DJing Discussion

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 DJing Discussion
headphones vs earphones
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headphones vs earphones

parke02 6:18 AM - 9 August, 2006
anybody switch over to using earphones or in-ear monitors? i bought the shure e3c for personal use with my mp3 player and have been starting to use them when I dj at home as well.

i recently started interning at a recording studio and have been doing a lot of critical listening. i've noticed that i've somewhat damaged might right ear from djing with headphones. it's harder for me to notice when an element of a song is panned to the right and almost everything sounds as if its panned a little to the left.
it might just be certain frequencies that are harder to hear in my right ear though. most of you guys probably use the same ear to mix and use your cell phone. try using your other ear the next time you use your cell phone and it'll probably sound a lot different or louder.

i'm a little worried of what could happen if there is ever an accidental spike in the volume b/c you can't just drop the earphones from your ear like you can with headphones if it's too loud.

i don't want any further damage to my ear though.. i'm probably going to stop using headphones all together
djtonypsalms 6:48 AM - 9 August, 2006
I'm a little sketchy with those in-ear thingys for the accidental spike that you mentioned.

I'll stick to headphone. :)
DJ_Mike_Coquilla 8:19 AM - 9 August, 2006
i gave the earbud a try, damn nearly blasted my eardrums when i wasn't paying much attention to the cue/master pan. closed back headphones when set at lower safer volumes also serves as a blocking device (to help save my hearing)
rfnunchuks 8:23 AM - 9 August, 2006
chicks love shiny headphones. period.
MusicMeister 4:35 PM - 9 August, 2006
I've been worrying about my hearing recently and I'm considering earplugs.

If I was to consider using in ear monitors I'd likely install a compressor before a headphone amp to resolve the issue with headphones being too loud. I've been tempted to try coming up with a solution like that for even my normal headphone use.
DJ_Mike_Coquilla 5:04 PM - 9 August, 2006
good idea MM, limiting volume
MusicMeister 1:20 AM - 10 August, 2006
As a DJ your most important asset is your HEARING.

Yes, I meant to yell that... ;-)

I just have to figure out how to come up with a compressor/limiter that I can use with my normal DJ setup.
dj_KaSE 10:08 AM - 10 August, 2006
I say get a check-up with your doctor, man. You might have done damaged your earz.
Monk-A 11:55 AM - 10 August, 2006
Quote:
anybody switch over to using earphones or in-ear monitors? i bought the shure e3c for personal use with my mp3 player and have been starting to use them when I dj at home as well.

i recently started interning at a recording studio and have been doing a lot of critical listening. i've noticed that i've somewhat damaged might right ear from djing with headphones. it's harder for me to notice when an element of a song is panned to the right and almost everything sounds as if its panned a little to the left.
it might just be certain frequencies that are harder to hear in my right ear though. most of you guys probably use the same ear to mix and use your cell phone. try using your other ear the next time you use your cell phone and it'll probably sound a lot different or louder.

i'm a little worried of what could happen if there is ever an accidental spike in the volume b/c you can't just drop the earphones from your ear like you can with headphones if it's too loud.

i don't want any further damage to my ear though.. i'm probably going to stop using headphones all together



there was an incident about 10-15 years ago, where a good friend knew a studio engineer who died after he had a volume spike..... for whatever reason he panicked and didn't remove the headphones instead trying to shut the gate off and thus kill the sound.

he died a few days later from heamorraging on the brian.
DJ Stuart (AR) 3:07 PM - 10 August, 2006
Oh, "heamorraging on the brian", poor Brian.

www.djstuart.com.ar
wakka 2:16 AM - 11 August, 2006
Shure E3C's are godly eargasmic and awesome. Anyway, I suggest you go to an ear doctor/hearing specialist (Yeah, they do exist, check your phonebook). What I would recommend doing is to use your dominant ear less and your weaker one more. i.e. if your mp3 has pan capabilities, pan it a little over to the weaker ear and slowly pan it back to 50/50. feeel better