Affordable headphones for monitoring audio

[Peter Berger]

Could you recommend me an affordable headphones for monitoring audio on set? Are these ok?
Amazon.com: Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones: Electronics

[Daniel James]

I use a pair of those, on the plus side, for the price they are good value, however the gain is quite low, so you need to push the volume up, which, depending on what they are plugged into, it is not always possible.

[Richard Crowley]

Certainly sensitivity is a consideration. But so is accuracy and isolation (depending on exactly what your needs are).
The de-facto industry-standard in North America is the Sony MDR-7506. IMHO, the virtually identical Sony MDR-V6 is just as good, at a better price.

[Greg Miller]

The Sonys are popular, and useful for monitoring location recording. I find them overly bright in the midrange, which makes them useful for hearing unwanted background noise while recording. I find the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro a flatter and more accurate frequency response. The 280's isolation is at least as good as the Sonys.

[Colin McDonald]

Not sure if £138 counts as affordable, but in the UK the Sennheiser HD25-1 ll are frequently used in broadcast and location work. The link above is for GuitarGuitar Digital who have one of the best deals at the moment.

A search on dvinfo will give you many references and testimonials going back a number of years for the HD25-1 ll
eg http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-thin...ml#post1529984

If these are out of your budget, just remembered reading a recommendation for the Sony MDR V300 (£23.39) on this thread.

[Jim Andrada]

+1 on Greg's comment. I've used both the Sony 7506's and the Sennheiser HD280's. Only issue I had with the Sennheisers is that they felt tighter and less comfortable on my head than the Sonys. Depending on the size/shape of your head YMMV. I mostly use the Sonys these days.

[Rick Reineke]

Headphone selection is a personal choice. I suggest auditioning as many as possible in your price range.
The Sony MDR 7506/V6 are comfortable for me and have been using them since 1990. I recently tried a set of Sennheiser HD-280. While they were comfortable wearing, I could not get use to 'the sound' and they where NOT comfortable hanging around my neck which I frequently do between takes. I returned them and got another set of the Sonys. The Sonys are pretty rugged as well.

[Tom Morrow]

The Sony 7506 or v6 are fine but really not very detailed sounding. Sennheiser HD25 are the best for both low distortion and high sensitivity, and the form factor is just perfect for portable use, easy to take off and put on with one hand and the straight cord doesn't get tangled up like the overly long coily cord on studio headphones like the Sony 7506 or M50.

[Paul Inglis]

I've had my Sennheiser HD25-1 ll for about four years now and they're still going strong. Great all-rounder!

[Derek Heeps]

I've had my Sennheiser HD25 for about 15 or 20 years and still going strong .

While they may cost a little more than some others mentioned ( but far from the most expensive out there ) they are good value when you consider their longevity .

Even if something does go wrong - every component part can be replaced and is still available .

For monitoring purposes , closed headphones which isolate external sound are the best .

[James Kuhn]

+ 1 more for the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II headphones. They've done everything I've asked and performed well in the process.

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

J.

[Steven Digges]

Love my Seni HD 280s Except I live in the desert.....the isolation makes them melt what is left of my grey matter!

Steve

[Rob Cantwell]

I have a set of these MDR-V150 | Headphones | Sony
they're ok for the cost, tho a bit plasticy, but for around €20 they do the job for me!

[Brian P. Reynolds]

Do a think of what you will be using the headphones for.....
If you are location recording you are after just a few things, firstly isolation from the outside sound, next is a good bottom end response to be able to identify bottom end rumble and roll off just enough (but not to much) to get good recordings and the final thing is good top end to enable you to hear the crispness of an on axis mic (or should I say to enable to correct an off axis mic).
Most headphones of reasonable quality have most of the things you need, even good quality in ear buds can be used, and are good to have in your kit as a standby.

Now if you are using the phones for ANY level of eq'ing they need to be much better. Yes you need all of the attributes of location headphones as well as an even frequency response, get to know what they sound like with released music etc so the you are able to achieve a similar sound.

[Greg Miller]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Love my Seni HD 280s Except I live in the desert.....the isolation makes them melt what is left of my grey matter!

I grew up using Koss Pro4-AAs, so the 280s are "comfy" by comparison. ;-)

I've gotta say, after all the snow here in the past few weeks, the desert is sounding better and better...