No matter whether you’re recording music at home on your laptop or if you’re working with professionals in a high end audio studio, the same sentiment is true. Simply, put: the headphones matter. When you’re immersed in the total sound of what you’re creating, you hear it all, and if you’re rather talented then you probably get into your flow when producing with a quality reference grade pair of studio headphones.
When I was in a band some years ago, every album and with almost every EP, we would upgrade our headphones until we stuck with what worked best for us. Why? Because when you can hear every detail, you’re able to pinpoint weaknesses, sloppy playing, and other technical issues that can really bring down the final product and mix. So, with our ever-expanding knowledge, recording experience, and gear upgrades, we continually made better sounding, better produced records. And before we came to the mutual decision to disband, we started noticing the fans picking up, the concerts getting bigger, the interest buzzing, and finally success on the road, along with black ink in the bank register.
Among the countless audio brands that I’ve worked over the past decade-plus, I’ve come to trust a few names above the rest. While I like Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Sony and Shure, I tend to gravitate toward Beyerdynamic, because their sound and builds are always impressive, and they keep their prices reasonable. No spending $500 just to record a song at home. Besides, I’ve now worked with eight different headphone models, so I’ve gained an understanding of the subtle differences. The exact model can depend on the style of music being mixed, but I like Beyerdynamic’s DT 990 PRO since it’s reasonably priced, but offers reference quality in playback.
Beyerdynamic’s DT 990 PRO are professional quality, open-backed studio headphones that create an acoustical effect that is great for monitoring and studio work. They boast 250 ohms, and are indeed a dynamic open back style with a diffuse field that I like for a number of reasons. The body is lightweight but robust, as the ear pads are quite large, but they offer the user the ability to work for long periods of time, so if you are doing sound production at a festival, you’re covered for the 10-plus hours required of your time, and the same goes for long studio sessions. I’ve done it, I know how rough the 12 and 16 hour sessions are.
The DT 990 PRO headphones are advertised as being designed to perform under extreme conditions… Beyerdynamic offers a unique feature for the DT 990’s, one that I haven’t seen elsewhere for when it comes to high quality headphones like these: the ability to replace every single part. So, if you break one of the headphone cabinets or bend the metal head bow, you can get another one and install it with ease, which to me is a huge feature. Why be forced to replace an otherwise perfectly good pair of headphones because of a cheap part snapping? When you’re in a band, equipment can go through hell on the road, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s an important feature here. Overall, after testing the DT 990’s recently, I found that they are of great quality and at a great price. The sound is dynamic, powerful, crisp and immersive, and the build feels soft and is cushioned nicely for long hard hours of use.
Among the countless audio brands that I’ve worked over the past decade-plus, I’ve come to trust a few names above the rest. While I like Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Sony and Shure, I tend to gravitate toward Beyerdynamic, because their sound and builds are always impressive, and they keep their prices reasonable. No spending $500 just to record a song at home. Besides, I’ve now worked with eight different headphone models, so I’ve gained an understanding of the subtle differences. The exact model can depend on the style of music being mixed, but I like Beyerdynamic’s DT 990 PRO since it’s reasonably priced, but offers reference quality in playback.
Beyerdynamic’s DT 990 PRO are professional quality, open-backed studio headphones that create an acoustical effect that is great for monitoring and studio work. They boast 250 ohms, and are indeed a dynamic open back style with a diffuse field that I like for a number of reasons. The body is lightweight but robust, as the ear pads are quite large, but they offer the user the ability to work for long periods of time, so if you are doing sound production at a festival, you’re covered for the 10-plus hours required of your time, and the same goes for long studio sessions. I’ve done it, I know how rough the 12 and 16 hour sessions are.
The DT 990 PRO headphones are advertised as being designed to perform under extreme conditions… Beyerdynamic offers a unique feature for the DT 990’s, one that I haven’t seen elsewhere for when it comes to high quality headphones like these: the ability to replace every single part. So, if you break one of the headphone cabinets or bend the metal head bow, you can get another one and install it with ease, which to me is a huge feature. Why be forced to replace an otherwise perfectly good pair of headphones because of a cheap part snapping? When you’re in a band, equipment can go through hell on the road, so as far as I’m concerned, that’s an important feature here. Overall, after testing the DT 990’s recently, I found that they are of great quality and at a great price. The sound is dynamic, powerful, crisp and immersive, and the build feels soft and is cushioned nicely for long hard hours of use.
Two steps down in their product line, Beyerdynamic has created the DT 770 PRO headphones to be similar to the DT 990 PRO, but are different in that they are closed back but still reference quality. So for audio control and monitoring, these would work well to help block out outside sound, and to keep what you’re hearing more to yourself. The ear pads are similar and cushioned, and the head band is the same, flexible metal band covered in padded black. Another difference with the DT 770’s is that they include a ‘Bass reflex’ technology that improves the bass, which is also assisted by the closed ear style.
The 770’s also have replaceable parts, to where every single little piece can be replaced, so there’s no need to buy a new pair all because of one piece. I think if you’re a song writer and like to use headphones in your process, then these will allow you to work even when the others are sleeping on the band van. They also help with keeping the sound in, and outside sounds out, which can be imperative depending on ones lifestyle and musical process. They are also good for mobile listening, for those who’d rather listen and produce rather than write and record.
If you would like to learn more about Beyerdynamic, click here.
(Photos by © Beyerdynamic.)
The 770’s also have replaceable parts, to where every single little piece can be replaced, so there’s no need to buy a new pair all because of one piece. I think if you’re a song writer and like to use headphones in your process, then these will allow you to work even when the others are sleeping on the band van. They also help with keeping the sound in, and outside sounds out, which can be imperative depending on ones lifestyle and musical process. They are also good for mobile listening, for those who’d rather listen and produce rather than write and record.
If you would like to learn more about Beyerdynamic, click here.
(Photos by © Beyerdynamic.)
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