Need Help with Headphone Specs

[jackajesusfreak]

I have 3 sets of headphones I'm looking at. I am familiar with all the specs except for the following ones. Not sure what these numbers mean and if high is better or low is better:

 

 

 

#1 #2 #3

 

 

 

Freq 12 - 22 20 - 22 30 - 20

 

 

 

Nominal Imp 32ohms 32ohms 40ohms

[jwlussow]

I assume you mean

 

12 to 22k

 

20 to 22k

 

30 to 22k

 

Is that correct?

 

How is your hearing? I doubt if many working musicians will hear the difference in the first two. My hearing is bad enough that I probably couldn

[agedhorse]

Listen to them. Comfort of fit is more important than any of the specs you mentioned. Way more important.

[jackajesusfreak]

 

I assume you mean   12 to 22k   20 to 22k   30 to 22k   Is that correct?   How is your hearing? I doubt if many working musicians will hear the difference in the first two. My hearing is bad enough that I probably couldn

[Dogoth]

 

Listen to them. Comfort of fit is more important than any of the specs you mentioned. Way more important.

 

 

Yes forget specs. Listen to them and wear them and then decide. Their use is what dictates what you want in a headphone. I like AKG K240s or better for studio use. You can wear them for hours without discomfort and they sound great (although the older 600 ohm versions must have a HP amp with a lot of voltage gain or they sometimes don't get loud enough for a ballsy vocalist (and never for a drummer).

 

For live use I live the Sony MDRXXX phones because they isolate adequatly, you can easily fold one ear up and use only one side for a PFL monitor (the folding action makes them really compact to store away with out damage as well) and they'll get louder than snot (if you're in a noisy enough environment to need it). IMO they are WAY on the bright side so not good for critical mixing but for SR they are just the ticket. I also like the Beyer DTXXX almost as much as the Sonys. IMO they sound much better and isolate better but the folding option of the Sonys is a huge plus.

 

That's just my preferences. I have listened to some high end Grado's and loved the way they sounded (they were quite comfortable too). I understand that AT makes some great headphones although I haven't had a chance to try them.

 

There are lots of choices out there but as I said it depends on their primary use.

 

That's my .02

[Dogoth]

 

What about the ohms? What exactly does that mean?

 

 

The ohms only really has to do with the number of phones a single headphone amp can drive before distorting badly. The extreme ends of the spectrum (8 ohms as compared to 600 ohms) can be an indicator of sensitivity (efficiency) but amongst those that you're looking at, it probably won't make much difference (ohms/impedence isn't the only factor that predicts efficiency).

[jackajesusfreak]

 

Yes forget specs. Listen to them and wear them and then decide. Their use is what dictates what you want in a headphone. I like AKG K240s or better for studio use. You can wear them for hours without discomfort and they sound great (although the older 600 ohm versions must have a HP amp with a lot of voltage gain or they sometimes don't get loud enough for a ballsy vocalist (and never for a drummer). For live use I live the Sony MDRXXX phones because they isolate adequatly, you can easily fold one ear up and use only one side for a PFL monitor (the folding action makes them really compact to store away with out damage as well) and they'll get louder than snot (if you're in a noisy enough environment to need it). IMO they are WAY on the bright side so not good for critical mixing but for SR they are just the ticket. I also like the Beyer DTXXX almost as much as the Sonys. IMO they sound much better and isolate better but the folding option of the Sonys is a huge plus. That's just my preferences. I have listened to some high end Grado's and loved the way they sounded (they were quite comfortable too). I understand that AT makes some great headphones although I haven't had a chance to try them. There are lots of choices out there but as I said it depends on their primary use. That's my .02

 

 

Thanks JR. These are the 2 I'm looking at for live use. I want to try and stay around 30 bucks. I go into nursing homes and entertain. I'm running a drum machine, and acoustic electric guitar, and harmony box through a PA. My PA has a headphones out and since I am always behind the speakers, I need to monitor myself. Here are two that I was looking at:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AUDIO-TECHNICA-ATH-M20-CLOSED-BACK-DJ-HEADPHONES-/300462296973?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f4f2cf8d

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-T22-Dynamic-Headphones-/140357203906?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20adf0f7c2

[jwlussow]

Have you ever considered earbuds? As a solo musician, wearing cans can put an imaginary wall between you and the audience. The less visible they are the less isolated the audience will feel. This, of course, is just my opinion but I always had a problem with performers that wore headphones when they are performing for me, especially solo performers. You can get a decent pair of earbuds pretty cheap and you can find them in your price range.