Video editing is one of those jobs that requires you
to listen to the same thing over and over and over again.
This can get really tiring,
and it's made even worse if you have uncomfortable headphones.
So hey, my name is Matt Johnson.
And in this video I want to share with you my favorite headphones for video editing
that are extremely comfortable will give you great quality audio
and most importantly, are affordable.
These are the Philips SHP9500s.
And before we get into it for the sake of ethics,
I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by Philips.
They have no idea who I am and I bought these headphones with my own money
for quite a reasonable price, in my opinion that we will talk about in
just a little bit starting of this review of the SHP9500 headphones.
Now the first thing you will notice about them
whenever you pick them up is the weight.
These are quite lightweight, even for their size, which makes them
really comfortable to wear for an extended editing session.
I've worn these things for three or 4 hours at a time with zero issues,
and I'll oftentimes forget that they're there.
So if you're watching me right now and you're
noticing the weight of your headphones and you're wanting something lighter,
these are a great choice.
Of course, these aren't going to be as light as a set of earbuds,
but whereas earbuds can definitely cause some fatigue after a while
because they're stuck in your ears
because these are overear headphones with a pretty large earcup size.
I find that at least for my hopefully average size ears,
they fit around them without any squeezing or other issues, and I quickly forget
they're even there as another.
Plus, the included long headphone cord is detachable,
meaning that if you want a different cord that is shorter or longer,
or if the cord starts to break, you can easily swap it out.
And if you want to have an extended gaming session with these headphones as well,
you can easily purchase something like the v-moda boom pro microphone
and plug that directly into the headphone jack to be able to convert
these headphones into a very high quality gaming headset.
Now, all of this comfort wouldn't really matter if the audio quality
wasn't good, but in my admittedly non audio file experience,
the audio quality is really great from these headphones.
They have 50 millimeter drivers, which will give you a nice range of highs
and lows without being too bass heavy.
But they also have a big differentiator from many other headphones out there
that you have may have experienced in the past,
and this differentiator is that these headphones are open back.
What that means is that unlike other popular video editing headphones
like the Sony MDR 7506, for example, which are very popular,
these Philips headphones allow sound to pass through them from the outside.
This means that anything that you're listening to can bleed out a little bit
so someone else nearby could hear you.
And likewise, if someone else is speaking near you,
you could still hear them, albeit will be a bit muffled.
Now why would you want that?
Isn't the entire point of headphones
to isolate outside sound so you can hear things better?
Well, unlike Bose Quietcomfort headphones
for example, which use active noise cancelation to mute
all outside sound, these Philips headphones actually let sound in.
And this is not a bad thing.
The reason it's
not a bad thing all comes back to a term in the sound world called Soundstage.
Soundstage is essentially how distinctly you can hear every single instrument
being played in a song.
With earbuds, it can oftentimes feel and hear
like all of the instruments are being played on top of each other,
but with open back headphones in particular
because they are not containing all of the sound,
this makes the soundstage sound wider, which can result
in even greater clarity to what you're listening to.
I find this expanded soundstage to be really useful whenever I'm editing
because it can really help me
hear every individual audio track that I'm using in my video editor.
And I think you may find it really helpful to keep in mind, of course,
that due to the open back nature of these headphones,
if you oftentimes find yourself wanting
to crank up the volume of your audio, some of that sound is going to escape.
And this could be disruptive
to other people if you're, say, editing in a library, for example.
Also, if you're someone
that really needs to isolate yourself when editing with no outside interruptions
and these headphones may not be the best for you either, because you will be able
to hear outside conversations around you while you're using them.
That said, though, for me as a dad, I oftentimes find myself
getting interrupted while editing by a family member,
and I actually prefer the open back headphones
because I'm able to hear someone speaking or crying and respond to them
without necessarily needing to take the headphones off,
which can really help me stay in the zone when editing.
Lastly, let's talk about the affordability of these headphones,
which is one of the biggest reasons that I love them.
Open back headphones can get expensive, really expensive.
With some models from Sennheiser going for 1800 bucks.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they sound incredible.
I would love to have them, but
we're talking about headphones for video editing right now, not headphones
for listening to your retro vinyl collection.
Thankfully, the 9500s don't cost 1800 dollars or even $800.
No, you can go online right now and get these
for about 75 bucks, which I think is a really great deal.
You are getting great audio quality, phenomenal
comfort for long editing sessions and most importantly, which, hey,
this may only apply to me as a dad, but as someone that has owned
very fancy headphones in the past, which I was terrified of breaking.
And now that I have a child that oftentimes picks up and drops
my things with the knowledge that if I break these headphones,
I'm only out 75 bucks instead of hundreds for a different pair.
I get way less stressed whenever I see my daughter pick up my headphones.
So there you have it.
If you are looking for incredibly comfortable headphones
that have great audio quality for a very reasonable price,
I'm a really big fan of the Philips P95 hundreds
and I highly recommend checking them out and I will link to them down below.
Incidentally, if you're looking online, you're going to see
that there's an updated model of these headphones.
The HP 9600.
I personally haven't tried the 9600 and from my research.
The only difference between these two headphones
is that the HP 9600 have a bit more bass.
And because when video editing,
you really want your son to be as neutral as possible.
I would go with a 9500s.
Speaking of things that I would go with,
I need to tell you about the sponsor, this video Art List.
Art List is one of my favorite sites for licensing
music and sound effects for basically any video,
be it a wedding film, corporate or commercial ad or YouTube video.
Any video mat? Yes. Any video.
Because Art List offers one of the broadest music licenses for filmmakers,
meaning that you can use their music for pretty much any kind of video.
YouTube, wedding, corporate or commercial anything.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Art List's
library of music that's available from artists around the world.
And when I have an Indian wedding to edit or I need instruments like the sitar
that match the cultural vibes of the wedding day art.
This is the first site that I check to find the perfect soundtrack
for my wedding film.
The work seamlessly with the visuals.
I also love art list selection of sound effects.
And as someone that has spent literally hours of my life before list
looking for the perfect wind noise that isn't too soft or too rumbly,
or the ideal flag flapping in the wind sound that whips just right.
Art List.
Sound effects are a huge timesaver, and you'll be able to find
exactly what you need to enhance the sound of your films.
There's so much to love in Art List library, with new music added daily and
no need to worry about copyright claims no matter the video platform that you use.
Plus, with plans starting as low as 1999 per month for unlimited
downloads of both music as well as sound effects, art list offers
one of the best deals for music licensing today.
So click by link the description to sign up for Art List and receive
two extra months free on your subscription when you sign up.
Lastly, if you happen to be a video editor,
what you probably are considering
this video is literally about headphones for video editing.
I put together a free guide called edit videos like a Pro
and this guide is going to show you some of the most important techniques
it took me, me many years to learn as a video editor.
You can download this guide for free at the link down below.
Thanks so much for watching and have a great day.
But first, I want you to know that this video does have a sponsor
and it is my friends at Art List, but more about them at the end of the video.