C100: What do you all use to monitor audio (earbuds/ headphones)?

[Run&Gun]

"Earbuds" includes a whole host of devices... from the ones that come with your iPhone all the way up to IEMs that cost over a grand.

I sorta disagree. Maybe I'm just arguing semantics, but to me 'earbuds' are just that… The cheap little plastic 'buds' that are basically giveaways with music players, etc. or that you can pick-up at Best Buy for $5- $10 a pair(unless they're Apple. Lol). IEM's or In Ear Monitors rival good over-the-ear headphones, provide excellent isolation and are usually high quality and aimed towards professional/musician use(at least originally). At least this has always been my take. You can get some in "universal fit" or custom molded for your ears and they run the gamut from single driver, universal fit and affordable($100-$150) up throughout five plus drivers and custom molded that cost well over $1000-$1500(or more) a pair.

I have at least five or six sets of custom molded IEM's(most single driver, but the last two pairs are dual driver) that I've had made/purchased over the last few years. I started using a sort-of universal set when I first started working in the insanely loud environment of the racetrack(NASCAR, NHRA, IRL, etc.) about 18 years ago and then went to custom molded ones around '07. Great sound isolation. You will probably actually hear more stuff with them than you would listening to monitors later on. AND I don't have to worry about someone borrowing them either, since they only fit my ears. Lol.

That's also a great point about headphones and hearing loss. And Beats is leading the way. To help sale headphones, one of the things that those types of manufacturers do is artificially boost the low end making them sound like they have a lot of bass and killing the mid range so people have to really crank the volume so they can hear voices. The majority of us are not mixing/monitoring music. We're listening to human voices.

 

[groveChuck]

Re hearing loss/tinnitus, the high frequencies are usually more damaging than the lows (just ask Pete Townsend).
Rockers will typically face more hearing loss from highs than rappers from lows.

Though explosions and other intense sounds are of course also damaging, in other ways. But we typically face more of the former than latter.

Re cans, I use 7506's, shooting and editing. Though back in my 20+ years of news, I used the curly pig tail style IFB earpiece (like reporters use) in one ear. Not premium audio (useable or unusable was about the extent of it) but it was definitely nice to have an uncovered ear in sketchy situations.

 

[jb.]

Re hearing loss/tinnitus, the high frequencies are usually more damaging than the lows (just ask Pete Townsend).
Rockers will typically face more hearing loss from highs than rappers from lows.

Though explosions and other intense sounds are of course also damaging, in other ways. But we typically face more of the former than latter..

Frequency is really not that important in terms of hearing damage. The two biggest considerations with hearing loss are sound pressure level (dB) and time of exposure. Doesn't much matter whether it's a high-frequency noise or a low-frequency one.

The misconception that high-frequency noises are more damaging comes from the fact that the part of the cochlea that registers high-frequency noise tends to be the most easily damaged... so you'll lose high-frequency hearing first (usually).

 

[jb.]

I sorta disagree. Maybe I'm just arguing semantics, but to me 'earbuds' are just that… The cheap little plastic 'buds' that are basically giveaways with music players, etc. or that you can pick-up at Best Buy for $5- $10 a pair(unless they're Apple. Lol). IEM's or In Ear Monitors rival good over-the-ear headphones, provide excellent isolation and are usually high quality and aimed towards professional/musician use(at least originally). At least this has always been my take. You can get some in "universal fit" or custom molded for your ears and they run the gamut from single driver, universal fit and affordable($100-$150) up throughout five plus drivers and custom molded that cost well over $1000-$1500(or more) a pair.

I think if you showed normal people cheap Wal-Mart earbuds and IEMs, you'd find that most of them would call them both "earbuds." "Earbuds" has come to mean any pair of headphones that fit into your ear and not over it. That includes both the cheapies and more expensive IEMs.

We know the difference, but most lay people don't. I'd also assume that the OP wasn't talking about his Apple EarPods when he mentioned "earbuds" in his original post.