I remember seeing a pic of a DJ’s setup one time and he had a pair of in-ear headphones. Has anyone used these before (or does currently)? I can not imagine that they are loud enough. Or, actually, that they would block out enough of the very loud program.
Just for kicks, I plugged in my son’s pair from his IPod. Now, I could easily mix here at home, but I only have a pair of Behringer Truths. They are not very loud compared to 10 sets of Cerwin-Vegas (or your favorite brand of loudspeakers).
I use the M-Audio IE-30’s and have also used the older Shure E3’s. I use these (in-ears) for one reason - I have insane tinnitus and using in-ears are the only way that I can continue to DJ without going fully deaf. I would imagine that technically, they aren’t as loud as headphones, but they do go INSIDE your ear so you actually end up listening at a much lower volume than you would with headphones. For example, on a Pioneer mixer, I would normally have the volume turned up to 50-75% at a club, but with my in-ears they barely go up 25%. What also helps is that they’re noise canceling as well, so by blocking the reference monitors, it allows you to listen at a much lower volume than you would normally have to with blaring loud DJ monitors.
i’m using an old pair of futuresonics em3 with custom molded ear plugs. i love them to bits! lets you turn your volume way down and the sound quality is amazing. just make sure that you get a pair with good fit for your ears.
the only time i find myself using classic cans is when mixing back to back with friends.
one downer though…you have to peel them out of your ear whenever a hottie is approaching you
