Tracking headphones: Sennhesier HD280 vs Extreme Isolation EX-29

[Josh Burgess]

Okay, I'm hearing reviews and opinions all over the place on these two headphones... opinions totally contradicting each other. Some love this one, hate that one... some think the total opposite... blah blah blah. So, I don't know which to get... They're about the same price, so that doesn't matter to me...

Help me pick one of these for a pair of tracking/monitoring headphones. The main purpose of them will be for tracking vocals without the mix in the headphones bleeding into the mic.

Do the HD280's isolate well enough for tracking vocals? I don't plan on having a drummer use them... just for tracking vocals and as a general purpose pair of headphones...

 

[Tommy Gun]

I just bought a pair of the HD 280's like 2 days ago and I love them. As far as bleed, I can say that they have way less bleed than most of the headphones I've used. They handle A LOT of volume too. They also have killer bass response for headphones. I was very surprised at how much punch they produce. Of course, like most headphones, they lack a little in the low-midrange. But they definitely don't leave a lot of room for monitoring error. They are actually turning out to be great for mixing drums right now.

 

[colonel kurtz]

yea, i was under the impression that the HD280's were well-regarded as mixing phones more than anything else

 

[Josh Burgess]

Hmm, I thought many people use them for tracking... monitoring vocals, mic placement for guitar/bass cabs, etc... because they have pretty good isolation, but sound pretty good too. I'm guessing they probably don't have good enough isolation for a drummer to use, but they might be enough for vocals... not sure. If they can handle tracking vocals without mic bleed, I'd kinda like to get them, because I've heard the extreme iso headphones don't sound very good... not really sure which way to go yet

 

[Tommy Gun]

yea, i was under the impression that the HD280's were well-regarded as mixing phones more than anything else

They are, but I think they would be great for tracking drums too, as they handle very high volumes, pretty smoothly.

 

[colonel kurtz]

i couldn't tell you how good of isolation the sennheisers have because i've never used them, but i CAN tell you that it might worth checking out moreme's if you just need something that isn't going to bleed, even at high volumes

they're in the same camp as the extreme iso's, in that they don't necessarily sound GREAT, but they're great for isolation - and also dirt cheap

 

[Trevoire520]

ex-29's dont sound very good, very midrangey, but they give alot of isolation so drummers love them,
cant really comment on the sennheisers as i've not used them. my in ear sennheiser cx95's are very good though

 

[if6was9]

Just looking into those moreme's that colonel kurtz mentioned, 20 dollars a pop? thats nothing in the audio world! At that price it'd be worth pickin up 2 or 3 sets to have lying around. Your not going to mix on em anyway so sound quality isn't that important, more isolation and volume if they're being used for tracking.

I picked up a set of the thomann brand iso phones before for my brother. they're cray loud and have great isolation, they seem well built too. the sound isn't very good though- about the same as any very cheap headphones. all mids no clarity in the low end. So same boat as those moreme's really!

 

[colonel kurtz]

yea man, at that price i would've figured they're total junk, but they're sold/pimped by harvey gerst, who knows well enough what he's doing to not be passing out junk...i know they're also used at a number of commercial studios, including compass point in the bahamas - and the guy who owns that place has mentioned on PSW that they've used them for joss stone, puff daddy, and who knows who the hell else

again - i wouldn't attempt to mix on them, but if you need straight up volume and isolation, good luck beating 'em for even double the price

 

[Exocaster]

They are, but I think they would be great for tracking drums too, as they handle very high volumes, pretty smoothly.

I've had consistently good results tracking drums with my HD280s, for whatever that's worth. They handle a ton of volume without issue- you'll get the housing to rattle before the speakers distort, and the 30db of isolation is a wonderful thing. I never had a leakage problem with them, either. They should be fine for tracking vocals.

 

[Josh Burgess]

Any other opinions before I buy one of these?