Headphones?
 

Are headphones headphones? I mean are there some just for music and some just for vocals? I am looking at the Senn HD280 and the Bose noise canceling headphones but there is about a $200 difference in the two. Just wondering if the Senn's would be good enough for in-camera monitoring.

Oh for sure the HD280 Pro's will be absolutely good enough. They're very nice headphones. Sony 7506 are also very much a 'standard' for monitoring.

Not only would the Senns be as good, they'd be better IMHO. The Bose electronically processes the signal to achieve their noise reduction and that will reduce the accuracy of what you hear. They may be great for listening for pleasure, but they're not going to be appropriate for recording and critical monitoring.

There is a reason you'll find most audio geeks quoting
"No highs, no lows; That's BOSE."

Not just a joke, it's reality.
Bose headphones are great for flying, pleasure listening, and for pilots, etc in noisy environments....but lousy for the kind of work we do.

any headphones you guys ReALLY suggest?

As mentioned earlier, the Sony 7506 is the standard of the industry. Not the best, far from the worst, but a benchmark from which most audio geeks are familiar with.

Spot, are the 7506 the same as the venerable V6? And how do they compare to the V600? I think it's time to replace my ratty V6 from the late 80's...! Still pumping out good sound but falling apart otherwise.

Thanks for the Laugh, that's great.

Other than connectors, they're identical. 7506 is gold connector...

In my experience the HD280 Pro cans are flatter than the 7506s, which are a bit scooped. For mixing (and, yes, there are problems with mixing on headphones) the Senns are better. For general listening the 7506s are better. For live tracking and video recording, both can work. Some prefer the 7506s for live work, because the scooped sound can cut through the leaked outside sound a bit better.

Both are a steal for just under $100, considering the cost of high quality monitors.

I agree with your assessment Spot. Though I have
never plugged in Sennheiser phones to any of my
camcorders, one thing to ask is how loud do the
Sennheisers, or AKG or Etymotic get? The 7506s
are pretty efficient and get pretty loud which many
times is (unfortunately) necessary. Sony offers a
model with a heavy duty shell and 7506 guts that
has better isolation for another hundo.

Another thing that should give you a clue about Bose - I challenge you to find an actual SPECIFICATION anywhere in their literature, nor will you get one from talking to their people. Their idea of a "spec" is words like "fantastic", "unbelievable", "incredible", "wonderful", (pick any superlative adjective out of the dictionary, and you'll likely find it under "specifications" in Bose's lonely little world)

Sennheiser and Sony, by comparison, use terms like "27 dB" (gee, what's that strange language??!?)

Laughingly... Steve

(Also use Sony and Senn for phones, both are great)

7506's
 

7506's were a good first pair for me and would recommend.

Jon Bufkin
http://www.jonbufkin.com