Closed Back Headphones for Production and Mixing
If you’re like me, you want closed back headphones because sometimes you produce, edit, or mix audio in noisy environments and while traveling. If so, you want a relatively lightweight, comfortable, durable pair of headphones with good isolation and a balanced frequency response.
Here are the sub-$1,000 headphones I’ve tried for this purpose and my principal reasons for liking/disliking them. These are in order of my favorite to my least favorite, considering all factors, including price.
Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X: Best overall quality and value. I use these.
Sennheiser 620S: Runner up. Good tonal balance, except low end is a bit lacking.
Sony MDR M1: Comfortable and lightweight, but lacking resolution, too bassy, and poor isolation.
Focal Lensys: Good resolution, but harsh mid and upper-mid spikes, and the cables are too short.
Sony MDR 7506: Comfortable and lightweight, but way too bright.
Neumann NDH 20: Too bassy, too big and heavy. Not worth the price.
Audeze LCD S20: Too big and heavy. Sound distant and indirect. Not worth the price.