Good headphones for the FM9?

DonB

Member
Hi there!

My Sennheiser headphones add quite a bit of highs to the FM9 presets (compared to studio speakers and my FRFR speakers), which makes it almost impossible to make or change presets with my headphones on. So, I'd like to buy better headphones that come much closer to what I hear over the speakers. Do you guys have good experiences with particular headphones?

Thanks in advance!
 
I don't have a specific recommendation for headphones to buy....it almost seems like people hear headphones differently, and I wonder if the shape of people's ears have more of an effect on headphone sound than most people want to admit.

Just as an example, I've recently seen a handful of people online saying that MDR-7506s or MDR-V6s are their reference headphones. I've had one set of those or another sitting around since like 2006. They're all crazy bright to me. I like them for specific things and can use them. But, I'd never call them a reference set for me.

I've heard good things about getting headphones from Sonarworks with an individual calibration profile. But...you can't use their calibration with the fractal unless you put a computer in the way of your headphone signal....which is an option as long as you can do it with low enough latency. I almost wish Sonarworks would release a headphone amp that lets you use the calibration profile via DSP by just plugging it in.

What I do is to not use Output 1 for anything else while I'm using headphones/IEMs and put a PEQ block before it. I'll set it up to output pink noise from my computer on both the headphones (through the fractal) and my main speakers (not through the fractal) and adjust the headphone EQ until they sound "close enough".

If there are other issues with your headphones, it won't fix those. But if it's just frequency response, you can probably get a lot closer. Also, FWIW, I don't think I've ever had headphones or IEMs that didn't "require" or at least sound better with some EQ. I also don't think I've used anything "nicer" than Shure 535s, and I don't think I've ever heard anything that was meaningfully better than some of the 5 or 6-driver KZ chi-fi IEMs. I also strongly prefer IEMs to headphones in general for some reason.
 
The pair I found that were pretty consistent with my Adam Studio monitors and my Mission FRFR cab were the Audio Technics M50x. They aren't that expensive and sound pretty decent. There is some high end there when playing through my Axe or FM9 but it's not much and I don't need to tweak my presets a lot.

 
I have found open-backed headphones tend to sound more like speakers than close-backed ones. Something about the airiness… I have a set of Audio Technica ATH-R70x headphones that I have found sound very neutral and seem to translate well.
 
What I do is to not use Output 1 for anything else while I'm using headphones/IEMs and put a PEQ block before it. I'll set it up to output pink noise from my computer on both the headphones (through the fractal) and my main speakers (not through the fractal) and adjust the headphone EQ until they sound "close enough".
Thanks, good idea!
 
I did a comparison in a local shop, and brought my Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X phones. I tested brands such as Audeze, HiFiMAN, Focal, and Meze. The Meze Audio 109 Pro really stood out, and I have a pair on order now. Expensive but I'm using phones a lot lately and I hate ear fatigue.
Definitely not cheap....! :D
 
I noticed in the Sweetwater flyer I got that Adam Audio has a pair of headphones, SP-5, they say comes extremely close to the sound of their monitors. $500. I bought a used pair of Audex LD2's for $600 about 6 months ago, which i'm very happy with, so I won't be in the market for a new pair for a while.
 
I quite like my Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones. They sound great with the Fractal and they're super comfy!
 
Headphones are always going to give odd resonances, but when you must, I'd go open cans like Sennheiser HD650.
 
I have HD 800's but not a fan of the fit but invested so much money in them Im going to stick with them for now


Hi @rsvette12 so I was just searching headphones in the site search looking for discussions and came across this discussion, I'm thinking of upgrading from my DT770.Pro 80ohm and wondering how well the FM9 drives the 300ohm HD800.
 
Hi @rsvette12 so I was just searching headphones in the site search looking for discussions and came across this discussion, I'm thinking of upgrading from my DT770.Pro 80ohm and wondering how well the FM9 drives the 300ohm HD800.

Hi Dave Ill send you pm right now - I use headphone amps but well talk
 
To answer your question you will need a quality headphone amp around 500$ to drive those even then it wont compare to 1,000$ IEM's

Those HD800's are around 1,500$ - bass is terrible with two amps - took quite a loss but happy they are gone - rip off

IEM's will be fine without an amp but I use two amps on them - my Theiaudio Monarch II's and now my new Theiaudio Monarch III's anyway I like to have headroom with loud quality clean bass mids and treble
 
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