What is a good audio interface and neutral headphone?

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Ryou-kun

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I am asking the audiophile and music producer on what is a good audio interface and neutral headphone.

I asked one of my friend who does music producing, and he told me to get
Beyerdynamic DT headphone along with Focusrite 2i2.

I'll be using it on both OS X and Windows, so I would like to know what is a good one that has a good software support by the company.
 
depends on what type of music creation you will do: vocals, instrumentals, mixing, etc.
also what software will you be using, and budget?
 
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bloodypulp said:
depends on what type of music creation you will do: vocals, instrumentals, mixing, etc.
also what software will you be using, and budget?
Click to expand...

I'll be using Albeton Live 9, and I have it.

I'll be doing instrumentals. You know, taking part of instrument sounds and compose them together to make a music.

For budget, I want it to be cheap as possible without sacrificing the qualities of it. I don't mean like $20 or whatever cheap. If you need a budget, I want it to be less than $200 for audio interface and another $200 dollar less.
 
atarione said:
i own a focusrite scarlett 2i2 I am very pleased with it

I also own a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro80s which i LOVE but they are far from neutral they are rather basshead headphones super fun but not all all neutral


the DT 880s would be worth a look


the AKG K550 would be worth looking at also

http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K550-Clos..._9?ie=UTF8&qid=1392868495&sr=8-9&keywords=akg

and also the AKG K702

http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K702-Head..._6?ie=UTF8&qid=1392868495&sr=8-6&keywords=akg
Click to expand...

Are you using the Focusrite 2i2 on Windows or OS X?
 
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http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/ur22.html

reports are that it's better than Focusrite's USB stuff, but Focusrite is good too. A lot of people complain about having to use the Focusrite software mixer to get the interface working right. And the software doesn't exist in Linux (which you probably don't care about, but I dual-boot Win7/Linux). Though the Yamaha chip in the Steinberg (which btw is itself owned by Yamaha) doesn't often work out of the box in Linux yet, but hopefully that will change soon.

Personally I use this mixer+interface: http://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/zed-10/. Great product but it's several years old now and is unfortunately limited to 48kHz, but that's no huge deal. Uses a TI PCM2900 USB1.1 CODEC that is older and inferior to the chip in the Steinberg (but generally good enough).

Beyer DT880s might be okay for this purpose, but like most headphones they are really not all that flat. I have DT990s myself and like them but the 990s would be even worse for this purpose as they are very bass-heavy and have more of a high-freq rolloff than the 880s. I guess it depends on what specifically you're recording (or are you only listening, but just want opinions on more pro gear?) and the sound you're going for. Different headphones can suit different sounds more, but then again it's always a good idea to test your tracks out on various gear if it's something that will be commercially released.
 
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dandragonrage said:
http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/ur22.html

reports are that it's better than Focusrite's USB stuff, but Focusrite is good too. A lot of people complain about having to use the Focusrite software mixer to get the interface working right. And the software doesn't exist in Linux (which you probably don't care about, but I dual-boot Win7/Linux). Though the Yamaha chip in the Steinberg (which btw is itself owned by Yamaha) doesn't often work out of the box in Linux yet, but hopefully that will change soon.

Personally I use this mixer+interface: http://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/zed-10/. Great product but it's several years old now and is unfortunately limited to 48kHz, but that's no huge deal. Uses a TI PCM2900 USB1.1 CODEC that is older and inferior to the chip in the Steinberg (but generally good enough).

Beyer DT880s might be okay for this purpose, but like most headphones they are really not all that flat. I have DT990s myself and like them but the 990s would be even worse for this purpose as they are very bass-heavy and have more of a high-freq rolloff than the 880s. I guess it depends on what specifically you're recording (or are you only listening, but just want opinions on more pro gear?) and the sound you're going for. Different headphones can suit different sounds more, but then again it's always a good idea to test your tracks out on various gear if it's something that will be commercially released.
Click to expand...

I have a limited knowledge on audio, so I don't know what to say.
I just want an affordable headphone that had Neutral sound that allows me to hear the music that I created that isn't too heavy bass.

Yeah, I don't care much about Linux since I mostly be using it on Windows and OS X but mostly on OS X. However, I heard that Focusrite 2i2 doesn't have the latest driver on OS X compare to Windows. I can't confirm it.
 
