Axe-Fx III and Headphones

gigawatt

Experienced
Hi all. :) Can you all chime in with what headphones you're using with the Axe Fx III? There's just so many to choose from, I don't know what will sound good with the Axe. I had a set of Sennheiser HD 280's but would like to upgrade, besides I think I blew the high freq. drivers, (had a Lead preset with a lot of treble and presence, it also blew the 5 watt tweeter resistors in a pair of Polk Lsi 15's. It was the 1st lead in this song: Used to play it in a band I was in through an Axe Fx with conventional tube power amp TS 100 and speakers Celestion Century 80's. Sorry to get off topic, but check out the vid, awesome lead tone.

So I'm looking for something that will have good power handling, a high SPL, and most of all, reproduce the sounds of the Axe III accurately. -and, possibly a warm sound??? but not dark.

Looking for something in the $200 - $250 range.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.


This post will probably be moved to the Lounge, but I'd like to hear what Axe III users are using.
 
I use Blue Mo-Fi's. Love ‘em, although no set of cans will feel like playing through speakers. You can find them used in your price range. When I need to be aware of what’s going on in the house, I use Sennheiser HD 555’s, which have a similar sonic footprint but less bottom end because they’re open-back. You can find them used these days for under $100.

Regarding your Polks, I don’t recommend using consumer hi-fi speakers for amplified guitar. They don’t handle stress well, as you discovered. :)
 
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I've used several types of cans. Blue MoFis are highly regarded around here and I have a set and l like them very much. I also have a decent set of open back cans that I'm too lazy to go in the other room and see what model I ended up getting. In my opinion the Axe-FX III seems to sound just a little better thru cans than the previous models, but it could be that I'm just getting better st dialing nice balanced tones. (Especially the high gain, which sounded kinda bad thru cans in earlier editions.)

That said, I still don't think they ever sound as good as they my studio monitors, and really like the feel when you move some air in the room.
 
Open-back headphones feel a ton better to me than closed for guitar playing. Having a little bit of the acoustics of the room still in my ear helps headphones to not sound so can-y.
I use HD600, but HD 598, 600, 650 are basically all same apparently, and all well regarded as being very accurate. (although, headphones and high frequency accuracy don't go together for any headphones)
 
I have the Blue MoFi and Beyerdynamic DT880 (600 ohm). There's no simulating the sound and feel of speakers with headphones, but those two do a great job.
 
OK, I'm goofing off in the studio and to follow up on my original post, I ended up with the Sennheiser HD600 open back cans for critical listening, and they sound pretty good with the Axe-FX III. I'm still in the camp that would never use them for tweaking sounds, as they aren't as you need the speaker vibrating in the room to get that detailed with the tones, but between those and my MoFi's I'm getting adequate sound quality for those times when I have to use phones.

The DT880's and AKG phones mentioned were also on my short list of cans I wanted to check out, but I found a pretty nice price on the HD600's and am quite happy with them.
 
I use Sony MDR 7506. You can get ‘em for less than $100 and they’re standard in recording studios all over the world. They have a very neutral sound in my opinion, so you get an honest impression of what you’re hearing.

To me the Sony's are the very best for the money and sounds better than others at twice the price.
 
Wow that's a lot of nice cans! Luke, the LCD's are a little more than I'm willing to spend…:eek: but I can go up to $350 for the right set o cans. Never sampled a set of LCD's, sampled a few LSD's many years ago, but I digress. Reviews on Amazon weren't so great, these are only the cons below, the pro's are easy to write about.
https://www.amazon.com/LCD-2-Over-B...r&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar

The Blue MoFo's, are ya'll talking about the powered one's? The look cool, lie a race car part, but see here: https://www.whathifi.com/blue/mo-fi/review

I know it's only one mans opinion. This is more confusing than trying to pick out studio monitors!

I be looking all of these up and writing back.

Genghis & Luke, you really like the open back better? Are they loud enough? Are they usable outside with road noise and honking horns? Not that at matters to me much, but it might to someone listening to their mixes outside on an I-Phone. :grimacing: lol

Thanks for all the input guys, i appreciate it! and thanks for putting up with my goofy sense of humor. :smilingimp: I have looked a a LOT of headphones so far, hopefully I'll be able to make a decision tonight. ;)

Question, can I still do a poll with this post or can that only be done at the beginning? I'd like to know people's opinion on closed back or open back.

Sorry if I offended anyone, no intention of bashing anyone's cans. Every set I've looked up has its negatives… except one; but now I can't remember which one it was!
 
Genghis & Luke, you really like the open back better? Are they loud enough? Are they usable outside with road noise and honking horns? Not that at matters to me much, but it might to someone listening to their mixes outside on an I-Phone. :grimacing: lol
Being loud enough has nothing to do with open or closed back. Open backs aren't usable for critical listening outside or in noisey areas. And they leak noise out, so people around you can hear it easily. Those are the cons, but the pro is that they have a bigger soundstage, less fatiguing, better transient response, less coloration, etc.
 
I'm seeing a trend that the really expensive cans are mostly open back, after looking up the LCD's, there were others mentioned in the +1000 plus price range like the Sennheiser HD800 and the AKG 812's, both open back. Perhaps cuz they were just comparing apples to apples...
 
I'm seeing a trend that the really expensive cans are mostly open back, after looking up the LCD's, there were others mentioned in the +1000 plus price range like the Sennheiser HD800 and the AKG 812's, both open back. Perhaps cuz they were just comparing apples to apples...
Cus opens perform better. And the people buying those really expensive cans aren't using them outside or in noisey areas, and don't care the sound leaks out. Pros outweigh the cons for the expensive cans users.
 
Thanks for chiming in Yeky83. Loudness? Forgive me, I've only had experience with one set of open backs; the AKG K240. On the advice of a friend I bought these and only had them a week. I was using them to adjust mix levels in a jam room and really needed noise isolation. Needless to say, they were the wrong choice, and had a much lower sensitivity than the Sony 7506's that replaced them. This was about 18 years ago. I loved the Sony's at the time, but the ear cups disintegrated rather quickly. My drummer was using a slightly cheaper pair and would always have black specks on his ears after a session. Never had the problem with the Sennheiser HD 280's, and they were like a C-clamp.
 
@yeky83 Great, now I'm torn! I'd like to use them in my studio room but also in the cafeteria when I'm eating or chillin, (It's loud in there; people, TV, etc.).

Wish I could afford both!

What about bass response with open backs? and was my experience with the AKG's because all their cans are inherently lower in sensitivity than other brands.

Also, I need something with either a high sensitivity or amplified. All those weekends, (and years) in a Metallica tribute band took its toll on my ears; What'd ja say?
 
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