Help choosing earphones to protect ears and play music through

K

KrazyGrenade

Junior Member
I have an acoustic drum set, been playing for about a year and a half. I am looking into getting a pair of earphones that will help protect my hearing as well as allow me to drum along with music. I have been searching around for what suits my needs best and I'm somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of choices. I have never spent money on a quality pair of earphones before and I find mixed reviews on every pair I found. I was looking at the Beyerdynamic DT770Ms and those looked nice, but are somewhat pricey. I am willing to shell out that much money if it's worth it, but I figure there are other great headphones for cheaper. Sennheiser seems to have more affordable earphones that are great, specifically I looked at HD280 Pro set and also the HD448. However I would really love to be able to wear my earphones for extended periods of time and I found a lot of people who thought these Sennheiser's were uncomfortable. I'm not dead set on circumaural either. I saw a few people recommending IEM's but I don't know much about them. Anyways. I only have three major needs, in this order.

1. Protect my hearing
2. Ability to play along with music I love
3. Ability to enjoy listening to music (I figure if I'm spending a lot of money on these I better get some enjoyment out of listening haha)

Any responses are greatly appreciated, directing me where I can do my own research is just as good as offering brands or products that you think are worth it. Thanks!

*note* I also saw people recommending headphone amplifiers if your going to be spending money on a good pair of earphones. I have never even heard of these before so any info on amplifiers is excellent as well! thanks
 
I don't think he's necessarily looking for in-ear monitors.

My favorite headphone is the Sony MDR-7506. Absolutely clear sounding and not painful to wear. Gordy Knudtsen (drummer) developed the GK Music UltraPhones, which are the same Sony headphones, fitted into a pair of Peltor Shooting headphones. Very comfortable, and blocks outside noise up to 26 dB. With these, you can actually turn your music down while you're playing your drums along with them.

The problem with drummers is that they get headphones, and because of the bleed-in from the outside, they keep turning the headphones up. Now you have this speaker just outside your ear and you keep turning it up because you can't hear the music you're playing along to. Good way to lose your hearing. Improper use of in-ear monitors (earbuds like with an iPod) will kill your hearing in a shorter amount of time because now you have a device stuck in your ear canal and there's no where for the sound to go except to bang against your ear drums. Super stupid way to lose your hearing.

With these shooters headphones blocking everything else out, you can turn the music down to a comfortable level and play along, saving your hearing. Vic Firth also makes something like it, but it doesn't sound as good, but it's alot cheaper.

In-ears are OK, but there's the hassle of putting them in correctly and then there's a maintenance cost as you now have to replace the parts that stick in your ears (I also have Shure E2c in-ear monitors and they come with a number of sleeves to fit correctly into your ear. I keep a stock of what I like, which costs money).

I would recommend looking at the GK Music UltraPhones. They really are the best for what you're looking for, and they do make great casual listening headphones too.
 
Wow, thanks for the responses, particularly Bo Eder! The Sony MDR-7506 look great, especially the price! If I interpreted your explanation correctly these are essentially the IEM's everyone is recommending fitted into a circumaural headset. Thats exactly what I want and reviews look great. I appreciate that in depth explanation about why circumaural are a better choice. I get to block out noise and hear my music without blasting it. That makes perfect sense. I'm going to continue to do some research and give it at least a week so that I am sure these are the ones for me. Keep the responses coming :)

Bo Eder's last sentence did kind of confuse me though. You were explaining why the Sony MDR-7506 were the best for my needs throughout the post, but you ended saying the GK music ultraphones were the best for what I was looking for. Is it because the Ultraphones are the best, and the Ultraphones are housed inside of the Peltor Shooting headset? (which would create the Sony MDR-7506) or because I should get a completely separate pair of ultraphones. Just need some clarification on that one. Thanks!
 
