The Truth About "Studio" Headphones

[Max_Settings]

As many of you know, I am a very outspoken critic of the Audio Technica ATH-M50X headphones. I have written an entire thread on why I think they are terrible headphones and explaining the hype behind them and why that is all based out of ignorance. Speaking of which, I got someone who asked me why all these different platinum album artists use them then? And his logic was that since all these famous people use them, they must be good. While I understand the logic that would make you come to that conclusion, that position is also based out of ignorance of how the music production industry works. Let me give my insight as someone who works with sound and has been in and around studios.

 

You often see the term "Studio Headphones" thrown around. This leads many people to believe typically one of two things. 1. They must be good since they are used in a studio. 2. That they are neutral because they make music with them so they must not color the sound. Both of those things are wrong. The thing you have to understand is that studios are businesses. In today's world of mainstream music, there are very few artists and producers that put in the time to make a really well recorded and master track, because it is time consuming and time is money. Also, 99% of people have no idea the difference between a well recorded and mastered track, and a bad one. So, by their logic it is not worth the time are effort if no one is going to care.

 

Continuing with this idea of studios being a business, studios don't use what is best, they use what is cheap, durable, and gets the job done. Less money spent on gear means more profit for them, so why spend thousands of dollars on headphones? Cheap and durable is what they look for.

 

Now going back the notion that studio headphones are neutral, that is not true. You see, music is not mixed and mastered on headphones; it is done on speakers. Headphones when it comes to mastering are only used as a check to see what something sounds like on another devices besides the studio monitors. People who care will typically also check mixes on say a phone speaker to see what other people will hear. Now people also see people using headphones will recording, DJing, or performing live. In these cases what headphones you use makes no difference whatsoever. When recording, your headphones are only for you to hear the mix, say a singer recording vocals will have the music playing through the headphones. DJs look for headphones that can be played loudly to drown out the crowd, are durable for them to be thrown in a bag and not break, and many look for ones that can be worn on one ear. Performing live is a similar situation, it is just to hear your mix, you don't need accuracy. Also, you can theoretically mix on any headphones as long as you know their sound signature and know how to compensate for it. So studio headphones don't have to be neutral.

 

This is one of the reasons why the M50X is so popular, it is cheap, durable, folds, and can be worn on one ear. It covers all the basis for studio use, DJing, and live performance. However, this doesn't make it good for you to use for music or gaming as I described in my M50X thread. 

 

Finally I want to give a list of some of the most common studio headphones I see and show you how they are not neutral. 

 

Audio Technica M50X: Bloated bass, sharp highs, terrible grainy mid range:

Audio Technica M40X: Same as M50X

AKG K240: No bass and sharp peaky highs. Also very narrow and intense

Sony MDR 7506: No bass, elevated mid range, very grainy.

Beyer Dynamic DT770: Insanely bloated bass with sharp highs

Beyer Dynamic DT990: Painfully sharp and peaky highs

Sennheiser HD280 Pro: Huge dip in the lower and upper treble with an insane 9K peak.

Sennheiser HD380 Pro: Bloated bass, inconsistent mid range, and peaky treble with rolloff.

 

I hope you learned something from this thread. And remember, the term "Studio Headphones" means basically nothing and doesn't mean they are good or neutral.

[Slottr]

The hero we need but don't deserve 

 

This is super awesome

[Cereal5]

Very nice. Can you throw in some good "studio" headphones, or neutral headphones for comparison? And maybe some recommendations?

[desertcomputer]

2 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

Very nice. Can you throw in some good "studio" headphones, or neutral headphones for comparison? And maybe some recommendations?

Check z review out if you going to grab a headphones. I havne't really gone wrong with his recommendation yet.

[Max_Settings]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

Very nice. Can you throw in some good "studio" headphones, or neutral headphones for comparison? And maybe some recommendations?

Well TBH I don't like the term "Studio headphones" I don't think there is anything that makes a headphone for studio use. I just explained that they look for cheap and durable. As for neutral, I should probably write another thread about how people greatly misunderstand what that means and how most people will not like that. As for recommendations, I can recommend on a per person basis given a budget. 

[Max_Settings]

Just now, EMC said:

Check z review out if you going to grab a headphones. I havne't really gone wrong with his recommendation yet.

Zeos is not a reliable audio reviewer at all. He is associated only with newbies and he is vastly incorrect in most of his videos. Anyone with any experience will tell you how bad a of a reviewer he is.

[Semper]

To me, it's less that the M50x's are terrible headphones, but more that they're advertised as something they aren't.

Tastes in sound signature aren't universal, Some people like flat, some people are bassheads, and, i'd go as far as to say that most people have no clue what they like, they just buy the pair of earphones or headphones that were cheapest, looked flashy, or closest to the door. There are also people like me, who know just enough that dabble in "better quality audio" that gaming headphones are, generally, objectively terrible. I use a pair of MSR7's as my daily drivers, I'm happy with them. I came from a pair of DT-770 Pro's, which I liked, but were regularly plagued with issues. I took issue with Beyerdynamic due to a poor customer service experience when they finally died, within warranty, and was basically told to piss off.

