OT: Headphone Advice

[SpinaDude]

My trusty Sony headphones of 10 years bit the bullet yesterday. Sound is only coming out of the left side. To be honest, I'm surprised how much life and quality they've given me. It's the only Sony product I've ever been satisfies with. I need a new pair, one that I can use when I'm behind the kit. I'm a hard hitter and usually play along to hard rock and metal, so I need a pair that's loud and won't blow out after a couple of hours. I'm looking for NON-Noise Cancelling headphones. I want to hear my drums along with the music.

Any advice is apreciated.

 

[bellbrass]

Years ago, I came to this forum asking the same advice. Tommy Wells and many others recommended GK Ultraphones, saying they were the best in the business. The drivers are from the Sony MDR 7506, so the sound is as good as it gets.
After having used at least two other brands of isolation headphones, I am glad I took their advice. I have many drum cover videos on YouTube, using several different kits, cymbals, sticks, and stands. The only constant piece of equipment is my GK Ultraphones. Made by a drummer.

 

[Mcjnic]

Man, I literally just went through this ... BOTH of my headphone sets went out (my VO studio and a set for drumming).
I ended up with a couple pairs of the Yamaha HD 280 Pro for the studio - one for the edit station and one inside the booth.

The drumkit was a tough one. I needed noise cancelling ... my hearing.
My Direct Sound Extreme Isolation cans never felt right but they did the job. Those lasted me for several years and finally gave out.
I picked up the redesigned Vic Firth Stereo Isolation headphones.
They SUCK!!!
Horrible sound to my ears.
Not that the original design had a great sound (they didn't) ... but these new ones are horendous.
Some people love them ... lots of people. I can't stand 'em.
I have two pair that I am not using. One still in the package. Not sure what the heck to do with all these headphones.

I finally hit up a few drummer friends of mine that live in the studio. They introduced me to the Ultra Phones.
Oh my.
These are phenomenal cans for drumming.
I was shocked.
Shoulda hit them up years ago ... hindsight and all.

 

[SpinaDude]

How well do you hear your drums through the UltraPhones? I REALLY want to hear my drums through them. It sounds like these isolate so that I hear the music, but not my kit.

 

[Houndog]

Get a Yamaha EAD , you can mix level of drums and music and your drums will sound pretty great too ...

 

[Mcjnic]

How well do you hear your drums through the UltraPhones? I REALLY want to hear my drums through them. It sounds like these isolate so that I hear the music, but not my kit.

Excellent balance of drums and music.
I can pull the volume down and hear mostly the drums.
That's the amazing thing with these ... my hearing is protected by not having the music blast my ears in order to hear a good balance of drums and music.
For me ... these are the best I've ever had.
But, they are costly and may not be for everybody.

 

[SpinaDude]

Excellent balance of drums and music.
I can pull the volume down and hear mostly the drums.
That's the amazing thing with these ... my hearing is protected by not having the music blast my ears in order to hear a good balance of drums and music.
For me ... these are the best I've ever had.
But, they are costly and may not be for everybody.

Are you talking EDrums or accoustic?

 

[bpaluzzi]

I also have the GK Ultraphones and strongly recommend. They're not active noise reduction -- they're (literally) just shooter's ear muffs with high Sony quality drivers installed, then sealed up properly. You can still hear acoustic drums with them on, they're just nicely muffled. I can still (barely) hear the "tapping" of sticks on my electric drums w/ mesh heads when I have them on.

 

[Mcjnic]

Are you talking EDrums or accoustic?

Acoustic.
I use open cans for electronics.

 

[jaymandude]

Maybe you should watch “ The Sound Of Metal” before wanting to hear so much of the drums live ?

I’m being harsh but serious. If you’re slamming your drums you’re going to hear your drums fine thru any headphone unless you fill your ears with concrete.

I’m not your old uncle ranting . Well, maybe I am.

 

[bassanddrum84]

I use ultimate ears custom molded in ears. Love the sound quality on stage or just jamming at home.

