Quick headphone q.
 

I have read many threads on recommended headphones and have blown most of my budget on the Camera. I will mainly be making short docs and some art stuff...

My question is simply, is it acceptable to use DJ headphones? My friend has an oldish pair he's looking to get rid of and selling them very cheap! They are over the ear and surely must be relatively good quality for DJ sets etc? They are Sony too.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Simple - try them for size and try them for sound. On your hi-fi as well as your XH. Make sure they go loud enough on the XH

You rock tom! :D

Thing is I don't have my camera yet... and they'll probably be gone by then... But i'm not really one for an impulse buy so I'll wait....

Also - Shotgun Mics: If I'm getting a discounted NTG 3 is it better (as the name suggests) than the NTG 1 and 2? One of which I was going to get anyway....

Sony MDR-7506's can be had for $100 and they're an industry standard, but if you're getting a way better price on the DJ phones, it probably can't hurt to give them a shot.

Best to google the NTGs, but I'm guessing the various versions are phantom powered only, phantom +AA cell, and AA cell + mini jack, something like that.

I would be cautious when using DJ headphones. These types of headphones tend to have a boosted high and/or low end. Might be a good idea to check tech specs and compare.

The NTG-1 and NTG-2 are basically the same mic. The NTG-1 is phantom only, while the NTG-2 is phantom/battery (AA) powered, and weighs about 50g (1-3/4 oz) more as a result of the added length. The NTG-3 is generally comparable to a Sennheiser 416 and is a great value.

YouTube - Sennheiser MKH 416 vs. RODE NTG-3

RØDE Microphones - NTG-1 Around $250 USD
RØDE Microphones - NTG-2 Around $270 USD
RØDE Microphones - NTG-3 Around $700 USD
Sennheiser USA - MKH416 Around $1100 USD

It really depends on what you're using them for. If you're plugging in to the camera during a shoot to monitor for noise pickup, drops outs, etc (as you should) then any decent quality cans that exclude most of the environmental noises will do. But if you're monitoring for sound quality or plan to use them in post, then the choice needs to get more serious. As mentioned before, the industry standard Sony MDR7506 is quite reasonable in cost at about $100 and offer very good performance for the money. I'd stay away from DJ phones because they are going to be highly coloured in their sound, not flat and accurate, and accuracy is the name of the game, not "great sound", when it comes to monitoring and evaluating.

Thanks Everyone! And Steve, this post above sounds really simple and obvious but really helped be "get" why any headphones won't do. Cheers! :)

I was giving a Pro Tools LE one-on-one last week and, as typical, I brought my headphones.

When we got to that part of the work, I listened with his and thought, "Hmm, something must be wrong." I swapped his out for my 7506.

HELLO!

I plugged his back in, handed him the phones and said, "Listen to this."

He smiled and said, "I think I'm about to learn something."

I swapped out the phones and his jaw hit the floor.

Cheaping out on headphones when you can buy the MDR 7506 for $99 is a ridiculous and costly idea. You could spend the whole day shooting with crap audio and not know it.

Unless you REALLY know what a pair of headphones is doing, (and I DO mean really), don't chance it.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Just a little reading...

Headphones Basics - How to choose the right pair

Impedance Defined in the on Headphones Audiophile Glossary

Thanks all.

I have ordered my standard sony 7506s and got a bargain on a second hand yet brand new NTG 3 although I haven't tried it yet as I don't have an XLR cable yet and I could have been totally ripped off.

Ho hum...

Can't wait to play with all my shiny new toys when they all get here!

senn 280's and Audio Technica do well. My favorite are beyer dt770s.

A Cautionary Note
 

The links above that David W. Jones posted are important to read.

I have had a number of friends over the last few years bring me semi-pro or consumer gear wth blown headhone outputs.

The reason for this was, in each case, that they were using headphones of a lower impedance than the driver could handle.

The headphone drivers in fully pro gear usually can handle anything down to 8 ohms.

Normal line outputs in fully pro gear can usually handle 600 ohm loads and above.

With consumer and semi-pro gear, it is something of a crap shoot. Some even require 2000 and above loads.

Be especially wary of any outputs labeled 'Line Out/Headphone'. These are typically something like a 5532 op amp which is speced to handle 600 ohm loads. They MAY have a build out resistor which will protect them from lower impedance loads...or they may not.

Some of these units specify high impedance headphones must be used, you must check the manual.

The problem wth specifying high impedence headphones today is that they seem to be almost impossible to buy anymore. My venerable Koss Pro4A headphones are 250 ohms - I used to consider that fairly low, or 'mid' impedance. High impedance was typically 2000+, or 600+ on pro gear.

The Sony MDR-7506's are about 60 ohms. Certainly fine for any fully pro gear - maybe not for some consumer or semi-pro gear. Check the manuals...

Many 'ear buds' are around 15 ohms - very low.

The seductively deceptive thing is that too low impedence headphones may seem to work fine for months or years - then one day, just a bit louder signal and poof.

This can be especially annoying if that happens to be a Line Out/Headphone jack on an expensive camera. You will have lost both functions.

There are little headphone amps you can buy to handle the hard cases.

-Mike

How about sound isolating earphones???
Shure SE210 Sound Isolating Earphones - Products