We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-26 · 8 min read · Independent comparison
If you want to feed a whole room of performers from one rack unit, choose PreSonus HP60; if you need a single pair of closed-back reference headphones you can trust for mixing, choose Mackie MC Series Professional. These two products are not really rivals — they solve different halves of the same problem. One is a hub that distributes and blends headphone mixes to up to six people at once. The other is the pair of cans you actually put on your head to make decisions. If you're building a home studio and typing this comparison into a search bar, the honest answer is that you might eventually want both — but your first purchase depends entirely on whether you're short on distribution or short on monitoring.
• PreSonus HP60 — biggest strength: six independent 150 mW headphone amps with per-channel level, "more me" line inputs and a Mono switch, all in a 1U steel chassis with talkback built in.
• PreSonus HP60 — biggest trade-off: it makes no sound on its own. It's a powered distribution and mixing hub, so you still need headphones (and a source) to use it.
• Mackie MC-350 — biggest strength: high-headroom 50 mm reference transducers, a closed-back design and a real leather headband, tuned for mixing and critical listening.
• Mackie MC-350 — biggest trade-off: it's one pair of wired headphones for one listener. No multi-user routing, no talkback, no rack presence.
• Who the HP60 is for: anyone tracking a band or a full drum kit who needs multiple personalized cue mixes with talkback.
• Who the MC-350 is for: the engineer, producer or listener who needs an accurate, isolating pair of headphones for mixing and reference.
The HP60 is a headphone amplifier and mixer, not a playback device. Its whole job is to take your source — two stereo input channels, A and B, each with a Mix control and a Mute switch — and fan it out to six separate headphone outputs. Each of those six channels has its own level control, which is the feature that matters most in a tracking session. Six people, six different ideas of how loud the click should be, six different balances. The HP60 gives every one of them a knob.
What makes it genuinely useful in a studio is the "more me" design. Each of the six channels has a stereo ¼" external line input with its own level control and a Mono switch, so a performer can blend their own instrument or vocal on top of the main mix without you touching anything at the desk. That's the difference between a session that flows and one where you're constantly fielding "can I hear more guitar?" requests. There are also six stereo ¼" line outputs, one per channel, each carrying a copy of that channel's mix — handy if you want to send a cue to a powered monitor or capture it.
Then there's talkback, which is where the HP60 earns its rack space. There's a balanced XLR input for an external dynamic talkback mic, a level control, a Talk button, and a footswitch jack. So you can sit at the console, hit a footswitch, and talk to all six performers at once through their headphones. In my opinion, that single feature is what separates a real cue system from a passive splitter. The 150 mW per channel output is loud — "screaming-loud" is PreSonus's own phrasing — which matters with high-impedance or inefficient headphones.
Mackie MC Series Professional: Who It's For
The MC-350 is the other half of the equation. It's a closed-back, over-ear monitoring headphone built around 50 mm dynamic transducers with a 20 Hz – 20 kHz frequency response, 32 ohms impedance and 97 dB sensitivity. Read those numbers as a buyer and they tell you two useful things. The 32-ohm impedance means it's easy to drive — it will get loud off a laptop, a phone, or the headphone output of the HP60 without needing a dedicated amp. The 97 dB sensitivity reinforces that. And the closed-back enclosure means isolation: less of your mix bleeding out, less of the room bleeding in.
Mackie describes the tuning as deep, punchy bass with enhanced high-frequency detail and an ultra-wide soundstage. That's the manufacturer's framing, but combined with the "reference-quality" and "high-headroom" language on the transducers, the intent is clear — this is a headphone meant for judging a mix, not for flattering it. It's explicitly positioned for mixing, studio recording, critical listening and personal listening, which is a wide brief, but the closed-back, isolating design is what makes it practical for tracking too.
The accessories are where this gets interesting for real use. You get three cables 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. Plus a gold-plated ¼" adapter and a premium protective case. The locking bayonet connectors are the detail I'd flag — cables that twist-lock into the cup instead of pulling loose mid-session. The collapsible fold-up design and the case make it genuinely portable.
Who should buy it: the engineer or producer who needs one reliable, isolating, easy-to-drive reference pair for mixing and tracking, and who wants swappable cables without hunting for a replacement. Who should skip it: anyone who needs to feed several listeners at once — one pair serves one set of ears. Also worth knowing: the controls are listed as voice control with a remote and app method, and the headphone jack is 3.5 mm (with the ¼" adapter included), so it plays nicely with consumer gear as well as studio interfaces. It carries a 1-year all-inclusive, nontransferable warranty.
• Best for tracking a full band → PreSonus HP60. Six independent 150 mW channels, each with its own level control, is the whole point.
• Best for individual mixes → PreSonus HP60. The six "more me" line inputs with Mono switches let each performer blend their own signal.
• Best for communication with performers → PreSonus HP60. The XLR talkback input, Talk button and footswitch jack are built in.
• Best for mixing and critical listening → Mackie MC Series Professional. Closed-back 50 mm reference transducers tuned for accuracy.
• Best for isolation while recording → Mackie MC Series Professional. The closed-back, over-ear design keeps sound in and room noise out.
• Best for portability → Mackie MC Series Professional. Collapsible fold-up design, three locking cables and a protective case.
• Best for easy driving from any source → Mackie MC Series Professional. 32 ohms and 97 dB sensitivity mean it gets loud off almost anything.
• Best for a rack-based studio → PreSonus HP60. A 1U, 19-inch rack-mountable steel chassis that lives with the rest of your gear.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the Mackie MC Series Professional first. My reasoning is simple: you cannot mix without a trustworthy pair of headphones, but you can absolutely track a solo project with a single headphone output. The MC-350's closed-back isolation, easy-to-drive 32-ohm impedance and swappable locking cables make it the more universally useful first purchase for most people reading this. I'd add the PreSonus HP60 the moment I started recording more than one person at a time — that's when its six channels and talkback stop being luxuries and start being the thing that keeps a session moving. Buy the headphones first; buy the hub when your sessions grow.
how to connect studio headphones
Studio headphones connect through a wired jack — on the MC-350 that's a 3.5 mm jack, with a gold-plated ¼" adapter included for interfaces and mixers that use the larger connector. You choose one of the three supplied cables, and the locking bayonet connectors twist-lock into the earcup so the cable won't pull out. On the PreSonus HP60 side, each of the six channels has its own stereo ¼" headphone output for plugging headphones in.
how to test studio headphones
A practical check is to listen for isolation and balance: the MC-350 is closed-back with conforming ear pads, so you should hear the room drop away and the low end stay consistent. Sweep a familiar track across its 20 Hz – 20 kHz range and listen for whether bass stays punchy and highs stay detailed rather than harsh. Because it's a 32-ohm, 97 dB design, it should also reach a comfortable level from modest sources without distortion.
how to bluetooth studio headphones
You don't — not with these. The Mackie MC-350 is a wired headphone, listed as wired connectivity with no wireless technology, so it works over its physical cables only. If you need wireless, that's a different category of product entirely. Wired is actually the point here: it's a reference monitoring tool, and a cable avoids the latency and codec compromise Bluetooth introduces.
can you mix with just headphones
Yes, and the MC-350 is explicitly built for it — Mackie positions it for mixing, studio recording and critical listening, with reference-quality transducers and a precision-tuned enclosure. The closed-back design also gives you isolation, which helps when your room isn't treated. The one caveat is that headphones alone can't reveal how a mix translates on speakers, so treat them as your primary reference rather than your only one, and check your work on a second system when you can.
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