Affordable Headphones?
- Thread starter Les W
- Start date
Harvey Gerst
New member
By "pro quality", do you mean fidelity, or durability? You can get good tracking phones anywhere from $20 (mine) to around $100 (Sony, Sennheiser, AKG, etc.).Les W said:
peopleperson
I'm so sorry.
If it's for tracking, look for a pair with good isolation up against your noggin. Prevents bleed while tracking. Those big fat Sennheisers are great for that.
dgatwood
is out. Leave a message.
For me, it depends on whether I'm performing or just doing the engineering. If I'm just doing the engineering, I use whatever I have handy. The flatter the response, the better, since that makes problems like distortion or 60 Hz hum glaringly obvious, but honestly, I've never found a pair of headphones for over about $20 that didn't do a good enough job, so long as they cover the entire ear and don't just sit on top of it.... The most important thing there is isolation---being able to hear the mix sound without it being overwhelmed by live location sound.
When I'm performing, though, at least instrumentally---and I'm probably weird in this regard---I rather like noise cancelling headphones so that I'm able to better hear how my sound blends in the mix. It's the natural tendency of most performers to try to do so, and hearing only the mix means that I have to do less work riding levels later....
On the other hand, when I'm singing, I tend to work with one ear outside the can entirely, since that allows me better pitch perception (because there's less latency moving sound waves four inches around your face than through even the lowest latency software playthrough). In that case, again, whatever I have lying around works.
Bottom line, though, is that every person is different, and every environment is different, so pick a pair of headphones that you don't mind wearing for hours at a time. I think that's the most important quality. A pair of headphones that hurts... after a couple of hours in a recording session... like rope burns on your ears... not a pretty picture....
When I'm performing, though, at least instrumentally---and I'm probably weird in this regard---I rather like noise cancelling headphones so that I'm able to better hear how my sound blends in the mix. It's the natural tendency of most performers to try to do so, and hearing only the mix means that I have to do less work riding levels later....
On the other hand, when I'm singing, I tend to work with one ear outside the can entirely, since that allows me better pitch perception (because there's less latency moving sound waves four inches around your face than through even the lowest latency software playthrough). In that case, again, whatever I have lying around works.
Bottom line, though, is that every person is different, and every environment is different, so pick a pair of headphones that you don't mind wearing for hours at a time. I think that's the most important quality. A pair of headphones that hurts... after a couple of hours in a recording session... like rope burns on your ears... not a pretty picture....
I've come to like these...
If you are looking for something for tracking, check out the Sony MDR-EX71 in ear headphones. They are sealed and have excellent isolation. They are geared for the consumer and you can get them for about $30. They just work great for the purpose of recording in isolation so you can hear the mix. I wouldn't mix or anything with them, although you shouldn't really mix with any headphones anyways, but they have pretty good sound quality for the price and do what I need them to do.
I also have a pair of MDR-V6 (the exact same thing as the MDR-7506 with nickel, instead of gold, connector). They are sealed, the MDR-7506 now cost about $80 or somethin like that, and the isolation isn't as good as the ones above. But they have better sound quality and more open sound. I'm just telling you about these just to give you a comparison with the ones I'm recommending to you for your needs.
I'm sorta in a blabberin mood - just let me know if I'm not makin any sense and excuse my repition if I sound that way! Anyways, I hope you work that out!
Craig
If you are looking for something for tracking, check out the Sony MDR-EX71 in ear headphones. They are sealed and have excellent isolation. They are geared for the consumer and you can get them for about $30. They just work great for the purpose of recording in isolation so you can hear the mix. I wouldn't mix or anything with them, although you shouldn't really mix with any headphones anyways, but they have pretty good sound quality for the price and do what I need them to do.
I also have a pair of MDR-V6 (the exact same thing as the MDR-7506 with nickel, instead of gold, connector). They are sealed, the MDR-7506 now cost about $80 or somethin like that, and the isolation isn't as good as the ones above. But they have better sound quality and more open sound. I'm just telling you about these just to give you a comparison with the ones I'm recommending to you for your needs.
I'm sorta in a blabberin mood - just let me know if I'm not makin any sense and excuse my repition if I sound that way! Anyways, I hope you work that out!
Craig
post.aux.fader
New member
I opened my Musicians Friend yesterday- There were Audio Techinica Headphones for 549.99! It was nuts! What would you use or need headphones that expensive for?