Guitar + headphone players - What are you using?

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Rex Rocker

Rex Rocker

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I absolutely love the sound of a cranked half-stack, but I'm sure I'm not the only one living in an apartment with neighbors that don't take to 100+ dB of Death Metal riffs too kindly.

So what are you guys' setups for playing silently through headphones?

I started my journey a couple of years ago when I moved out of my house in the suburbs. I used to play a 5150III and a Marshall 1960A with Greenbacks. Nowadays, I've gone through a few headhpones, but I'm liking what I'm getting out of a pair of Sennheiser HD 620S and my HX Stomp. That being said, I still struggle sometimes. I feel like the built-in headphone amp of the HX Stomp is not the best (I can tell when I play music through it via USB). I'd also love to experiment with open-back headphones, as I really only use closed back headphones to be able to use them at work as well.

So I'm curious as to to what you guys are using as far as headphone rigs?

:D
 
Yea this is me most of the time. My preferred setup is:

Real amp(s) -> Unit(s) with a reactive load and IRs -> Headphone out (if I'm lazy) OR XLR out(s) into audio interface, DAW, then headphone out

I'll mix in my Kemper here and there as well. It's more than the HX Stomp setup you currently have, but I like the results with the real amps. I don't have any flat-eq response headphones atm, and mostly use my Beyerdynamic DT770s. I did have some DT990s at one time, and aside from the EQ differences I didn't like the open-back while playing, lost some bass response. Find some good IRs and mix in some reverb if you want. Also try some room IRs. Obviously won't have the same feeling as playing with a cab, and there's other threads about units and matching impedance curves and whatnot, but this has worked for me.
 
Mr. Chainsaw said:
Yea this is me most of the time. My preferred setup is:

Real amp(s) -> Unit(s) with a reactive load and IRs -> Headphone out (if I'm lazy) OR XLR out(s) into audio interface, DAW, then headphone out

I'll mix in my Kemper here and there as well. It's more than the HX Stomp setup you currently have, but I like the results with the real amps. I don't have any flat-eq response headphones atm, and mostly use my Beyerdynamic DT770s. I did have some DT990s at one time, and aside from the EQ differences I didn't like the open-back while playing, lost some bass response. Find some good IRs and mix in some reverb if you want. Also try some room IRs. Obviously won't have the same feeling as playing with a cab, and there's other threads about units and matching impedance curves and whatnot, but this has worked for me.
Click to expand...
Oh, I have the DT770's as well. Are yours 32 ohms? I like the sound of those as well, and I use them as well from time to time. I actually use them more at work to listen to music. They seem to have a cleaner bass than the Sennheisers, but the downside is the treble seens a bit too active with high-gain sometimes.

And yeah. I guess the low-end is thinner on most open backs... but I guess the upside is everything else is more natural. More of a speaker in the room kinda vibe. I've read those DT990's are particularly bright, though. That seems to be the Beyerdynamic vibe, because my DT770's are pretty bright in themselves too.
 
Mine are 80 ohms. They're a solid all-around headphone for sure. I do notice the treble as you mention from time to time, especially on recordings. The DT990s have that more prominent V shape EQ and were brighter/bassier as a result. Comforable as hell though, more than the DT770s. You could try the DT880s, or bump up to the 1770/1990, but I don't know if it's honestly worth it over just using what you have now. I think you'd get more out of upgrading the HX Stomp than the headphones.
 
Can you use the usb out and have your interface take care of the DAC? I got the biggest upgrade in sound on my cheap headphones when I got a Babyface Pro FS. Idk if that would help but its a thought

edit: idk if this would be worth it or if its possible. you'd have to do multiple interfaces and asio4all to your daw if you're on windows. who knows what the latency tradeoff would be. at that point why not just use helix native
 
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I use a Kiesel Holdsworth HH-2 and a Vox Amplug in hotel and motel rooms.

KieselHoldsworth.jpg
20241202_195502.jpg
 
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Rex Rocker said:
I absolutely love the sound of a cranked half-stack, but I'm sure I'm not the only one living in an apartment with neighbors that don't take to 100+ dB of Death Metal riffs too kindly.

So what are you guys' setups for playing silently through headphones?

I started my journey a couple of years ago when I moved out of my house in the suburbs. I used to play a 5150III and a Marshall 1960A with Greenbacks. Nowadays, I've gone through a few headhpones, but I'm liking what I'm getting out of a pair of Sennheiser HD 620S and my HX Stomp. That being said, I still struggle sometimes. I feel like the built-in headphone amp of the HX Stomp is not the best (I can tell when I play music through it via USB). I'd also love to experiment with open-back headphones, as I really only use closed back headphones to be able to use them at work as well.

So I'm curious as to to what you guys are using as far as headphone rigs?

:D
Click to expand...

I'm sure a lot of it is personal taste but I prefer open back headphones for playing guitar. It sounds more natural to me with reverb added in the mix, kind of like being in the room with the amp. YMMV.
I run my Fractal units through a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX and I put an EQ block in the path to smooth them out a little flatter. I want to try a pair of DT-880s but I don't like that the cable isn't detachable.

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx/details#signupv2

You can find the EQ profile to smooth out your headphones here, but I don't see the 620S? Are they 660S? - https://autoeq.app/
 
I use the Slate VSX system only bc they seemed to have nailed the spatial thing and I don't need to apply loads of EQ or verb and room IRs.
Makes it more roomy and pleasant than room or eq correction software.
Suhr RL box and YA IRs mostly. All my Wizard needs then is a cut below 100hz and one above 6khz
 
Real amps > Suhr RL > SSL 2+ > GGD Cali or whatever is tickling my fancy in the IR world > Valhalla vintage verb. Seems to do it well enough for me and having 2 small gremlin spawn, I’d prefer not to rearrange their atoms with a 4x12. Using the ATH M-50’s but honestly I hate them most of the time and am probably going to snag some open backs of some kind, so glad this thread is up!
 
My PS4 headphone, works great.
I tried my Sony XH-1000, but it clips the bass.
 
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