Low-mid price closed back headphone recommendation

[Drew Stephenson]

I used to have a cheap set of closed back Philips headphones that I used for casual listening in bed and also as a useful final mix check (stuff that sounded good on them generally translated well everywhere).
Since they died, and thanks to some remarkable generosity from a member of this forum, I've been using a set of Audeze MM100s. However these are going to have to move to the studio proper because, being open-backed, they are not compatible with other occupants of the bed...

So I'm looking for a set of closed-backed cans. I have a small selection of cheaper closed backs (£30ish) that I have already discounted. At the upper end of my price range are things like the DT770s (of which I have a pair), Rode NTH100 and AKG k371. I'm going to try these out for comfort etc, but I was wondering if there was anything between these two price brackets I should consider?

[amanise]

I ended up Christmas gifted a pair of Oneodio cans that have Bluetooth and two sizes of jack connections, great battery life and comfortable to wear for 30 min sessions on the treadmill. The Bluetooth has no problem with 3ft thick stone walls. The sound is typically low end biased, but pleasant. They even got reviewed some time later in this ere mag, but the reviewer was expecting neuman quality and sounded a bit on the disappointed side as I remember. I think they were about 90 quid, no more certainly. I'd certainly check out the review. Apart from the treadmill, I use mine for checking finished tracks for how they'll sound on low end hi-fi gear. They've grown on me a lot.

[Wonks]

Ear defenders or plugs for the other half so she can't hear you (multiple benefits there!)?

[ajay_m]

I would spring for the nth100s. They are pretty neutral, comfortable to wear and the locking mechanism means they are always perfectly adjusted when you put them on. A little heavy and bulky of course. But I love them, and at just north of £100 I think they are exceptional value for money.

[adrian_k]

Another happy Rode NTH user here. They are a bit weighty but very comfy. I haven’t had any issues with the locking mechanism that some others had.

But I’ve also found mid-low priced Sonys to be pretty good for general listening duties, and very light/easy to stash in a bedside drawer.

[Drew Stephenson]

Thanks for the comments folks, any further thoughts still appreciated.
I do have a set of £80-ish Sony's that I bought for commuting a few years ago but they're very top-end weighted and I'm not such a fan.

[adrian_k]

Thanks for the comments folks, any further thoughts still appreciated.
I do have a set of £80-ish Sony's that I bought for commuting a few years ago but they're very top-end weighted and I'm not such a fan.

Weird my £30 Sonys seem low mid weighted. Maybe it’s my ears!

[Martin Walker]

Weird my £30 Sonys seem low mid weighted. Maybe it’s my ears!

If it's your ears that are low mid weighted, do you perhaps have extra large earlobes Adrian?

[adrian_k]

Weird my £30 Sonys seem low mid weighted. Maybe it’s my ears!

If it's your ears that are low mid weighted, do you perhaps have extra large earlobes Adrian?

My lobes require special hammocks to transport them. Maybe you’re right!

[rggillespie]

Rode nth have been a hit with me, they are super comfortable, and easy to recommend.

[MaltyM]

I'm interested in this topic too.

Thus far my recording has been monitored with iPhone earphones and I'd like to buy something cheap to 'upgrade' from that, portable to put in my backpack. I did try some AKG K52 for £30 but found that they made my hearing aids (behind the ear) whistle and I don't want to take the hearing aids out and risk dropping them in the mud in a field somewhere, never to be seen again (especially I don't want to remove them as I need them to hear clearly anyway!).

I'm not sure I can stretch to the Rode NTH but am interested what the cheaper Sonys are that are mentioned and whether they'd work with hearing aids.

If I need to wait and save up - can anyone tell me if the Rode NTH-100 work with hearing aids?

[Drew Stephenson]

The obvious Sony candidates would be the MDR 7506 (I'll probably give them a test as well) but they're not that much cheaper than the Rodes.
Obviously if you look outside of the studio headphones world there are far more options. My other half has some quite nice Sennheisers that were about £60 a couple of years ago, but unfortunately they don't fit my ears very well and quickly get uncomfortably - which is a shame as the sound quality is pretty good. I'll see if I can find a model number on them later.

[James Perrett]

How about one of the Sennheiser HD25 variants? The HD25 Light is only £70. I've used the Concord version for many years - both on the move and in the studio. They have a slightly scooped sound compared to the more accurate HD600s but I've been very happy with mine.

One tip - the replacement velour earpads are more comfortable than the standard earpads but don't be tempted by cheap third party ones as they don't last long.

For studio use, Sennheiser and Beyer are the only makes I will consider because others that I've tried simply can't handle the treatment they'll endure in a pro studio - they just fall apart after a few months.

[amanise]

I had HD25s for many years, until they suddenly went mono on me, but they were being horribly abused and were well over 10 years old at the time. Also great value cans.

[James Perrett]

I had HD25s for many years, until they suddenly went mono on me, but they were being horribly abused and were well over 10 years old at the time. Also great value cans.

Did you try replacing the cable? I think most things are replaceable on the HD25.

[Drew Stephenson]

How about one of the Sennheiser HD25 variants?

