new headphones for a sound designer

[dafunkmonster]

I should also note, the HD 215's, while not as punchy in the low end as the HD 280s, still produce crisp accurate bass. For example, they can reproduce all four bass notes at the beginning of "I Put On" by Young Jeezy (One of my favorite bass test tracks). Out of curiosity, I once played that song through a Behringer GEQ with light-up faders, and it registered the fourth note right around 18-23 Hz. (Note: You have to find a nearly-lossless copy of the song for this reference to be relevant)

They also reveal how crappy my onboard laptop soundcard is...I have to use my desktop's x-fi to do them any justice when playing back music.

 

[gpforet]

You bring up a good point here. As my monitoring system improved, I began to hear things I had not heard before. It's like the shortfalls of my system were being masked by inaccurate monitoring. In less than a week aftering using my in-ears, I quit using MP3 for anything. The amount of aberations, dithering, and distortion was just too much for me to tolerate, and I had been using MP3s for years. A laptop without an interface, forget it. No headroom, smeared separation, etc.

I also began to really appreciate the differences in my mic collection.

Interestingly, I still cannot discern the difference between a track recorded at96/24 and one recorded at 48/24 and I now suspect it's because of the limitations of my M-audio A/D converters.

They also reveal how crappy my onboard laptop soundcard is...I have to use my desktop's x-fi to do them any justice when playing back music.

 

[bishopthomas]

In less than a week aftering using my in-ears, I quit using MP3 for anything. The amount of aberations, dithering, and distortion was just too much for me to tolerate, and I had been using MP3s for years. A laptop without an interface, forget it. No headroom, smeared separation, etc.

My friends are always amazed when I tell them that MP3's sound like crap. "Really, sounds the same to me." Then listen to them on something other than your laptop speakers or the earbuds that came with your iPod. I just started transferring all of my CD's into the digital realm. I refuse to go to MP3 for a direct replacement for CD, so I'm hoping they all fit on the Terabyte drive I have...

Interestingly, I still cannot discern the difference between a track recorded at96/24 and one recorded at 48/24 and I now suspect it's because of the limitations of my M-audio A/D converters.

Don't feel bad. Many (most) cannot. Some might tell you that they do but only rely on their opinion if the test is done in a double blind situation.

 

[howlingwolf487]

I've owned and used Sony MDR7506s for a number of years. Well, the padding finally wore down enough to make me want to buy a new pair of cans. I auditioned a pair of Equation Audio's RP-21 headphones and felt they were very linear in their frequency response (Dave Rat's headphone blog seems to confirm this). There were a couple of dips in the HF, say around 12kHz and 16kHz, that I noticed with a sine wave sweep, but all-in-all, I think they were a great buy.

They have a detachable cord (sort of nice, I guess) and don't fold compactly (just somewhat flat) but I was able to make them fit in my gig case.

$100 from 8th Street Audio

 

[Streamer]

I see nothing has been posted since 2010. I video record live bands with a feed from the sound board. However, the band is louder than my Shure SRH440s from the board. Not as interested in pure reproduction as just being able to hear the mix instead of (or more than) the band. Any ideas for good cans for this situation? Note- headphones plug into video camera, am about 12' from the board and have camera volume all the way up.

 

[jkowtko]

I still love my Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones ... they are closed ear and do a decent job of sound isolation, but unfortunately probably not good enough for your purposes.

 

[themuzicman]

If you are dead-set on cans, and need crazy isolation - Vic Firth makes a few Drum Isolation Headphones. They aren't the best sounding, but they'll isolate a ton. I'd probably go for In-Ears in a high noise environment, but these cans do get the job done.

 

[josh88]

Or in ears and then throw a set of muffs over that if you're going to listen to only that and not switch on and off. That would give you some isolation.

 

[JonCarter]

My favorite cans are a pair of Permoflux cans made in about 1950. They were designed for audiometer testing, have very flat freq response and nice chamois ear cushions that seal very tightly. Love 'em.

 

[MNicolai]

Really depends on what you're trying to go for. If you're doing sound design and setting up FX cues for theatrical event, headphones are deceiving because they misrepresent the spatial effects because in a live environment your left ear also hears what your right does and vise versa, whereas headphones isolate your left and right ears from each other. If mixing FX or studio work is what you're going for, you're better off picking up a good pair of reference monitors than a good pair of headphones. Also always something to be said for being able to stand up and walk around through your mix, which you can't do with headphones.

If you're trying to record on-location and want to check your levels, then over-the-ear headphones or higher grade in-ears are better. I wouldn't go for any in-ears below Shure SE315's though. The 215's are garbage. At the 215 price point you're paying for isolation, but you're not getting enough LF content and the resulting audio is a bit aggressive for my taste compared to my 315's, which have been my everyday headphones for the last 5 years. As a general rule though, if you want to get in-ears equivalent to over-the-ear headphones, plan on spending 2-3x over comparable over-the-ear style headphones. Isolation and small form factor comes with a cost. If you're budget is limited today, you'll get more bang from the buck on conventional headphones.

Long-term, I would pick up a pair of in-ears though. Shouldn't be your highest priority now but in everyday life having isolation headphones will help save your hearing over the length of your career when you're working, at the gym, walking along a busy street, waiting for a concert to start, or mowing your lawn. These are the kinds of things where over-the-ear headphones aren't practical to carry with you everywhere. It's an indirect avenue toward retaining your ability to do your job effectively.

 

[NickVon]

+1 for Sony MDR 7506's, I have 3 pairs, and 1 of the MDR V6's. Both well in your price range and damn near a standard around the world. (after 4 years with moderate use they will need new cushions. Your mileage may vary. (I purchased replacement cusions from (Wickedcushions.com) through amazon.)

+1 Sennheiser HD 280 series. I don't own any presonaly but I've used them, and they are right in the same ball park as the Sony's. (Touch more expensive maybe, and a touch better isolation?)

Spend 15 bucks to on a solid softish/hardcase for them to protect the ear pads/cushions in your bag.

 

[Streamer]

Thanks for everyone's expert feedback! The headphones will be used by more than one person, and get beat up a bit on field shoots, so I don't think in the ear will work for us. Probably will go with the Sony MDR-7506 or Sennheiser HD280 Pro. Great resources here.
Edit- Did a lot more research on line, seems the Audio Technica ATH-M50x would work well also, I like the detachable cords, but went with the Sonys for overall usability in the field. I think any of the 3 would work well, each has slight pluses and minuses.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

If I already replied to this, I probably bragged on my BeyerDynamic DT770's; they're closed-back, over-ear, and nicely flat by my standards. Very comfortable for all-day wear, too.