Directors and Video Village Headphones

[Herbert Verdino]

Hello Community...

I would be very interested to know what Headphones you give to the Director and to the Video Village 🙂

 

 

[Johnny Karlsson]

[axel]

director: HD 25

scripty: has his/her own

whoever else can chose from the bowl

[edward chick]

Halter Tech. 

[Derek H]

Pretty sure those LSC models are just HamiltonBuhl relabeled HA2s. Which you can get a little cheaper directly from them. 
 

https://hamiltonbuhl.com/store/products/912/HamiltonBuhl-Personal-On-Ear-Stereo-Headphone

 

they’re nice enough with a thick quality one-sided cord and they fold flat. Cord is a little long, 5 feet. 

[Johnny Karlsson]

35 minutes ago, Derek H said:

Pretty sure those LSC models are just HamiltonBuhl relabeled HA2s. Which you can get a little cheaper directly from them. 
 

https://hamiltonbuhl.com/store/products/912/HamiltonBuhl-Personal-On-Ear-Stereo-Headphone

 

they’re nice enough with a thick quality one-sided cord and they fold flat. Cord is a little long, 5 feet. 

Yeah, but I like keeping our local shops in business, and considering I can do the production sales tax rate, plus picking up in person rather than pay for shipping, it all kinda evens out…

 

Regardless, they work for the purpose and last long enough to justify the price (less than $10). 

[Rick Reineke]

Panasonic RP-HT21 (open back), also under $10.. they sound good and hold up to typical abuse.

[Conor]

Sony MDR ZX110. Folds up nice and small for stacking in a case with IFBs

[IronFilm]

23 hours ago, Derek H said:

Pretty sure those LSC models are just HamiltonBuhl relabeled HA2s. Which you can get a little cheaper directly from them. 
 

https://hamiltonbuhl.com/store/products/912/HamiltonBuhl-Personal-On-Ear-Stereo-Headphone

 

they’re nice enough with a thick quality one-sided cord and they fold flat. Cord is a little long, 5 feet. 

Those too would just be something HamiltonBuhl has got from a factory in China with their own label added to it. 

 

I buy these exact same headphones from Aliexpress (with no branding at all) for about NZ$5 each (about US$3), and I know if you're buying in bulk (much greater quantities than I get it! But if you're a big AV rental company for instance) then they're only fifty cents NZD each. 

[Derek H]

Yeah I figured that was probably the case. Or maybe Hamiltonbuhl designed them and had them made to their spec and other production lines copied it. We just don’t really know.

[Izen Ears]

What about the sound quality? Years ago I tested many cheap headphones and they all sounded like absolute crap. The $35 Comtek LS-3 mono headsets sound fantastic.  Are these cheap ones coming close to the sound quality of the LS-3s?  

 

I found it pretty hard to talk about background noises when people were listening to cans that sucked.

[Wandering Ear]

I have a bunch of < $20 Phillips that i really like, but i can’t find them anymore. The new version has a thin metal band instead of plastic and hair gets caught in it too much.  They sound great for their price.    
I bought a bunch of the Hamilton Buhl, but had a lot of them break so i felt they were too fragile. I’ve been slowly replacing them with Halter Tech. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

I used to use JVC flats (HAS160) ... wish I could still find them.  They were the best compromise I've seen for durability, price, compactness, and audio quality.  The swivelling earpieces were great for both size and comfort.  Could get them for CAD$25 until they were discontinued.

[Doc Justice]

I would love it if you would give Halter Technical headphones a try and see if they are right for you and your work. Let me tell you a little bit about them.

 

The HT Scene Monitor was built for video village. It features an ultralightweight design, with earcups that swivel flat for storage. Up to ten can be stored in a Lectrosonics pouch. The earpads are made from a comfortable leatherette, and unlike foam pads won't disintegrate or hold sweat or other moisture. The earpads are also easily replaceable, without having to smash your thumbs in to do so. The Scene Monitor has a single-sided cable that is 3.5 feet long (perfect to go to a beltpack without having to stuff extra cable in a pocket). Access to the drivers is simple, so replacing a cable or modifying the headphone for a mono signal is quick and easy. It is incredibly affordable at $18 US each, or you can buy a 10-Pack of them for $150 US.

