Recording - December 2013 - 26

leather" (presumably from a real dead
animal), and the other is a polyurethane
foam that provides enhanced isolation
and also alters the headphone's bass
response a bit. This is a sonic choice;
when you change earpads, you change
the sound of the phones, and your decision as to which will be your primary
earpads will affect the sound you'll be getting used to.
With the leather pads, the TMA-1 Studio
is a very gracious headphone, with a listenable frequency response, but like the TMA1 it's still a bit heavy in the bass and lower
mids; this is a phone that favors dance
music and rock over classical and jazz,
although acoustic bass and piano sound
glorious. Sound isolation with the leather
pads is decent but not great; it would be
best to consider this a "mixing" rather than
"tracking room" headphone, as there will
be bleed into nearby mics. Switching to the

polyurethane pads gives the TMA-1 Studio
enough increased isolation (and what does
bleed out tends to be in the bass) that it
becomes an exciting-sounding trackingroom phone, one that will inspire bassists,
drummers, and guitarists alike.
The TMA-1 Studio Young Guru Edition
isn't just a change in fit and finish; its frequency response has been tweaked by
the Grammy-winning engineer (who's
worked with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake,
and others) for his purposes. It comes with
a mic built in, and along with the standard 3-button remote cable there is a
straight/coiled cable with a straight, reinforced plug and a braided red cloth insulator that matches the cables connecting
the two earcups under the very generously padded headband. Only one set of
earpads is provided; they're made from
Japanese memory foam and covered with
a microfiber cloth.

While I was pleased with the TMA-1's
portability and sturdiness, and intrigued by
the TMA-1 Studio's completely different character from a simple change of earpads, the
Young Guru Edition just plain made me
smile. The frequency response is much more
even from the lows through the mids; the relative lack of power in the low end makes the
headphone less "exciting" but far more honest. For well-recorded jazz, rock, and dance
styles alike, I felt I was hearing a frequency
response that I could learn to mix with. While
the TMA-1 went with me everywhere for several weeks, it was the Young Guru Edition
that made me happiest in the studio.
In conclusion, these are three very different headphones and will appeal to different users for different reasons. But their
common features of comfort, sturdiness,
and careful attention to what's useful vs.
what's fashionable makes them well worth
a look and listen. Well done, AIAIAI!

CAD Audio Sessions MH510
$99; www.cadaudio.com

CAD Audio has been famous for its microphones for many years; the Sessions MH510 is
its first headphone product, and is intended to
offer a useful studio and tracking room listening
experience at an affordable price. Available in
five color schemes-black, black/chrome,
black/orange, white/red, and white/gold-it's
obviously intended to appeal not only to professionals who know and trust the CAD name
for affordable quality, but to bring in a new
audience of casual listeners looking for a
splash of color and style in the home studio or
on the go.
The Sessions MH510 is a circumaural headphone with a 50 mm Neodymium driver. It has a
26 ohm impedance, meaning it will get really
loud on very little input current. The maximum
rated SPL of 103 dB means it can handle occasional loud peaks without distortion while set at
a reasonable listening level. (If you're looking for a headphone that can give you 103
dB sustained for long periods of time,
consult your audiologist... and seek
counseling while you're at it.) Frequency
response is a respectable 10 Hz to 24
kHz, but no tolerances are given. The
phones come boxed with two keyed/
locking cables, one 3.5' straight/coiled
and one 10' straight, a screw-on miniplugto-1/4" adapter, a replacement pair of
leatherette-covered earpads filled with stiff
foam, and a carrying pouch.
26

RECORDING December 2013

Unlike a lot of the headphones in this roundup, the Sessions
MH510 doesn't have glitzy features like remote iOS/iTunes control, interchangeable parts, or what have you; aside from the
nod to fashion in the different color schemes (I got Black and
was perfectly happy with it, thank you very much), it's very much
a straightforward studio headphone. Listening sessions with it
confirmed that the sound you get from it is very much in keeping with that intended use.
Sound isolation is exceptionally good; I could play rock
mixes loud enough to cause pain with virtually no
audio audible to someone standing nearby.
That alone makes the Sessions MH510 an
ideal tracking-room headphone. Wearing
comfort is very good, the padded headband and earcups making long listening
sessions quite pleasant with only minimal rubbing after several hours.
As for the sound, I would call the
Sessions MH510 "solid"; by that I
mean there's very little in the way of
hype or excitement built into the frequency response curve. Bass
sounds present and articulate without being woofy, and highs are
clear and free from hashiness, but
the real weight of the headphone's
EQ curve is in the mids, where guitars, vocals, and other lead instruments live. It's a very forward, rocking sound that suits electric and
electronic material very well; used
in a mix situation, it would be best
for listening to issues of balance
between competing primary elements in a mix-"How do I EQ the
lead guitar to make room for the
vocal?" and that sort of thing.
As a first entry into the competitive
world of headphones for pro audio, the
Sessions MH510 makes a fine showing. CAD Audio has a lot to be proud of,
and I look forward to hearing what they
come up with next.

http://www.cadaudio.com

Recording - December 2013

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