I use the Sennheiser HD 280. They are very good cans that are mostly used by
DJ's because they are closed circumaural headphones with 32db reduction of
external noise. I find that when I use these cans for sound recordings that I
ask myself repeatedly "did that sound just come from outside the headphones?",
yet, it hasn't. They isolate so well that everything you hear comes through the
microphones, the recorder and the headphones.
The only problem with these is that they have "Leatherette" earpads, those fake
leather, plastic covers. They become annoying when you record in hot
environments where the sweat builds up very quickly underneath. That by itself
wouldn't be that much of a problem, however, over time the sweat damages the
earpads and they are quite expensive to replace. So when I record in hot
environments I use - and you can cane me for this - silicone earbuds. They
isolate the noise and no sweat can build up underneath any ear pads. Sorry, I
just don't earn enough money to be able to replace earpads every half year.
Back home I then definitely use the HD 280 for editing because they allow me to
truly hear the intricate details of the recordings. The only problem I have
encountered thus far was that I occasionally hear my own heartbeat that
transfers from my carotid artery onto the foam of the headphones and I think
that it is some low end noise in the recording and I try to clean it up ;)
For private listening pleasure, my standard workhorse for running around the
house while doing stuff and listening to nature sounds or music is a pair of
digital wireless HDR 180. Exceptionally warm sound quality without wires and
despite the "wirelessness" without any distortions whatsoever. There is not as
much fine detail on these, but that's not what they are made for. They're made
to establish the standard of high quality casual wireless listening pleasure.
And they have velours earpads.
Then, when I really feel like listening to high quality music or nature sounds
with all the details, I use a pair of 600 Ohm Beyerdynamic DT880 with a small
E11 pre-amp. Their sound is so neutral and pristine that it almost hurts my
ears. It always takes me 5-10 minutes to adjust to these headphones because the
sound is so clean that it just takes me that time to tell my mind to forget
that I am wearing headphones. For those first 5-10 minutes my brain just can't
accept that the sounds it is hearing come from headphones. It's almost as if
the sound comes from inside my head and just lives there. Amazing.
I think I went slightly off topic towards the end there but I hope there's some
useful info for you in my 2 cents.
Cheers,
Eric
On 06/02/2013, at 6:30 AM, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> Do 7506s really have a bass hump? Or are they actually just flatter at the
> low end than is normal? Maybe it works out the same to our ears.
>
> I got them because they:
> - were available for demo
> - were cheaper than some alternatives
> - fitted my ears
> - reputation for good isolation for the price
> - lots of people seem to use them
>
> I could barely tell the difference between the pairs I tried, so I went on
> price and what other people thought of them.
>
> Peter Shute
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > On Behalf Of Robin
> > Sent: Wednesday, 6 February 2013 4:25 AM
> > To:
> > Subject: [Nature Recordists] Re: TASCAM DR-100 MK2 & SONY
> > MDR-7506 Phones
>
> > If you want phones that reveal problems, then something like
> > the Sony's are good, since they have a bass hump (as
> > mentioned in another post) and also a presence boost. This
> > works for ENG since 99% of the time all that matters is that
> > the speaker on camera is clear and that there are no overt
> > sonic problems. So people use cans that highlight problems.
>
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