Mackie MC-450 Professional Open-Back Studio Headphones
The MC-450 is the open-back model in Mackie's MC Series, and it is the odd one out on purpose. Every other MC headphone is closed-back for isolation. This one trades isolation away to get a wider soundstage and a more honest picture of a mix, which is what you want at the desk rather than in front of a live drummer.
- Open-back design for an ultra-wide soundstage and a spacious, immersive listening experience.
- 42 mm transducers: high-headroom and reference quality, aimed at accurate reproduction rather than a flattering curve.
- Detail without harshness: Mackie tune these to translate every detail in the music without sounding artificial.
- Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
- Impedance: 54 Ohms, with 101 dB sensitivity.
- Weight: 350 g.
- Comfort: premium leather adjustable headband and memory foam ear pads for long sessions.
- Three cables included with locking bayonet connectors: a 9.8 ft fabric-jacketed straight cable, a 4 ft coiled cable, and a 4 ft straight cable with phone control and mic.
- In the box: a gold-plated 1/4 inch adapter and a premium protective case.
- Suited to mixing, studio recording, critical listening and personal listening.
Open-back headphones do one thing closed-backs cannot. With the rear of the driver vented to the room, there is no small sealed chamber behind the diaphragm colouring the low end and no pressure build-up narrowing the image. The MC-450 is Mackie's open-back model, built for the part of the job where accuracy matters more than keeping sound in.
What you hear
High-headroom, reference-quality 42 mm transducers cover 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Mackie's stated aim is an accurate reproduction of your mix and your music, with incredible clarity that translates every detail without sounding harsh or artificial, and the open-back design is what produces the wide soundstage that comes with it. In practice that means reverb tails, panning decisions and depth are easier to judge, because the stereo field is not being squeezed into the space between your ears.
Where to use them and where not to
These suit mixing, critical listening and studio work where you are alone with the monitor path. They also make sense for personal listening on a good source. What an open-back cannot do is keep a click track out of a vocal mic, so for tracking in the same room as a live microphone the closed-back MC Series models remain the right tool. At 54 Ohms and 101 dB sensitivity, the MC-450 drives comfortably from an interface headphone output or a dedicated amp.
Comfort and build
A premium leather adjustable headband and memory foam ear pads carry the 350 g weight over hours rather than minutes, which is the practical measure of a mixing headphone. Mackie build the MC-450 to meet the demands of professionals in the studio or on location, so the construction is rugged rather than delicate.
Cables and case
Three cables ship with the MC-450, all using locking bayonet connectors so they cannot pull free mid-session. There is a 9.8 ft fabric-jacketed straight cable for desk work, a 4 ft coiled cable for moving around, and a 4 ft straight cable with phone control and mic for use with a phone or laptop. A gold-plated 1/4 inch adapter and a premium protective case are included.