Tracking headphones with decent isolation

[permanent hearing damage]

so after stumbling on the Vic Firth SIH1 headphones, I bought a ton of them, as I was so impressed by the isolation. Finally people could track right next to their blaring amp and still hear what the hell was going on otherwise!

but they break all the time. I just busted 3 in 4 days! it's always the same issue - left side shorts. I managed to get them to swap out a couple pairs a few times - i have bought six at this point and managed to swap out 4 busted ones for new ones. though the last time i called with the request, they did give me a bit of a hard time.

so i'm wondering, there has to be something else comparable out there that isn't too expensive for a fairly small operation to be using for tracking headphones, is there?

any recommendations for headphones with decent isolation? they don't have to sound amazing, though that would be a plus.

[digitaldrummer]

I used the Vic Firth iso phones for a long time, although they were only for me so I've only had to have one pair replaced in 5+ years.

I recently picked up a pair of the Extreme Isolation headphones. They are twice the price but the sound is much better than the Vics, which have very little to no low end. I've only had these a couple months and so far no problems. but I find my self almost tripping over, or stepping on the thin straight cord so I'm not sure how long they will last... (the Vic Firth has a coiled cable that seems to get out of the way better).

I always wondered about these - http://www.itrstudio.com/staff/alex-gerst/94 and for $30 I should pick up a pair...

Mike

[DrummerMan]

I've got 3 pairs of the "more me"'s and I really don't like them. The sound is thin, the fit is generally crappy, and from what I remember the cable is too short and has a shitty plug. They are definitely my last resort cans.

Are you capable enough with a soldering iron to go in a fix your Vic firths? Maybe beef up the connections so a little jostling doesn't shake things loose. On my nice Beyers, I ended up sticking a safety pin through the rubber wire housing inside the left earpiece so that when, inevitably, the cord gets tugged it wouldn't keep pulling out connections inside.

[norton]

Sennheiser hd280? I think. These have near 30db of isolation, they sound very good and have easily replaceable cords.

I love mine.

[Nick Sevilla]

I just busted 3 in 4 days! it's always the same issue - left side shorts.

This sounds like the same thing happened to all 3 pairs.

Who was wearing them, and how?

Cheers

PS I love my Sony 7506s. I have had mine for over 10 years. They are great.

[Recording Engineer]

I bought 4 MoreMe headphones around the time Harvey first came out with them. I think they lasted about a year (I think 3 of them don't work at all and 1 only one side works) with extremely light use; since I thought they sounded terrible. I ended-up getting 3 more pairs of AKG 240s to go with the one I already had. I still have all those after all these years and they still work great; though they've long been retired. I still like them for VO-work.

Someone broke my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro many years ago, but I liked them.
I've had a Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro for a long time that I like.
I've had 4 Audio-Technica ATH-M50s for a few years now and have been enjoying them the most.

[DrummerMan]

Yeah, I love my sennheiser hd280's. Loud as fuck with pretty decent isolation. The have an unrealistic EQ scoop to them which makes them bad (IMO) at trying to get an honest representation of the sounds from a guitar amp or drum while adjusting the mic right next to it. That same eq, though, also makes things sound good in your ears while tracking which lends itself to performance self-confidence (though sometimes undeserved...).

[jgimbel]

I have 6 pairs of HD280s here. I love them. Great isolation for drum recording, and I love checking mixes on them. They don't have a huge boost in low end like a lot of headphones do, which is something I really like about them. I know that if I'm mixing and I hear MASSIVE low end then something's probably not right.

[vxboogie]

I have a pair of 7506s, HD280s and ATH-M50s. So just to reiterate or emphasize what has already been said:

ATH-M50 - sound the best, moderate isolation. These are the ones at my DAW that I check mixes on or use when I need to be quiet.
HD280s - Best isolation, but they are third in SQ. I use these for live sound due to the isolation.
7506s - sound good, but moderate isolation. They are now at work at my day job.

All three of these sound good and the difference in sound quality isn't huge.

Best isolation for me is my Futuresonic Atrios IEMs with a good hearing protector over top. Not easy on/off, but good when you want to hear how moving a drum or amp mic sounds in real time.

FWIW - my drummer brother-in-law bought a pair of Beyer Dynamic isolation phones($300ish) and when I ABed them at a gig with my HD280s, I thought they had about the same isolation as the HD280s and didn't sound near as good.

