DJ Headphones Tips

The amount of cash you need to invest to have the headphones that are the best for you will depend on the things you intend to do with your headphones.

DJ Headphones may vary considerably in price, from the $20-30 range, all the way to upwards of $1000.

Expensive headphones are usually costly for 2 reasons: Isolation and Accuracy.

Isolation means just how efficiently the headphones stop external sound, like the pounding speakers in a club or maybe the newborn baby screeching in the plane seat in back of you while you are attempting to sleep. The more efficient your headphones are at isolation, the costlier they will be.

Accuracy can be quite essential, which is why very accurate headphones are extremely high-priced. If you hear a track using your notebook speakers, then listen to the same song on your car radio you’ll realize that they can sound radically different.

It is because speakers and headphones that are not professional quality usually have poor frequency response. In other words various sound frequencies can be louder or possibly softer than they should be. For instance, your laptop speakers have hardly any bass frequency response. You aren't going to get that subwoofer kick out of your notebook. Conversely, if you listen to a song on that enormous subwoofer you put in your trunk, you are probably getting an unnecessary amount of bass frequency, and not nearly enough treble or mids.

Ideally, as a professional DJ or musician you want headphones or speakers that give a flat frequency response. This will mean that if you listen to a song, the music that you hear is precisely the way the recording engineer mixed it, without the flawed frequency boosts.

This is certainly very important, since you want your mixes to come across exactly the same on stage or in the club as they did when you were recording them at home.

So what level of isolation and accuracy do you actually need?

Well, it depends on what you need to do. Let's say for instance, that you’re DJing a small event for a university, you’re spinning other people’s records and you're not remixing tracks in advance or doing anything too complex. Or perhaps you are just looking for a solid pair of headphones for casual listening.

Either way you would be happy if you choose a pair of Shure SRH 440s. These headphones sound great, they have a good, mostly flat response, and are also built well which means they will last a very long time. They also are extremely well padded and they rest closely around the ear to deliver great passive isolation. I'd recommend these headphones for anyone from a casual user, to anyone who might be attempting to get a little more serious about music, but who is not quite professional as of yet.

On the other hand, if you are considering becoming a professional DJ, DJing major clubs in which you spin your very own remixes and cue up each record, in that case you’ll probably want something that’s a bit more accurate and isolating, in order to hear the track in your headphones over the song currently pumping out of the speakers.

Ultrasone DJ1 Pro headphones are perfect for serious DJs. They are meant to protect your hearing by minimizing the actual decibels pounding on your eardrum, while maintaining identical perceived loudness. So basically they just as loud as similar DJ headphones but your eardrums receive 40% less abuse. Very good in the event that you’re going to be in the mix for a very long time. Not great, though, if you’re on a tight budget.

It's important to figure out exactly what you need from your DJ headphones before you buy them. Depending on what you're using them for, you might be able to get away with a good $30 pair, or you might need a fully professional $300 pair. Visit my website My DJ Headphones to learn more about how to choose a pair of DJ headphones, and what you should look for.