Headphone purchase advice
- Thread starter robk
- Start date
Any headphones should work.
For keyboard playing I would suggest that you only consider wired headphones with over ear cups and a padded headband.
Your Sony number is not responding as current here in the UK.
The price of headphones varies from $10 to over $3000 so there is one there to suit within your budget.
I am a fan of Sennheiser headphones which sound good to me and are comfortable. I have tried Panasonic and Sony but they do not cut it for me in the mid range frequencies.
If you advised on your budget then members can advise accordinly.
For keyboard playing I would suggest that you only consider wired headphones with over ear cups and a padded headband.
Your Sony number is not responding as current here in the UK.
The price of headphones varies from $10 to over $3000 so there is one there to suit within your budget.
I am a fan of Sennheiser headphones which sound good to me and are comfortable. I have tried Panasonic and Sony but they do not cut it for me in the mid range frequencies.
If you advised on your budget then members can advise accordinly.
FIRST, THANKS FOR YOUR QUICKLY AND DETAILED ANSWER.
SECONDLY, MY BUDGET IS ABOUT $ 200 (DOLLARS)
THIRD, IN WICH OUTPUT / INPUT SOCK ON MY PSR - S770 KEYBOARD, I NEED TO PLUG-IN THE HEADPHONES ?
THANKS AGAIN.
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I have no experience with those headphones, but they look interesting; I was actually looking online about a year ago for some wireless headphones that use RF instead of Bluetooth, so I might have to go by my local Walmart and check these out.
The PSR-S770 and other Yamaha keyboards-- in fact, most musical keyboards that I'm aware of-- use the larger plug size (1/4" or 6.35mm) for their headphones jack, whereas many consumer headphones use a smaller plug size (1/8" or 3.5mm). Although the Sony MDR-RF912RK headphones themselves are wireless, they pick up the RF audio signal which is broadcast by the accompanying transmitter, and the transmitter needs to be connected to the PSR-S770 so the keyboard's sound can be transmitted to the headphones. The transmitter uses the smaller plug size, so you'll need an adapter, such as the following:
Just make sure it's a stereo adapter, such as the one above, and not a mono adapter.
The transmitter will plug into the adapter, then the adapter will plug into the headphones jack of the PSR-S770.
The PSR-S770 and other Yamaha keyboards-- in fact, most musical keyboards that I'm aware of-- use the larger plug size (1/4" or 6.35mm) for their headphones jack, whereas many consumer headphones use a smaller plug size (1/8" or 3.5mm). Although the Sony MDR-RF912RK headphones themselves are wireless, they pick up the RF audio signal which is broadcast by the accompanying transmitter, and the transmitter needs to be connected to the PSR-S770 so the keyboard's sound can be transmitted to the headphones. The transmitter uses the smaller plug size, so you'll need an adapter, such as the following:
Amazon.com: CableCreation 6.35mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Jack Adaptor, 6.35mm Male to 3.5mm Female, Gold Plated: Musical Instruments
Buy CableCreation 6.35mm Stereo Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Jack Adaptor, 6.35mm Male to 3.5mm Female, Gold Plated: Musical Instruments - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
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Just make sure it's a stereo adapter, such as the one above, and not a mono adapter.
The transmitter will plug into the adapter, then the adapter will plug into the headphones jack of the PSR-S770.
Your number seems incorrect if I swap the F and R to read RF then I do get a pair of Sony headphones with radio frequency function.
I would discount these straight off since they do not have a padded headband and plastic in contact with ones head can become uncomfortable very quickly if you have very short hair or are folically challenged.
I did buy a set of Sony RF headphones but returned them as they did not latch onto the signal reliably, there was hiss, the audio performance was poor, the list went on but I do not know which model they were.
All the headphones I have bought and there have been quite a few have been supplied with fixed lead and a 3.5mm stereo plug plus a 3.5mm to 1/4” adaptor.
The major problem with wired headphones is the lead to earcup connection, I tend to damage mine by forgetting that I am wearing the headphone and walking away from my keyboard with the effect you can no doubt put two and two together to get the actual result.
I would discount these straight off since they do not have a padded headband and plastic in contact with ones head can become uncomfortable very quickly if you have very short hair or are folically challenged.
I did buy a set of Sony RF headphones but returned them as they did not latch onto the signal reliably, there was hiss, the audio performance was poor, the list went on but I do not know which model they were.
All the headphones I have bought and there have been quite a few have been supplied with fixed lead and a 3.5mm stereo plug plus a 3.5mm to 1/4” adaptor.
The major problem with wired headphones is the lead to earcup connection, I tend to damage mine by forgetting that I am wearing the headphone and walking away from my keyboard with the effect you can no doubt put two and two together to get the actual result.
Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
Mine are TDK . . Reasonable quality which I bought sbout 4 years ago . . Roughly $50.?
Good sound and came wth the 1/4 " adaptor. But now the padding around the ears is beginning to crack and small flakes of material breaking off. Tiny bits falling onto keys.
Now I am in the market for a new set too.
Will check out the Sennheiser. Thanks @Biggles .
Good sound and came wth the 1/4 " adaptor. But now the padding around the ears is beginning to crack and small flakes of material breaking off. Tiny bits falling onto keys.
Now I am in the market for a new set too.
Will check out the Sennheiser. Thanks @Biggles .
Since I am a clumsy old sod with my headphones I only buy cheap pairs.
As it is I have two identical sets, one on my keyboard and one plugged into my guitar amp that I use when playing my Gibson Les Paul or Fender Jazz Bass.
Having two means I have a ready spare whenever I rip the lead out of the set attached to the keyboard.
Being asI saud an old sod my hearing is not what it was and my Sennheiser 206 headphones suit me well, they are comfortable and cheap so do check them out
As it is I have two identical sets, one on my keyboard and one plugged into my guitar amp that I use when playing my Gibson Les Paul or Fender Jazz Bass.
Having two means I have a ready spare whenever I rip the lead out of the set attached to the keyboard.
Being asI saud an old sod my hearing is not what it was and my Sennheiser 206 headphones suit me well, they are comfortable and cheap so do check them out
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One thing I've wondered about headphones is whether it's okay to leave them plugged into the keyboard 24/7. I'd always done that, but then I read a post from someone who said he did that and now his keyboard doesn't seem to put out as much volume as it used to, like maybe leaving the headphones plugged into the jack had caused that somehow. Is there any possibility of that happening?
Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
Good Question Michael.
Would like to know as well.
The jack for my headphones is at the back of my keyboard. My keyboard is up against a wall. It is a pain in the butt finding the plug and plugging or unplugging without a visual.
Sometimes I play with speakers and sometimes play with headphones.
So I leave my plug half way in and half way out.
When I want headphones I just reach over and press in. When I want speakers I just reach over and pull out the plug half way (one click) Is this okay?
Ray
It would be a pretty sophisticated keyboard that did that but there are keyboards that sense when the headphones are plugged in and the system electronically cuts off the inbuilt speaker system and adjusts the system output to suit the headphones.
I used to dabble with electronics and a stereo amp I repaired had a stereo headphone socket and the connections to the speaker outputs were routed though the headphone socket and as the headphone jack was inserted it physically cut the circuits to the speaker output sockets.
In other words the stereo headphone socket incorporates a pair of contacts that are normally closed and inserting the headphone jack opened these contacts.
I would think that lower end keyboards still function in a similar manner
As for leaving the headphones plugged in, in theory yes it will have a detrimental effect, but plugging the headphones in and out also has a detrimental effect so it is a no win scenario.
The headphone socket has three contacts and each of these are slightly sprung since this is needed to keep the pressure onto the headphone jack. Now metals, especially thin alloys do have a property similar to our own muscle memory in that the sprung metal contact tends to deform to the headphone jack and the pressure on the headphone jack via the contacts will reduce. That said we are not talking much and we are talking that this will happen over quite a long period of time.
Conversely plugging in and unplugging the headphone jack will induce wear on all the contacts.
So I would not worry about, just play since other elements of the keyboard are probably going to cause an issue before the headphone socket does.
I am aware that the weak point on my own Korg is with the Joystick, quite a few owners have had to replace theirs.
I used to dabble with electronics and a stereo amp I repaired had a stereo headphone socket and the connections to the speaker outputs were routed though the headphone socket and as the headphone jack was inserted it physically cut the circuits to the speaker output sockets.
In other words the stereo headphone socket incorporates a pair of contacts that are normally closed and inserting the headphone jack opened these contacts.
I would think that lower end keyboards still function in a similar manner
As for leaving the headphones plugged in, in theory yes it will have a detrimental effect, but plugging the headphones in and out also has a detrimental effect so it is a no win scenario.
The headphone socket has three contacts and each of these are slightly sprung since this is needed to keep the pressure onto the headphone jack. Now metals, especially thin alloys do have a property similar to our own muscle memory in that the sprung metal contact tends to deform to the headphone jack and the pressure on the headphone jack via the contacts will reduce. That said we are not talking much and we are talking that this will happen over quite a long period of time.
Conversely plugging in and unplugging the headphone jack will induce wear on all the contacts.
So I would not worry about, just play since other elements of the keyboard are probably going to cause an issue before the headphone socket does.
I am aware that the weak point on my own Korg is with the Joystick, quite a few owners have had to replace theirs.
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Thank you for that reply, Biggles! I suspected that it might be a no-win scenario.