The Lowdown
The DJ 300 Pro X is beyerdynamic’s DJ headphone, and it comes with two sets of pads in the box rather than one. Small on-ear pads turn it into a tight, isolating booth headphone, and the larger over-ear pads turn the same thing into a studio headphone for long listening sessions. Everything on it comes apart and can be replaced. They are maybe slightly heavy for some DJs tastes, but overall, they’re a good sounding, good value solution for much more than just DJing.
Video Review
First Impressions / Setting up
They fold, which is one of the first things I check on any DJ headphone, and they fold small enough to drop into a bag without a case. Out of the box they come wearing the on-ear pads, which is the configuration most DJs will use. Build is the usual beyerdynamic story of hard plastics and metal in the places that take the strain, and they feel like they will survive being thrown around.
They are heavier than they look. Beyerdynamic quotes 288g with the small pads on, and for context Sennheiser quotes 140g for the HD 25. You notice that difference on your head after a couple of hours. The overall feel is somewhere between an AIAIAI TMA-2, because of the modularity, and a bigger, heavier HD 25, because of the shape and the way the on-ear pads sit.
Set-up is a cable and a socket, and there are two sockets, one on each cup. You are not meant to plug in two cables, of course. It is there so you can run the lead down whichever side your mixer’s headphone socket happens to be on, which is a small thing that stops the cable crossing your body.
The cable locks in with a twist and it is not coming out by accident. It is also a hybrid, part coiled and part straight, which is what you want in a booth: The coiled section keeps the slack off the floor so you are not standing on your own lead, and it still stretches far enough to walk away for a couple of metres should you wish to..
In Use
With the on-ear pads fitted they clamp hard, and that is what keeps the club out of your ears. Keeping the club out of your ears is what lets you monitor at a sensible volume instead of turning up until you are fighting the PA. I would not call them comfortable in this configuration, and I do not think they are trying to be. They are a tool.
The sound is honest rather than flattering. These are not bass monsters, and if you have come from consumer headphones you might find that dull for the first ten minutes. It is what you want for the job, because the hi-hats and the top end of the drums are the parts you line up when you are beatmixing by ear, and a headphone that buries them under boosted bass makes that harder. I found them easy to work with straight away.
From booth to bedroom
Then you swap the pads and it becomes a different headphone. Your whole ear sits inside the big pads, the clamp drops away, and comfort goes up enormously. This is where I would happily sit for a couple of hours producing. (It is also completely wrong for a booth, because the cups are large enough that round your neck you look like you are wearing a surgical collar, and there is no getting away from that.)
Changing them over is easy, which is not always true of headphone pads. You get your fingers under the outer edge of the pad and pull, and the new one clips back on with one hand behind the cup and one in front. There is no fiddly membrane to stretch over anything, and the part your thumb wants to press on is hard plastic rather than something delicate. I did it a few times without any nerves at all.
Everything else that wears out comes off too. The cable detaches, the pads detach, the headband can be replaced, and so can the outer ear caps, which is also where beyerdynamic’s Manufaktur service lets you print your own design if that appeals.
What you do not get is anything modern and digital. No Bluetooth, no batteries, no active noise cancelling. That is exactly as it should be, although if you like the look of them but want something less plain, there is a DJ 300 PRO X CLUB at the same price, which is exactly the same headphone with silver forks and orange lettering.
Conclusion
Two sets of pads is not a new idea, but the second set is usually a material or a colour choice rather than a change of headphone, so this is the first pair I have used where swapping the pads moves it between two different jobs. That makes them a sensible buy for the DJ who also produces, or for anyone who does not want to own two pairs of headphones. At €149 against the €199 they launched at, that is good value, and it is worth noting the current price is a reduction rather than a promotion with an end date.
They are not the pick for everyone. If you only DJ, and you want the lightest thing that clamps hard and disappears on your head, the Sennheiser HD 25 is still the one, at half the weight. If modularity is what appeals and you want to go lighter, AIAIAI’s TMA-2 DJ is $200 on the company’s own store, with the stripped-back TMA-2 DJ XE at $140 and 168g. Neither of those turns into a studio headphone though, which is the whole reason to buy this one.
The weight is the only real criticism, and it’s a small one. Buy them if you want one honest-sounding, fully repairable headphone that covers the booth and the studio, and perhaps look elsewhere if all you need is the booth.