 

 

The HT Elite Monitor was built for the Directors, Execs, or anyone else who prefers something a little more substantial to listen with. It has a very comfortable plush headband, with earpads to match. The 3.5 foot single-sided cable is incredibly durable, as you'll typically find me swinging the headphone over my head at demos. The 40mm drivers feature a frequency response curve extremely similar to the Sony MDR-7506. They're even a matte color so that if the Director is hovering over the actors, the headphones would cast a glare. The whole headphone folds down for easy storage. You can purchase the Elite Monitor for the insane price of $25 US.

 

 

Want to see them in action? Check out the trailer for Stranger Things Season 5 that Netflix just shared today and you'll see the Duffer Brothers using the Elite Monitor to help them direct the newest season:

 

 

These headphones are priced low enough that production can purchase them along with their expendables. They do cost less than a roll of gaff tape, after all! They're sold directly on the haltertechnical.com website, or wherever you purchase professional production sound equipment.

 

Halter Technical headphones were designed and build specifically for production use. I hope you'll give us a chance to see if our products are right for you.

[Derek H]

Hey Doc are there different revisions of the scene monitor? Or is it the same since you first released them?

[Doc Justice]

 

1 hour ago, Derek H said:

Hey Doc are there different revisions of the scene monitor? Or is it the same since you first released them?

The original Scene Monitor was released in 2018. The current generation was released at the end of 2020, with the earpads getting a revision around 2022.

 

Feedback and feature requests have driven all of the improvements and keep pushing development forward. I know that sounds like typical marketing-speak, but I know you all understand what this community means to me.

[Matthias Richter]

I gave the HT a try on Sennheiser EK300. Unfortunately they will pronounce the noise floor more than others. 
It’s very tricky with the Sennheisers to find a good balance between cost and noise floor. A professional headphone (7506 or HD25) is pretty quiet on the Sennheiser. 
The best cheap option sound wise so far were the Sony ZX110.

[IronFilm]

19 hours ago, Izen Ears said:

I found it pretty hard to talk about background noises when people were listening to cans that sucked.

To be fair, even if you give them high quality ones it is still hard to get people to pay attention to that.... 

 

17 hours ago, Doc Justice said:

The HT Elite Monitor

I purchased one of these recently to give it a spin, I really like it, especially for the price. It's a good alternative to the Sony MDR-7506. 

 

Perhaps the only thing I don't like about it, is I wish the cable was slightly longer. (not by much, just one more foot longer). Because if the person is tall-ish, such as myself, then the cable is slightly too short and always at risk of popping loose! Especially if you mounted it anywhere else than on your hip. As you've got zero margin of error. Putting it into a waist belt bag? Uh oh, that's an extra inch or two lower, odds of the connector unplugging just doubled. Want to swap the receiver from left side to right side, or have it mounted at the back? Nope, can't reach that far. Want to put it in your pocket?? Forget about it!! No chance the cable will reach it securely, as you won't be able to move your head freely because the cable is too short. Or what if you wish to run the cable under your clothes then at the bottom come back up to put it into the jacket pocket? Again, not possible, because you're too tall and the cable is too short. 

 

Anyway, that's just an observation I've had for people my size or similar / taller. If you're nowhere near it, such as if you're under six foot, you'll be perfectly fine with no issues. I'm definitely being nitpicky, and am an edge case, which reminds me, I should buy a short 1ft cable so I can have more flexibility when using it. For everyone else though it's perfectly fine.

