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I'm VERY happy with my Beyerdynamic dt770 Pro 80 ohm headsets at the very reasonable price of around $150 street price. They compare well sound wise to my Yamaha HS7 studio speakers and I can wear them for hours and not be bothered by them. This is my second pair so they've been my headphone of choice for many years now.

I can also affirm that the Helix sounds great with Shure SE-530 IEMs. The SE530 have a Sensitivity of 119 dB/mW, and a rated Impedance of 36 Ohms. I also have Sony MDR-V6 headphones (119 dB/mW, and a rated Impedance of 36 Ohms) and BeyerDynamic DT770 250 ohm headphones, both of which sound great with the Helix. Each is differently voiced.

No it does not need a headphone amplifier... In fact, it's got a strong amp inside that some people (like me) claim can overdrive low impedance Headphones in certain situations... Some like to connect to headphones through another interface. I don't have the HD650's. I've got the DT770 Pro 250 Ohm and Shure SRH840 40 ohm headphones. The Shure's get crackly sometimes.

Yes the curly cable sucks, mine also pops out of the can, I bought a straight cable with mini xlr, just haven't had the time to solder/bolt it in. Wow a year fly's by.... I have always liked closed back, I have been very happy with this choice of the DT 770 250, I even ran a splitter to my old AKG K240 55ohm out of the Helix while recording with a vocalist at the same time recording guitar and worked fine. For me the AKG K240 55ohm always distorted (used them for around 15 years.....), I wondered if it was my hearing going bad as I'm getting older as I didn't remember that back when I bought them, but I hear no distortion in the Beyerdynamic DT770, wish I would of bought them years ago!

I bought a pair of DT770 250ohm for Helix use, I was very happy with the sound quality compared to my Bose, I did have to turn the volume up to drive them but it was only just over half way up so there's plenty volume left in the helix. I actually returned the DTs because I couldn't get along with the curly cable, I bought Audio Technica MX50 which are only 38 ohm but like the DTs they also sound awesome through helix so my opinion is it really does not matter what ohms you have once you have a set of industry standard cans, I have a Yamaha dxr10 and patches translate well.

It doesn't seem like there are a lot of "the Helix is too dark" threads out there. :) I don't have a lot of experience with modelers except that I do have an HD500 that I never used because of the same reason. From what it sounds like, I just don't know what the approach is to these things. It does seem like the comparison clips on youtube should cut the highs a bit though compared to the others. edit: I tried it on DT770 80ohm. Not sure if that matters.

I have only owned my Helix for a month, After reading this thread I thought I would buy a couple of the suggested patches because I have found I am playing less and tweaking more... I bought Glenn Delaunes Boutique Amp 1 because I have a Suhr Badger and wanted to A/B, I bought Fremen's starter pack to A/B against Glenns and ultimately try to learn a little about building patches. I managed to get a couple of evenings playing out of the patches but I don't think I would use any of them full time The Badger was nothing like the real thing in fact to my ears most of the amps with drive just sound fizzy maybe FRFR would change this for me and that is indeed what I intend to try because so far after 35 years playing valve amps nothing in the helix sounds as good I currently use the Helix through some Bayerdynamic DT770 headphones for quiet practice and 4 cable method through my Suhr badger but only for effects. I know a month is just the tip of the Iceberg with this machine so any tips and advice would be appreciated, Cheers

From the two you mentioned I'd choose the Beyerdynamic DT770. You might try out the Sennheiser HD380 Pro too and do a comparision if you have the change.

I've used most of the headsets listed here in different situations. My personal headset of choice is the DT770, but that's primarily because it's used for recording and when I use them I'm using them for long periods of time. They're the only ones I've every tried that I can honestly say I've sometimes forgotten I have them on (I'll get up to walk away and forget I have them on till they get yanked off my head). If you're expecting to be using them for extended periods that may be important.

Hello, I bought an Helix a few weeks ago. I'm living in a flat, so I'd like to buy a good closed headphone. My helix is connected to a desktop. Although they're not the same prices, I hesitate between Beyerdynamic DT770 (80 / 250 ohm) and Audio-Technica ATH-M70X. Could you please give me some advice? Thanks for your answers

I've been using a pair of relatively inexpensive Sony MDR-V6 (63 ohm) headphones with my new Helix for the past 3 weeks, amidst a variety of speakers and amps as powered cabs. I'm certainly new to the Helix and anticipated I might need to grab a pair of the well liked DT770, should the Sony MDR-V6 not cut it with the Helix. I was delighted to discover that the Sony's are doing very well. I've used these for years, know them quite well, and have several pairs. I have no current need to switch. YMMV.

