How much does quality in headphones matter

Birddog1911

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I've decided to go ahead and buy a set, and I'm browsing Amazon. I'm trying to keep costs down considerably. Question is, just how much does a quality matter? It's not like I'm trying to listen for that one violin during a classical peroformance. I just need to be able to hear the tones, even subtle ones.
 
I've decided to go ahead and buy a set, and I'm brousing Amazon. I'm trying to keep costs down considerably. Question is, just how much does a quality matter? It's not like I'm trying to listen for that one violin during a classical peroformance. I just need to be able to hear the tones, even subtle ones.

I bought these recently and they seem to work great and not to expensive.. like 36 bucks. blue tooth too but the transmitter I bought sucked so I just use them wired..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAJGGA2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I just realized that I have a test to perform when I get home. When I crossed over from the aviation side, they let me keep my avaitor headset; it has a 1/4" jack...
 
Depends on the detector. But Sunray pro golds are my headphone of choice after trying several kind. CTX I run them always. Switch to a Koss and things go to kwap:lol:
 
I just realized that I have a test to perform when I get home. When I crossed over from the aviation side, they let me keep my avaitor headset; it has a 1/4" jack...

If they are the pale green D/C (David Clark) headphones, the jack is a bit larger than 1/4" and it will need to be swapped out, along with a little rewiring done...a set of D/C aviator headphones retails for something like $300:shock: but they definitely are excellent headphones for detecting once converted. I got lucky and scored a set at the Goodwill last year for $4:D
 
It matters very much. Ive used several different headphones and the audio is a matter of night and day between a good set and a cheap set.
The full over the ear style is what I use, Ratphones, Not made anymore but I am sure the grey ghosts are just as good.
 
It is hard to describe or next to impossible to describe sounds,
signals or tones or pitches.
Everybody has different hearing levels, or like in my case hearing damage.
( many years of unprotected ears, from chainsaws,
gun shooting, rock concerts, being young & dumb, etc. )
The last time I had my hearing checked, they thought their machine was malfunctioning, & wanted me to test a 2nd time. :no:
Good quality headphones Is a personal preference, "You get what you pay for"
But I never hunt without them.
I have also wondered :?: ( to add to your post)
does anyone think that those ear candles that suck the junk out of ear canals would help, to here those signals better :?:
I have tinnitus (ringing ears) most of the time.
 
I would highly recommend that you buy a good set of phones. In my opinion they are an important part of your gear. Good phones will enable you to hear tonal qualities that you will not hear with inferior HP's. Both of my main machines have volume control so I don't have to worry about having headphones that have volume controls on them. I use a decent set of Sennheiser headphones for land hunting. They are very comfortable and sound very good. Once you get accustomed to the sound of a particular set of phones then you won't want to use anything else. The only time I use a different set of phones is when I use my waterproof Whites headphones made for the MX Sport. I probably will start using them full time on the MXS so the tones will always be consistent .
 
If they are the pale green D/C (David Clark) headphones, the jack is a bit larger than 1/4" and it will need to be swapped out, along with a little rewiring done...a set of D/C aviator headphones retails for something like $300:shock: but they definitely are excellent headphones for detecting once converted. I got lucky and scored a set at the Goodwill last year for $4:D

If you might be able to message me just how you did the conversion, I'd appreciate it.
 
I've thought a good idea would be for a guy to listen to various phones on their gear...You know, like you go to a website, enter in the rig you are running...and then try out what different phones sound like right at your computer before the purchase?

For instance, a guy like me would enter in "F70" then select GG's or BW's or Koss, or whatever...and get to hear how the machine sounds over the SAME target and settings but with a diff set of Mfg cans?

This is indeed an Audio Primary Sport! So phones are Super Important depending on what you are looking for...Also, We all hear things differently and with various degrees of hearing degradation, tones have to be pleasant and interpreted correctly.....I've found some amazing stuff with cheapo cans...I upgraded mainly for comfort and dual ear volume balance controls...

I aint a judge on the Voice...I cant tell a Bsharp from a Bflat...but I can tell a copper penny from a dime with my new GG NDT's...so thats good..worth the upgrade...Plus, the GG NDT's have that quick disconnect feature right up at the phones, so I cabled up both my rigs, (AtPro and F70) and can quickly use the same phones from one to the other without dinking around with the main plug in socket...Or, I can unplug them completely and use them as hearing protectors around the house or at the range if I want...


