Monitoring Headphones Recommendations Please

[Lintelfilm]

If you have any specific suggestions or thoughts please add them here ...

[karoliina]

I use Sennheiser HD-600 (when editing) but not on location (been thinking upgrading them to HD-650, HD-800 would be even better but those I can not afford). On location I use Sennheiser earplugs like these: https://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/1703/fbmrk/Sennheiser-Momentum-In-Ear-Android-tulppakuulokkeet. They provide good sound isolation and are tiny, but still have quite amazing sound quality, does not feel so much a downgrade vs. the HD600 at home. I have used the pair of HD-600s already for over 10 years and I am very happy with them still today (except because they are open, they are not suitable to location because they do not block outside noises at all). The closed around ear headphones tend to sound quite disappointing so I do not own those, I just use either the high end Sennheisers or the little plugs. 

[Lintelfilm]

15 minutes ago, karoliina said:

I use Sennheiser HD-600 (when editing) but not on location (been thinking upgrading them to HD-650, HD-800 would be even better but those I can not afford). On location I use Sennheiser earplugs like these: https://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/1703/fbmrk/Sennheiser-Momentum-In-Ear-Android-tulppakuulokkeet. They provide good sound isolation and are tiny, but still have quite amazing sound quality, does not feel so much a downgrade vs. the HD600 at home. I have used the pair of HD-600s already for over 10 years and I am very happy with them still today (except because they are open, they are not suitable to location because they do not block outside noises at all). The closed around ear headphones tend to sound quite disappointing so I do not own those, I just use either the high end Sennheisers or the little plugs. 

Thanks. Sounds like you take a similar approach to me. I'll check out those earbuds but I really find untangling the wires a pain when I'm on a proper shoot. I work alone and anything that simplifies the process is a big deal. I think I need something with a headband so they can just hang around my neck when I'm not using them ...

[squig]

Beyerdynamic DT250s (80 ohm) are the best option for the money. I consider the HD25s more of a DJ headphone (I was a DJ/Producer for 15 years) a little bass heavy, and a bit prone to leakage. I've used HD25s, Sony, and Audio Technica headphones, but I prefer the DT250s for film work, as do many sound recordists.

[Mattias Burling]

I cant think of a TV-, Radio- or editing studio that I've worked in and didn't have Beyer Dynamic 7xx series headphones.
Honestly, never seen anything else being used. All the way from the university, student radio to the big national stations and production houses.
Currently I have the 770 Pro 250ohm in the studio and editing suite at work and at home as well.

Not saying they are the best, but popular enough to be considered
Remember an old episode of Film Riot where they recorded gun sounds and hired an audio technician. And guess what
So I take it they are popular over there as well.

[Lintelfilm]

6 minutes ago, squig said:

Beyerdynamic DT250s (80 ohm) are the best option for the money. I consider the HD25s more of a DJ headphone (I was a DJ/Producer for 15 years) a little bass heavy, and a bit prone to leakage. I've used HD25s, Sony, and Audio Technica headphones, but I prefer the DT250s for film work, as do many sound recordists.

Great stuff thanks. Will look into them. They look less fussy than the Sennys, which would be a good thing. The Sennys are a bit sexier so I'm slightly seduced by them, plus they seem to be used a lot by the BBC, but at least now I have another candidate to compare them to.

5 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said:

I cant think of a TV-, Radio- or editing studio that I've worked in and didn't have Beyer Dynamic 7xx series headphones.
Honestly, never seen anything else being used. All the way from the university, student radio to the big national stations and production houses.
Currently I have the 770 Pro 250ohm in the studio and editing suite at work and at home as well.

Not saying they are the best, but popular enough to be considered
Remember an old episode of Film Riot where they recorded gun sounds and hired an audio technician. And guess what
So I take it they are popular over there as well.

Looks like I need to look into Bayerdynamic. Do you use them for shooting as well Mattias?

[squig]

My experience is you have to spend quite a bit more on the other brands to match the quality of the Beyerdynamics. I replaced a more expensive pair of Audio Technicas with the DT250s, and the DT250s blew the ATs away. The HD25s sound good, but I don't think the design (small ear muffs) gives enough isolation for location recording. DT250 cords and ear pads are replaceable too.

[Lintelfilm]

Not that it means much but I'll be using them with a C100MKII and a Sennheiser MKE600 shotgun, which I just got yesterday to replace my NTG2, and the mic is absolutely fantastic. It was only £200 and I really love the sound - I honestly prefer it to both the Senny 416 and ME66. It's a good bit smaller than the NTG2 - same size as the 416 and NTG3, but with an AA battery compartment (and essential on/off switch). Highly recommend it as an affordable but pro-sounding video mic. To my (not very audio-centric) ear it's similar in quality to the NTG3. Build quality is great too.

