I won’t show the box here because I had to tear it to get at the headphones. But I can tell the K371s over ear closed headphones sounded nearly as good as my trusty ATH M50Xs when I listened to the Bob Mintzer big band, my favourite big band …

Bob Minzter Big Band - Original People - YouTube

First listening, the K371 soundstage sounded great probably because the high frequency is slightly emphasised over the M50X. But the result is close and they’ll make a great birthday present for my young teenage grandson who’s just starting on his sound journey.

Cheers.

Gosh, I dunno Alan. An unboxing really needs to have photos of the box and all.

So far we're taking your word on this one. :-)

Andrew

I have a friend works at the Opera House in Sydney - her job title doesn't reflect what she does, this confused me greatly. I'm getting a bit worried our antipodean friends are doing things very differently to us Brits, but in a perfectly practical way?

Perhaps we need more of these 'different' YouTube videos?

Unboxing videos is a new one I need to remember. I hate ordinary unboxing videos, but I really loved this one - us Brits tend to make the box the focus, and that's always so boring, they also finish just as the item is ready to be used - infuriating. These new Australian unboxing are great - keep on showing us what the item is used for - brilliant concept. I expect there are a few Rode mics on that stage too - so maybe we could have another unboxing video on the one on the piano, if it's a Rode?

Keep them coming!
P

Re: the general concept of "unboxing" - I agree it's frustrating to see somebody take a cool piece of kit out of the box, and then not get to see it in use!

Re: the video - Great band! And the recording is also excellent. They are using pretty standard mics for most of the band. Sennheiser MD421 mics on the saxes, ElectroVoice EV RE20 mics for the trombones and Beyer mics on the trumpets. I also saw the ubiquitous Shure SM57 in there somewhere. I can't quite tell what they are using on the piano and drum overhead, presumably small diaphragm condensers, but the recording sounds great.

Andrew I got it out of the rubbish took a 3MB JPEG photo but it’s blocked ‘upload failed.’ As much as I tried I couldn’t unbox the K371 cans out without tearing the box apart and believe me I did try. The main reason was, if I wanted to return them to Amazon Aust. for some reason, so you can call that a fault with the product.

Yep Rob, the Bob Mintzer big band is something else, his writing is excellent and their recordings in the MCG hall are all top class. There’s more on Utube and they’re all available on CD. Bob plays an Eastman 52nd Street tenor sax which I follow as well. In my younger days I played a silver Conn B flat tenor and reached the cross roads, professional tenor player or recording studio. The studio won, more lucrative.

Cheers.

Same with me Allan - The years I spent in a tribute band certainly didn't make me rich. When I joined I told them I would be missing every year from November to January because it's pantomime season, and managing those made me more money than music did in the rest of the year. Oddly, the musicians in the orchestra were the only ones who had a decent union and decent rates.

Interesting Paul, our regular summer gig was the Bondi Beach surf club dance but we never got paid much anywhere, the reason the guys in our band have moved on now. I’ve lost touch.

Years ago I read where when you use headphones you transfer bacteria into your ears. So every now and then before use, I wipe my earphones with new tissues lightly sprayed with hand sanitiser, and ALWAYS wipe them after each use to dry off the ear sweat. I credit doing that to the ongoing 5 year life of the ear leather on my ATH M50x headphones.

Guys, here’s my other favourite Bob Mintzer big band track, Timeless. Great recording with 3 flutes and 2 clarinets front line, Bob’s writing is just superb …

Bob Mintzer Big Band - Timeless - YouTube

Cheers.

The absolute worst is having to put in IEM earpiece quickly, with a few minutes before your first note, live on TV to discover the ones you have in your hand are not yours, but somebody else’s complete with somebody else’s ear wax! That is pretty unpleasant. From that day on, mine remained hung around my neck, just in case.

Another great recording of a great song.

I guess in the first video I overlooked the two "band" mics used. They are also in the second one. Those appear to be maybe Neumann U87s? Whatever they use, they use them well!

I'm a trombone player and drummer myself but also chose to have a "day job".

Hi Rob. Both those 2 UTube tracks are from the same MCG Pittsburgh concert …
https://mcgjazz.bandcamp.com/album/bob-mintzer-big-band-live-at-mcg

I understand the MCG recording people feed all their mics to a 24 track and select those 2 overhead U87s to add some soundstage to their final mix. In Timeless I thought the trombonist solo was to close to the Electrovoice RE20 and he’d overload it, but he didn’t.

I’ve got all Bob Mintzers CDs … https://mcgjazz.bandcamp.com
Over the years Bobs writing and his band recordings have improved a lot. I wouldn’t buy any very early CDs.

Download and have fun with this Bob Mintzer app, you can record your own trombone solo … https://petererskine.com/app/mintzer-big-band-essentials/

Cheers.

Thanks for pointing me to the app, Allan. I may just download it and give it a try! I love that Peter Erskine is a part of it. He's been one of my drumming favorites since I saw him with the Stan Kenton Orchestra in about 1970 or 1971. And I see that the MCG concert has Kurt Elling as a special guest. I recently went to one of his concerts. He has unbelievable vocal control and great ideas as a singer.

Rob, those guys are worth listening to, Kurt Elling has an unusual style, he and his trio recently appeared here in Melbourne for an engagement, hopefully they’ll come to Sydney.

I’d recommend that Bob Mintzer app to anyone studying a wind, brass, double bass or percussion instrument, the charts for each song are there and you can record your own solo on the spare track.

Today Bob Mintzers thing is teaching … https://www.mymusicmasterclass.com/premiumvideos/bob-mintzer-saxophone-masterclass-1/

I bet he’s also helped sell a few Eastman 52nd Street saxophones too.
Cheers.

For Bob Mintzer big band fans here’s another great concert, this time in Cologne and it looks like Tina Fey is on alto sax and flute :) Where would you see all German Neumann mics, in Germany of course, but with U.S. made Roya ribbon mics on the trombones, that shows how respected they are.

For those with limited time, a good performance is Folk Song at 26:36 …

WDR BIG BAND welcomes Bob Mintzer - Concert Part 1/3 - YouTube

Cheers.