[DrummerMan]

I have 6 pairs of HD280s here. I love them. Great isolation for drum recording, and I love checking mixes on them. They don't have a huge boost in low end like a lot of headphones do, which is something I really like about them. I know that if I'm mixing and I hear MASSIVE low end then something's probably not right.

Funny, no matter how hard I tried taking the lo end eq of the sennheisers into consideration I could not get an honest representation of what would come out of my monitors (or any place else). Even when doing mic placement, I would either make it too woof-y with proximity effect that I wasn't hearing, or over compensate and make it too thin. My Beyer 990's, on the other hand, I can (and do) do full mixes on and feel 99% confident about the results (scoring work, that is). Obviously, the beyers have very little isolation so it doesn't apply here.

FWIW - my drummer brother-in-law bought a pair of Beyer Dynamic isolation phones($300ish) and when I ABed them at a gig with my HD280s, I thought they had about the same isolation as the HD280s and didn't sound near as good.

Do you mean the DT-150 or the DT-770? I've been thinking about getting a pair of one of those because I love the sound of my 990's so much.

[vxboogie]

FWIW - my drummer brother-in-law bought a pair of Beyer Dynamic isolation phones($300ish) and when I ABed them at a gig with my HD280s, I thought they had about the same isolation as the HD280s and didn't sound near as good.

Do you mean the DT-150 or the DT-770? I've been thinking about getting a pair of one of those because I love the sound of my 990's so much.

They didn't look like the DT-150s, so they must have been the 770s and he said he paid over $300 for them. Keep in mind that this was at an outdoor gig listening to my soundcheck playlist through the mixing board(Allen & Heath MixWiz) before his band started playing. I was switching back and forth between them and the HD280s

[permanent hearing damage]

I just busted 3 in 4 days! it's always the same issue - left side shorts.

This sounds like the same thing happened to all 3 pairs.

Who was wearing them, and how?

Cheers

PS I love my Sony 7506s. I have had mine for over 10 years. They are great.

the latest bout of broken pairs were broken by different people playing different instruments in different bands. i have seen other folks post about this issue with these phones, it just seems like a design flaw.

i even remember Albini posting on the Electrical forum they have about 4 pairs in the studio for each pair they buy because they break so often.

i do have one pair of 7506s and while they certainly sound a lot better than the Vic Firths, they aren't worth a damn for isolation, comparatively.

i know there aren't too many alternatives for headphones that can be useful to guitarists standing in front of a blaring 4x12. was just hoping for an alternative that most likely doesn't exist, i suppose.

Digitaldrummer, how long do those Extreme Isolation cans last for you? if they make it twice as long as the Vic Firth's they might have my dollars.

[digitaldrummer]

Digitaldrummer, how long do those Extreme Isolation cans last for you? if they make it twice as long as the Vic Firth's they might have my dollars.

only had them a couple months so can't say for sure but as I mentioned above I've already stepped on the cord several times because it just gets in the way more than the coiled cord on the VF cans did. I honestly don't expect them to last very long based on that. Also I don't like the split wires going into each side of the phones. I prefer a single cable going to one side.

Mike

[templejazz82]

After trying tons of headphones, I stumbled upon these over at Shawn Pelton's studio. I tracked with them there and fell in love and bought 2 pair. http://www.gk-music.com/ultraphones.htm is the site. Really, really good cans. Highly suggest.

[digitaldrummer]

re; GK.... looks like they transplant the drivers from the 7506 into some shooting muffs. That's similar to the Vic Firth but probably better quality drivers - but 4x more expensive too. shooting muffs (and the VF) are pretty uncomfortable if you have to wear them for any length of time.

btw, I just picked up a pair of the CAD MH310 phones. they were $30 on a "stupid deal" at MF. they look almost exactly like some higher dollar AKG K272 phones that I have, but the sound is completely different. whereas the AKG's are a lot more midrangey, the CAD's are bass-hyped and scooped in the mids. I would never use them for mixing, but they have decent isolation. For tracking these will be good for bass players, keyboard players, drums, etc where you might want to hear more low end. They are big, over the ear and pretty comfortable. We'll have to see how well they last, but for $30 I'd recommend them so far.