Hello, good people of Zynthian-Land!
I’m looking for a decent set of headphones under 100 USD. I’m planning to use it with my laptop and my Zynthian. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Why don’t you chose the right AND the left headphones at the same time ? I guess it’s important that they should be from the same model, your mix would benefit from that…
Ok I should stop kidding… (but kidding is life, you know ?)
If you intend to wear them for long periods of time, it seems really important that your headphones should be as light and as comfortable as possible.
Also, there are headphones that I would call “open” and these let you ear the surrounding world noises… and those that I would call “closed” and using them, you don’t hear anything else than the music… The préférence will vary with people…
Also, some of them will be so silent externally that your husband or wife or grandmother won’t hear anything… some are more noisy externally, and your surrounding can be disturbed by the music you are listening to…
I’m not sure it’s important, when making music, that your headphones should be bluetooth… this adds a short delay, or call it latency, so that you would not be able to play in real time… any change you make, any note you play, would be delayed… and that’s not compatible with a good performance…
But when you’re simply listening to the tracks, then why not ?
And last thing, last but sure not least… Some have a removable jack cord (usually these are the bluetooth models, but maybe also some non- bluetooth ones) and I think it’s a great improvement because then you can still buy a new cord when the jack is dead… also because you can have 2 cords, a long and a short, and anytime you can chose the one you need at that specific moment…
And of course, sound profile will be important… for enjoying music, you might prefer a good bass booster, but for your mix, it’s better to have a flat response : this way you can judge more accurately if the balance is correct or even excellent…
I’m truly satisfied with my “listen wireless” by Focal… My son chosed them and offered them to me 2 years ago, so I didn’t go compare them and I can’t really tell… he did, and selected this model… but I think he chosed well…
And he offered both ears at the same time !!! Eh eh…
Have a nice day…
Thierry
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@opus.quatre has listed many of the features you should consider. If you respond with your answers to those then someone here may be able to offer some advise. Comfort is really important. My AKG K81DJ clamp my head like a vice and I can’t wear them longer than a few minutes. My Sennheiser HMD 410 are light and comfortable which I used to wear all day. They have a natural sound and are open which allows the mix to sit within the acoustic space. I have some Taotronics TT-BH060 Bluetooth cans with optional wired connection. These are comfortable for a couple of hours but have poor equalisation unless noise cancelling is enabled which isn’t good for mixing (either mode). My son has their next model up (…80 I think) which are much improved. As for the Panasonics - I think the speakers in my 1940’s HMV valve radio sound better!!!
Watch out for cheap cans from reputable manufacturers. I highly rate Sennheiser but they make some that break within weeks (3 replacements before giving up) and as mentioned, the AKG should reside in @wyleu’s torture chamber.
Try to avoid too much colouration of the sound. You don’t want the monitoring boosting or cutting the signal as you will end up with productions that sound very different than intended.
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I am a big fan of Beyerdynamic. I am using the DT770PRO which is a little bit more than $100.
The DT770 comes in different versions: my 250 Ohm version has more bass, sounds fantastic but is not ideal for mixing. For mixing I would prefer the 32 Ohms version.
Regards, Holger
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@opus.quatre When the English-speaking musician says “pair” of headphones, he doesn’t really mean “pair”… 
Unless, of course, he’s trying to build a head-mounted surround-sound system. 
English is weird.
But back to headphone specs…
Here’s what I’m looking for:
- Wired, not wireless.
- Decent noise cancellation. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
- Comfy, obviously.
@riban Thanks for the tip on Sennheiser. I’ll be careful. I want these headphones to last a while.
@C0d3man Beyerdynamic? Hmm. I’ll look them up.
Well… People from Venus use sets which have 3 headphones… We rarely import them on Earth as they would be useless…
But factly I was kidding on your “right” headphones, as opposite to “left”…
Yes, English is weird, because people can say they have left the right thing…
And even when thie thing has no laterality…
But sure French is not wiser or smarter…
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Yeah, I knew you were kidding, but no! Please don’t stop!
I totally recommend these:
AKG K 240 MKII https://www.musicstore.de/de_DE/EUR/AKG-K-240-MKII-Studio-Kopfhoerer-halboffen/art-REC0005852-000
They cost about 60-70€ are comfortable to wear and give you a very well balanced sound. They do not sweeten any frequency too much which can be annoying if you use them for monitoring only, but help you if you consider the mastering process.
