At the lower end of the lower end we find the Sennheiser HD 201




So is low, low budget any good???

Right of the bat the headphones have a sturdy look and feel to them. Lets turn them on and have a "look" if the audio is any good as well.

I'm not going to go in to much detail about the highs, mids and lows, since this does not really apply for a headphone like this. What you should know is that this is an ideal headphone for monitoring your live recording. Yes it is low budget and yes  you will be missing some critical information you will have to deal with in post, however it's not anything you won't be able to fix.

Example

When I was recording with the Zoom H4n in a 25 square meter room, I unwillingly recorded a humming noise from a heating system. I did not hear this through the headphones, however I was very clear in post that this sound was there. Simply adjust the filters on the sound and the hum goes away.

So quickly, if you are using this for registering live audio, YES!!! DO so. It's cheap if it breaks or gets wet or anything you can quickly get a new one and you won't be spending half your production budget.
When using these for anything other then recording live audio, be very careful, since you will be "BLIND" to many sounds.


Just like last time:

In end investing in good headphones will pay off since $150 will buy you very descent headphones while audio monitors ussually will cost you a lot more.

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[AKG K512]

At the lower end of the AKG headphone range we find the AKG K512. Which is in the price range of Sennheisser's HD 202


So what does about $30 buys you??

The packaging looks quite decent as does the headphones. The inner band has a cheap feel to it, which turns out to be true since mine came of after about 3 weeks of usage.

[Lows]

There seems to be some bass, however for tue base lovers this will not be sufficient. In comparisons sony's in-ears produce the same base experience (in this price range).

The lack of precision  will make it more difficult to sound design for your movie and check audio quality while recording on set. So if audio quality can be neglected somewhat for your production (don't forget audio is at least 50% of your film)  you can use them.

If your budget is thight they will allow you to listen to you project especially during those late night editing sessions, lol. But upgrade to low end professional headphones like the low end versions of Shure.

[Highs]

The highs don't sound as crisp as you would like them to be. It seems asf if they are limited to prevent distortion of the sound because the headphone could ot process the desired signal. Just like with the lows you miss a lot of information here as well. Drums for instant sound really flat, almost fake sometimes (while listening to Foo Fighters, so you know no crappy music quality).

In end investing in good headphones will pay off since $150 will buy you very descent headphones while audio monitors ussually will cost you a lot more.



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