Headphone Tutorial

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Hey everyone,

I noticed that there was a bunch of headphone questions and reviews in this section of the forum. I decided to start a post specfically about headphones.

I have been a huge audiophile for 10+ years and am also a music producer and DJ. I am going to try my best to break down the different types of headphonesl; the benefits of each, negatives of each, price points, etc.

If you have any questions feel free to ask them below and I will try my best to answer as I can.

If you have not tried the VITA with a decent pair of headphones, you NEED to do this. The onboard speakers are not terrible but with a nice pair of headphones the experience is multiplied x10.

TYPES OF HEADPHONES

Ear Buds - These are one of the most popular types of headphones today for consumers. Everyone who has ever had an iPOD knows excatly what these are. They are tiny speakers that fit inside your outer ear. Sony does make these in MANY different models. There is a VITA exclusive model as well.

Ear buds are popular because the majority are quite cheap. However ear buds are a perfect example of you pay what you get. The sound on ear buds can be incredibly distorted, they lack any kind of bass ( on the cheaper end) and playing them loudly has a tendency to blow the speakers in the headphones. However since they are so cheap, consumers will usually just go out and buy a new pair. Ear buds are also one of the most damaging to your hearing. They constantly blast sound waves into your inner ear with litte sound escaping due to the exit route being plugged.

You know that person next to you on the bus whos 90s dance mix you can hear blasting out of their Ipods. Remind them that in 20 years they will be lucky to hear a fire engine go by.

One saving grace with ear buds is the cost. If you are just looking to get some additonal volume for a quick gaming section and do not really mind sub par quality, ear buds are a perfect route.



In-Ear Headphones-

At first glance ear buds and I-E headphones look very similar. They work much in the same way however in-ear headphones have a longe audio peice that tucks inside your ear. Again with these you get what you pay for. I find that cheap in ear headphones are some of the lowest quality out there. Expensive in ear head phones can be custom molded to your ear; however the cost of these can be quite high. Comfort wise some people love these and others hate them; I fall into the second catergory. I find that after 25-30 minutes of use, my ears become sore and I need to remove the headphones and allow my ears to "heal" before I can use them again.

A variety of companies produce these, including Sony. I find for gaming these again lack bass ( on cheaper models) and can be blown out easily. They are also incredibly damaging to your ear for the same reasons as ear buds.



Studio Headphones -

Now we get to the meat of the headphone world. Stay with me as this gets a little complicated. There are traditionally 2 types of studio headphones; closed back and open back.

Both closed and open back studio headphones look similar. They are the big honking things you see people wearing that are padded and cover the entire ear. They are usually padded on the outside and have a long thick cable attaching the ear phones to the device. Open back headphones are just that, open at the back. They allow sound to reverberate around the headphone and escape out the back. This provide a superb listening experience and open back headphones are some of the most expensive on the market. One issue with open back headphones is people tend to play them loudly because of the comfort level of the device. If played to loud ALOT of sound will escape which can disturb people around you. Closed back headphone do not have this issue ( unless playd really really loud). Many studio headphones come equiped with on board sub woofers which give you a wonderful amount of bass. The audio ranges of mid range studio headphones are vastly superior to both ear buds and inner ear headphones.

These are my bread and butter style of headphones. I have several pairs and I use them on a daily basis. Because of the padding a good pair of studio headphone can be worn for hours on end with out any discomfort. Playing on the vita with these is a wonderful experience. Raymans sound track sounds incredible and you can hear small nuances in the sound that you would not notice using cheaper headphones or the onboard speakers.

One drawback to studio headphones is cost. Most people are familar with the Beats by Dre line of headphone. They sound decent, however, these headphones are greatly over priced for what they are. If you are serious about a nice pair of headphones I recommend staying away from bestbuy, futureshop, radio shack, etc and visiting a store that specializes in either music production or DJ gear. A good shop will let you try on different headphones and will have good advice to give you. If any store recommends Skullcandy headphones, leave and go somewhere else . I have had my Sennheisers for almost 3 years and they are wonderful; I paid about 125 dollars for them.

Aso remember that with studio headphones the outside world of sound pretty much disapears. You will likely not be able to year much else other then your media.


What kind of headphones should I Buy?????

Good question! It all depends on how much you want to spend and what you are looking for in your headphone. If you only want them for louder volume and dont plan on wearing them often, a pair of ear buds will do you just fine. I would recommend though spending a little bit more and buying a decent pair, sony, sennheiser, denon. The bass levels are better and they wont blow and crackle after a few months of use.

