keyboardist looking for headphones for live performance

[mort77]

I own a mackie 1202 vlz3 and play live with multiple keyboards. Sometimes I need a light weight headphone
to hear myself when playing with some bands, Ive tried some models and the volume wasnt loud enough thru my mixer (unless the main mix was turned up) which
is out of the question.Any suggestions for headphone choices or do I need a headphone amp?
Id rather not and I dont want the ear buds!!!

thanks
steve

 

[bakhtiar]

Welcome to head-fi

How about the IEMs? Better noise isolation, comfortable and power efficient.
My suggestion, Westone UM series, UM1, UM2 and UM3X, which are built for musicians.

Thank you.

 

[barleyguy]

You definitely should get something with isolation, so you don't have to drown out the stage mix. The options are either IEM's or closed cans. You could consider the Sennheiser HD280. They have lots of isolation, probably around 30 Db. IMO they aren't very comfortable though. Any closed can with good isolation tends to have a "squeeze your head" feeling.

A headphone amp will allow you to set your own headphone volume, so it's a big advantage. You could go with an NuForce Icon Mobile. It has two gain settings, and will accept a headphone output as input. So you could take the headphone feed you normally get, feed it into the Icon Mobile, and set your own volume on the output.

If you are planning to be on stage long term. you should make an investment in customs. They are the most comfortable and have the best isolation. Plus they look professional because they are what major artists use.

Just some ideas. Lots of other valid options as well.

 

[Crazyguy106]

You should try Sony 7506, it is relatively cheaper but gives a good quality, detailed reference sound and is closed.

 

[mort77]

thats why I need an open headphone concept so I can hear my self via my mixer and the band as well thru the monitors
if its a closed phone I will be shutting out the monitor volume of the band, cant do that any other suggestions
thanks
steve

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mort77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif thats why I need an open headphone concept so I can hear my self via my mixer and the band as well thru the monitors if its a closed phone I will be shutting out the monitor volume of the band, cant do that any other suggestions thanks steve

The way it is normally done is to mix the band's monitor mix into your headphone mix and use closed phones. If you try to use open headphones and match the volume of the stage mix, you will cause yourself major hearing damage.

That said, the open air circumural Sennheisers are good. HD485, HD555, etc. (Yes, my experience and preference tends to be Sennheisers. Other may have other suggestions.) You could also try ported IEM's (they have air ports so they have lower isolation). I believe some of the Etymotics are ported.

EDIT: Another thing you could do, if it is prohibitive to get a monitor feed to your mixer, is to put a condenser mic above your keyboards and aim it at the band, then plug it into your Mackie mixer and blend it in. Then you can use closed headphones and save your ears. If your main mix is going to the PA, you should be able to set your headphones to a bus channel. Or send the bus channel to the PA and use the main mix just for your headphones. That would also give you separate volume control.

EDIT: I just looked at the 1202 VLZ mixer at Mackie's site. What I would recommend is getting a headphone amp and plugging it into the AUX SEND 1,2 output. Then you can do a totally different headphone mix from the main mix. Then get closed phones or IEM's, and mix in the band using a condenser mic or a feed from the monitors. (The AUX SEND will be a +4 volume level, so you'll need to turn it way down to keep from overdriving a consumer headphone amp. Or get a pro audio headphone amp with +4 inputs, such as Behringer or Samson.)

 

[mort77]

Why didnt I think of that. how do you do it?
when the main board is so far away
thats the best suggestion.
I dont need substantial volume just a little more than
Im getting, the monitors just arent enough, I used to have
the koss portapro since it was light- weight and opened
but they just needed a little bit more volume
thats all, for my keyboards. Their not really
made for this type of venue, so i wanted something a little more professional ,just with a little more volume does the''ohms" in a phone make a difference?

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mort77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why didnt I think of that. how do you do it? when the main board is so far away thats the best suggestion. I dont need substantial volume just a little more than Im getting, the monitors just arent enough, I used to have the koss portapro since it was light- weight and opened but they just needed a little bit more volume thats all, for my keyboards. Their not really made for this type of venue, so i wanted something a little more professional ,just with a little more volume does the''ohms" in a phone make a difference?

Yes, the ohms make a difference. If the impedence of the headphones is lower than the output of the amp, there will be different resistance at different frequencies, so the frequency response won't be right. They may lose their bass, or get excessive treble, or something of that sort. So ideally you want the impedence of the amp to be equal or lower than the impedence of the phones. Though if they are pretty close it will work fine.

If you look at your 1202-VLZ, you'll see a pair of outputs labeled "AUX SEND" near the middle at the top. If you hook a headphone amp to those outputs, you can control your headphone mix with the red "1" and "2" knobs above each channel. Then you could hook a condenser mic to one of the input channels (Mic 4 for example), and then mute it on the main mix but mix it in on the headphone mix.

 

[mort77]

thanks a lot you have been most helpful