I ran for years on the cheapos though, as you can see..flat wore them out...I like the new cans though, more pleasant and comfortable...multiple use tool....
 

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To me comfort is the most important thing. My standard headphones are an old set of Sony stereo phones with each side having a volume control. Love them - but nearly wore them out. They had a 1/4" plug. I still use them with the MXT. I also have an old pair of Garrett phones with only one volume control that work OK also. Both are very comfortable. Now that I'm using an Equinox 600, I'm going to have to find a better pair of headphones than those that came with it - not great sound, although sound quality doesn't matter to me that much, but the wire is a real pain - straight, not coiled, and not really long enough. So I'll invest in some decent low latency bluetooth headphones that area also comfortable. I got a great deal on a Deus, but it had those 'behind the head' phones that just aren't big enough! I can't make them cover both ears at the same time. Got to find some better ones that will communicate with the Deus coil (any suggestions?).
 
I think it really depends on which detector you are using. If your using a machine that you can really tell the difference between good targets and bad ones quality headphones really make a difference.
 
It is hard to describe or next to impossible to describe sounds,
signals or tones or pitches.
Everybody has different hearing levels, or like in my case hearing damage.
( many years of unprotected ears, from chainsaws,
gun shooting, rock concerts, being young & dumb, etc. )
The last time I had my hearing checked, they thought their machine was malfunctioning, & wanted me to test a 2nd time. :no:
Good quality headphones Is a personal preference, "You get what you pay for"
But I never hunt without them.
I have also wondered :?: ( to add to your post)
does anyone think that those ear candles that suck the junk out of ear canals would help, to here those signals better :?:
I have tinnitus (ringing ears) most of the time.

I've tried those ear candles a couple times. More out of novelty than trying to improve anything. It's actually a cool experience. Never did a "test" after using them but it absolutely has to help. Your ears definitely feel better/cleaner after. Look down the remaing part of the candle after you take it out. You'll be shocked at how much !!!! is in your ear canal. It's amazing, and I Q tip my ears after every shower.
Frankly at my age, I'd get better hearing using a weed wacker in there, what's up with that ?
Give then a try once, can't hurt.
 
Here is one thing that I haven't really thought about yet. My only detector is my Ace 250. It only has 3 or 4 different sounds, making it simpler. Perhaps, for now, I might not REALLY need headphones. I am planning on buying another machine in the future, so I'll do some more research on just what headphones I will need.

Of course, if I get the NOX 800, it comes with them...
 
It depends , sometimes it matters a lot.....sometimes it dont matter at all. All depends on what detector you are using and just which headphones you are comparing. There are so many choices out there these days , both detector and phones. Usually if you dont have a high end detector then its either going to beep or its not , really no " whisper " tones and anyone who can hear , can hear the binary tone made by the detector. Then of course , there are some cheap headphone solutions that would surprise even the most picky headphone conniseur under the right circumstances.
 
Depends on the detector. But Sunray pro golds are my headphone of choice after trying several kind. CTX I run them always. Switch to a Koss and things go to kwap:lol:

I have a set of GG I used on my safari and I didn't find them to be very comfortable. They were too tight on my head. How do the Sunray pro golds fit compared to the GG? I also have the CTX and have been using the Koss until I decide what phones to buy. The Koss sound okay but are very loose on the head. It would be nice to just buy the GG amphibians and use then for both land and water but I am afraid they will be uncomfortable.
 
I have a set of GG I used on my safari and I didn't find them to be very comfortable. They were too tight on my head. How do the Sunray pro golds fit compared to the GG? I also have the CTX and have been using the Koss until I decide what phones to buy. The Koss sound okay but are very loose on the head. It would be nice to just buy the GG amphibians and use then for both land and water but I am afraid they will be uncomfortable.

Pro golds are definitely more comfortable than the GG.
 
I've been using headphones from the manufacturer of the detector.....White's for a white's detector and they work fine. I can't see paying over $100 for headphones no matter what they say the difference is.
 
Quality Matters. I have tried cheap and some of much higher quality.

My hearing is lousy at best and i wear hearing aids With quality headphones i can hear a lot of difference in the tones my machine puts out.
 
For me the most important part of using Headphones is when Pin Pointing.

I pinpoint by Sound Where the Loudest point is where the Target is in the dead center of my coil be it my 5" or my 15"

With decent Headphones you can really tell the level of volume and I can hit my target pretty dead on.
 
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