KRK KNS 8400 On-Ear Closed Back Circumaural Studio Monitor Headphones with Volume Control

This is my first set of higher quality headphones and I'm in awe.Before I decided on these headphones I did countless hours of research trying to find the perfect headphones for me.My search criteria were as follows:Comfort: for day long useLongevity: poor college students can't buy new cans very oftenDetail: who doesn't want great detail in their songs or games?No Over The Top Bass: I don't care for skull rattling bass that over powers everything elseFlat Equalizer: I want to be able to listen to things how the producer intendedEasy to Drive: I don't have a budget for a good amp (maybe one day though)In the reviews and forums these headphones killed it in every aspect I wanted. Although, I have found a lot of complaints about certain things with these headphones so I wanted to share my findings and personal opinions.The first pair I purchased arrived on time and they were on sale. They came in a white plastic package(yes, this is important) I plugged them in right away to my phone and started listening. from the start the detail was incredible. I could hear every cymbal and drum and tell them apart from each other, although it was a bit piercing and the bass was very faint. Once I got them home and plugged into my computer I played with the EQ to drop the highs and raise the lows. After about an hour of use the right ear cut out completely, I unplugged from my computer and tried my phone again. Still dead. I let them sit for ten minutes and they started working again. This went on for a few days of the right ear randomly cutting out. After about 24 hours of use the highs weren't piercing and the lows were more prominent. I readjusted my EQ to be flat and the headphones were amazing. I could hear the highs, mids, and lows perfectly. All working together, and none over powering the others. Skyrim was a whole new experience with these cans. After a week had passed the right ear problem was getting worse and happening more often. It got to the point where the right ear would either be real quiet or not working. So I returned them and decided to buy another pair because I was in love with the detail and flat EQ.The second pair I received came in a slightly different box and clear plastic packaging. From what I read in the forums everyone with clear packaging had nothing bad to say and some people with the white packaging had problems. From the start the new ones have great bass and no piercing highs. They already sound better than the first ones after being burned in.If you are wanting headphones that rattle your head with bass and overpower everything else look elsewhere. I'm not saying these cans don't have bass they just don't punch you with it. The bass is clear and detailed and is how the producer intended.If you decide on these headphones you will be sucked into every song, game, or movie you are listening to. The comfort, detail and price will not disappoint you. If you do get the white packaging it doesn't mean they are going to suck and if you get the clear packaging you could still have issues. Some products fail and that's how it is. If you find the highs to piercing and the lows to quiet then adjust your EQ and let them burn in, they will get better, you have a month to decide before the amazon warranty is up.TL;DRThe detail is above anything I expected for the price range. The EQ is super flat. I can wear them for hours without discomfort. You don't need an amp to power these.

Okay, before I say a word on my review, I need to clarify something: These are flat EQ headphones. I see a lot of people complaining about there not being enough bass as things like Beats... and that's good. They're not supposed to. These are flat EQ headphones made by a recording equipment company made for, you guessed it, recording and mixing audio, which is supposed to facilitate a transparent, unbiased sound. They can be used for everyday listening, sure, but that's not their main function. Anyway...So I've been using Rokit6's for a pretty long while now. My band's former studio engineer used them pretty exclusively (and I use them at home), so I got a lot of play time with them in a bunch of different environments; I've always loved what they could handle and produce for the price range they fall into.Recently I've started tracking/mixing pet project stuff at home and began looking for some good headphones for tracking and testing mixes. I've had a really good studio relationship with M50/M50x headphones, but I wanted to venture out a bit and try something new. I discovered that KRK made these little guys and decided to give them a shot.At first I was a bit apprehensive of ordering them. I'm comfortable with the M50 series and was worried that I wouldn't like these as much. It didn't help that there was a flood of reviews on Amazon (and other places) claiming the bass was severely lacking. It struck me as odd because, even without a sub, the Rokit series of monitors are really good at handling lows in an unbiased manner. I started noticing a pattern in the bass complaints, though, and that was a constant comparison to models of headphones that are very biased to increase low end because that's a continuous consumer demand. Once I started poking around specifically for reviews by audio engineers, the most common claim was that these can easily go toe-to-toe with M50's.I decided to give them a shot and I've been extremely happy with the decision. The very first thing I did was hop around mixes of songs that I was very familiar with; my intention was to check the lows and make sure the bass complaint wasn't a concern. Yeah, not even a little bit. Mixes that are very thuddy remain so. Mixes that are already lacking bass get no bias, so the mix isn't intentionally coloured to make up for the lack of lows.I'm super happy with the included in-line level control, but almost mainly because it's not part of the primary cable. I like that it's an option and not a mandatory part of the setup. I'm also a huge fan of detachable cables, so that's a big plus.Speaking of, big points to detachable/replaceable cable, ear cups and head padding.So far the ear cups (after hours and days of wear) are incredibly comfortable. I will say that the padding on the top can still end up feeling a bit heavy on your head, but I also find myself in a category where even M50s end up feeling weighty after a while; apparently the top of my head is still a baby. Haha.5 stars all around. These are absolutely well worth the price if you're looking for a great pair of studio headphones for tracking or testing mixes. Noise isolation has been great so far, but I haven't had a chance to test them out in a loud, live studio environment yet. If I do and I find the noise isolation to be inadequate, I'll update my review for sure.Also, if you're a fan of listening to music uncoloured and aren't just looking for a bass fix, I highly recommend these as well. I've found these to be nice and airy, able to properly translate the clarity of mixes that I've come to appreciate over the last 10 years or so.Hope this is helpful.Cheers.