OT need to buy a bunch of new HP's

[tony dB]

I desperately need some replacements for my Beyers DT102's
I keep on putting new cells in and they go bad in a few months, guess i get to much (wannabee) deaf people in my studio.
Even worse, I always run into broken HP's when i rented the studio out without in house engineer :evil:

I find the Beyers ok soundwise, although heard way better, but they're so friggin expensive to keep in good condition. What do you use as recording hp's in your studios? I need to get a decent amount of level with a good tone and nice low for the productions i do at my place. And yes i'm often confronted with those metalheadz wanting it anyware from 11 to infinity :?

Cheers, :sam:

Tony

 

[Kev]

beyer DT770pro
fostex T20
fostex T40

never any electrical breakages but yes a few physical breakages and accidents.

they do get abused and the volume levels are often too much for me.
I am about most of the time but not all the time and I do warn them about volume levels.

My main cue is an AMP and not a headphone-amp.

 

[tony dB]

i hear you Kev, it's the same over here... Warnings bout danger of high levels... They ask often for painkillers, in fact more than they ask me to turn their cans down :?

Aren't the 770's more expensive compared to 102's?
I'm dropping something like 700 to 1000 euros to get a set of hp's and find that just a tad too much :sad:
Prefer to spend that on finishing my G9's and SSLcomps, and so much else to start building, aaarghhh

I need a break :green:

 

[Kev]

Yes the 770's probably are more expensive.
I can't help you there.

I think they fall into the good value for the money bucket ... but if your budget doesn't stretch that far then so be it.

The ends of the recording chain like Mics and Headphones and speakers are worth a little more of your money. These things potentially can last you your whole career and are more personal than EQ's and even pre-amps.

 

[MikoKensington]

Sony MDR-7509.

 

[tony dB]

well Kev, my money does go there. It is just a pitty that i end up buying more and more cells and these are very expensive overhere. Also the stuff like the foam for closing of around ears and the stuff holding everything together wears out pretty fast. my DT102's look most of the time as if they were blown up with the plastice protecting the foam etc pealing of very fast.

Are the Fostex' comparable?

 

[strangeandbouncy]

Hi Tony,

Fostex T20/40's are my favourite headphones sonicly, but they are not the most robust . . . Also some people with small heads can't keep them on, they just dont "clamp"
I find DT150's a good allrounder, stong and robust like DT100's but they sound much better. pletnt of bottom end. I can't pitch properly with DT100's either, btw

It is advisable to use a proper large power amp as well, headphone amps just can't deliver into multiple loads, and clipping any amp is like looking at dc for the poor headphones, - you are much more likeky to destroy from cllipping than overload imo

All the best,

Andy P

 

[tony dB]

<frustrationmodus on>

what distroyes them most is the fact that it is always a matter of louder...
then during tracking some smarta$$ unplugs his hp and replugs when the drummer is practising some of his blastbeat parts.. resulting in one side of the cans being (stereojackphenomenom) injected double power and bang, "hey T!? my cans don't work anymore!!! i hear only one side :evil:
and their goes another 50 euro. This is frustrating, no matter how many times you tell these people this story, it happens way too much. If you inform them about costs they'll just say nothing when it happens to them, leaving the trouble for the next project (and me) to discover some blowups... (the curse of too small budgetprojects! :twisted: )
My amps are cool.
If I can keep a long session with the same people going i don't run into these problems, it is always these get in-bang some tracks down-get out stuff and other techs working at my place what f**ks it up. Been thinking about replacing the jacks on the hp leads with xlr's, to avoid double power injections, tht would already save half of the s**t happening... of course then you will get morons breaking the lead when pulling out and not unlocking properly...

<frustrationmodus off>

rereading this post tells me i really need a break :green:
and better cans

BTW they are DT 150's not 102's, where did i get that number coming from??? need sleep too :guinness:
woow, when i'm going to catch that one :grin: sleeeeeeep

 

[ebartlet]

I save my expensive sony's and grado's for my own use. My clients, who typically have little regard for treating my stuff as I would get to use these:

http://www.ITRstudio.com/moreme.html

Cheap, fairly durable, and if they do break em, cheap enough to replace...

 

[Mark Burnley]

Yea,

I like those Fostex T20's a lot- they're pretty good sounding and comfortable. And they seem tough enough for the rigours of studio life (so far!) They do have more spill than the DT100's, but it depends on how loud you monitor and mic setup etc...

I wonder what's in those sealed passive BBC "level limiters" that Canford fit to headphones? I presume it's just a few back-to-back zeners with resistors- nice idea but I have a feeling it protects eardrums before headphones- i.e. you'll end up sending a nice hefty squarewave to your headphone drivers :roll:

Bigger amps fed to Kev-style distribution boxes rock!! Definitely the way to go. Going to try a headphone feed from some nice valve amps soon :thumb:

Mark

 

[strangeandbouncy]

Tony,

We use XLR's for hp and hence avoid stereojack syndrome

 

[tony dB]

and do you often have to resolder the leads now? :?
or did you remove the xlr-locking pins? :grin:

 

[alk509]

OK, here's my headphones story:

Back when I was in college, I used to intern at a studio close to school. One day the studio owner was buying new cans and he asked me what I thought he should get. My college program required us to get a pair of AKGs K240's for our classes and I liked them, so I told him to get AKG's. He wanted to get some other brand, but I let him try my K240's and he found a good deal on K240's and K270's so he went ahead and bought a bunch of them. That was six or seven years ago, and to this day every time I talk to him he makes it a point to let me know that "my" AKG's are still kicking it!

Now, he's a little anal about letting musicians touch his **** (he's "lost" way too many mics, stands, cables, etc.), but still I know those cans get used and abused 5 days a week, every week and they work fine.

Hell, my own pair of K240's (about 7 years old now) have had the cable chewed up (by both the wheels on my studio chair and our cats), been plugged/unplugged mid-session, overloaded, dropped, stepped on, sat on, etc. and I still haven't had to do **** to them. And when I compare them to my newer pair of K240's, they still sound pretty much identical.

Blah, blah, blah... Long story short, I like AKG's K240's and K270's and wholeheartedly recommend them.

Peace,
Al.

 

[tony dB]

i have a few of those 240's and feel the lead could be a little stronger
also crosstalk is more an issue with these...

but, you're absolutely right, beside the rings (holding the ear-things to place) that came off, they're still very much alive here too. :thumb:

 

[alk509]

[quote author="tony dB"]i have a few of those 240's and feel the lead could be a little stronger
also crosstalk is more an issue with these...[/quote]

Errr... The K240's are open-back HP's - they're not meant for applications where low bleedthrough is required (i.e. you're not supposed to use them for cueing the band!). They're more for a listening/mixing kind of situation. For your application you should've gotten K270's.

The K240's stay in the control room. The K270's go in the studio :wink:.

Peace,
Al.

 

[tony dB]

the 240 weren't bought for that reason, they just ended in the studio after having served for some digital piano's i had around in the house (my kids studied on them)
also the reason why i mentioned the (massive) bleed btw :green: