SZ
Proper price/quality ratio ;-)
Looking for affordable monitoring headphones ("cans") for studio tracking, I compared Superlux HD660, Superlux HD665, t.bone HD 990D, Vic Firth SiH2 and Beyerdynamic DT-770M to each other and to my DT-770 pro 80. I know, not a really fair reference, but my idea was to seek for a series of cans that would not cost more, preferably less than my DT-770 and still would have proper, useful sound quality. From the types selected, you can guess that acoustic isolation was also a desirable feature, to prevent the sound from the cans bleeding into e.g. a singer's mic and thus saving me time cleaning up tracks from this bleed. I will review all of the models mentioned, each in their own product page. Here we go for the t.bone HD 990D.
The sound is quite dull over all of the spectrum. Although recommended by Thomann for drummers, because of it's claimed attenuation of 22dB, to me, it's isolation does not really differ from my DT-770pro or my good old Sennheiser HD250 linear II. Finally, it is not the most comfortable to wear of the models compared. But it is not an expensive pair of cans either, explaining the title of this review ;-) Anyway, not my choice in this quest, as you may have guessed.
The sound is quite dull over all of the spectrum. Although recommended by Thomann for drummers, because of it's claimed attenuation of 22dB, to me, it's isolation does not really differ from my DT-770pro or my good old Sennheiser HD250 linear II. Finally, it is not the most comfortable to wear of the models compared. But it is not an expensive pair of cans either, explaining the title of this review ;-) Anyway, not my choice in this quest, as you may have guessed.
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JG
Very sturdy budget headphones
These headphones are very sturdy and strong, with a feel similar to construction yard ear protectors! They are comfortable, if a little heavy, with a decent length of cable.
I would say these headphones are perfect for giving to a drummer really because they do provide decent noise cancelling, so the drummer can hear the track you are feeding him. In my case I am mostly feeding a click, which never bleeds through the mic either, so that's good.
I am not crazy about the sound. It sounds a bit muffled, so I wouldn't use these for mixing or even listening back if possible, and I wouldn't give them to a vocalist who wants to hear the best possible quality.
Overall, a very sturdy set of headphones that I consistently use on tracking sessions.
I would say these headphones are perfect for giving to a drummer really because they do provide decent noise cancelling, so the drummer can hear the track you are feeding him. In my case I am mostly feeding a click, which never bleeds through the mic either, so that's good.
I am not crazy about the sound. It sounds a bit muffled, so I wouldn't use these for mixing or even listening back if possible, and I wouldn't give them to a vocalist who wants to hear the best possible quality.
Overall, a very sturdy set of headphones that I consistently use on tracking sessions.
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M
decent bass but...
I found the bass response on these headphones more than adequate but other frequencies are quite muffled. These headphones could be used with an EQ and reproduce any kind of music content or speech.
They didn't match for my intended purpose but I am keeping them for some other use.
A remarkable thing though is that they achieve great isolation from ambient noise.
They didn't match for my intended purpose but I am keeping them for some other use.
A remarkable thing though is that they achieve great isolation from ambient noise.
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A
Cheap but still worth it
These headphones cancel the noise from outside, but after keeping them on for more than 15 minutes, my ears start to hurt. This might be only for me, so, overall, if you look at the price, they might be worth it. If you are not looking for hi-fi quality sound, but very nice noise cancelling, this is the product for you. Sound quality is not the best possible, atleast if compared to other t-bone products.
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KL
Okay
Used for drummers when tracking. They don't block out enough noise, you still need to have them loud when tracking. And that is the only usable scenario for these headphones because the tone is so bad, they make your guitars and vocals sound so bad it puts you off. Good quality, they seem well made. But I've had better use with earbuds covered by ear protectors.
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A
You get what you paid for.
With a price like that you can't really have high expectations. However I've been pleasantly surprised. This is really decent and will be just fine for your drummer studio sessions.
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A
Average phones
I bought these for use while drumming and practising. It's difficult to hear the sound from your phones when you want to drum at the same time. I thought these phones would have a good sound quality, isolation and comfort.
After a couple of months of testing i still wasn't satisfied with the quality. The sound sounds flat and sharp, i couldn't get a good sound. The isolation was not good enough so i had to turn the level up in order to hear and that made my ears hurt because of the sharp sound.
The cups that goes over your ears were a little too small for me, that made the isolation not so good for me. But it propably works better for you.
The good with these is the cord that is only on one side and wont be in your way, and it's really cool looking. Also the price is good.
Buy them iif you need extra studio or practise phones.
After a couple of months of testing i still wasn't satisfied with the quality. The sound sounds flat and sharp, i couldn't get a good sound. The isolation was not good enough so i had to turn the level up in order to hear and that made my ears hurt because of the sharp sound.
The cups that goes over your ears were a little too small for me, that made the isolation not so good for me. But it propably works better for you.
The good with these is the cord that is only on one side and wont be in your way, and it's really cool looking. Also the price is good.
Buy them iif you need extra studio or practise phones.
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A
If you need monitoring and serious noise isolation
Sound isn't very good in these, they're not really that comfortable either (especially if you wear glasses), but they isolate well, are quite sturdy and don't feel like they're going to break so easily. However, if you have the cash and don't need this much of isolation I would go for Beyer DT-250 or something like that instead. These work OK for tracking in a small studio where it might be needed this kind of isolation due to sheer volume from smashing drums and load guitars, but it's not very inspiring, the sound.
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S
Well made, but sound tight.
This headphones have a good cost. Very usefull as isolation closed monitoring for vocalist and musicians. But fot sound engeneering I wood prefer semi-open models from t.Bone and Superlux.
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H
Still Holds Together
We bought these headphones in 2009 and they have been used frequently by drummers in the studio so the build quality is more than fine.
The sound quality is actually pretty bad when you compare these to hifi-headphones and i would be happy to pay the double price for a better sounding headphones. But i do I think they sound exactly as bad as the more expensive competitors.
The price makes them a bargain.
The best sounding alternative would be to buy some good sounding in-ear phones and put some builders hearing protection on top.
The sound quality is actually pretty bad when you compare these to hifi-headphones and i would be happy to pay the double price for a better sounding headphones. But i do I think they sound exactly as bad as the more expensive competitors.
The price makes them a bargain.
The best sounding alternative would be to buy some good sounding in-ear phones and put some builders hearing protection on top.
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