How to pick the headphones that are right for you

May 25

How do you pick headphones that are right for you in an absolute sea of choices?

In this episode, I’m going to fill you in on the different types of headphones you can use when recording your podcast. We’ll explore the benefits and limitations of each type and I’ll share with you what I’m using and why it works for me.

But do you even need to wear headphones?

If you’re recording by yourself in a quiet room, you actually don’t need to have headphones on when you’re recording BUT if you want to monitor and hear what your microphone is picking up, you should definitely throw a pair on.

In fact, in most situations, it’s preferable to wear headphones.

I’ll run you through the benefits and limitations of earbuds (both wired and wireless) and overhead headphones.

I’m currently using Rode NTH-100 Headphones and they’re super comfortable, not too heavy and are wired. I have to wear headphones for hours and hours of editing podcasts and often find different brands can become really uncomfortable and start to hurt my head and ears.

The frequency response is also a true indication of the sound which is so important because I need to know how it actually sounds to everyone before I do any editing.

I’m giving away a FREE pair of the Rode NTH-100 headphones! All you have to do is leave Pump Up Your Pod podcast a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser, screenshot and then send it to me via Instagram DMs or email me at hello@bambymedia.com.

Transcript:

00:00
Welcome to Pump Up Your Pod today I'm going to chat to you about the different types of headphones that you can use when you are recording your podcast. So if you feel like you want to wear some, then that's the first thing you kind of need to figure out. Do you want to wear headphones, there's a few reasons why you would and a few reasons why you could just not be bothered. If you are recording by yourself in a room that's kind of quiet, then it's something that you don't need to have, you don't have to have headphones on when you're recording, because there's nothing else kind of going on. So there's no guests, there's nothing that you need to hear. And you can just leave just the headphones off and just go au naturale with your ears. But the reason that perhaps you might want to still wear them in that situation is if you're wanting to monitor yourself. So if you want to be able to hear yourself and what's coming through your microphone, or what your microphone is picking up, then you'll want to wear headphones.

The other reason why you would want to wear headphones is if you are recording with someone else, and they are in a different location, let's say you're recording via Riverside FM, or they are physically with you in the space that you're in as well. It's good to have headphones on in that situation to again so that you can hear what everyone else sounds like through their headphones, because that's what it's going to ultimately pretty much sound like in the recording and on the outer end there. So definitely a good idea in most situations to actually wear headphones.

And so now I'm just going to kind of go through a few different types of headphones that you can use depending on how detailed and how much you want to put on your head. First one I'll look at is just these little ones here that I've got, which are just little Sennheiser in ear ones, they just stick right in the ears. They're a little bud an earbud. And they're around, I believe these ones were about $80 or something like that. And they're great for just monitoring without having to hear too in depth, you know, they don't have the best frequency response. So you don't get a full spectrum of what you're actually sounding like how deep or how shallow the sound is. And those sorts of things. You don't get that kind of feeling from those little areas. But they're enough to give you an idea as to what it sounds like. And if it's okay, they're also fine for if you're recording with Riverside or something like that. And you want to just have something in your ear, but you don't want it to be like an over head thing. So they're great for that they're low profile, they don't show up. Like they're not super obtrusive, from a video point of view. So they're great. I recommend using wired ones, because if you're recording with any type of software, for example, that GarageBand or audacity Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, anything like that, a lot of the time those recording programmes don't play nicely with Bluetooth headsets. So like air pods and things like that. Or sometimes the wireless versions also have like a microphone in them and the settings aren't right and it accidentally picks you up from the microphone in the little headphone things then the actual microphone that you're using.

So it's really important to make sure that you use the right headphones and make sure that your settings are right, so that you don't have issues like that. So that's the first thing to note, these little headphones here are a great way to go if you need something really low profile and you don't have a lot to spend. And they just plug into the headphone jack, super easy to use. I use little ones like this when I'm monitoring when I'm doing some editing and things like that. And I feel like I don't want to have big ones on the whole time. I'll just put these in, I'll check what it sounds like on air quotes, crappy headphones, and then work my way up so that I can hear what it sounds like on a whole bunch of different speakers.

So that's those if you want something that's more immersive that's like a bigger experience it feels like you can really hear yourself really well and you're getting a really good grip of what the overall sound profile is. Then I would go for overhead ones as my choice for that and I decided to get a new pair just recently so that I could do this recording and tell you about them and give them my review. So I went to Rode and I got a pair of the new anti H 100 headphones and I have them on right now. They are actually really comfortable. I have a problem with headphones and I'm sure a lot of you do when you're wearing them for a long period of time. Sasa really hurt on the top of your head like it's just heavy, you know? headphones are generally heavy, and you're getting a lot of that weight carrying through the actual top of your head. So after wearing them for a long time, you can start to feel like it's really hurting. So that's something I wanted to check. And I also wanted to check the comfort around the actual ear itself. So that because sometimes the actual ear to sit within the headphones is not big enough, like if you've got bigger ears, it starts to squish your ears in and that gets uncomfortable, and how does that feel and those sorts of things as well. So both of those aspects have been really thought about here with these rode headphones, it's not too heavy on the top of my head, like the actual weight of the headphones overall, is not too much. And then the side, the headphones that actually sit on your ears, they're the ear bits are really comfortable. It's a great experience. So I really enjoy that they're wired, and you can change where the way actually plugs in. So it can be on the left, or it can be on the right depending on what else you've got going on in your studio, which is good. Not a lot of headphones do that. So I like that. They also have a little option to change the colour on the side, which I find fun, like it's pretty cute. So you can make it look a little bit branded to you. And that's really nice.

