexts if we dont stop it here

Please stop, what you're doing is disgusting. Audiophiles have a choice about how they make their observations. I will not entertain any more ridiculous, offensive comparisons between assault and audiophilia from you.

 

[spartaman64]

Please stop, what you're doing is disgusting. Audiophiles have a choice about how they make their observations. I will not entertain any more ridiculous, offensive comparisons between assault and audiophilia from you.

and using ridiculous examples to discredit someone instead of examining their account at face value hurts a lot of people in a lot of instances. sure maybe i shouldnt have used that example but unless you have cognitive dissonance you will see how that is used against those people also.
you cant use one instance where someone lies to say all people that make claims on the subject is lying. and you shouldnt treat that like a legitimate argument if you are so concerned about that

 

[Goschie]

Well said. One of several dumpster fire threads at the minute and no one even mentioned MQA or all dacs sounding different/ the same.

I see a lot of thread derailing here in general. Just look at a few peoples post histories leads to a lot of huge tangents on different threads. I was skeptical that this was a solid forum when nobody came in to lock my thread or give people warnings for derailing.

 

[aLKayeL]

Finally some words about headphones and music production instead of this silly words play going on lately.
I don't think the DT990 is well suited to mix on, perhaps with proper EQ it is.. but what is proper ?
The DCA2 closed seems to be better suited, also right out of the box.

My preference is to not use any EQ for the headphones, though EQing could also be a viable solution.
I prefer to use headphones that are close to the Harman curve right out of the box.

 

[solderdude]

When you do not use EQ on a headphone you are mixing on you impart the inverse of the headphone's frequency response on the tonality of your final mix.
Using nearfield speakers is much better or use headphones that are at least even in response.

 

[aLKayeL]

When you do not use EQ on a headphone you are mixing on you impart the inverse of the headphone's frequency response on the tonality of your final mix.
Using nearfield speakers is much better or use headphones that are at least even in response.

It's normal practice to test out the mix on multiple devices before finalizing. This include speakers and IEMs and even the car stereo.
My next target is to purchase coaxial nearfield speakers to further improve my mixing.

I'm aiming for :
KEF LS50 META and Lyngdorf TDAI-1120

I think the Lyngdorf is good because it does not generate much heat and it also has built in room correction. The total cost will be less than a pair of Genelec 8341As.

 

[Goschie]

When you do not use EQ on a headphone you are mixing on you impart the inverse of the headphone's frequency response on the tonality of your final mix.
Using nearfield speakers is much better or use headphones that are at least even in response.

Also in addition to your own ears. The treble on one of my ears is a bit less than the other, which could affect my mixes. But you can estimate where it is happening by sine sweeping and reversing your headphones to make sure its not just the drivers. But your brain makes up for it more than you think. There is probably many people on here right now that have this issue and have no idea.

 

[solderdude]

The treble on one of my ears is a bit less than the other. There is probably many people on here right now that have this issue and have no idea.

Raises hand. Has a solution that also lowers tinnitus caused by asymmetric hearing in the treble.

 

[Goschie]

.

 

[Ponyboy]

In response to the original question:

If you're talking about music production, find whatever headphone is comfortable with good performance (good being subjective of course, but there's lots to choose from that will fit the bill - Senn HD-6XX and many others).

If you're talking about mixing/mastering, I'd advise to get something that responds well to EQ so that you can flatten things out. I've mixed and mastered on 6XX. I was quite happy with the results (I did check everything on my Genelec 8040s and other systems) but there was some guess work, especially on trying to figure out what was going on in the low end. I have a pair of LCD-XC that I haven't had much time with but I intend to use for my next projects. There's some truth to the point that if you get to know your headphones, you'll be relatively fine, but I would always recommend to check your mixes and masters on multiple setups.

You specifically mention planars. LCD-X is used by a few MEs. I find Audeze so far to have some weird stuff going on within some of the bands. The headphones seem really capable and I need to settle on an EQ. Amir did a review discussing some of this but did come to the conclusion that they EQ well.

Using Equalizer APO with some presets can be useful for checking your renders, or adding something like Sonarworks to your DAW chain. Goodhertz CanOpener is another tool you can use in conjunction with EQ. I'm not sure I like Sonarworks but I did use it for a time when I didn't have access to my monitors. Slate's solution seems to get high praise but I personally won't jump in unless I can bring my own headphones. I've seen RealPhones mentioned but have no experience.

Also, pair with a decent audio interface. I run RME.

Also should say welcome. This place has huge potential to be a good home for producers and MEs. There's way too much subjective BS and Steven Slateisms in the other forums. It's nice to see some more production-focused talk.