Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Woody Nuss]

Another +1 for the AT 50's. Same price range and style as the Sony

[Steve Eudaly]

Worth noting that Shure has discontinued the original SRH440 and SRH840 and replaced them with "A" variants that do not fold.

I had a pair of OG 440s for years and really liked them. After over a decade of regular use, one earphone snapped off at the hinge. I did the Shure flat-rate repair program and they sent me the new replacement, the SRH440A. The fact they didn't fold was kind of a deal breaker for me.

I started looking and found some original SRH840s on closeout from B&H so I scored those and absolutely love them. It looks like you can still snag some Gen 1 440s and 840s on Amazon for $99 and $149, respectively.

[Thomas Le]

ATH-m40x, SRH840A, and HD380pro are the three headphones I have used and own, would give the edge to the M40x for portability, but all 3 would be a viable alternative.

[Kevin Maxwell]

I can't suggest a replacement. I was never a big fan of the Sony MDR-7506 headphones, I use the Sony MDR-V6 because I think they are more accurate that the 7506 version. I have been using these for a long time. I have had to replace the pads on them and I even have a pair of replacement pads that I should put on them now. I also have a second pair still in the original box. I knew they were being discontinued so I bought a backup pair and have never used them. I used to do a lot of sound for video and some film work and I wanted the accuracy of the MDR-V6 for that. 

[Tim Padrick]

Compared to the ever-popular Sony 7506 (which I despise), the Sennheiser 280 sound better and have better isolation.  A couple of the Shure models are a little better yet. The Extreme Headphones EX29 is the best for pro use - better isolation, and you can hear much more of what is going on in a mix.

I would not consider any of these to be good enough for a mix that will be distributed. My old M-Audio IE10 buds are quite a bit better than even the EX29.

When you don’t need isolation, go with Grado.  Much more natural than any of the above.


Extreme Headphones EX29.  The best isolation, and you can hear more of what’s in a mix than with the phones that most folks mention (some of which sound worse than some $20 buds I recently heard).

When you don’t need isolation, go with Grado.

[Brian Adams]

I have 6-8 pairs of Sennheiser HD280, and those are what I tend to use for live shows. They isolate well enough, and they sound pretty good. I have 5-6 pairs of M50x, and while I sometimes use those on live shows, they get more use during recordings. They sound pretty good, but they don't isolate as well as the 280. I also have a couple pairs each of Sennheiser HD600 and HD650 that I use for tracking and critical listening. I think I like the 600's a tiny bit better than the 650's, but they both sound awesome and have their place.

I've never owned a single pair of 7506, and I never plan to. I have no idea why they're so popular. They don't sound great, and they're overly fragile. I've repaired a bunch of them over the years. Bad drivers are very common, as are bad cables. We started saving the broken ones for parts rather than buying new components. Two pairs with a bad driver make one good pair. Well, not good, but you know what I mean.

[Scott Helmke]

I've never owned a single pair of 7506, and I never plan to. I have no idea why they're so popular. They don't sound great, and they're overly fragile. I've repaired a bunch of them over the years. Bad drivers are very common, as are bad cables. We started saving the broken ones for parts rather than buying new components. Two pairs with a bad driver make one good pair. Well, not good, but you know what I mean.

Yeah, you can get a whole new pair for the price of two replacement drivers.  The only parts we buy new are the ear cushions.

[ProSoundWeb Community]