Last Chance to Win SRH440 Headphones

Good Friday is just around the corner! So why not celebrate a nice short week, with your LAST chance to win Shure SRH440 Headphones with Point Blank Music School and Shure!

Entering is simple. All you have to do is ‘LIKE’ the Shure UK & Point Blank Facebook pages and answer a simple question on the Shure UK website. This weeks winner will be announced on Friday, so don’t miss your chance to make this bank holiday weekend extra special.

Visit the Shure competition page to enter now! 

SRH400 Headphones

The SRH440 Professional studio headphones provide exceptional sound reproduction and comfort. They are ideal for recording and monitoring in your home studio. The impedance, power handling and sensitivity have all been optimised for performance with professional audio devices such as mixing consoles, dj mixers and headphone amplifiers.

Competition Time – Win a Pair of Shure SRH440 Headphones

Shure SRH440 Headphones

Shure have teamed up with Point Blank Music School to give you FOUR chances of winning a pair of Shure SRH440 Headphones.

Entering is simple. All you have to do to enter is ‘LIKE’ the Shure UK & Point Blank Facebook pages and answer a simple question each week on the Shure UK website. A new question will be posted on the competition website each Monday at 10am GMT and will remain until Friday – the winners will then be announced on the competition website and Facebook.

The Competition is now live and there is still time to enter this weeks round – visit the competition page on Shure UK’s website for details.

SRH400 Headphones

The SRH440 Professional studio headphones provide exceptional sound reproduction and comfort. They are ideal for recording and monitoring in your home studio. The impedance, power handling and sensitivity have all been optimised for performance with professional audio devices such as mixing consoles, dj mixers and headphone amplifiers.

Home Recording Series Vol 6 – Monitoring

Welcome to part 6 of our home recording blog series, this weeks focus is monitoring. Anyone hoping to get good results from a home recording setup needs to consider monitoring from both a recording and editing perspective.

Monitoring while Recording

If you’re playing along with a recorded mutltitrack, you’ll need to monitor through headphones to avoid leaking speaker signal into the mic while recording. Headphones with a closed back design are the best solution for this application, as the bleed from closed back headphones is minimal. A range of suitable closed back headphones can be found on the Shure.co.uk website.

An alternative is to use sound isolating earphones. This can work well if they are a professional range of earphones, such as Shure’s SE Sound Isolating range, but can be less convenient if you want to take them on or off quickly. Low cost consumer earphones or headphones are unsuitable due to poor sound isolation, which results in signal bleed when recording.

Real time: If you are overdubbing or recording to a pre-recorded multitrack, it is essential you can monitor the existing track in real time – meaning there is no latency. A few milliseconds may slightly alter your perception of pitch or tone, while more than 10 milliseconds can have a noticeable effect on your rhythm or timing. A good quality low latency soundcard is essential – one solution is to use the Shure X2u XLR-USB adapter that provides a headphone out for hardware based zero latency monitoring.

The X2u solves part of the latency issue, but latency can be a complicated subject matter – one that it a little much to cover in a home recording basics blog, but if you’d like to read more about software latency, what causes it, and how to minimise it’s effect – SoundOnSound have a very useful article.

Monitoring your Mix

For accurate mixing results you should consider a pair of headphones for critical listening along with flat, accurate monitoring speakers. A flat frequency response is essential for producing an accurate mix that translates well onto a wide range of consumer audio systems, however, for the best results – test your mix on as many speakers or headphones as possible to help you build up a picture of how well it will translate.

Closed headphones with a good flat frequency response include the Shure SRH940′s, however, if your budget will stretch far enough it’s also worth considering a pair of open back headphones, such as Shure’s 1440 or 1840 designs. An open back headphone is not suitable for monitoring while recording due to potential bleed, but for the mixing stage, they benefit from a more natural sound quality and wide stereo image.

Join us for the final installment of our home recording series (volume 7), where we look at recording devices and software. Subscribe to our RSS feed to be alerted. In the meantime, for more information on home recording products by Shure visit the home recording microphone page.

First hands on look at the New Shure SRH550DJ Headphones

Steve at work with the SRH550DJ

There is always a buzz in the office when a new product turns up for the first time, and when a sample pair of the  SRH550DJ headphones arrived last week, I could not wait to get my hands on them and try them out for myself.

Being a Club DJ in my spare time I was given the task over the weekend to put the SRH550DJ’s through their paces.

First of all, I could not believe how comfortable they were, with the padded cushions providing comfort and full isolation from outside sounds. Each headphone swivels 90 degrees which is always important especially when you have got one ear on the monitor speaker.