If you want a full audio experience ( these can also be used to listen to music remember ) then I would recommend spluring on a good pair of studio headphones. My personal favortie brands are Sennheiser, Denon, Grado ( very high end), Bose, Sony, H&K and Audio Technica.



I hope you enjoyed my read and learned a little something, If you have any questions please feel free to ask below and I will try to answear to the best of my ability!

I tried to upload photos for reference but the extensions are not allowed on the forum, any ideas?

Thanks,

MF

Good post! I've been using my Sennheisers with my Vita and I must say it's going pretty good so far (515, 598). Great post indeed should be very helpful to folks that are on the fence as to what they should buy.

Actually, I did. Thanks for the post, very informative and complete. I don't have the money for the better headphones out on the market, but if I can save up, I'm sure that it will be worth buying a pair. Thanks once again.

I am a huge Sennheiser supporter. I am almost due for a new pair, trying to decide if I want to check out Grados, they are a little pricey but oh my god are they nice.

Also if you have rayman I highly recommend checking out the soundtrack with them. I would have to say its one of the better soundtracks I have heard since the Neverhood

Nice I'll have to check the soundtrack out with my headphones on then. As far as Grados that's a pretty nice step there..I just moved to my 598s around Xmas and I just love them. I've been using them for music and console gaming and since they're already broken in they sound very good.

I found these today on Amazon. If you are looking for a pair of high end headphones, you should def look into these.

I demod a pair of these 2 years ago and the price tag was close to 1000 bucks edit: they were not the same ones but similar. Incredible sound ( nice highs, deep bass), SUPER comfortable.


http://www.amazon.co...30468946&sr=8-9

And they look sooooo boss.

will turtle beach new mobile line work if the apple headphones dont?

Or if you have another suggestion.

i want to spent around $50 for headphones with mic.

Turtle beach are way over rated, I would go with a pair of Plantronics. However, I dont think a mic is really needed, the onboard mic sees to be sensitive and clear enough.

If you want to get good sound I would go with a 50 dollar pair of headphones with no mic.

I'm probably getting a Vita during this years Black Friday since it's a little costly right now in my opinion, lol. (Good ol' bundles and what-not.)

Anyway on topic, when i get it i have a pair of V-Modas Crossfade M-80s i want to use with it that i use to listen to music with my MP3, i've used them with my PSP for gaming and they are great! Does the Vita have possible improved sound quality than the PSP or no? Cause it'll make the headphones plus the Vita sound all the better. lol

Firstly nice pair of cans secondly I am not sure of the direct sound quality of PSP vs PSV. If there is a difference its probably not noticable to most people. Highly recommend going wth phone on the vita, I havent used the onboard speakers since I bought the thing.

good post

That's the ones that I use right there! So good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kr4KJQz28U

Sennheisers are amazing
I use the HD280 pros in my studio and the CX475s for my Vita

If anybody is looking for headphones, here's a link with reviews on 227 different In ear monitors

http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/multi-iem-review-227-iems-compared-sony-xba-4sl-klipsch-x10-added-03-04-12#post_6492044

Nice link man.

El - I like then quite a bit myself, only thing is I cant get into openbacks any more. Unless of course I am all alone on my couch which doesnt happen very often.

Yeah in that case it's warranted. I also have some Steelseries and my lowly Astros that don't get any love anymore..I used them last night with Unit 13 though..not bad..better than regular headphones though so it was a decent improvement.

I got a pair of Beats Solo HD for my bday and although they may be overpriced, I cant really complain about them, they are awesome. Use them for Vita, listening to music and also for when I'm drumming as well

I have a problem.
A couple days ago we were unpacking and my mom found some old studio headphones. If you know me you know I like my music loud. So loud in fact that I can go deaf from listening to the Muppet theme song. I instinctively plugged them into my vita and was disappointed when only the right side worked. But the quality was terrific and I said "Ninja fuck it I'm keeping these things". So I plug the headphones so I can listen to some foster the people and notice something, they both DO work. So into my vita they go. In UMVC3 they work fine, so here's my problem. Wipeout just cancels out the left speaker in the thing. Dunno why....

Hmmm, thats odd. How old are the headphones? Are you sure the wiring is not loose? I am looking in the sound options and I dont see anything that could be doing that.

Try a pair another pair of headphone if you have them lying around and see what happens.

These are about 2 -3 years old...

Well if the Studios have been well kept and stored away, then i don't think they should have gone bad that easily despite 2-3 years of aging.
Yeah it could be the cable, the other day one of the cables i got with my M-80s broke right by the mic area (Getting an audio only cable one when my second one breaks lol) and caused only one speaker to work. Try a different cable thats compatible with the studios and see if both speakers work with the Vita on all games.