[Tekker]

Hi all, I thought I'd pass along this little trick to those in need of isolation headphones and don't want to spend a small fortune on them.

My main instrument is drums, so good isolation is very important so I can hear the music/metronome over my drums. I have a older version of the "Extreme Isolation Headphones" and they are anything BUT extremely isolated, they sound terrible, and they feel like your head is being crushed in a vice (I have heard the newer versions have fixed these issues, but I have not used the newer version for comparison). However, I just rigged up a very CHEAP solution that beat out all of the headphones I have used (AKG, Sennheiser, and Extreme Isolation headphones) as far as isolation goes.

I got a pair of JVC HA-FX34 iPod in-ear headphones ($20) and a pair of Winchester SXT earmuffs ($7.23) to wear over the iPod headphones.

While the sound isn't fantastic with the iPod headphones, it is more than enough for use while recording and the isolation from the earmuffs is fantastic! And for under $30, it's well worth it.

So if you're in a band and need to be able to block out loud drummers/guitarists/etc so you can hear the monitors during practice or you just want to make sure that your microphone doesn't pick up sound leaking from your headphones while recording then this is a great inexpensive solution.

-tkr

[Nutty]

Originally Posted by Tekker

or you just want to make sure that your microphone doesn't pick up sound leaking from your headphones while recording then this is a great inexpensive solution.

-tkr

Thanks for the tip tekker. Can you explain how this works for this newbie?

Thanks.

Nutty

[Tekker]

Hi Nutty,

Lets say you're recording vocals and you have a backing track playing in the headphones, if the headphones are not well insulated then the sound of the backing track can leak out of the headphones and get picked up from the mic and recorded along with your vocals.

With my rigged up headphones, the iPod headphones get put into your ears and the earmuffs go over the top of them to isolate them (so no sound leaks out).


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Also, something thing I forgot to mention above is the cable is really short so you'll need an 1/8" headphone extension cable ($3.00).

-tkr

[Nutty]

Ah, thanks Tekker, now I get it! I couldn't quite visualize what you were getting at. Makes sense.

Thanks again.

Nutty

[Stratrat]

Cool "low-budget" idea, Tekker - maybe I'll put off those HD-280's for a while!

Nutty - I've experienced what Tekker describes a couple times....especially if you have a click track playing in your headphones while you're recording acoustic guitar or vocals. It can leak from the 'phones and bleed through onto your new track, which makes it all but impossible to get rid of in the final mix.

[starsailor]

Neat idea Tekker, thanks for sharing it