Hearphones

nmartinez

I've been wanting to purchase a set of hearphones; I used them once and they really protect from oversinging. Good for when you need to practice for long hours solo an want to be sure you stay in resonance. Everywhere I look is ridiculously expensive. Anyone know where to get some for a reasonable price?

[Deleted User]

For a decent set of studio quality headphones, you're looking at a minimum of $100.
I just replaced my old Sony headphones (15 years) for a set of Akai 50X. I paid $125 for the Akai's.

If you go cheaper, make sure they are going to be comfortable if you are going to wear them for long periods of time.

Peace, Tony

olskool

I'd go for the Sony MDR-7506. I got mine for around £70. Have a hunt around.

Furious_Phil

I grabbed a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M70x's on sale.
They're very comfortable, and have great frequency response... albeit a little too bass-heavy for my liking, but that's ok

bentk

For hearing your own voice, you might want studio-type headphones that have a more neutral sound production. A lot of products for listening to music can have boosted lows, mids or whatever i think.

All the best,

Ben

highmtn

"Hearphones" are actually a product that is a pair of earphone-like holders that fit over your ears like a headset, and there is a "cup" on each side that channels more of the acoustical sound of your actual voice into your ears than you normally hear through bone conduction and your unaided, normal-size ears.

To hear approximately what this sounds like, cup both of your hands over your ears, as-if to hear something quiet. You will notice as you speak or sing, you hear your own voice better, because your hands are channeling more of the "room sound" of your voice to your ears, so you hear more of what others hear from your voice, instead of the normal Bone Conduction sound that you hear without cupping your hands over your ears.

They want $50 each for these hearphones. I have seen single-ear versions of the same thing, for a little less money. If you want to hear yourself better, you could probably build something just as good out of a set of blown earphones and some cardboard or plastic tubes for next to nothing. They might not look as good as the hearphones, but you look a little bit silly with $50 hearphones on, too.

Cup your hands over both ears and sing a few exercises. You WILL hear details that help you to discern more in your voice. This could be very beneficial to people with pitch issues.

I just have a little headphone setup with a mic and a mixer, and I can hear similar detail, but it's cool to hear it acoustically by effectively giving yourself giant ears with a hearphone-type setup.

As @nmartinez said, if they help prevent you from oversinging, that would be a good thing. And in a case like that, you would get very tired keeping your hands cupped over your ears for hours every day.

So check it out, and either build your own version, or spring for $50. Most of us are spending around $100 for a good set of recording headphones, so this is an option that may help train your brain to hear your actual voice better and avoid oversinging. You could get crazy with this and build a set using flexible tubing that goes from near the front of your face back to each ear.

bentk

Now i feel stupid. I thought it was just some misspelled word for headphones. My apologies!

Interesting that these exist, i never knew.

highmtn

I made the same mistake. Then I came across the ad for hearphones. I also just came across (by accident) a way to put together a home-made set. A hard-shell case for eyeglasses that I have is a hinged, clamshell design. The two halves are shaped very similar to, maybe even better than the hearphone channels, and the right size to form the channels, and have one end around the ears. Put an elastic band on your head, or a ballcap with the size-adjustment opened up for more room, and voila! Take out the removable felt on the inside of the case, so it's more acoustically reflective.

I would recommend the actual product if you're going to be seen by others. The home-made ones would be better for when nobody is watching.

Alyona

I have beyerdynamic DT 770 pro. They are good! Some people told me they are more like monitors for mixing music more then for the vocal recording. But I use them for both.