Ten of the Best Studio Headphones over $300
by The Press Desk

Having listened to about half of these, I think the new Audio Technica ATH-R70x is better than all of them, with the exception of the HD800. I would love to try the Audeze and Stax ones, though.

The Oppo PM-3 should really be in that list.

I so agree.

My girlfriend bought these on my recommendation because of looks.
I am so envious.
They are so light, so open, encloses completely, sits without tension, super-comfortable, and to my ears, pretty flat and honest.
A many hours in the studio headphone.
OK, now I am gonna buy myself a pair, why did I give up on the Thomann B-stock a couple of weeks ago.

I own AKG 701, Sennheiser HD 600, ATH R70X, ATH M50X and Focal Spirit Pro's. They all sound great. The Focal's have a design flaw and will break and for that reason I do not recommend them. They are also uncomfortable. My two favorites are the HD 600's and the ATH R70X. They are different enough to me it is sort of a tie. I look what each has to offer for different reasons and I enjoy listening on each.

I do not mix with headphones although I do check mixes from time to time.

Has anybody tried AKG's K872 headphones?
(Or the new K275 perhaps)

If yes; what's your opinion on those?

I'm about to replace my worn out AKG K271mk2 (The inner ear-pads have disintegrated and are simply falling apart into little pieces of fabric!) and wonder if the K872 is a sane choice or if the new K275 is perhaps more sensible (There's a huge price-difference between those 2, but is there also a huge sound-difference I wonder)

I'm interested in how they sound, obviously, but also about their design in terms of possible durability (I love the K271's sound, but am a bit disappointed in the way the inner ear-pads are basically dissolving and crumbling when they're not even 10 years old (That said, my ears do physically touch the ear-pads because the cavity is not deep enough, so ear-sweat have of course deposited over the years of heavy use))

I LOVE the AKG 701, but always end up with a far too scooped sound when mixing on them - too much bass and too much top, maybe because it just sounds nice.

The HD 650 and 600 are still my firm favourites 6 years later - got 3 pairs of each.

HD600 with the HD650 cable is better than the standard one - shouldnt be but love it.

HD 650 with foam removed from inside of ear cups, steel cages removed from outside of earcups and then the foam dampening pad removed from the back of the driver truly open these things up no end.
after mod, dynamics are closer to the 600s (better) but with way more power and clean soundstage.

best money spent - in regards to HP

My main constraint was isolation—I use headphones for my vocal takes, usual close-miked with a condenser. That means closed back, and I wanted circumaural as well. That would have eliminated most of these choices. Without the luxury of being able to audition headphones, it helped that reviews of the Sony 7520 gave relative comparisons to the 7506, which I was very familiar with. Nice to see the 7520 was an honorable mention here, I've been very happy with the headphones since they arrived (over three years ago), all around, and they've been a good choice for vocal tracking.

Sennheiser HD-25

Long time Grado RS1 owner/user here (I currently have 3 sets)
Reading this list makes me really want to try out some of the alternative

Why not get new earpads so the K271s can at least serve as a good tracking headphone? (It's a great idea that they mute when taken off)

Open gives you more options. K702 is $190 used on Amazon, $226 street. It's my daily after I replaced the cord with a more durable braided one. With a cat who likes soft rubbery cables, I can't possibly get a headphone without replaceable cables.
K712 PRO seems to be the 702 with bass boost, not worth it IMHO (and looks tacky with orange and black). K812 can be found at $800.

Hey, I'm interested to that cans. Do you have experience with that? Did you compare it to other headphones?

10 accurate headphones over $300, my opinion:

- Stax SR-007A but with the port mod and a Kevin Gilmore amp.
- LFF Paradox (the "Paradox" only, not the Slant version)
- LFF Code-X (good luck finding one!)
- HD650 with KISS mod.
- Audio Zenith PMX2
- HD800 with SDR mod and EQ.
- Stax SR-207 (much more neutral than SR-507, which is an ear drill)
- Audeze LCD-2 Rev 2.2 (the pre-fazors, thanks to awful QC, good luck finding a "good one"!)
- MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open
- Fostex TH-X00 Ebony (with ZMF Ori pads)

This is 2017, no need for Ultrasone/AKG/Beyer/Grado treble spikes of death
PS: Yes, I don't like treble spikes or Audeze silent revisions hahaha

So funny how different everyones hearing is I thought the sr-507 were the best of the stax range

Audeze and stax sound the best I would say the audeze are too heavy for long term use.

I had to work in close back headphones for like a year and you soon realize the only thing that matters is comfort when wearing headphones 10 hours a day. And comfort means light. And light means electrostatic.

Well, I actually pulled the crumbled pads out all together, so now there's just the hard plastic
It doesn't seem to impact the sound much, so I can live with that until I get new ones.

I want new ones because the cavity is too small. Even with the pads I always got pain in my ears after a few hours use, and I'm kinda fed up with that. And I guess after almost 10 years service I can justify buying a new pair of headphones. They still do play fine though, but I really want some with enough space for my (Apparently) large ears.

You're right, the auto cut-off is a great feature. I really like that too
That feature is one I will miss dearly if it isn't on the new set I end up getting.

Open is not possible here (Too much ambient noise)

Haha, cats will be cats


Amen!
Without comfort they can sound like heaven and it still won't work

That's the funny thing about audio, how different we hear...SR-507 is a very polarizing headphone, a torture device for some and very accurate for others...audio is a rewarding and very interesting hobby

Oh, on a different note, AKG is no longer in business, they got "Harmonized" (or "Samsungized" if you prefer)
Ex-AKG employees formed "Austrian Audio" some days ago.

Indeed, there's that. Do you know if the headphone guys also migrated to Austrian Audio or was it only the mic design team?

http://www.psneurope.com/akg-vienna-austrian-audio/

http://www.psneurope.com/austrian-au...ive-interview/

They have "acoustics, mechanical design, electronics, software, measurement and testing" engineers, so they can design both, headphones and microphones.
EDIT: Second link, from the question "What are the company’s goals in the market? ":

"In order to move technology and the art of microphone and headphone development forward..."

Thanks! Hope they come out with great products!

Ooh, I noticed the name-change, but didn't put anything into it... until you mention Samsung :( Should that be a worry? (Not a fan of Samsung here, as I find their products are often only 'half-baked', so to speak. Don't want to throw my money at something that might be more hype than quality)

Samsung bought Harman, which was AKG's owner.

So all 3 names still exist, but really it's Samsung that runs the entire show now?

And I just wanted some good closed-back headphones with enough room for my ears inside them

At the moment yes, all three still exists. Not sure how the structure works, who calls the shots and so forth, but ultimately it's all owned by the Korean shipbuilders.

Not on the list, but the best headphones I've tried are the Hifiman HE-1000's. Prefectly balanced, would be great for mixing.
Currently use the HD800's (which I really like) and a few others, but the HE-1000's are outstanding.

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Though I never understood the AKG K702 as having too high trebles; it's fairly flat and not as strong bass-wise.

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Yeah, no, the K702 (and K701s which have the same drivers) are notorious for having a spiky top end. The fact they are also lacking bass adds insult to perjury, but even if they did that wouldn't help the upper midrange and lower treble.

Ahhh the Sony MDR-7506 sure sounds good...

Am I the only one that doesn't mind the weight of the Audeze? I use LCD-X which are probably the heaviest Audeze and I have no problem with them even with chronic neck pain and TMJD