If you live in the US, you can see if there are any musician supply stores like Guitar Center around. You can try headphones at many such stores, and if you get lucky you may be able to check out some interfaces before buying them. As for the interface, if I were buying one I would go for the Steinberg over the Focusrite, but I'm sure either would work well. Maybe someday I'll do a custom upgrade on the USB portion of my mixer :D

Some brands to check out in general (in no particular order): Beyerdynamic, AKG, Audio-Technica, Sennheiser, Denon, Grado

Edit to note: the only USB reasonably-priced interfaces I'd personally recommend even considering are the 3 products I've mentioned (Steinberg, A&H, Focusrite). Wouldn't go near Tascam or most other brands - many of them abandon products and are usable for only 1-2 Windows versions (Creative's E-Mu division was one of these as well). Per such advice, make sure not to buy older recommended interfaces like the E-Mu 0404. For super low-end inexpensive stuff there's the Behringer UCA222 and the Roland DuoCapture/TriCapture, but only because they are very cheap. I still wouldn't buy them though. Most of the time when I cheap out on things like that I end up regretting it because I'm never satisfied with the product and often end up practically giving it away and buying the product I really wanted to begin with. In defense of the UCA222, though, it doesn't have a bunch of knobs to go bad like the crappy Xenyx mixer I had from them. (For the record, if you find a post from me defending that mixer, it was specifically because it did drive my headphones well... but the potentiometers were crapola)
 
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I am using the 2i2 w/ window 7 ....i don't use OS X at all so can't speak to how it is with that.

I have to say the Steinberg UR22 looks pretty nice.

the guitar center by my house has had a interface (focusite, PreSonus, Tascam...etc) of some sort for sale in there used / clearance bin every time i am in there... I was kinda bummed cause I could have gotten a 2i4 for about what my 2i2 cost the last time i looked.


but if it had been around at time (or if i had been aware of it) I'd probably have given that UR22 careful consideration vs the Scarlett.
 
The HM5's are about the most neutral headphone you can get. Head-fi has them billed as the neutral champ. And are currently $130 on amazon.
 
guitarslingerchris said:
If I were buying recording cans I'd be looking squarely at the AKG 701/702 being budget-minded.
Click to expand...

AKG 240, HM5, AKG 701/702

The 701 are open while the other two are semi closed to closed, you will hear external noise with the 701 but also get a larger, more natural sound stage. Any of those will serve you well.
 
If you already own monitor speakers, then you'll want to get headphones that compliment it. I use headphones for checking flaws in the mix; I call these "analytical" headphones. I have the K701 and I don't like those bumps under the headband; however I've modded it with the K601 headband sans headbumps. For you however, I recommend K612, K712, or K812 depending on your budget. I wouldn't exactly call these "neutral" (i.e. close to flat frequency response) because of the gentle spike in the treble area (6000hz-10000hz) relative to other frequencies. That gentle spike in the treble region helps bring out the details of your mix so you can detect flaws better and correct them on your speakers.

With that said, if you don't own speakers, then neutral headphones are a good compromise. I haven't heard the HM5, but it receives praise over at head-fi for being neutral (assuming the FR graph isn't significantly wrong). Look at the graphs and judge for yourself. The treble is smoother than the AKGs.

I own the Focusrite Saffire 24 (firewire). I love their audio driver and software so I assume it's the same with their other products.
 
Sony MDR-V6 would be a good choice as well. These are the standard in many studios.
 
I think I'll go for HM5 because it looks affordable and someone mention it is the most neutral headphone that I can buy for that budget wise.

I am aware there are a lot of better one, but they are quite pricey.

I can't tell the difference between a bass headphones and a neutral headphones.
If you guys don't mind, can you guys give me a list of Neutral Headphones that I should consider, so I can use it for future reference?

Also I remember what Beyerdynamic DT my friend told me about.
It is this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-...6828&sr=8-2&keywords=beyerdynamic+dt+880+pros

Is it Neutral or bass headphone?
 
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By the way, if I were plan to listen just the music, do I need a sound card or audio interface or it won't make a much different? Along with buying a neutral headphone?
 
The DT-880's are very neutral. They're an excellent choice.

That said in music production and studio work, based on the few I've talked to, closed headphones tend to be at least slightly preferred and the 880's are open. The HM5's might still be your best choice.
 
ThinJ said:
The DT-880's are very neutral. They're an excellent choice.

That said in music production and studio work, based on the few I've talked to, closed headphones tend to be at least slightly preferred and the 880's are open. The HM5's might still be your best choice.
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Do I need a sound card or audio interface if I plan to use it only to listen to music or I am better off using the on-board sound with the neutral headphone?
 
Ryou-kun said:
Do I need a sound card or audio interface if I plan to use it only to listen to music or I am better off using the on-board sound with the neutral headphone?
Click to expand...

