Alternatives for 7506s?

J

jaimepresto

New member
Hi there!

I'm in the market for some headphones for use with a DVX100B. Most of my shooting will be very much of the run-and-gun variety, so I was wondering of anyone could suggest some decent quality headphones that are less bulky than the 7506s. Clearly they're great 'phones, but I need something more compact but with as little compromise on sound quality as possible. I have no particular brand allegiance, and anything under $100 would be great.

Cheers in advance,
J
 
Cheers! They look great, soundwise, but I'm not a big fan of the buds. I'm not sure my anatomy allows them! Anyone else have any ideas?
 
Earbuds are just a pain for field production unless you really need to completely cut external noise. The 7506's fold up pretty compact and if it sounds clean on the 7506's, your audio is gold. The 7506's are also pretty bombproof and it's really easy to destroy lightweight phones. I wouldn't want *anything* with less isolation than the 7506's.
 
7506's are the only real production phones I've owned, so I don't have much to compare them to. But I've found them to be pretty light and comfy. At least compared to the old Monkey Ward set I used to use ;)

It's one of the few pieces of gear I own that I have never considered replacing.
 
Cheers everyone!

Looks like the 7506's are the way to go. I'm sure I'd end up buying some of those too, so I may as well cut out the middle man. Sony it is!

Gracias
 
I was also desperate for a "cameramans´s headphones" solution, one that doesn´t bang against the side of the cam all the time, and one that´ll stay on my head, when i´m running for a gig or making awkward moves and hurting my spine...
Well, I havn´t found one, but I ended up using my iGrados on two recent run´gun wireless lav shoots, cause they´ll at least stay on my head and i know their sound...

I can´t believe no one came up with behind-the-neck, enlosed headphones yet, I even wrote to Ultrasone, asking if they could add this as an option (the answer was "currently not"...)
 
I'd have to vote also for the 7506's -- they're tough to beat. Well worth the price.
 
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Ultimately... use what you want. If it works for you then keep using them.

I don't think the Sony's are the best, but I think they MIGHT be the best at the price. I like the 7506's because they fold up small, sound good to me, have reasonable isolation (not as much as I'd like, but not bad in MOST situations), and they're an industry standard to some degree... All I know is on almost every BTS shot I see in any movie I see 7506's on several heads... and on every gig I do, whether I'm the soundguy or not, I see 7506's. So when I like what I hear through mine I know what the next guy is going to hear through his.

Spend your money where you want... or where you can. To me $99 for a pair of headphones is pretty cheap. I threw a pair of 7506's earlier this year that I couldn't easily fix... because I figured $100 was cheap enough to just replace them. That pair was the fourth 7506 that I've had... I still have 3 of them now... and I've even given one pair away... so I guess that's 5 that have passed through my hands... but my opinions are just that... opinions. Use whatever works for you.
 
Look, I have owned and rented Sony 7506 to my customers for a long time, and I also recommend them.

But I think you should try the MDR-V600 too. They are much more comfortable than the 7506 and block noise a bit better. A bit larger, but not too much. They fold easily.

In my case they had something extra: they are lower impedance than the 7506, which helped on my Sony Z1.

So now I use the V600 all the time. When I went back to a 7506 on an occasion, I couldn't stand them anymore.

Do try them.
 
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Well, that's got me thinking, I hadn't even noticed the V600s. Scrolling through some of the reviews on Amazon, however, there seems to be a little confusion between those and the V6 model. Is there a significant difference?
 
Pretty hard to beat the 7506, especially with softies. But for day-to-day listening, I practically live in my Sennheiser CX300 earbuds. Of course, earbuds aren't effective in a noisy environment but for most gigs the rubber pads offer both moderate sound isolation and superb comfort. I will often be listening to them at night and fall asleep with them in my ears for hours - they are THAT comfortable (only weigh 4 grams)! And they are also my first/preferred choice while monitoring shooting. The CX300's also have an impressive frequency response - an unbelieveable 18hz-21Khz.

So for $45 each, I own several pairs even though they seem to last forever.

Good luck, Michael
 
jaimepresto said:
Well, that's got me thinking, I hadn't even noticed the V600s. Scrolling through some of the reviews on Amazon, however, there seems to be a little confusion between those and the V6 model. Is there a significant difference?
Click to expand...

Yes, they are different. The V6 are 63 ohm types, like the 7506, and the V600 are 45 ohms. Levels will be higher on the V600 for same volume setting.

There's an even more sensitive Sony type, the 7509, which is 24 ohms. But it's also much more expensive. This is probably a better choice, because it can also take higher input levels.

But I think the V600 are an excellent compromise.
 
Since were on the subject. I'm really keen to find a workable way to either replace the existing 7506 / V6 cable with a 30" one or successfully shorten an existing 7506 / V6 cable . Like a dunderhead, I hacked into my time tested V6 and can't re-solder the splice properly. WHY Do Sony just build these things with interchangeable cables so ENG Camera users can get the shorter cable that they need? Sometimes I feel like an octupus with all the excess XLR, Headphone etc cables!
 
Zephyrnoid... if I could have one wish granted about the 7506's that would be it. I also HATE the coiled cord that comes on these things. I wish it was half the length, or some intermediate length straight cord. I'd love to see an easily replaceable cord that plugs/locks into the left can.
 
Matt, have you tried to modify yours? For a genius like you, I would think that would be a whole cottage industry....like you need more stuff to do :beer:
 
I got a customized short length cable for my AKG K271s for camera use at sommercable.com, cost about 15€...
I still search for a behind-the-neck headband solution...
 
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