[Headphone Jack]

My mom is working hard to get her degree towards a job as a Medical Transcriptionist, but she is having a hard time hearing her medical reports. They are of a very low quality and it's very hard to hear what the docters are saying. A few days ago she had to understand a girl with a thick german accent with inadequate headphones. The reports are of such low quality, and you would think medical professionals would have better sound equipment! 0_0

So here is my question: what is a reasonably priced headphone that has a nuetral sound (not bassy) good for the human voice?

I'm sure she will appreciate any help you can offer!

 

[adanac061]

There is usefull info on this thread...

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=204795

 

[RedLeader]

what do you mean by reasonable, and what style do you want? Are these going to be used in an office, or at home? If she is allowed, an IEM such as the er6i would provide a bunch of isolation to hear things better, as well as being very clear. That means she would have to be alright with IEM, and be willing to spend ~$70 on them. Alternately she could look at some CX300 or something of that nature.

 

[Headphone Jack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedLeader /img/forum/go_quote.gif what do you mean by reasonable, and what style do you want? Are these going to be used in an office, or at home? If she is allowed, an IEM such as the er6i would provide a bunch of isolation to hear things better, as well as being very clear. That means she would have to be alright with IEM, and be willing to spend ~$70 on them. Alternately she could look at some CX300 or something of that nature.

Something that's not to expensive.

I'm afraid that ear canal headphones may be bad for ears. I don't think she would like them either.

 

[Davesrose]

This is the first time I'm going to suggest the Sony MDR-V600.

It's not as popular as it's cousin here, the MDR-V6.....because it has some bloated bass. But it's still transparent enough to understand voices on. I think it may be better suited then the V6, because the V6 isn't as comfortable to wear during extended periods. It's circumaural and is also a closed headphone, so you get some isolation.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is the first time I'm going to suggest the Sony MDR-V600. It's not as popular as it's cousin here, the MDR-V6.....because it has some bloated bass. But it's still transparent enough to understand voices on. I think it may be better suited then the V6, because the V6 isn't as comfortable to wear during extended periods. It's circumaural and is also a closed headphone, so you get some isolation.

Except when we are talking about lowquality recordings and such, they commonly have "oomph" sounds in certain letters, so muddy headphones like V600 is a bad idea IMHO.

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Except when we are talking about lowquality recordings and such, they commonly have "oomph" sounds in certain letters, so muddy headphones like V600 is a bad idea IMHO.

I wouldn't say that the V600 is muddy: not unless they've changed over the years. They were my primary cans in high school and were far from lacking in mids (just looking back, they were a bit on the farty side in the bass department

).

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headphone Jack /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm afraid that ear canal headphones may be bad for ears. I don't think she would like them either.

Quite the contrary! Ear canal earphones are actually better for your ears because the superior isolation allows the user to listen at a lower volume from not having to turn up the volume to compensate for ambient noise. However, IEMs are definitely not for everyone. Have you asked your mom about it?

 

[Headphone Jack]

There are a few Sennheiser's that don't cost much that I was wondering about. The HD201 and 202. Are these comfortable? Do they block external sound well?

 

[Davesrose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headphone Jack /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are a few Sennheiser's that don't cost much that I was wondering about. The HD201 and 202. Are these comfortable? Do they block external sound well?

The HD280 would be better: the 202 is known to be too bassy. The 280s are well regarded studio monitors....so they should have good tonality for voices.

 

[Headphone Jack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quite the contrary! Ear canal earphones are actually better for your ears because the superior isolation allows the user to listen at a lower volume from not having to turn up the volume to compensate for ambient noise. However, IEMs are definitely not for everyone. Have you asked your mom about it?

I just asked her. She wants something that is more cofortable.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davesrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif The HD280 would be better: the 202 is known to be too bassy. The 280s are well regarded studio monitors....so they should have good tonality for voices.

Yeah, and they should isolate well too.

 

[Headphone Jack]

Were a little tight money wise. I had a thought that maybe the Audio Technica M-30s or 40s would be nice.

The 280s may be something to consider though... What's the best place to get em? Are they comfortable?

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headphone Jack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Were a little tight money wise. I had a thought that maybe the Audio Technica M-30s or 40s would be nice. The 280s may be something to consider though... What's the best place to get em? Are they comfortable?

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-...&s=electronics

 

[episiarch]

Of my collection, I find the MDR-SA3000 and SA-5000 give the most intelligibility to lyrics, even when they're covered up by many layers of other stuff going on. I imagine that they or the SA1000 (~$100) would be worth evaluating for transcription. They're very lightweight and comfortable too.