[Mattias Burling]

13 minutes ago, Lintelfilm said:

Looks like I need to look into Bayerdynamic. Do you use them for shooting as well Mattias?

Always for radio and sit down video interviews. For run-n-gun I occasionally use ear buds, but that's when Im going as light as possible.
Like squig said, lots of headphones are bassy and perfect for hiphop, etc. The Beyerdynamics are great for speech. Very comfortable as well with soft velour like pads.

(the mke600 is sweet, have one as well)

[squig]

I'm using an NTG3, much cheaper in Aus than the 416 and a bit more directional. Be warned the DT250s do have a spiral cord, but they are more comfortable than the HD25s. I recommend you go to a store and try both plus some Audio Technicas.

11 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said:

Always for radio and sit down video interviews. For run-n-gun I occasionally use ear buds, but that's when Im going as light as possible.
Like squig said, lots of headphones are bassy and perfect for hiphop, etc. The Beyerdynamics are great for speech. Very comfortable as well with soft velour like pads.

(the mke600 is sweet, have one as well)

Yeah luv the velour pads, fuck plastic. The DT250s have rich bottom end, way more than the ATs I replaced them with, but they're not muddy or fatiguing. The extra bass of the HD25s is good in a club, but I chose the DT250s for a more accurate sound in the studio and for location work. Heard good things about the 7xx series too. Sold my $3000 Mackies for a pair of Beyerdynamic Truths too.

[Lintelfilm]

Just now, squig said:

I'm using an NTG3, much cheaper in Aus than the 416 and a bit more directional. Be warned the DT250s do have a spiral cord, but they are more comfortable than the HD25s. I recommend you go to a store and try both plus some Audio Technicas.

Hmm yeah the cord is an issue. To be honest I really love and am happy using my Sony 7506's but the cord is a real pain on set, and I'd rather something a bit smaller in terms of the band and pads. Hence my interest in the HD25's. The 770's also look quite large to hang around the neck etc. 

I'm not desperate for amazing quality sound or perfect isolation - when shooting I just want to be able to hear enough to ensure sound doesn't have any serious issues. Much like visuals - I'm happy using the LCD and EVF on the C100MKII and don't feel the need for a monitor most of the time. They do just enough to make sure all is well with the image and that's enough of a trade-off to avoid the setup and faff of an external monitor. I'm a solo shooter doing doc style stuff for the web so cinema/high-end broadcast quality isn't essential ...

[squig]

The HD25s and the DT250s are old school, for sound quality you can't go wrong with either. The main difference (besides the cord) is the HD25 sits on your ear whereas the DT250 encapsulates your ear (smallish muffs). I used the HD25s in a club for 2 years back in the day, they were great.

[hyalinejim]

Have the HD25s for a few years now. They're light but sturdy. Would highly recommend.

[The Chris]

My over ear phones are the Panasonic RP-HTF600, bought them as a cheap knock around set of phones. I like them so much I've sold my 7506's. They're lighter, have a straight cord and sound great. But I mostly use phones while shooting, I get ear fatigue while editing with headphones, so I prefer studio monitors when working on a computer.

For monitoring with earbuds I use the MEE audio M6 Pro. I personally like shooting with earbuds, keeps my kit more compact.

As always, YMMV.

[mercer]

Thought I'd chime in because I am looking for a simple solution as well. I hate that most headphones have long cords, especially when plugging into the camera when I am the solo operator. But lately I have been using small Olympus field recorders in my actors pockets and a 3rd on my shoe for ambient sound. The Olympus recorders are great because they are balanced nicely for dictation and nature recordings. But I digress, the new Olympus model has built in Bluetooth for headphones, so since I am also looking for a simple monitoring solution I am considering this recorder and wireless headphones. Maybe a Bluetooth transmitter could be useful for you Lintel?

[Lintelfilm]

12 minutes ago, squig said:

The HD25s and the DT250s are old school, for sound quality you can't go wrong with either. The main difference (besides the cord) is the HD25 sits on your ear whereas the DT250 encapsulates your ear (smallish muffs). I used the HD25s in a club for 2 years back in the day, they were great.

Thanks guys for the suggestions & info. The Bayers are good to know about. I think if I ever want to replace my Sony's I'll look into them further. Because what I need is something smallish/portable for location shooting to replace my earbuds the HD25's are the way to go. Even the DT250's are 100g heavier (240g vs 140g) and bigger than the Sennys. The HD25's seem like the best available trade-off between size, price and quality. The Plus kit comes with velour pads and extra wire, etc, and all the parts are replaceable, so I think they're going to be good for bashing around in my kit bag. I know they're really popular with DJ's but they do get a lot of use in broadcast too so they must be decent for that. They're in the "neutral" ballpark in terms of sound, which is good enough for me. 

