Headphone Impedance

[GRAHAM99]

I am going to buy a pair of Beyer DT770 phones but was wondering which impedance would be best.
They will spend most of their life plugged into an ART headphone distribution amp.

[Drew Stephenson]

I've got a set of the 250ohm ones and they've been plugged into everything from my phone to my drawmer monitor controller with no issues. I think i do monitor a little quieter than most though, so if you are a bit concerned about volume then a set of the 80s should cover all bases.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I'd go for the 80 Ohm model as that strikes a good compromise value for all manner of headphone amps, and will work well with the ART.

[GRAHAM99]

Thanks for that.

[GRAHAM99]

Just wondering if I should get the DT990s.
Is the only difference that they are open backed which will result in more leakage?
I assume this then gives a better sound?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Open-backed phones sound more accurate and natural, as a general rule, although closed backed headphones these days are actually remarkably good. Obviously open-backed let the music you're listening to out to annoy anyone around you, but also let external sound in...

Personally, I prefer to mix and relax with open-backed phones, but closed backed are essential if tracking or recording/mixing in a noisy environment.

The 990s are great headphones, but they come in two versions, the 'Edition' and 'Pro' model. Both use the same transducers and sound identical, but the Edition model is intended for relaxed home listening, comes with a straight cable and reduced tension in the headband. The Pro model has a curly cable and greater headband pressure in an effort to keep the headphones in place if you're moving around working!

...and they only come in a 250 Ohm model (which will still be fine with your ART headphone amp, but won't work so well with your phone or other portable music player).

[GRAHAM99]

Thanks again Hugh.These decisions are never simple!

[GRAHAM99]

Bought the DT990s,very happy with them.
Thinking about new monitors now as they make my Mackie HR824s sound quite dull and lacking in detail.
Looking at the APS Klassik 2020s.

[Hugh Robjohns]

...and that's how the never-ending upgrade cycle begins...

[GRAHAM99]

Very true!!
Keeps me out of mischief though.

[Drew Stephenson]

Bear in mind that the DT990s have a boost in the high end that will helpfully allow you to hear a bit more detail in the mix, but isn't being completely truthful about what you're hearing.
I can't remember if you're already a sonarworks (or similar) user?

[GRAHAM99]

Yep the highs are more noticeable.Everything else seems clearer as well.You can tell the bass from the kick drum!
I am a Reaper user.

[Drew Stephenson]

Ah, sorry, bit of confusion. Sonarworks (now called SoundID I think) is a plugin that you can use to correct for the fact that your headphones aren't flat.
Here's the average profile for a set of 990s:

[GRAHAM99]

Please excuse my ignorance!!
I will check it out.

[GRAHAM99]

I guess you could get the frequency plot and generate the inverse using an eq plug in?

[Drew Stephenson]

Yep, that's pretty much all it does. In Reaper you have the ability to add plugins to the monitoring chain only (thanks James P!) rather than the output bus so you never have to worry about accidentally bouncing down with in place.
I have mine set up like that so when I pop my headphones on I click a button and the sonarworks correction kicks in. Just need to remember to click it off when you go back to monitors. Though I'm pretty certain I could work a way around that as well if I thought about it with I interface software.

[GRAHAM99]

Having had some time with the DT990s I can really hear the response uplift especially in vocals compared to my Mackie HR824s.They make the Mackies sound dull but I wonder which is correct?

[Hugh Robjohns]

Having had some time with the DT990s I can really hear the response uplift especially in vocals compared to my Mackie HR824s.They make the Mackies sound dull but I wonder which is correct?

What you're hearing from the Mackies obviously includes the room reflections, and so your perception of the high-end balance will depend to some extent on the spectrum of the reflected sound energy. A room with hard reflective surfaces will always sound brighter than a room with lots of HF damping surfaces.

That said, the Mackie 824s claim to have an very flat and extended response, while the DT990s are shown to have a rising HF response.

So the Mackie's are probably more correct... although there can be no guarantees of absolute accuracy without specific in-room measurements!

The Sonarworks / SoundID correction can be used to linearise your DT990s, of course...

I don't use it myself because I often need to use my headphones on location away from the studio and with all manner of equipment, so it's more practical for me just to learn the characteristics of my preferred headphones so that I can use them anywhere and with any headphone output without having to rely on correction software which may not be available or practical to use. If you always listen to your headphones in the studio or with your laptop SoundID is a very good solution for accurate headphone monitoring.

[GRAHAM99]

I found on line some eq settings for eq compensation for the Beyer DT990s.
I put these into Reapers EQ and put in on my master buss.
Hey presto!!
The headphones sound a lot more like my Mackies now.
The Beyers are definitely hyped above 6k and onwards.
Might try the demo version of Sonorworks to see if I get the same results.
Must remember to remove the plug in on mixdown!!

[Aled Hughes]

I have mine set up like that so when I pop my headphones on I click a button and the sonarworks correction kicks in. Just need to remember to click it off when you go back to monitors. Though I'm pretty certain I could work a way around that as well if I thought about it with I interface software.

On my Sonarworks plugin in Reaper I have the plugin pinout configured like this:



This way the correction is only applied to outputs 3/4 (my headphones), and passed the audio untouched through to outputs 1/2 (speakers)

Aled