KrazyGrenade said:
Wow, thanks for the responses, particularly Bo Eder! The Sony MDR-7506 look great, especially the price! If I interpreted your explanation correctly these are essentially the IEM's everyone is recommending fitted into a circumaural headset. Thats exactly what I want and reviews look great. I appreciate that in depth explanation about why circumaural are a better choice. I get to block out noise and hear my music without blasting it. That makes perfect sense. I'm going to continue to do some research and give it at least a week so that I am sure these are the ones for me. Keep the responses coming :)

Bo Eder's last sentence did kind of confuse me though. You were explaining why the Sony MDR-7506 were the best for my needs throughout the post, but you ended saying the GK music ultraphones were the best for what I was looking for. Is it because the Ultraphones are the best, and the Ultraphones are housed inside of the Peltor Shooting headset? (which would create the Sony MDR-7506) or because I should get a completely separate pair of ultraphones. Just need some clarification on that one. Thanks!
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Sorry for the confusion. The Ultraphones are the Sony headphones built into a Peltor shooters headset. Which is why I explained the Sony MDR's in the first place. So if you get one or both, the drivers are the same. I'm assuming if you went shopping you'd be getting one or the other, since the Ultraphones cost about $300 (I think I paid $350 for mine years ago), and the Sony's are a little over $100. Since you're talking about using them while you play drums, then the Ultraphones are what you want. The Sony's by themselves are great for casual listening where you're not trying to block out the outside sounds. Hope that clears things up.
 
I understand completely now. Those look like everything I was searching for. Thanks for your help Bo. I'll update this thread with a review when I receive them (after Christmas).
Thanks everyone else too!
 
I have the Monster Cable Turbines, which are on sale right now at Musicians Friend for 100 bucks. They come with all different kinds of ear buds and cancel out a lot of outside noise. One thing you can do if you want to protect your ears even more, which this is what I do sometimes, is put the monsters in and put some hearing protection ear muffs that you can get at the hardware store over them and you can turn the music way down. Let us know what you decide on.
 
I have the Sennheiser 480, which I bought for the same reasons as yours.
I found it to be comfortable when playing, but not for sitting around (I don't notice it when I'm playing, its just a bit tight)
It also has to be turned up very loud to drown out the drums, which kind of negates the effect of protecting my ears, so I wouldn't recommend them.
 
laxation said:
I have the Sennheiser 480, which I bought for the same reasons as yours.
I found it to be comfortable when playing, but not for sitting around (I don't notice it when I'm playing, its just a bit tight)
It also has to be turned up very loud to drown out the drums, which kind of negates the effect of protecting my ears, so I wouldn't recommend them.
Click to expand...

They had to be turned up because the HD480 is an open back design that has very little attenuation for the room itself. Choose a closed back headphone for much better ear protection.

Dennis
 
So I have been using my Gk-Music Ultraphones for a little over two weeks now and I love them! They do everything I wanted. I can play my drums and also listen to my music no problem, and I never have to crank the volume up to even 25%. These are perfect for others that have the same needs that I did, although you can definitely save yourself some cash and just purchase some decent ear buds and wear ear protectors from the hardware store over them. Less comfortable, but the same results. If you are looking for ear protectors / headphones though, these are a great buy! They are very very comfortable too. I wear them for hours at a time without my ears getting tired, they clamp tightly around your head, but not to a point where it is uncomfortable. Solid overall.
 
Hiya,

I went through this same issue about a year back. What I did was save up for two overheads, snare and bass mic. I put that through a cheap desk (around £60 - UK) and then also plug into it my ipod. My headphones (can't remember brand or number, look when I get home) pretty much cut out all the outnoise.
Then I mix the mics and add in the ipod to play along to. There is a master volume which allows me to hear myself play and the music at a level that is safe. Also because the headphones cut off so much of the outside world, use them on busy trains etc.

When I get home, will post pictures with more explanations to help. Added bonus is that as I come now looking to record myself play to tracks and as part of a band, 80% of the stuff I need I have in mics etc.
 
KrazyGrenade said:
So I have been using my Gk-Music Ultraphones for a little over two weeks now and I love them! They do everything I wanted. I can play my drums and also listen to my music no problem, and I never have to crank the volume up to even 25%. These are perfect for others that have the same needs that I did, although you can definitely save yourself some cash and just purchase some decent ear buds and wear ear protectors from the hardware store over them. Less comfortable, but the same results. If you are looking for ear protectors / headphones though, these are a great buy! They are very very comfortable too. I wear them for hours at a time without my ears getting tired, they clamp tightly around your head, but not to a point where it is uncomfortable. Solid overall.
Click to expand...

Great Thread KrazyGrenade! GREAT TIP BO!
At this point in my drumming ressurection - I too am concerned about preserving my hearing and quality audio reproduction. Could you tell me where to get these and the price?
Thanks!
 
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