It also comes with two different types of Jack. So you've got a big Jack, if you have a mixer so like a scarlet two or two or some sort of mixer that you plug into complete audio six as the one I use. Then you need a fat headphone jack and it comes with that. It also then comes with the normal headphone jack as well if you're going to be plugging them straight into your laptop, or computer. So they've really thought of everything. As far as the comfort goes the customizability the just manoeuvrability of them. And they also have these little toggles on the side so that you can easily adjust them based on how big or small your head is to get a comfy a fit, which is great as well. So I'm pretty impressed with these.

The only thing I will say is that they've got it's more of a fabric feel to the top of the headphones here. And on the sides here, which I'm wondering what the longevity of that is because I feel like it's going to start to look or get a bit dated or start flaking off. And those sorts of things, perhaps the longer I have them and the more I wear them, so I'll have to keep you updated on to how that goes. But that's aesthetically not a huge deal. It's not something I really care too much about. It's more about the actual sound, which I will now tell you about too. So they have a really broad frequency response, which is good. It gives you a good feel of what the low end sounds like. It's a true indication. So it doesn't boost anything like there's no bass boost, like some headphones have this inbuilt bass boost or gives you more of that high frequency. So you can hear voices more those sorts of things, kind of E cueing within the headphones. I don't want headphones like that, because I want to be able to hear exactly what it is going to sound like before I do any e cueing or compressing or anything like that, I need to hear what the true sound is. And this is great, like it's a good representation of what the proper sound is like on the way in. Yeah, so my review of this type of headphone is for these ones really good.

Don't treat all headphones equally, as far as when they go over your ears like this. Some of them are quite heavy, and it's something that you need to try on. Definitely try them on before you purchase because they are quite an investment most of the time for good quality monitoring headphones, you want to make sure they feel comfy that you could potentially wear them for longer periods of time. If you're going to record a few episodes at once. Or if your episodes are just longer generally, then yeah, and also you just want to make sure they're not too hot, like it can feel quite hot to have over ear ones on. So just think about all those things when you go into actually making a purchase on a pair of headphones. I've been wearing these ones now every day for a week to test how they feel. All that sort of thing I did feel like after probably five hours or so of wearing them, I started to get a bit sore on the top of my head. But that's not unusual. That's actually a longer period of time before I start to get head hurty so I feel like they've really stood the test of time there and are doing really well.

I will put a link to a bunch of different types of headphones so that you can choose what might work for you what's best for your situation and those sorts of things. I believe these road ones are just under 300 Maybe they're 250 or so. dollars. And yeah, so really decent price. You can spend quite a lot on headphones and I certainly have in the past and continue to do so because they're just something that I love. And I really want to make sure that I have The Best of when I'm a audio producer, it's important to have that gear if I had to choose between the two, as far as like little any ears or overheads, and I was just a podcaster. And I didn't have to worry about monitoring and those sorts of things, the way things sounded, I think I'd probably still go for over ear headphones, because it just feels cooler. And if you're doing a podcast, you want to feel a bit kind of cool and different when you're doing it. So I think for me, I would probably still do this, as well.

So what is super exciting to announce is that I'm actually going to give away a pair of these RODE NT H 100 headphones for you podcast listeners here today, which is pretty awesome. So all you have to do is leave the Pump Up Your Pod podcast a review. And you can do that on Apple podcasts, just go to the rider review section, I'm sure you can figure it out and leave a review, you can screenshot and send that to me if you'd like for proof of that on Insta DMS or in an email Hello at Bamby media.com. Or you can leave your Instagram handle in the actual review itself so that I know how to track you down. If you have an Android phone, you don't use Apple as your streaming platform thing to listen to podcasts. Then you can also review leave written reviews on pod chaser. And that's a great place to go as well. Again, just screenshot, let me know that you've done it there and you will be in the running for a frickin awesome pair of headphones. Yeah, I'll be so happy to do that.

So go and let me know if you have any questions about that. There's really nothing else involved just go and leave a review and then I'll do it at random. And I'll announce the winner on a upcoming episode of Pump Up Your Pod. So that's pretty cool. That's it for today. Guys. I hope you've enjoyed my little wrap up of headphones and good ones to use and whether you need to bother using them at all. If you want any more information, you can head to Bamby media.com. And there's a whole bunch of things on there if you want to know how to work with us. But that's it. Have a good day.