Five Great Studio Headphones
If you’re shopping for headphones, you should understand the difference between audiophile phones and studio monitor headphones.
Audiophile headphones are designed to offer a rich listening environment, often enhancing or filtering the response to provide a certain “color” to the sound.
Studio monitor headphones are used primarily for mixing and mastering recorded material. They are designed to give a flat and uncolored response across the entire frequency spectrum. If you are a music lover who just wants to listen, studio monitor style phones might not be right for you.
Here are five highly rated studio headphones for your consideration:
1) Audio-Technica ATH-M50S Studio Monitor Headphones
These studio headphones deliver exceptional audio quality and are comfortable to wear for long mixing sessions.
“The dimension and clarity these are capable of is mind blowing. I spend a lot of time mixing my songs expanding their dimension as much as I can and these are perfect for that as well as easily spotting bad edits, pops, and bad compression. They are very good references for EQ’ing as well.” – A.Y.
“Every genre I’ve listened to sounds amazing, whether it be hip-hop, rock, classical, country, pop, or heavy metal. Songs that I’ve heard a hundred times are now giving me goosebumps, because the sound quality is so much clearer on these headphones. I’m literally hearing things that I never knew were there in my songs.” – millerla
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2) Audio Technica Pro Studio Monitor Headphones
Designed especially for professional monitoring and mixing, these studio headphones deliver exceptionally accurate response and listening comfort.
“Really clean and clear and balanced. All my mixes that I have done on these translated really well on bigger systems. I was able to mix for 4+ hours on these without any noticeable ear fatigue. They are well worth the price and are a must have for anyone serious about audio.” – Studioratmaarts
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3) Shure SRH840 Professional Monitoring Earphones
These headphones are designed to deliver rich bass, clear mid-range and extended highs needed for critical listening and studio monitoring. They have an ergonomic fit and collapsible design for total comfort and portability.
“These are incredible for mixing. Best gear I’ve ever had the honor of using. (While I have not BOUGHT many pieces of gear, I’ve used a lot, as I’ve traveled a bit) I had been struggling with a mix of a particular song for days using a backup pair of Phillips, and after the 5 hour burn-in period with my new SRH840′s, I played it and it was like magic – within 30 minutes I had the thing completely mixed. Not even kidding – literally a half hour.” – Parker F.
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4) Beyerdynamic DT 770-PRO Headphones
These closed dynamic headphones provide comfort and accurate performance for recording studios, post-production or broadcasting situations.
“For a small studio, getting a great mix is one of the hardest challenges. These headphones practically solve that problem. The quality, range and comfort make these THE SOLUTION for my audio mixing. Saved me from going through all the construction issues and investments in bass traps, diffusion grids, baffles and BS.” – Bill W
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5) Sony MDR-V900HD Studio Monitor Type Headphones HD Driver
These headphones feature High Definition drivers to reproduce clean, clear sound quality.
“These headphones are great in every sense of the word. Exceptional sound quality (without making your music sound ‘overly colorful’), extremely comfortable, and really low impedance for PMPs and un-amped equipment.” – Alan W.
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