Best headphones for recording vocals

If you are choosing the best headphones for recording vocals, the answer will vary.

This will depend on a few factors that I’ll go through. In this guide, I’m more going for what you need to look for, rather than recommending a specific pair. Once you read through the various options and prioritise at least you’ll know what’s important for you and what to look for.

Are you recording at home or in a studio?

If you are recording in a studio your needs will be quite different to someone who is recording at home or a home studio.

The reasons for this are that they will get a lot more use and abuse in a studio than at home. In a studio, they will be put on and taken off many times, maybe dropped.

The lead will need to be able to take a lot of wear and tear. There not the hardiest of components at the best.

Why are vocal recording headphones any different to “normal” headphones?

The main reason is most headphones for vocal recording are closed-back as opposed to semi or open-backed is closed-back headphones emit a lot less sound when they are on a person’s head than open or even semi-backed ones.

As your head won’t be that far away from the microphone. Any sound that “leaks” from the headphones will be picked up by the microphone. This obviously isn’t ideal as you just want the vocal recording and nothing else.

If you do end up with a vocal and sound leakage from the backing track or indeed any other sounds you don’t want, be sure to check out the iZotope RX software. This software can perform miracles when it comes to restoring or rescuing audio tracks.

They also need to be comfortable because having something that irritates you isn’t conducive to performance.

Do you need vocal headphones?

If you are recording at home and you already have some closed-back headphones then the answer may well be no you don’t need a specific pair of headphones just for vocal recording.

Personally, I would sooner make do with an “ordinary” pair of headphones and use the money saved to buy some decent headphones for monitoring.

I honestly think where you record the vocals, makes more difference to the recording than the headphones used while singing.

Vocal headphone sound quality

While you need to be able to hear a guide or backing track, I don’t consider the sound quality to be that much of a factor.

It’s not like you are evaluating the mix or anything. There are lots of people who get overly bothered that the vocal headphone doesn’t give a balanced sound but who cares? As long as they are comfortable, have good isolation and the vocalist can hear the track. I don’t think sound quality is very high on the list or priorities.

I’ve even used very poor sound quality (bass heavy and too much treble) because the isolation was better than the pair I was trying to use. For me, comfort and isolation are the overriding factors that I consider first.

Replaceable parts

If you are getting headphones for a recording studio or a home studio that has a visiting vocalist, you might want to consider getting headphones that have replaceable parts.

It’s not uncommon to find headphones that have replaceable leads as these can just plug into the headphones. Some headphones though have much more than just replacement lads. With some, you can replace almost all of the parts. Because headphones are inherently flimsy they won’t last long without something breaking.

This becomes more apparent in a busy studio. Buying headphones and thinking they won’t break is a bit naive. You should just think of when rather than if. Although the outlay might be more with this specific type of headphones you might find that in the long run, they work out more economically. The alternative of buying new headphones when something goes wrong with non-replaceable part headphones will add up.

Probably the most classic and iconic studio headphones are the Beyer DT100. These have been around for an eternity and you can still buy them. They definitely fall into this category as you can get almost every part of these as a replacement.

Non-replaceable part headphones

Even if your headphones don’t have replaceable, parts you still might be able to do it anyway.

In the past, I’ve used cheaper headphones (haven’t we all when starting out) and on most of them, I’ve managed to replace the lead and the ear pads. It all depends on the exact model of headphones but there are lots of YouTube videos about this subject, so all might not be lost if you have broken something.

Here is the article I used when I replaced the lead and ear pads in my Sennheiser headphones. For some reason, the ear pad material seems to suddenly give up and fall into little black bits after a certain time.

Incidently I still use these headphones after twenty years and you can still find them available on the internet.

Wireless Headphones

I’ve started using wireless headphones while recording tracks at night. They do give you the freedom of being able to move around. You do need to mess around a bit to get the Bluetooth working.

I’ve also used them for vocal recording. the freedom isn’t the same when you record vocals as you have to stay pretty still in the same place anyway, so I’ve stuck with my wired phone for vocal recording.

Best headphones for recording vocals: Buying recommendations

If you do intend to buy a pair of headphones for recording vocals, think about how much you want to pay. Then have a look at anything by Beyer or Sennheiser.

If you find something you like in your price range from either of these companies, then it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed. They have both been making headphones for a long time. They know what they’re doing and neither makes a bad pair of headphones. You’ll obviously have some you prefer to others but you can be sure you won’t be buying garbage.

I personally look to Sennheiser as my favourite. I’ve got friends who prefer Beyer, but either way, Beyer fans will still tell you that Sennheiser also makes great headphones.

Update

I’ve recently bought some new headphones that are perfect for recording vocals.

While looking for a new pair for mixing (OneOdio Monitor – 60). I’d browsed Amazon and so got sent recommendations. One of these was the OneOdio Pro – 10 at £27 with Amazon Prime next-day delivery.

These ticked all the boxes of being closed back, having good build quality and having detachable leads. At the price, I thought I’d give them a try and they are not only perfect as dedicated vocal recording headphones but decent headphones full stop.

If you are in the market to buy some new headphones you should definitely check these out and also have a look at my article on the OneOdio Pro – 10 headphones for more detail.

Alternatives to using headphone

Have you considered not using headphones at all? How can this be possible?

That was my first thought when I heard about it. I’m not absolutely sure when this was but I think it was something the Eurhythmics used to do. There is of course a more modern way now and that is to use in ear monitors. You’ll only use them personally of course and some singers are already geared up to use their own in-ear monitors.

This is especially the case if they’ve used this method for live performances.

The other, older technique is to use monitor speakers instead of headphones. Hang on surely you’ll get the backing track recorded as well as the vocals.

Step-by-step guide

I’ve also heard rumours that Bono used to record all of his vocals like this. It’s said that he hated headphones (although he clearly had them for the “Feed the World” recording).

You can take this method a bit further thanks to technology that didn’t use to exist and that’s the iZotope RX software. This plug-in can produce astonishing results and if you do any sort of recoding ( I guess that’s all of us) you should have a look at it.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this plug-in blew my mind when I first saw a demo. I definitely thought I was seeing faked results (this was separating the vocals, percussion, bass and other sounds in a complete mix.) It must use some form of magic to work!

Best headphones for recording vocals: Final thoughts

If you are just starting out, don’t think that you have to buy headphones just for recording.

I’d get a decent pair that you could use for monitoring and use them for vocals as well. Of course, things are totally different if you have lots of visiting vocalists and in that case I’d probably go for a pair that can have the components replaced.

These days more and more vocalist are using in-ear monitors which mean you won’t need headphones and of course, there’s also the option of not using headphones at all and using monitor speakers.

I hope that this article has informed you of what’s available and made you aware of your needs so you can make a better-informed choice.