Buy expensive, durable headphones; German Maestro is great.
I recently purchased a pair of headphones from German Maestro, an obscure company, that I believe to be bulletproof. This purchase was driven by my dissatisfaction with the Sony MDR-7506 headphones that are commonly used in video work and voiceover. The MDRs are a fantastic value, but they are cheap, have a long, non-removable telephone cable, and the foam pads are subpar. I found other options like the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros and the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, but they did not meet my requirements of being flat, indestructible, closed-back, and having a better cable.
My answer came in the form of a 76-page thread on the Head-fi forums from 2009 to 2019 by a user named Acix titled “The German Maestro GMP 8.35 D Monitor in the studio… serious about audio, INDEED!!” The reviews were glowing, with people loving the balanced, detailed sound and the fact that they were very sensitive and thus did not need a powerful headphone amp to listen to them. I eventually purchased the GMP 8.35 Mobile, which had a removable cable and an additional stock pair of pads.
When I received the headphones, I was immediately struck at how sturdy they were. Everything made today feels cheap and flimsy. They felt like they were from a different era, unstuck in time when products were measured in decades, not years. They sounded the way they looked: “controlled,” as one forum user put it. They were clear and flat, with tons of detail but not terribly showy. The bass was there, but not overbearing. If something was wrong with my mix, I could hear it immediately.
I don’t believe that these headphones are for everyone. Some people found them uncomfortable and others did not like the sound. However, within the parameters of what I need them to do, they are peerless. I am happy with my purchase, and I believe that these headphones are worth the investment if you are looking for something that is indestructible and has a flat sound.
I hate buying something cheap, and I have found that investing in a quality product can often be worth it. This is certainly true for my purchase of the German Maestro GMP 8.35 Mobile headphones. They are sturdy, have a flat sound, and are sensitive enough to use without a powerful headphone amp. They have become my go-to headphones for video work and voiceover and have allowed me to produce better mixes. I am happy with my purchase, and I would recommend these headphones to anyone looking for a quality product.
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