[Robert11]

Hello,

Would appreciate some advice regarding which Headphones I should consider.
Probably a bit different requirement than what you folks are used to, as I'm not interested in music fidelity.

Headphones would be used with a shortwave receiver radio.

These radios have, at best, pretty mediocre sound quality.
Also, the output is monaural.

Still, I would like to preserve whatever sound "quality" there is.

Also, the few I've tried at R/S were all uncomfortable initially, or promised to be after a short while.

Guess I'm after something very, very lightweight, and extremely comfortable for "long" periods. Nice, soft foam covers would be great, too.

Adjustability would be nice, as well as something that wouldn't break in a month or so. Around a $50 limit, or so.

I like the true classical "Headphones" style (over each ear with the headband), as the in-the-ear, or behind the ear, styles do not seem to suit me.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Philliesfan]

Most modern shortwave radios have a stereo jack, so you might want to check yours to make sure. If not, it's easy enough to buy a mono to stereo plug, so that's not a problem.

I listen to a lot of shortwave and DX (old telegraph abbreviation for distance transmission) on the medium wave band and you can use any decent headphone and be fairly happy with it. It's usually overkill to use really good phones because the medium is definitely low fidelity and you are often forced to endure other broadcasters on nearby frequencies crashing in on your signal, usually with just the highest frequencies splashing over. Really good headphones will just reproduce that really well, which can get tiring. That's why most DXers use fairly low fidelity phones.

There are some sold especially for that purpose known as communications headphones that are limited in frequency range and designed to emphasize the human voice. Ham radio manufacturers sell them, but I have found they are not worth the premium price when you are listening to shortwave or ham transmissions. Radio shack even sells one of these things for their scanners. It's the Pro-100 and it's a big, plastic over the ear closed affair with a mono plug and a built in volume control. I have one I bought on clearance once, and, frankly don't use it very often. There's nothing wrong with it, but it isn't very comfortable. I have found that the cheap, very comfortable headphones that came with sony or panasonic CD players or radios work very well, even if they are not voice-emphasizing.

Another issue concerns the impedance of your headphones. Some tube-type communications receivers were designed for high impedance phones and sound terrible through low impedance ones. Ear Hugger makes a maxi-life series of phones supposedly to extend your battery life that are actually 300 Ohm phones and they work well on those receivers. They also work fine on my portable shortwave radios that have 8 ohm output circuits.

Bottom line, though, is there really is no special phone for shortwave. Try what you have at hand and don't expect too much. AM or Medium Wave Radio is super high fidelity compared to most shortwave broadcasts, since they often have to bounce once or twice off the ionosphere and ocean before reaching your radio.

 

[The Other Allen]

Low quality voice signal, no need to sound great with music -- I would suggest the Sony MDR-V150, which is can be had for ~$20 in a retail setting and perhaps cheaper if you shop around on-line. Fairly comfortable and reasonably durable. I found them to work well with talk radio recordings. Good luck.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Actually, high quality headphones do help with SWL. On occasion, I'll plug the HD-800 into the IC-756ProII and go for a spin around the dial. It's amazing how you can pick out faint signals with sensitive headphones. I've also had good luck with a Hammarlund HQ-129X, which is a tubed vintage model.

For the OP, I'd look for a pair of Sony MDR-V6 cans. They're used in a lot of commercial stations and for pro work. Check sonystyle.com (Sony's site) to see if they have any refurbished ones at a good price.

Another headphone worth seeking is the Beyerdynamic DT48. They're about $300 new but can be found under $100 used. The DT48 is frighteningly revealing and spot-on with the human voice.