RECORDING MoreMe Headphones - <body> From Recording.Org Reviews MoreMe Headphones By Kurt Foster Jun 9, 2003, 20:29 How many of you have gone out and invested hundreds of dollars on headphones for your clients only to be disappointed or horrified w

From Recording.Org

Reviews
MoreMe Headphones
By Kurt Foster
Jun 9, 2003, 20:29

How many of you have gone out and invested hundreds of dollars on headphones for your clients only to be disappointed or horrified when they rip these hundred dollar wonders off their heads with one hand and carelessly cast them aside between takes? Asking them to be a little more respectful of the equipment usually only serves to inject an uptight vibe into the session and your request is generally is at best forgotten after a few minutes or at worst, ignored. I have actually had clients get frustrated with themselves or other members of the band and throw my $100 Sony MDR-V600's or 7506's on the floor!

It was at this point I decided I needed an alternative. I spent hard earned money on these things and I am not about to sit there and watch someone destroy my investment. So I began to search through all the audio catalogs and all the pro audio publications for a set of phones that were cheap, durable and would be capable of reproducing decent bandwidth at high levels. (105dB). I looked high and low but to no avail. The best solutions I was able to find were flimsy at best and usually blew out after only a few sessions. It ended up costing more to keep the studio in these "cheap" phones that it cost to just let the clients tear up my Sony's and replace them as needed! "Man", I thought to myself, "There has got to be a better way!"

Well, now there is! Harvey Gerst well known audio dude, moderator on several recording BBs and owner of ITR Studios has come to the rescue with the solution. A set of loud, sturdy, inexpensive headphones that have a virtual, pro rated, lifetime warranty and a high enough impendence that you can stack several pair on one headphone amp channel. They are called "MoreMe" headphones.

The phones have a solid flexible headband to which the ear cups are fastened by a sturdy bent metal rod. There are removable ear cushions and a coiled cord that is 23" long when retracted. Stretched out it will reach about six feet before it feels like it is approaching its limit. The shortness of the cable aids in keeping the connector, an 1/8" mini connector mated to a 1/4 " phone adapter, off the floor and from under your feet. The headband is adjustable to accommodate anything from the smallest to the largest head while remaining snug and keeping a tight seal on your ears. There is a mono stereo switch on the left ear and the phone cups are color coded so even the drummer can tell which way they go on. I found the isolation from outside noise sources to be excellent, as good as any phones I have ever used.

The specifications of the "MoreMe" phones is as follows.
General Specifications:

Impedance: .............. 32 Ohms +/- 10%
Maximum Input Power: .... 100 mW
Frequency Response: ..... 20 - 18,000 Hz
Sensitivity: ............ 105 dB S.P.L. @ 1 kHz +/- 3 dB
Distortion : ............ less than 0.5% THD at 105 dB SPL at 1 kHz
Weight: ................. 56 grams
Plug: ................... 3.5 mm Stereo (1/8th" plug, w/1/4" adapter)

Now I have to say that these are definitely not a set of reference phones. They are a bit mid rangy sounding and do not have rich full lows or sparkling highs. But they are fairly balanced sounding and do have a response that is useful for defining elements in a live tracking situation. Vocals and guitars are very easy to hear in the phones, even under the noisiest conditions. When I first put them on, I found that they had a hollow sound in them even without any program material going through them. There is a note in the product sheet that comes with the "MoreMe" phones that addresses this issue.

"Some people have complained of a hollow sounding midrange, and there's an easy fix for that: Remove the foam cover from the earpiece and the driver plate snaps out of the cup. Put some foam, insulation, or even wadded up Kleenex in the cavity, and snap the phone back together. Problem solved, and it's still under warranty."

I used the "MoreMe" phones for several days monitoring songs and playing back mixes that I know very well through a trusty old Crown D60 power amp. I was able to make them as loud as I could stand and they performed well without any breakup distortion. I ran a CD on repeat overnight to see if the "MoreMe" would hold up to high S.P.L. for long periods and in the morning, after about 10 hours of continuous playback, they seemed no worse for the wear.

So to sum it up, these phones seem to be just what I have been looking for! They will adjust to the smallest of heads tightly and hold on snugly even under the worst case scenario of a drummer flailing about! They have more than adequate isolation and sound pressure level, are sturdy and seem to hold up under long periods of playback without showing the slightest hint of driver fatigue. They have an excellent warranty (as good as any you will ever find), multiple pairs can be driven with a single headphone amp channel. What's not to like? Well I wouldn't use them to mix or listen to a reference recording but other than that, the "MoreMe" phones are probably the best audio deal around. I heartily recommend them! Ö.. Kurt Foster

You may purchase "MoreMe" headphones directly from:
ITR Studios
8676 Travis Road
Sanger, TX 76266
(940) 482-3422
hargerst@airmail.net

http://www.ITRstudio.com/moreme.html
Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/

Kurt Foster has been involved in music and recording for over 35 years.He owned and operated KFRS, a 2000 sq. ft. commercial analog and digital recording facility in the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in late 1980's through the 1990's, recording and working with greats such as Brownie McGhee, Kenny "Blue" Ray, Jackie Payne (Johnny Otis Band), Nick Turner (of Hawkwind) Polo Jones (of Michael Jackson, Peter Gabriel, Whitney Houston) and individual members of The Doobie Brothers, Tower of Power, Huey Lewis and The News
and The Tubes. He is retired to his "ranch-ette" in Cedar Flat, Oregon but continues to be active in recording, artist development, procuring recording contracts for new talent, music publishing, writing both music and music related articles as well as serving as a Moderator and Review Editor for a popular online recording forum and E-Magazine, Recording.Org.