Need a recommendation for studio monitoring headphones

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
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Hi everyone. I’m pretty deep into the audiophile end of things for listening, but am just starting to set-up a home recording studio after several years of just playing and not recording. My current listening rig is about $30k worth of equipment from Naim, ProAc, Well Tempered, Dynavector, and Pass Labs. For mobile listening, I keep it a bit more casual/lightweight, using an Audioquest Dragonfly Red to power my Etymotic ER4SR.

As far as my recording setup, I’m using an Apogee Element 24. While my Etymotics actually sound quite good for monitoring, the cable is too short to really be useful. I previously owned the Beyerdynamic DT770 250 ohm version, and I didn’t enjoy the sound. It was brittle, dry, and ultimately fatiguing. Also, the cable failed soon after the warranty expired, and couldn’t be replaced, so that felt like chucking $200 straight into the garbage.

I’ve had a decent amount of experience with open-back headphones, everything from cheap Grados, to multiple models in the Sennheiser HD-600 series, to Audeze LCD-3, and I even had a set of vintage Stax on long-term loan from a friend once. But what I don’t have experience with, aside from the previously mentioned Beyerdynamics, are closed-back studio monitoring headphones.

So please help me out with your recommendations. These are only needed for monitoring while I’m recording. I have other monitoring options for the mixing process. I’m looking for something that sounds neutral and accurate without being fatiguing. Isolation is important for me, but I’m more concerned about minimizing mic bleed than about cutting out outside sounds. A detachable cable is preferred, but not required. I also don’t want to go crazy on price. If we can stay sub-$300, that would be excellent.

Thank you so much!

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Nice setup and welcome (also it’s been awhile since I have seen someone with a well tempered) :+1: If you are monitoring recordingsthen something like a ndh20 is pretty good for that if you wanted a more midrange monitoring can. The akg k371 is pretty dang solid for the job for the price. The sennheiser hd280 pro isolates very well too. If you are just monitoring those should be neutral enough to get the job done and isolate well

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Thanks! I think the HD 280 Pro is probably the closest to what I’m looking for, aside from the captive cable.

As far as the Well Tempered goes, I have the Versalex with DPS power supply, Dynavector 20X2 Low output, Pass Labs Aleph Ono phono preamp, and Boston Audio Mat 2. It’s an absolutely phenomenal analogue front end, and kicks the pants off of any digital front end I’ve heard at any price. About three years ago, I decided to just do it right and be done with it. BTW, Bill Firebaugh, the founder of Well Tempered, worked for my grandfather at Ford Aerospace.

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I’m personally more of a digital guy myself but you gotta appreciate a nice vinyl setup for sure, sounds like it would be pretty great

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