Headphones for live music?

[AOD_Anvil]

Hey gents! Hope to pick you brain about headphones for live music performance. Basically my church is setup each week in a school gym, and the headphones we have right now are falling apart. While working the sound board when the music team is playing it's nice to be able to listen in to each individual channel to hear what each instrument or vocalist is putting out so that I can temper that into the house mix. I'm looking to replace the crappy headphones we have with a nice over-ear new set of headphones. They need to be very durable (lots of use, can take a beating), able to withstand loud / live sounds without blowing (sometimes the lines come through pretty hot because our board is old and not all channels output the same...yeah I know it's sad lol), and able to be reasonably good quality. Ideally comes with a 6.3mm jack or a converter for a 3.5mm to 6.3mm since that's what the board takes. If the headphones come with a mic on a separate XLR cable then that'd be great too because it would be nice to listen in and be able to speak back to the band although this isn't a must have. I'm looking to spend around $100 CAD for the headphones. Any suggestions are very welcome :)

Thanks!
-Anvil

[AOD_Anvil]

Just saw this review from Zed...

Just received a package from Amazon and boy oh boy I was surprised when I opened it as I thought it's my other stuff that I ordered. Inside the package I found my new headphones Philips A5Pro
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-A5Pro...=philips+a5pro

These headphones will replace my Razer Kraken Pro so called "Gaming" headsets. These where my first ever gaming headsets and I will never ever buy any gaming headsets again. This was my worst experience ever. I always used DJ Headphones + Mic since as early as 2001 but for some reason a year ago decided to try so called "Gaming" headsets and was just spitting all year until finally I gave up and ordered new DJ Headphones designed in collaboration with the best DJ in the World, Armin Van Buuren.

I don't even know where to start with pros and cons. Well there are no cons to begin with.
Pros:
1) Built quality is outstanding. It's ALL ALUMINIUM. There is literally no plastic anywhere on the frame or even ear-caps.
2) Comfortable headband cushion is genuine leather with stitching on the side that kinda creates that old school image. Absolutely love it.
3) Despite aluminium build, they are very light. Compared to my Krane Pro, they are lighter. Amazing, isn't it?
4) Cable is detachable and can be attached both sides.
5) Cable has 3.5mm connector and comes along with detachable 6.5mm adapter (just screw it on).
6) Cable is quite long. It is 1.3 meter cable with coiled section extending to 4.7 meter.
7) Sound is clean and has flat equalizer. This was the most important part for me cause Razer Kraken and most gaming headsets are tweaked and have horrible, horrible sound when equalizer is flat. With these headphones you can hear the soundtrack the way it was meant to be heard. If you want more bass then you can simply adjust equalizer, if you want to tweak any specific sound to stand out then you can do that easily by tweaking equalizer on your device. Something that I was missing for quite some time. They also work perfectly fine on any smartphone. There is a night and day between Razer Kraken Pro and Philips A5Pro when you plug them in your smartphone to listen for some music.
8) Extremely portable. The fold nicely and take very little space + cable can be detached and placed separately.
10) Ear cushions can be replaced with any size you like (small, medium, large). They come off very easy. Just twist in one direction and off they go.
11) Ear caps can be also replaced with custom design that you can order if you like to make it personal.

In summary, I can say bye bye to my Razer Kraken Pro and to gaming headsets all together.

Would be great, but a bit above my price range at $179 CAD. If there's similar for around $80 less that would be good. I'll also see on my side if I can somehow drum up an additional $79.

Thx!

[ZED]

Just saw this review from Zed...



Would be great, but a bit above my price range at $179 CAD. If there's similar for around $80 less that would be good. I'll also see on my side if I can somehow drum up an additional $79.

Thx!

I know these Sony would be a little bit over your budget but still close enough to $100 CAD. I've used Sony MDR series in the past and they are durable and have a good sound quality. My friend is a Musician and he has similar to these (maybe a bit older model) and he said they are pretty decent for the price.
https://www.amazon.ca/Sony-MDR7506-P...words=sony+mdr


Since you are in Canada, I would also recommend to check out this Store:
https://www.long-mcquade.com/departm...Headphones.htm

[Hymn]

For this purpose you definitely need reference headphones and an xlr microphone separately.
Headsets will have some of their budget focused on the microphone which means lower performance in headphones. Unless you are broadcasting and need all the frequencies in your voice to sound beautiful at the cost of headphone quality, stay away from these.
This will also afford you a spare xlr mic.

For talkback to different auxiliaries - any mic will do. If you have deaf musicians, put your 2-3kHz over theirs XD.
I recommend looking at other churches for spares / used mics you can purchase. A lot of people won't throw away old mics when they purchase new ones, so you should be able to pickup very good deals.



You want closed, over-the-ear headphones to drown out the house, and you want them light-weight, so that they don't hurt after use. They need to be reference headphones - as in flat, playing all frequencies at equal volumes (or as close to that as you can get in your budget). - so they won't sound good compared to others when listening to music through them, but obviously if it sounds good in the headphones and bad in the house / foldbacks, it isn't going to work. So you want your headphones as accurate as possible. Whilst 3.5mm with a 1/4 inch adapter can work, going straight 1/4'' is fine too. 1/4'' has more resistance so can handle more current from your hot lines.

