Isolation phones: Howard Leight earmuffs from Home Depot?

WhinyLittleRunt

WhinyLittleRunt

Member
I was looking for a set of cans I can use when tracking drums because I have never been able to hear my mixes with the click track clear enough, and I know that if I could actually hear everything roughly mixed, I would be fine. I was looking at the Vic Firth isolating cans but I see they have such negative reviews that I cringe at having to spend 50 bucks if I can help it.

So I was browsing the home depot site looking for some noise blocking ear muffs to try that in combination with some ear buds, and I came across these:

Howard Leight Sync Stereo Earmuffs with Audio Input Jack-1030110 at The Home Depot

Has anyone used these or anything similar? Im very tempted to try them for 18 bucks, since even if the audio quality sucks because I really need something with good noise cancellation. If they have built in phones that's actually pretty cool and I can monitor my playback and also hear what I am tracking.
 
I have used some gun shooting earmuffs with earbuds before. It actually works but it feels like your head is being sucked out of your ears. At least to me anyway. The reason I used them was at that time I was recording drums in my control room, and trying to get tone with the headphones. That became a huge challenge and I gave up and built a separate drum room.

In the end I found cheap $20 SONY MD150's to be loud enough for me to hear click over the drums. Just have to lower the drums in the headphone mix or turn up the click to almost annoying levels. Better is to experiment with sample that you use for the click that is easier to hear through the headphones IMO.

Now, I will send three groups to a mixer in the drum room, so that the drummer can control the level of the click, himself, and the other instruments himself.
 
Koss Pro4AA.....these were a studio staple in the '70s/'80s....and they still make them and they're still great phones, especially if you want good sound and good isolation. I have maybe 7-8 pairs (along with other brands)...and I specifically always give the Koss to the drummer, because of the isolation and firm fit.

They're not light, but when you put them on, they also stay on...and they sound good.

Pro4aa Full Size Headphones | Full Size Headphones | Koss
 
miroslav said:
Koss Pro4AA.....these were a studio staple in the '70s/'80s....and they still make them and they're still great phones, especially if you want good sound and good isolation. I have maybe 7-8 pairs (along with other brands)...and I specifically always give the Koss to the drummer, because of the isolation and firm fit.

They're not light, but when you put them on, they also stay on...and they sound good.

Pro4aa Full Size Headphones | Full Size Headphones | Koss
Click to expand...

Those would be perfect. Would be a challenge getting those after my wife just bought me a pair of Sony 7506s as my go-to hifi phones...

I'll have to hit up the used market and see what I can do. Thanks for that!
 
miroslav said:
Koss Pro4AA.....these were a studio staple in the '70s/'80s....and they still make them and they're still great phones, especially if you want good sound and good isolation. I have maybe 7-8 pairs (along with other brands)...and I specifically always give the Koss to the drummer, because of the isolation and firm fit.

They're not light, but when you put them on, they also stay on...and they sound good.

Pro4aa Full Size Headphones | Full Size Headphones | Koss
Click to expand...

They better be good. I just bought a pair. :)
 
Did you buy new or used?

You can find them cheaper than $99 on eBay...and here's the cool thing about them, they have a limited *Lifetime* warranty. I've purchased a few used ones that had some issues....one side dead, broken headband, etc.....sent them all in to Koss, and all I had to pay for was the shipping. They returned to me basically new/fully refurbished headphones. :)

I still use mine when I have the drummer over (he also uses a pair) simply because I'm in the same room with him, and I have to monitor on headphones, and the Koss Pro4AA do a great job of isolating him and the mix I'm listening to.

There are also I think Vic Firth isolation phones. They're cheaper then the Koss, like $50 at MF.....but I think the Koss are more HiFi quality. The Koss were regular pro studio use phones back in the day, before everyone came out with phones. If you look at some older studio pics, you'll often see the Pro4AA phones being used.


WhinyLittleRunt said:
Those would be perfect. Would be a challenge getting those after my wife just bought me a pair of Sony 7506s as my go-to hifi phones...
Click to expand...

I always hated the sound of the Sony 7506 phones.....they're just too bright/harsh. If I turn them up a bit louder, they hurt my ears....but some people like that, 'cuz they cut through in situations where there's a bunch of people playing in the room.

If you don't need the closed-back and serious isolation....try a pair of Fostex T50RP semi-closed phones. They sound REALLY nice! I have a couple 2-3 pairs of the T40RP, which are closed back. The T40RP don't sound anywhere near as good as the T50RP, and they even have a bit of a dullness to them, but, I've gotten use to their sound when I'm tracking vocals or where I just don't want any bleed...I'll use them, they're not as isolating as the Koss, not do they sound as good, but they're lighter.
 
What are the negative reviews of the vic firths? I've had a pair for about 6 years and have ever had one little hint of a problem with them. I drop em, kick em, throw em, and generally treat them like shit. They just keep working and provide extreme isolation. I also stand in front of blaring Marshalls with them and they're fine. They don't sound great. There's a knock on them. But they're tracking cans for isolation. They excel at that. They're not for easy listening while walking through the mall.

I've also used the earbuds-under-construction-worker-ear-protection. That works too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top