Headset for mixing/mastering

I went from using a corrected Sennheiser HD598SE (which I got cheap on a Black Friday sale) to using an also corrected HD560S now.

For headphones I recommend looking at Crinacle, I just trust that guy from Singapore who always ends his videos with a friendly "F++k off, and don't die" ;) Look at his list at

https://crinacle.com/rankings/headphones/

or his review of the one I'm using now at

https://crinacle.com/2020/11/06/sennheiser-hd560s-review-the-evolved-500/

Like me, he also likes the Sennheiser HD600 but that one costs double of mine (got mine for ~ 150€).

I'm using Sonarworks, but you don't have to. Look at Jaakko Pasanen who lists lots of options on how to correct *your* headphones, for all operating systems including even on smart phones:

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq

His list of headphones is extensive, and even bigger than Crinacle's (he's using measurements from almost everyone including Crin):

https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results

So just find your headphone model in that list and try to set your eq (parametric or graphic) according to the given parameters, that should help.

Cheers,
Wolfgang

P.S.: I think that Crinacle guy also sounds awesome over his small Neumann mike, have a listen at his YT channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/crincl

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I am going for "beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO 250 Ohm". Tested them thoroughly and I stay with them. I enjoy the neutral frequency distribution the drivers provides. And the spiral cable is so very practical.

( i were also happy with "Sennheiser HD 560 Ovation II" but these are not produced any more. )

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https://autoeq.app is a good resource of compensation EQ for different models of headphones.

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My 2 cents as they call it: Of course eq balancing can be helpful to get a more even response from your headphone. But in the end it all comes down to do enough comparing with reference tracks to get an idea of what you need or want to hear using the headphones of your choice, with or without compensation. What's the greatest missing factor? B)It's feeding the 'other ear'. You have 2 ears and when you listen to a set of speakers you hear BOTH speakers in BOTH ears. There's a slight time delay to reach your other ear and your 'wrong' ear is in the audio-shade of your head. It takes a whole lot of referencing to compensate for that in your brain but some experienced mixers seem to manage it. To compensate for that you need an artificial eq-ed simulated leakage to your other ear. But it seems easier to use some real speakers for (at least) the final touches. And it seems also to help a little bit against (h)ear-fatigue.;)

PS the dedicated headphone-amps are only needed if your impedance is that high in combination with a low sensitivity that you just have too little volume. This is very rarely the case. Quality wise there shouldn't be much difference :( unless you use real shitty amplification for it to start with.;)

Oh and my headphone is a Shure SRH1440 :)

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My research into headphones and headphone software ended with Neumann NDH30 headphones and Dsoniq Realphones.

Realphones took a massive leap at Version 2 and it totally fools me into regularly freaking out thinking I'm playing speakers too loud! It does the crosstalk thing very well, has very good headphone correction and a heap of emulations for mix checking. The whole idea is like VSX but you get to choose headphones you like.

I leaped from Beyer 770 to the NDH30 and the difference in clarity is astounding. When I compare back with the DT770 I realise the hyped high end drowned out frequencies around it and the low end was a muffled boom. I've gone from struggling to enjoying. The NDH30 barely need any eq if any to suite my hearing. 80 ohm

Quite expensive but I cannot use monitors above a whisper so I saved a lot on those and room treatment.

As above - you have to familiarise yourself as with any monitoring.

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