Flat Response Earbuds

[Strange]

Im a a music producer/mix engineer and im looking for some sugestions on a new pair of earbuds. Being a mix engineer has made me train my ears to have somewhat of a flat response to sound. In the studio I monitor through Genelec 1032 A's, which have a very flat response. I am looking for earbuds that have the flattest sound possible, to travel with. I find that if I listen to colored signal for too long my ears adjust to that sound, so i have to retrain my ears to hear flat again. I would really like to avoid having to do this.

 

Try to keep the sugestions under $150 USD, $200 max.

 

And please no Dr. Dre Beats jokes. lol

 

Thanks

[Guest GRRigger]

yep, allways have to use EQ, but i allways buy em sub-50, because i break them so fast.

[ShearMe]

Found this with google: http://www.head-fi.org/t/627355/wich-iem-has-the-flattest-sound-signature

Imo, if you're worried about flat response you should be adjusting the EQ per the speaker, because a perfectly flat speaker doesn't exist anyways.

[Strange]

What I mean when I say "ive trained my ears to hear flat" is that I have trained my ears to hear flat from those speakers. I understand no speaker is perfectly flat, I just meant I wanted something that has close to equal response in all frequencies.

 

Also If you raise the db of a certain frequency when your trying to make it sound flat, your causing negative effects on the sound by adding things that arent originally there.

 

Thanks for the Link

 

Found this with google: http://www.head-fi.org/t/627355/wich-iem-has-the-flattest-sound-signature

Imo, if you're worried about flat response you should be adjusting the EQ per the speaker, because a perfectly flat speaker doesn't exist anyways.

[Strange]

yep, allways have to use EQ, but i allways buy em sub-50, because i break them so fast.

 

Lol, yeah. But I hate using eq because you can make your earbuds sound flat to your ears, but the sound may not be truly flat.

 

I like to keep two pairs of earbuds. A nice pair for monitoring or for flights, and then a cheap pair of skullcandy titans for carrying in my pocket when im just walking around.

[h264]

I'd recommend the Etymotics er-4p. I find it has quite the flat response. I know it's a little more than you'd like to spend, but I think it's worth it.

[xytrouble07]

I don't think youll be able to find earbuds with a flat frequency response. Why not consider the audio technica ath-m50, the sony mdr 7506, or my personal favorites Beyerdynamics dt770s, you can find them all over the internet from 100-200 dollars. They do not have a definite flat response,(there isnt a pair of headphones that do) but they are better than earbuds. Like people have said here before, you can always compensate with eq and hopefully you know how to evaluate your headphones frequency response.

[Strange]

I don't think youll be able to find earbuds with a flat frequency response. Why not consider the audio technica ath-m50, the sony mdr 7506, or my personal favorites Beyerdynamics dt770s, you can find them all over the internet from 100-200 dollars. They do not have a definite flat response,(there isnt a pair of headphones that do) but they are better than earbuds. Like people have said here before, you can always compensate with eq and hopefully you know how to evaluate your headphones frequency response.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, but I already have a pair of Sennheiser HD25-1 II headphones. Im looking for decent quality earbuds that dont have crazy hyped low end around 50hz, and still have a decent high end that doesnt dip down around 16khz.

 

Earbuds are just a little bit easier to walk around an airport with, and still be able to comunicate with people (I normally only keep 1 earbud in while im walking around in public.)

 

You can see my posts above to know what my belief is with EQ.

[OddballMV]

Im a a music producer/mix engineer and im looking for some sugestions on a new pair of earbuds. Being a mix engineer has made me train my ears to have somewhat of a flat response to sound. I am looking for earbuds that have the flattest sound possible, to travel with. 

 

Try to keep the sugestions under $150 USD, $200 max.

 

Have a look at these - http://www.amazon.com/TDK-BA-200-Balanced-Armature-Headphone/dp/B005OEN3EM/ref=sr_1_5?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1376341024&sr=1-5&keywords=earsonics

 

I think balanced armature headphones may be more for you as they are often known for being more neutral. These can go over the ear or straight down as well as coming with silicone and comply foam tips so comfort shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[xytrouble07]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I already have a pair of Sennheiser HD25-1 II headphones. Im looking for decent quality earbuds that dont have crazy hyped low end around 50hz, and still have a decent high end that doesnt dip down around 16khz.

 

Earbuds are just a little bit easier to walk around an airport with, and still be able to comunicate with people (I normally only keep 1 earbud in while im walking around in public.)

 

You can see my posts above to know what my belief is with EQ.

I do agree with the portability of earbuds, but in my experiences at that price range its fairly difficult to find earbuds that will actually work well for audio production.  I own a pair of logictech ultimate ears and they were extremely expensive (im glad they were a gift) and the frequency response was descent. I do not recommend using these or any earbuds at all because my ears tend to become more fatigued  that when im using headphones. As for Eqing, if the signal chain is as follows source -> physical EQ not software based-> earbuds, you shouldn't be too worried of your mix being negatively colored. If your handy with these things you can even built your own mini eq that can run on a AAA battery and fix any frequency discrepancies in your chain.  Also, I have worked in countless studios which have an outboard EQ leading to the monitors which are locked inside a rack. So, the eq with the earbuds, is the same concept.

[ShearMe]

in my experiences at that price range its fairly difficult to find earbuds that will actually work well for audio production. 

 

Same with the OP, which is why he's asking the internet if anyone's got a different experience.

[mr moose]

The biggest mistake I ever made was trying to engineer on a set of headphones with an uneven freq. response, after that I invested in a measurement mic, eq, and built some monitors.  I don't really have the problem of ear training (auditory processing disorder), so I would just use the best I could afford, but I understand what you need.

 

If you find some that work for you make sure you let us all know. 

[Blade of Grass]

I don't think youll be able to find earbuds with a flat frequency response. Why not consider the audio technica ath-m50, the sony mdr 7506, or my personal favorites Beyerdynamics dt770s, you can find them all over the internet from 100-200 dollars. They do not have a definite flat response,(there isnt a pair of headphones that do) but they are better than earbuds. Like people have said here before, you can always compensate with eq and hopefully you know how to evaluate your headphones frequency response.

The ATH-M50 are far from flat headphones. If he wanted headphones, he'd be better going the Shure SRH840 or Dennon A2000 (to name two) route.

[Strange]

The biggest mistake I ever made was trying to engineer on a set of headphones with an uneven freq. response, after that I invested in a measurement mic, eq, and built some monitors.  I don't really have the problem of ear training (auditory processing disorder), so I would just use the best I could afford, but I understand what you need.

 

If you find some that work for you make sure you let us all know. 

Will do.