They are half-open which is not everyones cup of tea (as described above), but the better you make your mix sound through these beforehand the less mastering you will have to do. Since i have them they really taught me to equalize everything “right” from the start.
The inly thing bugging me is that my ears start to sweat a lot after 1.5 hours… but i guess earsweat is something manageable.
Cheers
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Sennheiser HD-25.
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Audibly perfect, closed monitor headphones for $99: Audio-Technica ATH-M40x.
Don’t trust me (or anyone else), judge for yourself. Let me know if you can close your eyes and detect when they come in: I can’t.
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Hi everyone, I’ve read the previous comments but I’m still not sure what to do. I’d like to buy a good-quality pair of headphones, but I’m stuck because I’m not sure which would be better. I don’t need them for mixing, but rather for when I’m playing piano or organ, so I don’t disturb my neighbors, while still enjoying high-quality sound. I’m looking at the Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO, but it comes in both 80 Ohm and 250 Ohm versions. I’d prefer the 250 Ohm, since it supposedly sounds better, but my question is whether the built-in amplifier of my Zynthian V5.1 can handle it if I plug it into the headphone jack, or would I need a separate amplifier for that? Would the 80 Ohm version be simpler to use? Thanks in advance for your answers! 
Joska
Hi!
I own the 80 ohm Beyerdynamic 770. Very linear in response, but rather hard to wear and listen to after a while. They are basically meant for headphones mixing.
I would recommend hands-down the 55 ohm AKG 240 MK2. A bit of spectrum coloration, but very pleasant to listen and soundwise three-dimensional. Furthermore, light on the Z headphones amplifier.
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I fully agree…
The DT770 pro is really great. Very clear definition of the sound…
I also have the DT990 pro which is clear but has a lot more (tight; clear defined) bass…
And the feel very comfortable on my head and ears.
However… they both are around 150 euro’s each…
But… an investment for a long time
(No, I have no financial interrest in promoting these headphones)
Cheers,
Maarten
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Thank you very much for your quick responses!
@Aethermind: Thank you for the recommendation. For now, I’m still thinking and gathering information to figure out which option would be better, because as maartmaart mentioned, this is a “one-time” long-term investment. If it’s a bit more expensive (BUT BETTER!), that’s okay. But nothing has been decided yet!
However, I’m still curious whether the 250 Ohm version of the DT990 Pro can be driven properly and safely with the Zynthian.
@maartmaart: which version do you have, the 250 Ohm or the 80 Ohm? And do you use an extra amplifier with it?
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Hi, I have the 250 Ohm versions… And I had NEVER problems with using them with ANY device…
Neither mp3 player or LEWITT Connect 6 (Which is really great :-)) (or Scarlett or EMU 0404) or any other headphone connection. (You know 250 Ohm is better in terms of impedance load and influence on audio frequency respose) (Did anybody have any problems due to 250 Ohm impedance?)
Youre welcome to come her eand listen for yourself
Cheers,
Maarten
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Thank you, you’re really kind!
If you plan to use it for both laptop and zynthian purposes… i might suggest something with a bit of range potential. i’ve been extremely happy with my Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro, and these days they go for entirely reasonable money, and would fit easily inside your budget (the “custom” part is that they can go from closed-back to kind-of-open by sliding a little thing on the bottom of the cans, to open some holes, changing the sound profile just a touch, between fairly bass heavy to fairly smooth) I do also have a pair of 80 Omh DT770 Pro, but as others point out, they’re much more production headphones, and less consumption ones, which may or may not be important to you
I use Roland RH-300 for piano or keys and it’s really good for that - you will hear what you really play, especially the dynamics. If you don’t like the pure sound you may add some FX…
It is also super comfortable, used to wear it for hours.
If you want everything to sound like “music” (as in from radio, tv etc.) a more consumer oriented headphone is better, but what sounds “good” on those may sound pretty awful on others consumer devices depending on the type of EQU and other processing they have built in…
e.g. Sony WH-1000XM series is pretty decent and comfortable.
+1 for the DT770. I prefer the 80Ω because the 250Ω has a curled cable which drives me nuts. The velvet ear pads can get pretty gross after a while, be sure to order some replacements on Ali.
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I got a set of these for xmas a few years back, highly recommend, and they are specifically very comfortable to wear for extended periods - I have a set of Sennheisers kicking around which sound nice, but I can only wear em for like 20 minutes before I’m hurling them away.