There are no cheap headphones in the world that will have high quality and withstand a beating. The budget will either go to outer materials or inside components.
I recommend you get headphones which perform better, so that you can do a better job, and then put them in a protection box when they are not being used. This is not just so that they don't get damaged, but also so that they are not stolen!! This is also helpful for transporting extra equipment - as you get it - safely, without it being squashed under someone's bag or something. Equipment being moved around / on the stage needs to be durable, people will tap mics, drop mics, put amps on cables bla bla, but back behind the sound-desk - that should be a sanctuary. you should be able to afford to have good equipment there.


Make sure you label the channels based on their outputs, easiest way is a strip of masking tape, and write on it. You should also document any limits, eg. channel 5 is has low resistance, don't push it past +20 dB.
Put the vocalists / kick drum / bass / guitars / pc on your best channels. ENSURE good practice of setting sensitivity low, at the start, is followed as well as muting & unmuting channels when changing cables. Lines that are too hot need to be padded.
If you send too much signal to any device, this will void your warranty.


Price wise - for live sound engineering, you don't want to be paying for studio recording headphones. These really are for identification, and maybe quick monitor mixing when the musicians are communicating there's a problem are you have an auxiliary in another room / in-ear monitors. You should be listening to the big several hundred if not thousand dollar house speakers rather than the small fifty dollar speakers in the headphones.


So this all being said:


My microphone recommendation, any microphone since mid 80s.

My headphone recommendation, the AKG K72 for $40 to $50 USD.
https://www.google.ca/shopping/produ...49139281398714

Compared to the K92:
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-QSymUi...s-AKG-K92.html

The K92 has a greater frequency of 16Hz-22kHz rather than 16Hz-20kHz.
So unless you are focused between 20-22K, the I recommend the K72. Also the K72 has a 2 year warranty compared to the 1 year warranty on the K92, which says that the manufacturer thinks that the durability of the components in the K72 will last twice as long as the components in the K92.


Headset review:
https://www.whathifi.com/akg/k72/review


I recommend you read reviews on other headsets too, particularly the audio technicia ATH-M30x.

I have only used them a few times, several years ago, when someone has brought in a pair, they both do an excellent job,

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-c9wFSW...-ATH-M30x.html


The M30x have a greater frequency response of 15Hz-22kHz at the cost of sound performance, by 16dB on average. This and them being $20 more is why I recommended the K72.
The M30x have active noise cancelling, which I've never used, they are definitely more durable, the extra $20 does go into the frame for sure. They are foldable and come with a case, you can fold them and put them in your jacket. The M30x is rated 15 Ohms higher, so it can take more current from your dodgy lines. So this may be the set for you.

I recommend the K72 as it is $20 cheaper, has the extra 16dB sound quality, I feel 15Hz and 22Hz are not used in live sound applications. And I wouldn't recommend paying more for headphones over fixing bad sound practices, such as starting with low sensitivity.

Also, if you are using headphones, starting low is a must, if you want to save your hearing - most sound engineers go deaf because they had the headphones up.


Personally, I would get the K72, and use the extra $20 on other equipment, both definitely do the job excellently,

[Master Butters]

They aren't over the ear headphones, and I'm sure they're over budget when translated to CAD, but I'd recommend getting the Shure SE-215 in-ear monitors. At around $100 USD, they sound killer, have extreme sound isolation (I've walked outside with them in while listening to music at a relatively low volume and couldn't hear vehicles around me). I use them at band practice mainly, and the drummer is pretty muted unless we mic him up. Since they are monitors, they have a relatively flat EQ to them which would be good if you're at the mixer console.

[AOD_Anvil]

Thanks everyone! I have it narrowed down to 2 headphones. Having a hard time deciding which would be best. I'm between the K72 and the M30X. I like the others but the price point on these will be my deciding factor. I like the look of the M30X better than the K72 but I think the K72 might be the better headphones. We have some that look like the K72's now but they are old and dying and very uncomfortable. I am leaning towards the M30's. :p

Butters, thanks for the recco. I think something like that would be better for the musicians more than the sound guy. :)

[AOD_Anvil]

Cant edit my post. Since Im in Canada the MX30s are $99 so just at the top of my price range. So may go with the K72s since they are $70 at L&M

[AOD_Hainzy58]

If you are still looking for a pair of headphones let me know I have a brand new pair of status audio studio monitoring headphones I can sell you for $60 and I am in Canada as well, best sound I have heard from a set of studio headphones at the price I paid _(129.99) I have a pair of m50x so these have been sitting at the house they are all yours if you want them. I literally used them for 13 days then audio technica sent me the M50x to test out here is the link to them :) https://thestatusaudio.com/products/ob1


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[AOD_Anvil]

If you are still looking for a pair of headphones let me know I have a brand new pair of status audio studio monitoring headphones I can sell you for $60 and I am in Canada as well, best sound I have heard from a set of studio headphones at the price I paid _(129.99) I have a pair of m50x so these have been sitting at the house they are all yours if you want them. I literally used them for 13 days then audio technica sent me the M50x to test out here is the link to them :) https://thestatusaudio.com/products/ob1


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Thanks mate, already picked up the K72ès...but I appreciate the offer!

[AOD_Hainzy58]

My pleasure man!


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