 

[Deafmoon]

If you are looking for headphones to use for playing to mp3s off your computer, pad, pod or phone go with the Bang & Olufsen H4’s. These run $300 bucks and are Bluetooth. They also are unequivocally the best sounding phones I ever ever owned in 5 decades. The pair I had before these were Bose AE2’s and they were good but not as superior sound as the B&O’s.

 

[LRod1707]

My trusty Sony headphones of 10 years bit the bullet yesterday. Sound is only coming out of the left side. To be honest, I'm surprised how much life and quality they've given me. It's the only Sony product I've ever been satisfies with. I need a new pair, one that I can use when I'm behind the kit. I'm a hard hitter and usually play along to hard rock and metal, so I need a pair that's loud and won't blow out after a couple of hours. I'm looking for NON-Noise Cancelling headphones. I want to hear my drums along with the music.

Any advice is apreciated.

I hate in-ear headphones! I bought Koss Pro4AA over the ear headphones based on some recommendations here and they are fantastic. Incredible noise reduction, heavy but built like a tank. The weight doesn't bother me. I didn't know these existed till I found out about them on DFO. They are actually used in studios. I just checked and either they've gone up in price or I got a good deal when I bought them on Amazon a few months back. The reviews don't lie! They are currently $135. I use them for playing and for monitoring I use Audio Technica ATH-M40X.
Here is the Amazon link for the Koss:

Amazon.com

 

[covinasurf]

Here’s another vote for custom molded in-ears. Doesn’t matter how loud the guitars crank it up I’m still at half volume for the monitor level. I also have the custom molded ear plug for when there’s no monitor system.

Best 600 bucks I ever spent.
JH

 

[Matched Gripper]

My trusty Sony headphones of 10 years bit the bullet yesterday. Sound is only coming out of the left side. To be honest, I'm surprised how much life and quality they've given me. It's the only Sony product I've ever been satisfies with. I need a new pair, one that I can use when I'm behind the kit. I'm a hard hitter and usually play along to hard rock and metal, so I need a pair that's loud and won't blow out after a couple of hours. I'm looking for NON-Noise Cancelling headphones. I want to hear my drums along with the music.

Any advice is apreciated.

I second GK Ultraphones for supreme hearing protection (29 db of passive noise attenuation), that still allows the midrange of your drums and cymbals to come through, the sound you want to hear, with good stereo quality. These are literally Peltor gun range ear protectors with Sony sound components. They are deep and completely encapsulate your ears. Other headphones that claim high levels of noise reduction don’t come close to these.

PS: Our own nomsgmusic turned me on to the GK’s which stands for Steve Miller drummer, Gordy Knudtson.

UltraPhones high isolation studio headphones - GK Music

UltraPhones high isolation studio headphones provide 29db passive isolation with great sound using Sony 7506 Studio Monitor headphone components.

www.gk-music.com

 

[Matched Gripper]

Excellent balance of drums and music.
I can pull the volume down and hear mostly the drums.
That's the amazing thing with these ... my hearing is protected by not having the music blast my ears in order to hear a good balance of drums and music.
For me ... these are the best I've ever had.
But, they are costly and may not be for everybody.

Exactly! And worth every penny, IMO!

 

[jakeo]

Yep - Ultraphones.

 

[drums1225]

I first bought the Vic Firth isolation phones, and they were helpful, but I wasn't a fan of the flimsy construction, poor fit, and "meh" sound. One ear went dead after a while.

I later saw the Direct Sound Extreme Isolation phones at Sam Ash for twice the price. I figured I'd try them and if they weren't worth it, I'd just return them. They were light years better than the VF phones and I used them for years.

Now, I prefer using in-ear monitors. They do a better job of isolating, sound better, and they're virtually invisible for video, photos, and live streaming.

 

[swarfrat]

I got the direct sound Ultras this summer and they absolutely suck. They sound ok but they have almost NO isolation. The VF's hurt after just a few minutes but at least they worked.

 

[SKINZ]

I use ultimate ears custom molded in ears. Love the sound quality on stage or just jamming at home.

Ive been a UE endorser since 2008 UE7 been around the world for numerous Artists I have worked for they take good care of me just had them updated new cable system tuned and cleaned new case Jannette C. @ UE Rocks........... also my Beyer 990 Studio Open back headphones Im set ......