[Max_Settings]

Just now, Semper said:

To me, it's less that the M50x's are terrible headphones, but more that they're advertised as something they aren't.

Well that is true as they are certainly advertised as "Neutral" which they are far from that, but the issue extends farther than that. I just think they are bad compared to even headphones that cost less than half their price. People only think they sound good because they lack context of anything else on the market.

[desertcomputer]

2 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Zeos is not a reliable audio reviewer at all. He is associated only with newbies and he is vastly incorrect in most of his videos. Anyone with any experience will tell you how bad a of a reviewer he is.

This is true also his video get off topic alot of the time and he rambles on and on lmao. I mostly based off my buying from actual trying the product(I don't mind paying more from retailer that has hassle free returns as I can always return to buy from cheaper source if physical store testing isn't available).

 

To be real, everyone hearing is different so personally I only tell people the comfort of headphones/earbuds. If you something sounds greats but the comfort is shit is no no.

[Max_Settings]

1 minute ago, EMC said:

This is true also his video get off topic alot of the time and he rambles on and on lmao. I mostly based off my buying from actual trying the product(I don't mind paying more from retailer that has hassle free returns as I can always return to buy from cheaper source if physical store testing isn't available).

 

To be real, everyone hearing is different so personally I only tell people the comfort of headphones/earbuds. If you something sounds greats but the comfort is shit is no no.

Well the problem with Zeos is he is just wrong a lot of the time. Even outside of the realm of subjectivity. He got a ton of flack recently for calling the ZMF Atticus "Neutral" they couldn't be farther from neutral. That is just one of dozens of examples of him being majorly objectively wrong.

[Semper]

2 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Well that is true as they are certainly advertised as "Neutral" which they are far from that, but the issue extends farther than that. I just think they are bad compared to even headphones that cost less than half their price. People only think they sound good because they lack context of anything else on the market.

I feel that's the category that the vast majority of people fall into. I'm a bit of an outsider here to the "audiophile" community, as I said before, I know just enough to know that I don't know enough (as opposed to someone going "well Dre made these headphones so I know they are great for music").

I feel that truly good quality audio, especially in headphones, is a niche market. I have no supporting data to suggest so, but surely there's a reason that Beats by Dre became a huge phenomenon. Nobody I have ever talked to "out in the world" really knows what a sound signature is, or what "flat" really means when talking about mixing. I'd surmise that people buy headphones based on the fact that they see "industry experts", "famous people" or "lots of them around" and assume that they're the best thing that you can buy.

[Max_Settings]

Just now, Semper said:

I feel that's the category that the vast majority of people fall into. I'm a bit of an outsider here to the "audiophile" community, as I said before, I know just enough to know that I don't know enough (as opposed to someone going "well Dre made these headphones so I know they are great for music").

I feel that truly good quality audio, especially in headphones, is a niche market. I have no supporting data to suggest so, but surely there's a reason that Beats by Dre became a huge phenomenon. Nobody I have ever talked to "out in the world" really knows what a sound signature is, or what "flat" really means when talking about mixing. I'd surmise that people buy headphones based on the fact that they see "industry experts", "famous people" or "lots of them around" and assume that they're the best thing that you can buy.

That is true. The audiophile market is niche as are most enthusiast markets.

[Enderman]

I agree, that's a horrible frequency response for 'studio' gear.

 

It would be ok for djing though, you typically need more bass for that.

But there are cheaper headphones that can do that.

[johnt]

I guess I've never seen the FR for the M50x... holy crap that thing is rolling off right after the bass. It's almost like these things are tuned for movies instead of music.

 

Help me understand this, what is causing the nulls at certain frequencies?

[DotoreN]

2 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

Well TBH I don't like the term "Studio headphones" I don't think there is anything that makes a headphone for studio use. I just explained that they look for cheap and durable. As for neutral, I should probably write another thread about how people greatly misunderstand what that means and how most people will not like that. As for recommendations, I can recommend on a per person basis given a budget. 

I really like your short but detailed description of the different headphones and I am kinda curious what your thoughts are about the sennheiser HD600 (+ some amp?) as i'm thinking about getting one. My budget is around 300-400euro including amp in case you can recommend some other open headphones/setups.

 

 

 

 

 

[Spuriae]

To be fair though everything looks awful on the Innerfidelity rig and compensation. High frequency comparisons are really tough to do especially without a flat coupler, and Tyll's bass target has always been wonky for dynamics.

Spoiler

FWIW here's a sample measurement (uncompensated) on my (still very much WIP) rig. Note how flat the HD650's measure on my rig compared to most others. Without a common point of reference my measurement of the Retro would have been 100% useless.

 

One alternative I've seen proposed on SBAF (I don't know if this is something proposed elsewhere) is to use the HD650 as a reference rather than a conventional compensation. The logic being that even with compensation, different test rigs tend to have all sorts of unique characteristics which make comparison between them rather fruitless; by contrast most people know what an HD650 is supposed to sound like. Here's the Retro again, this time plotted as difference with both headphones normalized at 1kHz. Higher than 0dB means the Retro has more of it than the HD650, lower means it has less.

