Headphones and in-ears

Headphones are indispensable tools in live and studio situations. To check individual channels of a mixing console or an overall mix, or for musicians who are rehearsing or overdubbing.

Closed-back headphones

For live use, it is obvious to opt for closed headphones, and a model like the Sennheiser HD 25 can be considered an earily reliable and very solid standard tool for live sound engineers. The fact that the system is closed suppresses outside noises that interfere with your assessment.

Open headphones

In the studio, for example to check a mix or master, an open model is more likely to be chosen. Ambient noise plays much less of a role. Open systems, such as the Sennheiser HD 600 and HD 650, by definition produce a sound more similar to speakers or acoustic sources, but of course let much more sound from outside through. They are also basically a bit more vulnerable. This is in contrast to the HD 25, which seems indestructible and is very popular among sound engineers for that reason alone.

Intercom headset

In addition, headphones play a crucial role in communication between operators of cameras and prodium systems etc. who are in different positions in a room, on stage or at an event venue. This is when intercom headphones are almost always combined with a headband-mounted microphone, as with the Sennheiser HMDC 27.

Opting for quality sound

People often settle for headphones of questionable quality, for example from the house brands of internet shops, but in all cases of professional use, headphones must deliver a natural reflection of an often critical source sound. The key then is to choose products from firms that often have decades of expertise in that field.