Here's the deal. The frequency response range of a pair of headphones is less relevant than the response profile of a pair of headphones. Consumer grade headphones generally don't have a flat response but tend to have certain frequencies accentuated in order to make commercial music more pleasing to the user. But this really works against you when it comes to dialing in a preset. This may be exacerbated by the fact that you're using a pair of headsets designed to be used for gaming. Most people are using high grade commercial level headphones designed to be used in recording studios that provide a fairly flat response across it's frequency response range. For example I personally use a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 80 ohm studio headphones along with a small headphone amp which resembles the response profile of my FRFR speakers. That being said, you should be able to tweak the frequency response from your Helix to compensate for many of these differences. Typically to get a tight bass you would use a low cut filter. This is different just cutting the lows. A low cut filter cuts frequencies below a certain point, so a low cut between 100 to 150hz will reduce the response from that point down. Likewise a high cut will have the same effect on the high frequencies and can be useful being set anywhere from 5000 hz and up. What I'd suggest is starting with a stock setting on the Helix of a known high gain amp such as the 2204 or even the new Archetype Lead amp. If you have the free Ownhammer Mesa cabinets use the variation that uses the SM-57 mic placed at the 3, 4 or 5 position. As you move out from the cone you'll get a less brittle sound on the high end. Set your low cut on the cabinet to around 125hz and high cut around 5000hz and see where that gets you. Concentrate on the mic placement on the IR and the low and high cuts until you have a tight low end and a high end that's not too brittle. Then make adjustments to the EQ controls on the amp to begin dialing in the core sound. Remember that graphic EQ or parametric EQ adjustments are for fine tuning. You might also want to play with the BIAS controls on the amp to get better definition on your attack. Once you get close to what you want use graphic or parametric EQ's for fine tuning. Take frequent breaks while dialing in a tone to avoid ear fatigue. Personally, I'd strongly suggest you get a pair of professional headsets to start with because I'm not sure the pair you have are giving a very honest representation of the sound.

I'm one of those guys that made the jump from traditional amps to FRFR and never looked back. Since doing it I often wonder in awe at the permutations the folks who insist on holding onto their traditional amps seem to need to go through to get what they want from the Helix. In my mind, there's nothing really that special about traditional amps, and there are some serious deficiencies in them as it relates to frequency response characteristics. As standalone, stovepipe systems they work quite well. But a lot of that has to do with controlling the whole picture of preamp, amp, and speaker setup. You can pretty much just plug in and play. Once you begin to dissect and separate all those elements from each other, they don't necessarily play that well together and lack consistency and efficiency. The fact is, modelers like Helix or even HD500X benefit considerably by allowing you to exploit different arrangements of preamps, amps, effects, cabinets, mic and mic placements, as well as underlying electronic tweaks and all that's needed is an efficient and effective way to project those custom arrangements sonic-ally into the world. That's exactly what FRFR systems are designed to do...be efficient and accurate at amplifying and projecting their inputs to the world. High end headsets like the DT770 can do it as well, but for those of us that don't particularly enjoy working with headsets, FRFR systems are the most satisfying way to do it. The benefit is a level of clarity and articulation that's well beyond what a traditional amp can produce. For some that can be a big transition because their ears have grown accustomed to the inherent limitations of traditional guitar amp cabinets. I myself went through that initially when I began using FRFR through my HD500X and had to constrain and limit some of the frequency response of my FRFR to get it to match with what my ears wanted to hear while still maintaining the benefits of clarity and articulation. As time has gone on and I've moved to the Helix and better IR's, I find that's less and less the case. I still apply certain limits on the high end frequencies, but it's very slight by comparison, and it's become easier and easier to gain the full benefit of the advanced modeling technology to produce sounds that are better than what I ever could through a traditional amp. But it's a complete change in the paradigm of how one produces guitar tone. I often say it's much more similar and familiar to the way things were done in recording studios in the 70's and 80's. It's all about constructing signal chains using various amps, cabs, mics, mic placements and effects and listening to those results through studio monitors or headsets to get what you want.

Just a silly thing to check. I just bought a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 Studio 80 ohm headsets. The first time I plugged them in I was getting some significant clipping even though they weren't very loud. I checked my plug and it appears I didn't get the plug seated all the way in. It felt like I had but it still has a little bit to go. Once I did that they sounded perfect. Just something you should check.

I use my Beyerdynamics (DT770, already mentioned here) and I find it to be very good. I don't have anything else plugged in the Helix besides the guitar. But, I tried my ear cancelling BOSE QC25, (about same price as the DT700) and they sounded awful. It was really, really bad - not possible to use at all. So - try a different set of headphones.