Using XL2 for concerts - Need Headphones!!
 

I've been filming a lot of concerts lately and the $20 headphones are just not cutting it. The question I have is what style (not brand) is the way to go for these loud environments. It seems there are:

1. Audiophile
2. Studio
3. DJ

Very similar in style but which one would be best used in a loud concert setting? I expect to pay up to $200. Also, since the sound is coming from the mixing board I can't rely on the audio meters on the XL2 alone. I can have my manual setting at 2 and the sound can be way overblown. Thanks for the input.

I'm very happy with my Sony MDR-V700 headphones. They fall into the "DJ" category. They are comfortable to wear for a long period. You can turn the cups outwards to easily listen with one ear. They cut out a lot of external noise. They can withstand very loud peaks (3000mW) - valuable if connected to a mixing board that you don't have control over! That's how my previous pair died.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...nes?sku=271062

Kent,

First of all, if you are getting overblown audio when just set on "2" on your XL-2, then I would bet you are receiving a line level signal from the mixing board and trying to run it into the XLR inputs on the XL-2, which are set for mic level only. What you need to do is either get a mic level feed sent from the mixing board, use an adapter to go from XLR to RCA and into the line level inputs on the side of the XL-2, or run the XLRs into your own little portable mixer and knock the level back down to mic level.

As for the headphones, you can't go wrong with the standard in the industry, the Sony MD-7506. There are lots of threads here and elsewhere about headphones. You might do a search to find those.

Have fun!

Rob

In the past couple years I've filmed a number of very loud concerts with my XL2 and earlier XL1S and had the same problem, so lately I've begun using the little tiny in-ear-canal phones. In the past with over-the-ear Sennheiser headphones so much outside noise from the concert was coming in that I could scarcely monitor my audio at all. In contrast, the in-ear phones do a great job of blocking out outside noise (almost like wearing earplugs) so nearly the only thing you hear is the feed from your audio. I've been using Etymotic Research ER6's specifically, but Shure or any other brand of well-fitting in-ear phones will surely achieve the same result.

I don't know how they would handle overblown audio, however... And I don't want to ruin mine finding out! ;)

In my opinion DJ /Full Ear head phones are the best....

Believe it or not, once i was in an extremely loud environment using an XL1 and i used a pair of Apple Earbuds (Got them with my iPod)....worked amazingly at high volume!

Good Luck!

G. Hayes

What about just using a pair of drum isolation headphones, I have a pair of Vic Firth's that I use when I'm recording drums to hear the click track and it deadens the drums almost to the point where it sounds like im hitting pillows.