Best Isolating Headphones (Live Mixing)

  • Thread starter Thread starter PapillonIrl
  • Start date Start date
PapillonIrl

PapillonIrl

New member
Hi all, long time no post. I'm doing alot of FOH mixing at the moment, and I would love to get my hands on a set of cans that attenuate outside sound as much as possible. I am using a set at the moment that a friend made from old bulding site earmuffs which are great, but I have to return them this week. it's mostly to make drum soundchecks shorter and less painful for the punters, as I can get 90% of gain setttings, eq, and compressor/gate settings done before I have to kill the CD music and finish the job. This music is often pretty loud, so they would have to be pretty good at their job. I know most studio's are more concerned with sound not getting out of the cans and into microphones; would a set theat was very good at this also eject outside noise ? Would appreciate make-model names in the 150 to 200 dollar range. Hope this is not too off topic.

Cheers,

Nathan
 
The Sony MDR 7506 phones are popular with live engineers, they fold, they come with a bag and they give a lot more isolation than you would think from looking at them, they also sound pretty good, try a pair and see if you like them.

Or you can try out a pair of 'Studio Kans' they are supposed to have excellent isolation but I havent heard them so I can't comment on the sound.

http://www.bigbangdist.com/metro.htm

http://www.indoorstorm.com/Merchant...e_Code=IS&Product_Code=PA007&Category_Code=DA

http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=38424
 
I have heard that the Sennheiser 280's offer more isolation and much much better sound than any of the "extreme" shooter-muff style phones.
 
I have had a pair of Sennheiser 280's for about a year. They do offer much better isolation than other cans i'v tried. Sound great too. They are advertised as having a somewhat flat freq. response, which I think work pretty well for mixing......yea, yea I know the purist will say you cant get good results with cans, but these work for me.
 
Studio Kans headphones

Hey Papillion,
I just wanted to add my two-cents, . . The Studio Kans are IMHO the best 'Isolating' headphones that I have ever used. I was turned on to them by another studio-kat, . . He is a drummer, and uses them exclusively,..as well as the GK-Music Ultraphones, http://www.gk-music.com/ultraphones.htm. . . He swears by them. . and I have to admit they are fantastic for isolating. I'm also a drummer, and do a lot of gigs,..where I have to lay down tracks by myself,..and play along to the recorded music. . I has a lot of trouble with hearing my drums through the headset, . .I ended up having to crank the music up higher,..and I could still hear the live drums-- rather than what was going through the mics.

So, I bought a pair of these Kans,..and man,..it isolates great!
The sound quality is better than fine,..especially for kans. But, you cant beat the isolation, especially for recording in small rooms,.or booths. . .
and for 79 bucks, . .forgetaboutit. . .

I haven't personally used the Sennheiser 280's. But, I heard that they were pretty great too. They were my first choice before I was turned on to the Studio Kans,..So, I'm sure you wont go wrong there either. . .Good luck!

Let us known what you finally go with, and how it turned out.
Regards, Studio
 
Last edited:
I use the Sony MDR 7506 when mixing live. I think you're never going to have 100% isolation when the spl is 100+ so when I really need to hear something I just get down behind the console and I can hear it pretty good,
 
theletterq said:
I have heard that the Sennheiser 280's offer more isolation and much much better sound than any of the "extreme" shooter-muff style phones.
Click to expand...

I'll second the 280's. Sometimes when I'm practicing on my drumkit, I'll play along with CD's and whatnot. I can't ever use the 280's for that, I always have to use my monitors. The 280's block out so much of the kit's sound that I can't really hear what I'm playing over the CD track.
 
More support for Sennheiser HD280 Pro. I've got 3 sets, and the isolation is excellent, sound is very good. They're just a little tight, but that's what you need for good isolation. I've had to wear them for hours at a time, and they hold up. I'm somewhat hearing disabled, so I have to crank the cans quite a bit when tracking, and bleed has never been a problem.-Richie
 
Thanks folks. Wow that's an old thread. I don't like Sennheiser cans apart from a pretty high end pair I heard years ago which a DJ friend of mine owned. 650s or 850 or something like that, felt like velvet on your ears and sounded amazing.

Anyway, I ended up getting a pair of these http://www.remoteaudio.com/hn7506.htm . Let me tell you guys...if you ever have had trouble finding the sweet spot on a guitar cab speaker, or checking for phase issues on drum mics...these make life alot easier. They have the sony drivers in them which I'm not crazy about, but once you 'learn' them, the outside sound rejection is better than anything else I've tried.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top