IEMs or Overheads

[Sound_Cats]

Hi.. I am very new to the forum and not sure if this is the right way to ask a question but I really need some insights urgently. I am planning to buy a new pair of headphones, but my budget is only between 300-450 EUR, though I am open to go till 550. What do you think my options are if I am planning to use them for mixing? And what about IEMs (I like the idea of portability) viz-a-viz overheads? And would you go for an IEM or an overhead at that price range?

 

[bruiser1964]

Personally I would only recommend IEM's for stage use, they are expensive because they include a transmitter and receiver, bang for buck if you are spending your kind of budget you will get some very nice headphones. It would be useful to know more about your set up and why you are going down the headphone monitoring route?

 

[keith.rogers]

Yeah, IEMs are hard to imagine for mixing. Being able to hear a full range of the audio spectrum is entirely dependent on how well they fit your own ears. Anything short of a perfect fit is going to be compromised, and then you're at the mercy of whether the drivers are even designed to deliver a flat-ish signal (unlikely).

I had a wired set of better Shure's I used for several years (both for stage monitoring and isolated listening) that I liked, but boy, wearing them for hours can get pretty annoying. They weren't custom fit, but I went through a lot of tips to get ones I could screw in to my head well and quickly, and I did wear them for day-long stints when I was doing "Iron Butt" mc rides (another log on the "gee why is my hearing not so great" bonfire). Anyway, get IEMs if you need them live or you can't fit the Bose Quiet Comfort set under your helmet, but otherwise there are better options with cans. (IMO)