In-ear Headphones for DJing, worth using?

[tokenasianguy]

Y'know when I studied music production one of my classes was "live sound" and I was taught that there should be no EQ'ing unless a microphone was used, and that the EQ should only be used when trying to cut out specific frequencies of feedback, but otherwise, for music playback (which essentially includes DJ'ing) the EQ should be set to "12".

[DJ ATX]

how can you adjust the EQ from the DJ booth? is your booth on the dancefloor? your monitor speakers will not sound like the mains. you adjust the EQ to match the rooms acoustics, and unless your in the listening area, you simply cant do it from the DJ booth.
the only reason DJ's have a monitor speaker in the DJ booth is to get rid of the time delay so you can beatmatch properly.

a DJ can certainly adjust the main EQ. after a walk out on the dancefloor.

I know that.. I was asking how do you do it if you wear your headphones all night. As some people have posted on this thread. What you hear on your headphones is not necessarily what is reproduced in the clubs speakers.

Please re-read my post again.

[DJ ATX]

Y'know when I studied music production one of my classes was "live sound" and I was taught that there should be no EQ'ing unless a microphone was used, and that the EQ should only be used when trying to cut out specific frequencies of feedback, but otherwise, for music playback (which essentially includes DJ'ing) the EQ should be set to "12".

I agree, 90% of the time my EQ is at 12. However, there are some songs where too much bass or highs are reproduced through the clubs sound system. I find this to be true when a club uses a Sonic maximizer or sound processor of any sort.

Again I ask for those people that said they DJ with the headphones on all night, how they manage to remedy this.

[Allensmusic]

read my post... you have to take off the headphones and listen from the dancefloor to adjust the system eq

[DJ ATX]

read my post... you have to take off the headphones and listen from the dancefloor to adjust the system eq

Yes I KNOW THAT. But people have posted they WEAR THEIR HEADPHONES THE ENTIRE NIGHT. How is it done, if you never take off your headphones???

Like this guy

just never take them out. I keep my headphones on almost the whole time and mix in my headphones.

I am asking the question cause, I have always been curious about in ear monitors. I know Q Bert wear them, but he is big time and a sound guy is always there when he plays. I don't have that luxury

Oh and I also play in an open format club. So I can go from a really bassy hip hop and toward the middle of the night I will be in Top40 with minimal bass, then back to maybe house.

[jimbrowski00]

Yeah most DJ's know how to beatmatch...

Regardless of whether you adjust the "cue mix" from "cue" to "program" you can't deny that it's much easier to distinguish one track in the left ear (through a monitor) and the cue through the right ear (through the headphone) as opposed to hearing both tracks in both headphones at the same time.

what I find is that a good monitoring system cant be counted on but I can count on my headphones. Theres always going to be a trade off. It may be easier to match with the cue on the hp and master over the monitors but if there's any delay in the monitoring system or just bad sound then I prefer and find it easier to just listen to my headphones.

[jimbrowski00]

OK I have to ask.....So if you DJ with your headphones on all night, how do you adjust EQ when needed??? Or are all of you guys have the clubs sound guy with you in the booth doing it for you??

In all my years I have never DJ'd at a club where what I hear out of my headphones gets reproduced 100% coming out of the clubs speakers. Sure 90% of the time, I don't touch my EQ, but there are songs where the clubs system reproduces the highs or lows, either too high or too low. Specially those that use Sonic Maximizers. Also adjusting gains through headphones can only be done if your levels match the output.

Not being a dick here, but I would really like to know how you guys do this....

I'm not sure what I do... I guess its a combination of things. You can usually feel the bass hit so even over headphones if one songs bass is being f'd with the clubs sonic maximizer you can feel it and adjust.

And even though I'm doing 90% with headphones on you still end up taking them off after transitions because some is talking to me or whatever other reasons. So if something is being jacked up then I can catch it then.

[DJ ATX]

Oh ok, thx jimbrowski00. I have been looking at those custom in ear monitors but really skiddish about plunking down $250+ on something I know nothing about. I know they are suppose to be better for your hearing in the long run....

So far I have just been wearing flat attenuated ear plugs and that seems to work out great.

[bumtsch]

Thanks guys for all your advice, think my safest option is just to leave them at home.

I know for a fact that Josh Wink uses custom made ones which he uses when he's playing. Seems to work for him.

He was going to be my example. In the more classic house/techno scene he's gotta be the only one (veteran or not) I've seen for myself using these.

Proper, GOOD in-ears are a viable option ; most of the time not basic models as pictured in the first post but rather higher-end Etymotics, Shures or others (edit : Westone seems to be the third horse here. See also this DJTT article from two years back http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/10/2...-ear-monitors/).

In that case, the isolation will be good, supposedly better when using custom molds (edit: depends on the person, see link above), so you can monitor at an even lower level than you would using HD25s for example (monitor level pot on your mixer, fellows).

You don't need to take them off to hear people talking to you as long as you turn the monitor level down - it's pretty much like wearing your etymotic er-15/whatever protective earplugs : everything from the outside is quite uniformly quieter including that guy shouting in your ear. In fact, you can usually tell him apart from the background noise better.

Cable length is a non issue - get/make an extension (Wink uses one).

Then, when it comes to monitoring all the time in the 'phones/IEMs, as others have pointed out it's a matter of playing with the cue/master pot. It may seem alien to those of you who are used to mixing with monitors, but it's in fact easy to get used to with a little practice *and* since you get to hear a clean feed of your master output (or pretty close), it is possible to pull off tighter mixes.

[Atomisk]

Well, just throwing this out there: The IEMs in the OP aren't IEMs... those are ear buds. Try getting an actual pair of IEMs and you'll see the difference. I use Westone UM3x's. I've compared them side by side with the Pioneer HDJ-2000, 1000 and Xone XD-53s, and the Westones were far superior. They offer 24 dB of ambient noise reduction. If you're a casual who's just playing in the bedroom or at small parties (as I assume most people on this forum are), you'll be fine with conventional DJ headphones.

I personally am playing out at clubs, outdoor concerts, fraternities and bars close to 4-5 nights a week on large PA systems, so the ambient noise reduction is a very large factor in saving my hearing. I find that I can't mix the same using over-ear headphones and earplugs. Due to the nature of the inserts that I use, I can't casually remove them from my ear, so I have them in during my entire set, so I do all mixing in the headphones.

On the issue of EQing... Anyone who is EQing on the mixer to compensate for the club's system is doing it wrong. Let the sound engineer do his job. If you're a mobile DJ bringing your own PA system around, EQ it before hand.