Quest for good headphones for Zoom h4n

Fernando Lino

Fernando Lino

Active member
Hi guys

I'm searching for a good pair of headphones, not very expensive, and I've no idea yet what to buy.

I'm going to use them with a Zoom h4n to shoot as one man band,

Many thanks
 
For location recording, the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II are really the best option. Closed, comfortable (especially if you use the supplied velour earpads) and - most importantly - extremely efficient (120dB), so they give you a good monitoring level without having to turn the headphone amp. up too far (this also keeps the noise level down).

If these are too much, go for the HD 25-SP II, these are much cheaper than the -1 version.
 
thekreative said:
I've been using Sony 7506 for 20 years. My wife just bought me a new pair this christmas.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/49510-REG/Sony_MDR_7506_MDR_7506_Headphone.html
Click to expand...

These are good and very popular headphones - but they are 16dB lower in efficiency than the HD 25-1 II.

When you are using a small battery-powered portable, often with a weak headphone amp. that is optimised to save battery power, then a highly efficient set of headphones doesn't strain it too much.
 
Effeciency, isolation, and accuracy is the main reason I migrated to in-ear monitors. I'm currently wearing the M-Audio IE-30s with custom molds and hate going back to headphones. If the environment is extremely noisy I wear hearing protectors over my in-ears for even more isolation. It does raise some eye brows to see the sound guy wearing hearing protectors but with over 26db of isolation (without the hearing protectors), I can keep my headphone level very, very low and still hear far more than when I was using headphones.
 
Thanks, so far the Sennheiser HD 25-SP II seem like the best option..

What do you think of the Audio Technica AT-M50s?

Thanks
 
Fernando Lino said:
Thanks, so far the Sennheiser HD 25-SP II seem like the best option..

What do you think of the Audio Technica AT-M50s?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I presume you mean the ATH-M50?

AT make pretty good headphones, but these are quite inefficient at only 99dB - 21dB less sensitive than the HD 25-1 II.
 
Just my opinion, but once you get above consumer grade headphones its more about knowing
what the headphone is doing to your sound than anything else.
Ive been using 7506's forever. I know exactly what something should sound like through them, in fact to the point where I severely feel crippled
if I have to listen on a different brand. I just know them that well.

Point is, if you ask 10 guys which ones they prefer you'll get 10 different answers.
It's all about getting comfortable with any set.
 
AT make pretty good headphones, but these are quite inefficient at only 99dB - 21dB less sensitive than the HD 25-1 II.
Click to expand...

And in comparison to the Sennheiser HD 25-SP II?

The HD 25-1 II seem fantastic but are to much for my budget for now...

Just my opinion, but once you get above consumer grade headphones its more about knowing
what the headphone is doing to your sound than anything else.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot... Yeah, I intend to stick with the model that I buy for a while...
 
Rippie said:
Just my opinion, but once you get above consumer grade headphones its more about knowing
what the headphone is doing to your sound than anything else.
Ive been using 7506's forever. I know exactly what something should sound like through them, in fact to the point where I severely feel crippled
if I have to listen on a different brand. I just know them that well.

Point is, if you ask 10 guys which ones they prefer you'll get 10 different answers.
It's all about getting comfortable with any set.
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree - but if you are buying first headphones for a small battery portable it's very important to look at the sensitivity of the headphones.

I discovered this through hard experience when I was reviewing the Fostex FR-2 a few years ago. On one pair of my top quality headphones the sound was not very nice at all as they were inefficient and I had to turn the volume right up to about maximum to get a reasonable level and it showed up al the weaknesses in the amp. and was quite hissy. Swapping over to highly efficient headphones (HD 25-1 in this case), I could have the volume lower, the sound quality was better as it was not straining the amplifier and the hiss was reduced - and I was actually getting a louder level than with the other headphones.
 
Rippie said:
Sure I agree as well. All things being equal it's another thing to look at.
I'd be curious as to the real world battery savings when all the headphones mentioned
have a resistance of only a few ohms difference per make.
Click to expand...

It's not the resistance (impedance) - it's the sensitivity.

The Sennheiser is 120dB efficient,

The Sony is 104dB,

The AT is 99dB.

