My search for headphones is finally over... for now

Hey guys,

Two things:

1. I'm glad I've finally had a chance to make my first post. Been swamped with work, photography, and since it's the holiday season, shopping as well. :thumbup:

2. My search for headphones has finally ended for the time being! I'm, for better or for worse, spectacularly picky about which pairs of headphones I end up keeping for different purposes.

I've worked in nightlife and event organization for the last seven and a half years, give or take, and along the way picked up a taste for high quality audio. I started off collecting IEMs which served the purpose of traveling with me when space was limited very well.

Recently, I decided that I'd delve deeper in to DJing as I'm constantly surrounded by DJs and producers when working. I figure it's something I'd do for fun on the side as opposed to trying to pursue as a career of any sort. I'm an event photographer focusing primarily on electronic music events so to try and also really pick up DJing to generate revenue would spread me too thin, I imagine.

My goal, with this post, is to hopefully help out some of the people who are currently searching for headphones that warrant their hard earned cash.

Here's the list of headphones I've tried out over the last several months:

1. Pioneer HDJ-2000 in both silver and black (Just a cosmetic difference between the two)
2. Pioneer HDJ-1500
3. Xone XD-53
4. Xone XD2-52
5. Aiaiai TMA-1
6. Aiaiai TMA-1 Studio
7. Sennheiser HD25-1 ii
8. Sennheiser Amperior
9. AKG K550
10. Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro
11. Beyerdynamic DT1350
12. Dr. Dre Beats Pro
13. Shure SRH-940
14. Audio Technica ATH-M50
15. Ultrasone DJ1 Pro

Yup. 15 pairs of headphones in probably the last three or four months, and that's just the on or over ear varieties. Yeah, it was pretty nuts but I'm glad I got to give them all a whirl.

Anyways, the ones I ended up settling with today were the Beyerdynamic DT1350s. I listed all the ones that I'd tried so that for those of you still looking I could perhaps help with some opinions of their sound, fit, and finish.

So what gave the 1350's the edge over the others? Obviously headphone preferences vary from individual to individual; I ended up going with the TMA-1s but I've tried (and liked) the XD-53s, the Ortofon O Ones, and various Sonys, Pioneers, Sennheisers. For me the smaller cup of the TMA's (and Senn HD-25s) provide far better sound isolation than the bigger cups on the O's and the Xones. I've used the Pioneer HDJ 2000s and they do sound nice but I don't like the feel of them, and again I prefer the TMA isolation. Never tried anything Beyerdynamic so I'm curious what you think.

Well, I know that the DT1350s aren't really on the radar for most people, DJs or otherwise. I only know of them from the period of time that I was really heavily investing in to collecting different IEMs and their name came up on the forum for full size headphones.

The reason I ended up with them over the others is a combination of the following:

1. The isolation is fantastic as they cups are quite small and in design are very similar to the HD-25s. Better than the TMA-1s, in my mind, without a doubt.

2. My biggest issue with a lot of DJ headphones is that they artificially boosted the bass TOO much. I understand that being purpose built for use in a booth can necessitate additional bass to aid in mixing but I didn't want my headphones to place such high priority on the bass that the other frequencies started taking a serious backseat to it.

In that regard, the TMA-1s were quite good for the price that I'd paid for them. The bass was powerful, fairly punchy, and could extend reasonably far. The DT1350s don't have as much bass but the extension of these cans is absolutely incredibly, even more so when you consider their size. All the while they maintain an incredible amount of detail and clarity.

3. Comfort. In fact, I just returned the TMA-1s this morning and picked up the DT1350s later on in the day. The TMA-1s just weren't comfortable after about half an hour or so and I spend a lot of time in front of my laptop when I'm editing photos so I'll have a pair of headphones on for most of that time.

Interesting. I'll have to give those a listen at some point.

Personally, the HD-25s won for me. I'm still using my almost-7-year old pair that went through a car wreck with me. They still sound awesome. The pair of TMA-1s I tried kind of sucked in comparison. My second choice would still be the MDR-7506s that I had before them. I kind of miss my pair sometimes……not as great for DJ use but marginally more comfortable for sitting at my desk for long periods of time.

I never got around to trying the Sony cans. The HD-25s were too bright for me. My primary concern with my search for headphones was a combination of being able to use the headphones for both casual listening as well as tooling around on my DJ equipment and comfort.

The DT1350s manage to check off both of those boxes for me very well.

Impressive looking cans. Down to 5Hz according to the amazon info http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-D...dynamic+DT1350

How do these cans compare to the Ultrasone's (in your opinion)?

+1 on the Beyerdynamics. Love that company.

The Ultrasones sounded a little too cold and lifeless for me in comparison. The Beyerdynamics are just the right level of warmth for me and possess tremendous detail in comparison to most of the other headphones on the list.