8 minutes ago, The Chris said:

My over ear phones are the Panasonic RP-HTF600, bought them as a cheap knock around set of phones. I like them so much I've sold my 7506's. They're lighter, have a straight cord and sound great. But I mostly use phones while shooting, I get ear fatigue while editing with headphones, so I prefer studio monitors when working on a computer.

For monitoring with earbuds I use the MEE audio M6 Pro. I personally like shooting with earbuds, keeps my kit more compact.

As always, YMMV.

Thanks. Those Panny's are cheap! However they're nearly 900g so out of the equation for me.

I too have the MEE M6 Pro buds, and they're great (cheap too!). They've been my location monitors for a while now. But as I say buds are pretty faffy to get untangled etc on a busy shoot when there's a hundred other things to think about. I'll keep them in my bag as backup and will still use them with my XC10. When I'm using a C100 and shotgun, keeping the kit really compact is out the window anyway. The HD25's seem like a good middle ground ...

15 minutes ago, mercer said:

Thought I'd chime in because I am looking for a simple solution as well. I hate that most headphones have long cords, especially when plugging into the camera when I am the solo operator. But lately I have been using small Olympus field recorders in my actors pockets and a 3rd on my shoe for ambient sound. The Olympus recorders are great because they are balanced nicely for dictation and nature recordings. But I digress, the new Olympus model has built in Bluetooth for headphones, so since I am also looking for a simple monitoring solution I am considering this recorder and wireless headphones. Maybe a Bluetooth transmitter could be useful for you Lintel?

Yeah I keep wondering about trying a bluetooth transmitter/receiver. I actually started a thread on this topic here a while back. Now the iPhone has wireless buds as standard I'm sure it will become much more common in the market. No need to get a special set of cans for that though - I'll probably buy a Taotronics set to plug them into in the near future as they're not expensive.

[The Chris]

3 hours ago, Lintelfilm said:

Thanks. Those Panny's are cheap! However they're nearly 900g so out of the equation for me.

900g? No, that must be a shipping weight, that's 2 pounds, which would be an anchor on your head. Just threw them on the scale, they weigh exactly 269g without the 1/4" adapter. They're noticeably lighter than the 7506's they replaced. 

[DBounce]

It's not on your list. And it's not one I would have thought of using in the past for monitoring. That is, until I used them.

Which?

The Bose QC35

These headphones are noise cancelling. In the past I used Sony's and Sennheisers to monitor. However, in noisy environments I would often times have a hard time discerning if the noise I was hearing was getting in from the ear-cups or if it was in fact being picked up by the microphone. But with the QC35s this is no longer an issue. Because the only thing I hear is what the microphone hears. No single audio purchase improved the quality of my captured audio more than the QC35s. Now I know exactly what is being picked up by the microphone. There is no more guess work.

[Lintelfilm]

45 minutes ago, The Chris said:

900g? No, that must be a shipping weight, that's 2 pounds, which would be an anchor on your head. Just threw them on the scale, they weigh exactly 269g without the 1/4" adapter. They're noticeably lighter than the 7506's they replaced. 

Ha ha OK sorry I thought it was a bit on the hefty side. Still 270g is twice the weight of the HD25's ...

[mercer]

4 hours ago, Lintelfilm said:

Thanks guys for the suggestions & info. The Bayers are good to know about. I think if I ever want to replace my Sony's I'll look into them further. Because what I need is something smallish/portable for location shooting to replace my earbuds the HD25's are the way to go. Even the DT250's are 100g heavier (240g vs 140g) and bigger than the Sennys. The HD25's seem like the best available trade-off between size, price and quality. The Plus kit comes with velour pads and extra wire, etc, and all the parts are replaceable, so I think they're going to be good for bashing around in my kit bag. I know they're really popular with DJ's but they do get a lot of use in broadcast too so they must be decent for that. They're in the "neutral" ballpark in terms of sound, which is good enough for me. 

Thanks. Those Panny's are cheap! However they're nearly 900g so out of the equation for me.

I too have the MEE M6 Pro buds, and they're great (cheap too!). They've been my location monitors for a while now. But as I say buds are pretty faffy to get untangled etc on a busy shoot when there's a hundred other things to think about. I'll keep them in my bag as backup and will still use them with my XC10. When I'm using a C100 and shotgun, keeping the kit really compact is out the window anyway. The HD25's seem like a good middle ground ...

Yeah I keep wondering about trying a bluetooth transmitter/receiver. I actually started a thread on this topic here a while back. Now the iPhone has wireless buds as standard I'm sure it will become much more common in the market. No need to get a special set of cans for that though - I'll probably buy a Taotronics set to plug them into in the near future as they're not expensive.

Taotronics has some nice products. I may have to look into them for the XC10... As you know, going handheld with IBIS and a RVMP sucks when you're dragging around 2-3 feet of headphone cord.