I've not tried them because in general I find on-ear headphones don't seem to give me very good isolation and quickly become uncomfortable.
But I shall add them to the testing list just in case.

[amanise]

I had HD25s for many years, until they suddenly went mono on me, but they were being horribly abused and were well over 10 years old at the time. Also great value cans.

Did you try replacing the cable? I think most things are replaceable on the HD25.

The older ones like mine had an all hard wired cable, and by the time they went phut everything else about them was well rinsed. So i replaced them with some more posher Sennys. I'm a big Senny fan. One day I might get some of the nice open backed ones, but might have to get some better monitors first.

[Random Guitarist]

I have a pair of the HD300s, they are maybe on the pricy side, but they are circumaural and I find them comfortable with a decent sound.

[Sam Spoons]

HD25s have a rep for excellent isolation but also for not being particularly comfortable. I have a pair and don't have a problem with them but I rarely wear them for more than maybe half an hour at a stretch.

For listening to podcasts or audiobooks I usually use either my Shokx bone transmission phones or a cheap BT headband set (quality ok for speech and very comfortable for listening in bed).

[Wonks]

I'm interested in this topic too.

Thus far my recording has been monitored with iPhone earphones and I'd like to buy something cheap to 'upgrade' from that, portable to put in my backpack. I did try some AKG K52 for £30 but found that they made my hearing aids (behind the ear) whistle and I don't want to take the hearing aids out and risk dropping them in the mud in a field somewhere, never to be seen again (especially I don't want to remove them as I need them to hear clearly anyway!).

I'm not sure I can stretch to the Rode NTH but am interested what the cheaper Sonys are that are mentioned and whether they'd work with hearing aids.

If I need to wait and save up - can anyone tell me if the Rode NTH-100 work with hearing aids?

Can the headphones compensate for not having working hearing aids? Or is it less just the extra volume but the frequency boosts at certain frequencies (that you won't get from headphones unless you apply a graphic or parametric EQ to first) that enable you to hear better?

With over-ear closed-back headphones, you are creating a closed environment which allows the sound coming out of the hearing aid tubes to feed back into the hearing aid microphone.

If the headphones alone can work, then on-ear headphones shouldn't feed back, as the hearing aid mic stays outside.

If the hearing aid needs to be inside the headphone earcup, then open-backed headphones may work without feedback, but you'd have to try some out to see.

And you'd need headphones with big earcups so that the hearing aid fits inside without the mic being covered up by the cup material.

The AKG style of headphones has the largest diameter earcups that I'm aware of (at least ones with open-backed models in the range).

I've seen posts about people removing the hearing aid from the ear and letting it dangle within the headphone cup (which helps with smaller-sized earcups).

Also about reducing the hearing aid volume to about 25% and turning up the headphone volume to compensate. This definitely reduces the feedback threshold.

[ajay_m]

WRT wearing hearing aids using headphones, as a hearing aid wearer myself I can say that yes you can use the NTH100s without triggering feedback but then this is true for any headset as I can also use a Plantronics headset with mic (for Zoom calls) without a problem.
These are just the standard NHS behind the ear units you get for free, and they have a bluetooth connection to my phone allowing me to adjust both sensitivity and three bands of EQ (high/medium/low) from the phone. Whether they feedback will largely be a matter of the sensitivity setting, at high levels anything near the hearing aid mic will trigger a bit of a squeal though the units seem to have some kind of dynamic compression functionality that'll damp it out quite often.

All that said, you are very definitely not going to get a high fidelity experience this way. If I were doing any serious listening I would be removing the aids and then adjusting the EQ to compensate for my fairly serious hearing loss about around 5KHz. I don't have any significant impairment at lower frequencies (yet) I don't think, so the way the aids are set they are just boosting the upper octaves for me to give me some range up to probably 10KHz which I have lost over the years.

Exasperatingly, although on my Samsung phone I have a graphic EQ with multiple bands, the design suppresses the gain for the whole signal chain if you boost a range of frequencies, to keep the overall headroom constant, unlike, say, the EQ on my mixer, which is somewhat annoying.

[ManFromGlass]

Have a set of the Norwegian hearing aids. haven’t had any feedback issues in open or closed back headphones. For the shape of my ears/head I found the Shure SRH1840 (whatever that number is) a good generous fit with the comfy velour, but they are open backed.
I would think if you are using headphones in bed that the pillow would push the cups up and away from your ears, wouldn’t they?

[Drew Stephenson]

I'm interested in this topic too.

Just remembered to check this. My Sonys are WH-CH700N and my wife's are Sennheiser HD350BT

[Drew Stephenson]

Just to close the loop on this, I popped up to G4M this afternoon and had plenty of time to do some listening to DT770s and Neumann's for reference. Tried the Rodes and liked the 'cool gel' think in the ear cups but it felt like my ears were being squeezed a bit by the pads (I think I have bigger ears than I thought I had). Tried some AKGs (can't remember the model number, 371?) but I'm not a big fan of their sound - I'd be constantly second-guessing the low end.
Ended up with some Sennheiser HD300s. Comfy, good isolation, and a frequency response that felt like it was going to be a reasonable final check.