Some headphones will always need better than onboard (unless you get a really good motherboard with an audio section tailored to higher-end headphones)

Some headphones will work fine with onboard.

Some onboard is very noisy (hiss, hum, random noises like hard drives spinning up) and won't sound good, but generally if you don't specifically hear noise, it's fine. You will hear noise on quite a few computers with onboard, though, unfortunately. But I say try it first, unless you end up buying hard-to-drive headphones which obviously won't work. Worst case scenario is you wait another week to finish your setup after learning that your onboard audio isn't good enough. Best case scenario is you save yourself a couple hundred bucks by finding out your onboard is perfectly fine. It depends on more than your motherboard, really. PSU quality, number and quality of drives in the case, USB devices, etc. So it really varies between setups.

Note that to use most (not 100%, but keep this in mind when making your order) decent headphones with onboard sound you'd need an adapter like this. You may be able to find one a little cheaper, but DO NOT use one of the solid adapters (the ones with no flexy cable). If you use a standard solid adapter, you WILL break your 1/8" jack 100% guaranteed. Solid adapters put way too much torque on your connectors; NEVER use them. And that's not just for audio - it also goes for DVI to VGA, DP to DVI, PS/2 to USB, or anything else. Only use adapters with actual cable in them. It does matter the most for 1/8" jacks, though... they are by far the easiest connector to break.
 
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As stated previously, the AKG K701/2 is neutral. The CEntrance DACPort is a neutral usb dac.
 
DT880 pro's at 600 ohm are not bass heavy. They are very neutral as long as you use a quality amp that can drive 600ohm. These are incredible cans to own if you are into music. I use them for gaming and through my zxr they sound awesome.

Headphones are a very subjective from ear to ear. You should try to hit some audio shops to give them a test drive on your own ears as what may sound great to me , won't sound so great for you.

Most of the high end soundblasters have better dac''s than what you are finding on these overpriced PC dacs anyhow. Don't feed into the bullshit and just test drive some cans to get familiar with open back vs full closed.
 
Well, earlier, I was helping my cousin to find his headphone and/or audio interface/sound card for him to listen to music.

Okay, I told him to buy Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro 250 Ohm and Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, and he got though.
The headphone was amazing to him, and he love it, however, the audio interface isn't working quite well.

I mean earlier he tested on his friend's PC that has a sound card, and it was loud, however, on the audio interface on his PC. It isn't loud enough for him. Like at max volume, he gets probably 6/10 volume while on his friend's PC with a sound card is like 25%-75%, and he get a loud volume.

I don't know if I am making any sense.
 
with High impedance headphones you may need a headphone amplifier to power the drivers at sufficient levels.

the soundcard has a higher output than the audio interface, so it plays a bit louder with the headphone. low-end and portable audio interfaces have typically low output because they need to draw power from the limited USB bus. a wall powered interface will have higher outputs suitable for high impedance headphones.
 
That amp is a little too weak to drive those then. I recommend a minimum of 80MW when driving 250-600ohm cans based on my own experience.

When the volume is cranked and it's not loud enough for you, it's the ohms holding you back because of a weak amp. 250ohms will reduce amp output by a good margin. I have a nice tube amp that can't drive my DT880s but my fucking soundblaster ZxR can with no issues.
 
UR22 should actually be better than the Focusrite in that respect. Could send the Focusrite back and get one. and/or get a separate headphone amp.
 
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Okay, quick question.

Okay, what are the equipment that I should need for music producing?
I know I need a neutral headphone, audio interface and maybe amp to boost the volume. What else though? I just want to make sure I got all the stuff, lol.
 
K701's everyday of the week. These are the best for the price. To get more neutral you'll have to bump up the price well beyond $1,000
 
Ryou-kun said:
Okay, what are the equipment that I should need for music producing?
I know I need a neutral headphone, audio interface and maybe amp to boost the volume. What else though? I just want to make sure I got all the stuff, lol.
Click to expand...

What is/are your source(s)? Your question is a bit broad for the little amount of information you've given us.
 
dandragonrage said:
What is/are your source(s)? Your question is a bit broad for the little amount of information you've given us.
Click to expand...

I'll be using an Ableton Live 9 which it allows me to use virtual instrument sounds and combine it to make a music. I do plan to buy a portable piano and a guitar for it.

What I mean is the important equipment for music composer. Like do I need anything else beside a headphone, audio interface and amp? Maybe a studio monitor (not sure if it is worth it), converter or whatever it is called and etc.
 
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