 

Maybe the perfect length that's a happy middle would be to make the HT Elite Monitors / HT Scene Monitors the same length as Walkie Talkies manufactures make their cables for earpieces? (as they're a well established piece of equipment, used by millions of people, clearly that's a well tested length on a wide variety of human bodies over the decades) 

 

It seems like their usual length is 4ft / 120cm? (although the length isn't completely standardized, but it's the most common length) That's merely half a foot extra than HT Monitors are already. In my biased opinion of course I'd prefer a full foot longer, as even Walkie Talkies I can find to be slightly limiting sometimes (I might for instance find them to be slightly shorter than I'd like if I'm mounting them to my mixing bag), but that's just the downsides to being "tall". 

[OB1]

Another vote for the Sony ZX110, especially if you are divvying out 10+ sets a job. Quality to Price ratio is hard to beat. I haven't tried the HTs but am tempted to give those a whirl once my curretn ZX110 need replacement.

[syncsound]

Another vote for the Sony ZX110s. They're cheap enough that they're almost disposable, which is how many crew/clients tend to treat Comteks/IFBs in general. I use Comtek 216s, and the sound quality of the Sonys is a good match. Honestly, I don't want anyone outside of sound/VTR listening to full fidelity on set. Experienced directors and producers already know that they'll just hear the sausage being made, and inexperienced people will second-guess and micromanage you with every perceived audio flaw.

[Fred Salles]

Hello, I add one for the Halter Technica SM2 (scene monitor v2). They are light and strong, very easy to forget once you wear them, unlike the Sony ZX110 that I find too big and too hot in hot weather. The SM2 despite their size are nicely closed and give enough isolation from outside noise. Easy to pack as well. Sound wise they are good enough for the IFBlue receivers I use. Also they are really good looking!!  The director I usually give an HD25 but I must say that I had some directors asking for the HT SM2 when they see the rest of the crew with them 😆.

 

When the demands exceed my current amount of HT SM2 I also have some Koss Porta Pro, which are surprisingly good sounding despite - or with the advantage of- 😉 a very vintage look. I used them for years before moving to the HT.

[Derek H]

Regarding cable length. Comtek recommends headphones with a 36” cable for better radio reception since the headphone cable is used as an antenna. Maybe that was specific to the 72-76 units though. 
 

Doc is there a particular reason you chose the length you did for the scene monitors? Just curious. 

[Fred Salles]

Half off topic question, but still related to video village monitoring: last commercial I worked on I was asked by production to provide a battery powered portable speaker for the second video village for agency and client team. Partially because they did not know how many people will show up and also because they did not want to spend more on IFB. (This video village was remoted far enough from set to not cause me trouble).

it was not the first time, I also did it on a couple of feature film and the investment on the Mackie Thump go I am using is already paid for.
 

I was just wondering how many of us are required this type of set up and what speaker did you choose?

[EnotsMedia]

+1 for the Haltertech  SM2’s. Look good (some people just wear them for fashion - you know the type) and sound good for an inexpensive IFB headset. I also like the Field Monitors as well. 
 

@Fred Salles check out DemerBox for a powered portable speaker - pretty sure a fellow sound mixer started this company. I have the first Gen and it’s close to 10 years old. Rock solid, batteries last for days, Bluetooth and 1/8” inputs.  I’ve used it for a (remote ) V Village and as a VOG type thing… it’s always with me on shoots. 
https://demerbox.com

[IronFilm]

19 hours ago, Derek H said:

Doc is there a particular reason you chose the length you did for the scene monitors? Just curious. 

Just to clarify what I was saying earlier:

The average american male is 5'9", the average american female is 5'3". For people of that size, I'd imagine the cable length is perfect. 

 

It's just for myself, I find it to be just slightly too short, enough to be annoying but not enough to stop using it. (I was wearing it myself today!)

4 hours ago, Fred Salles said:

I was just wondering how many of us are required this type of set up and what speaker did you choose?

I personally have 2x Remote Audio Speakeasy V3 speakers.  (as well as video village, another example of how I used one recently was in a car driving scene. I had one in the follow car, made it easy for everyone in the car to listen, without them needing to wear headphones)