Headphones in a concert hall setting
 

I do probably 50% of my shooting in an acoustically beautiful concert hall with a 100 piece orchestra. Hanging around after an audio session at DMDC last week Spot mentioned a specific kind of headphone that's good for monitoring orchestra recordings. Unfortunately, I didn’t immediately write it down and now I have no idea.

Spot: do you remember what it was?

Anyone else: shoot in similar circumstances and have a good recommendation?

Thanks tons,
Kris

PS: if you ever get a chance to take sessions from Spot, DO IT. I did a bunch and they were all great.

You're probably talking about noise cancelling headphones.

You can spend $300 for Bose or $150 or so for Sennheiser, but I recall seeing someone on this board say that he was happy his ($50) Radio Shack brand noise cancelling headphones in concert situations. I plan to pick up a pair myself

You may want to look at the Etymotic ER-6. Dont know if these were the phones DSE mentioned but i know he owns a pair. I do as well and they have excellent sound with awesome noise reduction. The design of the earplug cancels noise like a regular ear plug so it does not rely on electronic noise reduction.

Thanks, Matt. The ER-6's look great! Not only greater noise reduction than electronic noise cancelling, but noise reduction across the spectrum rather than just a narrow frequency range. Now I have to rethink my budget.

I also use the ER-6i when riding my motorcycle -- they work great. You need to insure, however, that they are fully inserted into the ear canal. Otherwise, they don't block sound as well and the low end response range is curtailed. It takes a little effort -- I usually first wet the silicon, and then pull out on the ear while seating them.

That looks really cool and exactly like what I need. I was in an on stage box last night and at times it was REALLY loud. There was no way I was hearing only what was coming through my headphones. I'm not entirely sure I was hearing that at all at that point.

I have to admit that I don't really understand the physics of why this works, but if Vic says it works while he's riding his motorcycle then I'll trust that it will work for me as well.

Thanks everyone.

Smile,
Kris

Yeah, my Harley & the wind can be a little loud...they make it more comfortable, without eliminating sirens, horns, etc. The ER-6 also comes with a foam insert that can be used in place of the silicon piece. They then give virtually the same attenuation as earplugs.