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+--- Thread: headphone recommendation? (/showthread.php?tid=1467)
headphone recommendation? - maxinegerb - 08-23-2020
Hi. I'm a fairly new jamkazam user. I have a focusrite i2i interface. My husband and I play banjo and guitar into two mics connected to the focusrite. We're trying to figure out what headphones to get. I think we need to have similar phones so we can get the right balance of sound over the phones and live sound in the room. I like to hear a lot of live sound as you do with earbuds, but I don't have any decent ones. We tried some AKG K245 "open back" headphones. They're okay, but I think I'd prefer something more open.
So I'm looking for recommendations. What are other acoustic players using?
Thanks!
Maxine
RE: headphone recommendation? - Dimitri Muskens - 08-23-2020
(08-23-2020, 07:53 AM)maxinegerb Wrote: Hi. I'm a fairly new jamkazam user. I have a focusrite i2i interface. My husband and I play banjo and guitar into two mics connected to the focusrite. We're trying to figure out what headphones to get. I think we need to have similar phones so we can get the right balance of sound over the phones and live sound in the room. I like to hear a lot of live sound as you do with earbuds, but I don't have any decent ones. We tried some AKG K245 "open back" headphones. They're okay, but I think I'd prefer something more open.>>>
So I'm looking for recommendations. What are other acoustic players using?
Thanks!
Maxine
Hearing your instrument 'live' is something a lot of people like. Offcourse, most people like the natural/acoustic sound of their instruments best.
However, to be able to play in time properly, and this has been said many times before, one should listen to the audio (mix) coming back from JamKazam (or any other online service used) rather than the 'local monitoring' of your audio device.
Using half- or open backed headphones will let you listen to your 'room sound', much the same as listening to the 'local monitoring' of your audio device. So you will not be in time with the other peers because you are not experiencing the latency of your own contribution to the mix. Remember, however small it might be (in some cases), latency is always there. If all peers in a sessions start to listen to their local sound, be it by using none or open backed headsets, or by listening to their 'local monitoring', there will never be 'a pocket' or a proper feel and things will go south pretty rapidly.
RE: headphone recommendation? - maxinegerb - 08-23-2020
(08-23-2020, 10:46 AM)Dimitri Muskens Wrote:(08-23-2020, 07:53 AM)maxinegerb Wrote: Hi. I'm a fairly new jamkazam user. I have a focusrite i2i interface. My husband and I play banjo and guitar into two mics connected to the focusrite. We're trying to figure out what headphones to get. I think we need to have similar phones so we can get the right balance of sound over the phones and live sound in the room. I like to hear a lot of live sound as you do with earbuds, but I don't have any decent ones. We tried some AKG K245 "open back" headphones. They're okay, but I think I'd prefer something more open.>>>
So I'm looking for recommendations. What are other acoustic players using?
Thanks!
Maxine
Hearing your instrument 'live' is something a lot of people like. Offcourse, most people like the natural/acoustic sound of their instruments best.
However, to be able to play in time properly, and this has been said many times before, one should listen to the audio (mix) coming back from JamKazam (or any other online service used) rather than the 'local monitoring' of your audio device.
Using half- or open backed headphones will let you listen to your 'room sound', much the same as listening to the 'local monitoring' of your audio device. So you will not be in time with the other peers because you are not experiencing the latency of your own contribution to the mix. Remember, however small it might be (in some cases), latency is always there. If all peers in a sessions start to listen to their local sound, be it by using none or open backed headsets, or by listening to their 'local monitoring', there will never be 'a pocket' or a proper feel and things will go south pretty rapidly.
Hey, thanks. That's great info. Yes, I definitely want to hear the mix, but also to hear the live sound. I'm looking at open backed phones, such as the AKG AK245. i also wonder about earbuds that are decent, but reasonably priced.
RE: headphone recommendation? - GDJ - 08-24-2020
Of course it depends on what you can afford. But i would say, stay away from noise canceling or anything that colors sound and limits dynamic range. That said, COMFORT should be a factor since it's possible you will be wearing them for hours. Over the ear are form factor is a must so you don't have something pressing up against your ear and heating up. I have a few nice headphones already and recently purchased the Beryedynamic dt 770 40 ohms (they have 80 ohms). These are closed back - they have open-back too. You need to make sure your audio interface headphone can push the headphone signal for the 80 but most likely it should push the 40. They have a good dynamic range, not too heavy, the chord is a a combination of straight and coiled (in the right place). Just keep in mind, it's likely even a descent pair of headphones are sufficient because each Jamkazam session is always in question with sound artifacts and unwanted noises like distortion. So don't go looking for the perfect headphone if you already have nice ones. Of course i also use mine for mixing projects unrelated to JK.