Best Closed Back Headphones for recording Vocals?

I suggest a more sophisticated model like Sennheiser HD280PRO. It’s a bit more pricey, yet there are no sound leaks and it’s perfect for vocals. If you are interested in more options, feel free to check my headphone roundup https://myelearningworld.com/best-studio-headphones/.

Hi Jamiesroom

Sound engineers, DJs and recording artists worldwide use Sennheiser HD25

They are perfect for tracking, no spillage, great fit.

I bought pair and was so impressed I bought another pair, incredible headphones for tracking.

Sennheiser HD 25 Headphones at Gear4music.com

Some people highly recommend the Direct Sound EX29s

http://www.extremeheadphones.com/passive-noise-isolation-hearing-protection-head phones/studio-products/ex-29-headphones/

$109 / £119 on Amazon currently....

Personally I always rely on my trusty Sennheiser HD280Pros...... as they give pretty good isolation (though not as good as the EX29s) along with a good quality sound... and for me they are a much more versatile set of cans for all kinds of uses in the studio....

$69 / £82 on Amazon currently...

Superlux HD 662 F - cheap (€ 30) & good, or Beyerdynamic DT 770 - the most used tracking headphones, you'll see it in more than half of all footage with tracking musicians. Not as cheap though (€ 139)

Just took a listen to tracks from a group I recorded last month... the best phones for isolation that I own are Sennheiser HD280_Pro. About $100 U.S. They're heavy, fit tight on the head and have soft foam ear pads that do a decent job of sealing. Studios have dealt with headphone bleed since day one, if you're headphone monitoring at high levels, some bleed is to be expected.

If you're using a lot of compression it can make the bleed stand out between vocals or on quiet vocal sections. You can try using a soft gate setting to minimize bleed between vocal phrases. You can also flip the phase on your vocal track and see if that affects or reduces the effect of the headphone bleed.

The Art Of Sound wrote:

Personally I always rely on my trusty Sennheiser HD280Pros...... as they give pretty good isolation (though not as good as the EX29s) along with a good quality sound... and for me they are a much more versatile set of cans for all kinds of uses in the studio....

$69 / £82 on Amazon currently...

That's a good price on HD-280's I paid $99 a few years ago.

Pancenter wrote:

The Art Of Sound wrote:

$69 / £82 on Amazon currently...

That's a good price on HD-280's I paid $99 a few years ago.

I thought so too.. I picked up another pair recently.....

I have a pair of EX29's. They're a little tight, and a little "middy" but the isolation is great for close miking vocalists who like their phones loud. Also used them for a drummer adding live drums to already recorded tracks. He could hear the music well with the live drums way down.

I don't think anyone here is going to say this or that is perfect... we don't know how you record, how much experience you have or how loud you're running the backing tracks. As I said in my post, it's not uncommon to have some bleed through... it usually doesn't present a problem. I've recorded in some major studios in San Diego, Phoenix and LA and watched singers record tracks with open-air headphones if that's the sound they preferred and never heard headphone bleed be much of an issue. You will often see singers recording with their hands on the headphones, they're usually pushing them tightly against their head to minimize bleed.

The other thing we don't know is how you're using certain effects (like compression) and if that's making the bleed worse.

All I can say for certain is in my original post... "the best phones for isolation that I own are Sennheiser HD280_Pro".

Looking at DataStreamStudio's post and checking out the website I think the EX29's are probably better. Both the HD280's and the EX29 are going to be considerably better than the inexpensive Sennheiser's you were using.

Pancenter wrote:

You will often see singers recording with their hands on the headphones, they're usually pushing them tightly against their head to minimize bleed.

How thoughtful of them! 😀

Singers generally don't care too much about the engineering side of things though, I'm pretty sure they primarily use this pushing in to raise the volume. If they do it too forcefully it may be a sign that you need to adjust the monitoring mix.

It also isolates their voice from room sound, so the playback they hear is their voice directly in the mix, rather than in the mix plus the room sound of their vocal. If you go to Google and search on Singers Recording many of the pics have vocalists holding the cans.

I think the Sennheiser HD-280 PRO are a better choice personally. It really comes down to the pair that fits your head shape best.