So, for the same volume setting the HD 25-1 will be much louder than the others - or - for the same output level, the HD 25-1 will have the amp. turned lower.
 
I totally misread your post. I thought you were discussing batt life
which is why I deleted my post.
 
Rippie said:
I totally misread your post. I thought you were discussing batt life
which is why I deleted my post.
Click to expand...

It is actually partly to do with battery life - because more efficient headphones can give the required level at a lower volume setting, the headphone amp. is drawing less power and the batteries will therefore last a little longer.
 
I'm no spec guy, but I will say in my experience s/n is pretty consistent whether a volume is on 3 or it's on 6.
Of course if you turn up the volume the hiss gets louder, as does the signal.

But if you're at the same volume, and swap out headphones to a louder set. I would think in addition to the signal being louder you would
also be hearing the hiss louder.
The s/n wouldn't change between phones.

I realize you're saying as you increase the amp the hiss gets louder, but where in the chain is the hiss being introduced?
What you're saying is hiss isn't introduced until the very last moment in the chain to make such a difference.
I'd be surprised if that's the case.
 
John Willett said:
It is actually partly to do with battery life - because more efficient headphones can give the required level at a lower volume setting, the headphone amp. is drawing less power and the batteries will therefore last a little longer.
Click to expand...
Yes which is what my first post (that I deleted) discussed.
In the real world, what difference is that really? 2 mins? an hour?
We aren't talking about a volume difference between 2 and 10.
I would have to assume between headphones we are talking a volume between 6-7? 6-8?
to make up the difference.

Just curious how much of a battery life difference is that in the end.
 
Rippie said:
I'm no spec guy, but I will say in my experience s/n is pretty consistent whether a volume is on 3 or it's on 6.
Of course if you turn up the volume the hiss gets louder, as does the signal.

But if you're at the same volume, and swap out headphones to a louder set. I would think in addition to the signal being louder you would
also be hearing the hiss louder.
The s/n wouldn't change between phones.
Click to expand...

Yes, but with the more efficient set you can then turn the volume down and reduce the hiss and get the same volume level that you did before.

I do stress, however, that this is far more important with small, inexpensive, battery portable recorders than it is with expensive professional equipment.



Rippie said:
I realize you're saying as you increase the amp the hiss gets louder, but where in the chain is the hiss being introduced?
What you're saying is hiss isn't introduced until the very last moment in the chain to make such a difference.
I'd be surprised if that's the case.
Click to expand...

The noise is more likely to come from the last stage, the headphone amp. itself. It's the least important part of the chain as it's only monitoring and does not affect the sound being recorded. Amplifiers tend to draw more current, so a manufacturer would tend to design this amplifier to draw as low a current as possible and make compromises accordingly.

I took this up with Fostex while I was reviewing one of their machines for a Pro Audio magazine. I didn't like the monitoring quality and discussed it with them. They told me the reasons and the compromises they made and why. Understanding this and swapping the headphones over to the extremely efficient HD 25-1 made the monitoring quite acceptable.

When reviewing I always discuss anything untoward I find with the manufacturer before I finalise he review. I don't want to condemn anything I don't like without fully understanding the whys and wherefores - also, it gives the manufacturer a chance to do a fix. I found a bug in the original Fostex FR-2 that they were not aware of. They fixed it by a firmware update before the review was published - the review detailed the fault, said that it was now fixed and advised any people who already had the machine to download the latest firmware update that would fix the problem - everyone happy. :)
 
Rippie said:
Yes which is what my first post (that I deleted) discussed.
In the real world, what difference is that really? 2 mins? an hour?
We aren't talking about a volume difference between 2 and 10.
I would have to assume between headphones we are talking a volume between 6-7? 6-8?
to make up the difference.

Just curious how much of a battery life difference is that in the end.
Click to expand...

It's difficult to quantify - it all depends on the headphones and the recorder. It could easily be a difference between 10 and 4 (I have certainly found this difference when swapping headphones) - but it all depends in the difference of sensitivity and impedance between the two headphones as to how much difference is made.

The battery life difference could be quite small or quite large depending on the circumstances and the recorder used.

But even a minute or two can make a big difference if you have a long recording on a machine that has a short battery life.
 
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