All About Headphones For Commercial Voice Over Artists

What are headphones?

Headphones are similar to earphones. Headphones rest on the outer surface of the ear, connected by a band that rests over the head. Headphones listen to particular audio privately without any disturbances and distractions.

Headphones for commercial voice over actors

To be a successful commercial voice over artist and stay in business, you must source the best quality equipment for your voice recording studio. One of the devices that inevitably ends up in your recording studio is a pair of the best professional headphones.

If you are new to the voice-over field, never get tempted to use the non-professional headphones you already have. Go for a pair of professional headphones to help advance your career as a voice over actor.

This post will discuss the best headphones for commercial voice over artists and how professional headphones are more effective than consumer model headphones.

Why do commercial voice over artists use headphones?

• Wearing headphones during voice recording sessions helps you hear and monitor your audio in real-time.
• It gives you an idea about the quality of the voice recordings to adjust your performance accordingly.
• Headphones help you speak at a comfortable volume and prevent vocal fatigue.
• It helps to avoid distortions from ruining your voice recordings.
• Headphones help you become aware of your movements and distance from the microphone. It prevents you from drifting from the sweet spot, the perfect distance from the microphone.
• Headphones prevent a fair amount of background noise, helping you concentrate better on your voice recording, thereby producing the best quality voice-over.
• With the right headphones, you can pick up voice deviations and fix them in real-time. This quick remedy can help save time and effort in editing. 

Professional headphones VS consumer model headphones

Commercial voice over artists require professional headphones over consumer models for the following reasons

• Professional headphones pick up on all the voice deviations of your performance and environment because of the superior sound quality.
• Professional headphones have a more comprehensive frequency range that helps you hear all the different layers of your recording.
• Professional headphones reduce outside noise, making them ideal for noisy environments.
• Professional headphones are ergonomically designed to be comfortably worn by voice-over artists for long durations.
• Professional headphones are durable enough to withstand regular use and last longer than consumer model headphones. 

Features of professional headphones for voice over actors

1. It is lightweight and has a slim profile that makes it comfortable to wear for long durations of voice-over recording.
2. Professional headphones have a detailed sound reproduction without distortion, even at high volumes.
3. Professional headphones are sometimes collapsible, making them easy to store and carry. This feature makes it convenient for commercial voice over artists who love to do their job even on the go.
4. Professional headphones come with comfortable ear pads and a headband for long-duration use.
5. It has swiveling mounts that allow single-ear listening.
6. Closed-back headphones help with sound isolation.
7. It has a good quality bass response at varied frequency ranges.
8. Professional headphones provide good quality sound reproduction across the frequency range. 

Types of headphones

1. Closed-back headphones: The closed-back model has ear cups close from behind, which blocks peripheral noise and creates an isolated audio experience. Closed-back headphones prevent the microphone from picking up sounds from the room during the headphones play-back. This distinction makes them great for commercial voice over artists looking to hear every minute detail of the voice recording.

1. Open-back headphones: Commercial voice over artists prefer open-back headphones because they are slightly more comfortable than closed-back headphones. Open-back headphones allow some of the external sound to enter. There are no spatial awareness restrictions in open-back style headphones.

1. On-ear headphones: Also known as Supra-aural headphones, the on-ear headphones are similar to open-back headphones, allowing some sound to pass through. On-ear headphones rest nicely on the top of the ears, which are nearly the same size.

1. Over-ear headphones: Over-ear headphones are also known as circumaural headphones. These are the best noise reduction, isolation, and high-quality sound capability models. Over-ear headphones limit noise leakage and prevent unwanted sounds from passing in and out.

1. In-ear headphones: In-ear headphones are also known as canal phones, which are some of the most famous styles. The benefits of in-ear headphones include sound isolation, comfort, and accuracy. Similar to the closed-back version of portable headphones, In-ear headphones have minimal sound leakage, which helps keep the sound in and the external noises out.

1. Earbuds: Earbuds are like tiny speakers that rest on the outer ear. Since earbuds do not enter the ear canal as much as the in-ear headphones, the problem of sound leakage is more significant. Earbuds are very compact and are easily portable.

1. Bluetooth headphones: Headphones connected via Bluetooth have a built-in computer chip that allows you to pair with the device from which you are playing audio. Bluetooth headphones pair with devices and give you the same audio quality experience as other headphones. But, the only convenience of connecting headphones via Bluetooth is the absence of cords and wires.

1. Noise-canceling headphones: Noise-canceling headphones use active noise control to reduce unwanted ambient noise. Noise-canceling headphones allow you to listen to the audio without excessive volume. Headphones have a tiny microphone built onto the outside of the ear cups to create an equal and opposite frequency. This frequency helps cancel out the small microphone’s sounds, eliminating that sound before it hits your ear pads. 

Effects of wearing headphones for long durations

As a commercial voice over actor, your profession demands you to use headphones as long as you are recording your voice-over. The prolonged usage of headphones could lead to the following health problems:

• Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
• Tinnitus
• Dizziness
• Hearing loss
• Excessive ear wax
• Ear infection
• Ear pain
• Hyperacusis

Tagged as: commercial voice over actor service / Commercial voice over actors / commercial voice over artist