in ear monitoring vs cans

[shadowfax]

hello all. i'm going to be recording my first major project pretty soon and there's one last loose end to tie up, equipment wise, before we begin. I need something for the singer to monitor with that wont bleed onto a vocal track and something for the drummer (and for myself when i'm practicing) to get a good mix of the other instruments / click track when tracking drums. i have about 200 canadian to blow on this.. (roughly 130$) and can't decide between in ear monitors plugged into the headphone outlet of my mixer (i was thinking the shure e1s... only because they're the only ones i've seen, though) with a -20db headset thing that i normally use when playing by myself over top of them, which, presumably, will minimize bleed when the singer is tracking, (assuming the in ear monitors bleed) or a pair of sealed headphones. now... am i going to be able to get a decent pair of sealed headphones for this price? secondly, are sealed headphones going to protect my hearing at all the way the in ear monitors w/ the -20db thingy will?

please offer your advice with a suggestion as far as what model to get of whatever you recommend. thanks!

[Light]

Buy a couple of good pairs of headphones, so both you and whoever you are recording can hear the same thing. This is always a big help. I would shoot for a couple of pairs of AKG 240's, though they may bit a little bit out of your price range. The headphones don't need to be completely sealed, but if they are, it is nice.

In-ears are fraught with issues, and really require a lot of work to get them working properly. If something goes wrong with them, the level of damage is quite severe. I would not recommend them for recording unless you are very familiar with them. Remember, you are putting a speaker less than an inch from your ear drum. If some squeals, or is too loud, you can kiss your hearing good bye. This is also an issue with headphones, but not nearly as much so.

Light

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