Spoiler

For me at least, it's much easier to relate to the sound in this form. Retro has much better bass extension and additional peakiness throughout the higher sibilance range, and some hollowness and detached attacks from the two obvious dips.

 

Just some food for thought when looking at FR graphs.

 

[Max_Settings]

8 hours ago, JohnT said:

I guess I've never seen the FR for the M50x... holy crap that thing is rolling off right after the bass. It's almost like these things are tuned for movies instead of music.

 

Help me understand this, what is causing the nulls at certain frequencies?

It is a lot of different things. The driver tuning, the size, shape, depth, with, and material of the cups, the pads. Everything you do to a headphone changed the sound.

[Max_Settings]

8 hours ago, DotoreN said:

I really like your short but detailed description of the different headphones and I am kinda curious what your thoughts are about the sennheiser HD600 (+ some amp?) as i'm thinking about getting one. My budget is around 300-400euro including amp in case you can recommend some other open headphones/setups.

 

 

 

 

 

HD600 is always a good option. But of course it depends on the signature you want. They are light on bass and have an emphasis on the mid range. Cheap Amps the JDS Labs Atom is the new $100 go to and DACs the Schiit Modi 3 is always a good pick.

[pas008]

its the same as "gaming" headphones

 

its just marketing

 

and everything sound related is pretty much subjective, hence why some like or dislike certain components/accessories/etc

[DotoreN]

4 hours ago, Max_Settings said:

HD600 is always a good option. But of course it depends on the signature you want. They are light on bass and have an emphasis on the mid range. Cheap Amps the JDS Labs Atom is the new $100 go to and DACs the Schiit Modi 3 is always a good pick.

Maybe this is a bit offtopic, but since we're on it I have a last question you might have the answer to.

I first wanna try the HD600 before i invest in a 100 dollar amp. If I buy the HD600 and try it without amp, will I get a good impression of the sound signature or will it sound completely different with an amp ? I kinda wanna know if i can try the hd600 without amp (because I rather buy the amp afterwards).

 

 

[Max_Settings]

1 minute ago, DotoreN said:

Maybe this is a bit offtopic, but since we're on it I have a last question you might have the answer to.

I first wanna try the HD600 before i invest in a 100 dollar amp. If I buy the HD600 and try it without amp, will I get a good impression of the sound signature or will it sound completely different with an amp ? I kinda wanna know if i can try the hd600 without amp (because I rather buy the amp afterwards).

 

 

It won't change the sound signature. It will just effect things like dynamics and resolution. HD600 scale pretty well with higher end gear.

[Derkoli]

On 1/23/2019 at 3:54 AM, Max_Settings said:

Zeos is not a reliable audio reviewer at all. He is associated only with newbies and he is vastly incorrect in most of his videos. Anyone with any experience will tell you how bad a of a reviewer he is.

His subwoofer reviews are the best things ever.

[GamerDude]

8 hours ago, Derkoli said:

His subwoofer reviews are the best things ever.

Z is just bad, I may not be an expert, but his reviews are just wrong. Also, I dislike his constant use of expletives, I guess he use it for 'street creds', but one doesn't have to resort to vulgarities to get one's point across. I don't know if he's toned down the use of expletives, but the last time I'd watch one of his reviews (admittedly, this was a while back), I was quite put off by it. I'm no prude, and I've been known to cut lose on an expletive or two when I'm caught up with something, but I don't see the need to use such terms continuously (his vid reviews are watched by all ages after all, so he should be mindful of that). As I'd said, his use of vulgarities is just so he can be identified with by his audience, and for street creds.....nothing else.

 

Oh yeah, went way off topic, good job on the article Max.

[Derkoli]

15 hours ago, GamerDude said:

Z is just bad, I may not be an expert, but his reviews are just wrong. Also, I dislike his constant use of expletives, I guess he use it for 'street creds', but one doesn't have to resort to vulgarities to get one's point across. I don't know if he's toned down the use of expletives, but the last time I'd watch one of his reviews (admittedly, this was a while back), I was quite put off by it. I'm no prude, and I've been known to cut lose on an expletive or two when I'm caught up with something, but I don't see the need to use such terms continuously (his vid reviews are watched by all ages after all, so he should be mindful of that). As I'd said, his use of vulgarities is just so he can be identified with by his audience, and for street creds.....nothing else.

 

Oh yeah, went way off topic, good job on the article Max.

If im after a proper review, i go to whathifi.com or the such, for a laugh or to get a general idea, i watch Z, He also reviews more budget orientated stuff such as the vanatoo TO's. He doesnt swear as much as he used to.

[Exaco]

On 1/27/2019 at 3:39 AM, GamerDude said:

Z is just bad, I may not be an expert, but his reviews are just wrong.

Well he's still miles better and more accurate than the mainstream reviewers such as these tech youtubers or sponsored ones ( probably because they always say only good things even about crappy products ). 

If you want to see the worst reviewer check out: https://medium.com/@Xander51 ( Some reviews from him is just ridiculous while others is just fine ).