Headphone advice for live monitoring

J

Jeffrey Hague

New member
Jan 23, 2021
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Richmond VA
Hey again all!
My trusty Shure SRH440s have gone to meet their maker after at least 5 years of service so I am in need of a new set of cans.
I mix live shows, mostly clubs and lately mostly pretty heavy rock. Primarily I use them to solo channels when mixing but sometimes listen to music on the couch as well.
I am looking at Sennheiser HD280Pro or HD300Pro or Shure SRH940s. I have also heard good things about AudioTechnica but am not familiar with their products.
Any reviews or advice or other makes/models I should look in to?
Thanks again as always.
 
My 280s have been solid for me over the past ~18 years, although they have needed new foam and currently have some tape holding a few cracked plastic bits together.

That said, I know some folks that prefer the ATH-M50 headphones, and I haven't kept track of the current options for monitoring headphones.
 
If you know them and like them, either send them back to Shure for a repair, or buy a new set.

I've been using Sony MDR-7506 for years. No, they're not the best, but I've been listening to them for so long I know what they sound like - or more importantly, what they shouldn't sound like. I also own Sennheiser HD280s and have used various pair of Shure cans, but I can't deal with them in a live show where my cans are a reference. The timbre of them is enough off from what I'm used to (Sony) that it makes listening critically more difficult.

Bottom line - don't change horses in the middle of a stream.
 
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While I like other headphones for home listening(ATH-M50, HD6xx), the HD280s have better isolation for live sound.
 
Follow-up: after a lot of great advice here and elsewhere I decided on Sennheiser HD300Pro. While I see the value for many of you to have cans with outrageous isolation or that you are decades familiar with I am just a weekend warrior anymore so I think these will do nicely.
I found them on Amazon for the regular price of $199 but these came with a very nice hard-shell case from Slappa. It is bigger than the pics looked but no big deal and the cans fit nicely inside with an extension cable, the 1/8 to 1/4 dongle and a lightning to 1/8 adapter. I could probably hide a few sharpies in there too.
So far I have only listened to canned music - tracks that I am very familiar with and use for tuning as well as just normal everyday listening.
They sound fantastic so far. They handle the bass better than the Shures and the mids and highs sound very true. In fact listening to canned music I have to EQ some to make them sound like my old cans.
I don't have a show until March 13th and am looking forward to see how they perform.
Thanks again for the advice!
 
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