I thought the the sound quality was clear  and solid even when turned up loud (you know what us DJ’s are like), and the bass is substantial.

Unlike some other DJ headphones on the market, the 550DJs also performed great when I plugged them in to my iPod, which makes them very versatile and not just kept for the club.

Overall, a great new addition to the Shure headphone range. I think I might need to test them out again this weekend, and maybe next….

OK and MixMag Competition Winners!

Shure UK would like to send a Big congratulations to the

Winner  Jess Brinham who won a pair SRH750DJ Headphones

Runner up Dafydd Rhys Thomas who won a pair of  Sound Isolating SE115 Earphones

from the MixMag
Competition

SRH750DJ Headphones

OK Magazine’s Facebook Friday Competition

Well done to all 5 winners of the Shure SE115EFS in Pink through the Facebook Friday Competition

Emma Glass, Catherine May, Nike Hilton, Abby Turnbull, Brogan Alexandra,

I would like to say a thank you to those who took the time to enter into our competition!

It’s definitely worth taking part in Shure UK’s competitions whether you consider yourself lucky or unlucky you have to be in it to win it! Keep up to date with Shure Competitions by visiting Shure.co.uk and our Blog Shureuk.wordpress.com.

You never know your name could be the chosen one next time! Sebrina Bea

Launched at NAMM 2011

At the NAMM Show taking place in sunny Anaheim, USA, we’ve just introduced several new products and here we have the first pictures and details about them……….

The PSM 1000 In-Ear Personal Monitoring System offers a dual channel, full-rack professional monitoring solution. It is designed to tightly integrate with Shure Wireless Workbench software for the most efficient set-up and control plus with a true diversity-equipped, low profile bodypack receiver, the PSM 1000 system provides the best in audio and RF performance.

For semiprofessional DJ’s and audio enthusiasts Shure has developed the SRH550DJ. This ultra-lightweight headphone has full range frequency response with enhanced bass. Its closed-back, supra-aural design with adjustable collapsible headband and 90° swivel ear cups make it suitable for both DJ mixing or general listening.

The new high end SRH940 headphones are designed for critical monitoring and mastering applications in professional studios. The SRH940 provides accurate response across the entire audio spectrum delivering smooth high-end extension with tight bass. The premium padded headband and velour ear cup pads offer superior comfort for long recording sessions.

The SE215 Sound Isolating™ Earphones deliver detailed audio with extended bass. A detachable, Kevlar® reinforced cable with formable wire allows for easy replacement and secure, comfortable fit.

We expect that these cool new products will be available in Europe during the first half of 2011 – fingers crossed!

Win Shure DJ Gear with RA!

We’re running another competition this time with Resident Advisor – one of the coolest online electronic music magazines out there……Win one of two DJ prize packs including headphones, DJ carts, sound isolating earphones and limited edition slipmats.

You can win a pair of M35X DJ carts (worth £140) and precision engineered for house and techno playback, a set of SRH750DJ pro headphones (worth £139) and a pair of limited edition Shure slipmats. One runner up will receive a pair of the brand new Shure SE315 sound isolating earphones (worth £189).
To enter the competition:

You must be a registered member of RA to enter the competitions.You can register free here or if you are already a member of RA and simply need to login, click here to log-in.

Helpful tips for the aspiring producer

Here are a few useful tips for those of you recording at home.

1) Understand Microphone Polar Patterns
A polar pattern describes the shape and direction of the microphone’s “sweet spot”. Some mics pick up from one direction, some from all around and all offer different degrees of bleed from the sound source. Most of the time, you’ll want to use a uni-directional mic that is most sensitive to sound arriving on-axis.

More information on Polar Patterns

2) Know when to use a dynamic or condenser microphone

Dynamic and condenser mics have different frequency response characteristics. Dynamic mics (like the SM58®) tend to be “shaped” for vocal use. Condenser mics (often used in recording applications) can be “flatter” and usually have an extended high frequency response.
Detailed description on transducer types

3) Invest in a pair of studio headphones for the right application

A good pair of studio headphones won’t break the bank and will let you hear your mix with a great deal of clarity. Models with a swivel that allow you to use just one headphone at a time can be convenient for mixing applications.

More information about Headphones

4) Add a microphone adaptor and be totally portable

The Shure X2U provides a portable and convenient way to connect a professional quality XLR microphone into your computer by converting the analog XLR signal into USB. It also acts as the computer’s de facto sound card and provides zero latency monitoring, and is the perfect solution for  home recording and recording on the move.

More information on the Shure X2U, XLR to USB adaptor

There are plenty more educational documents, videos and downloads in the  education section of our website for microphones, in-ear monitoring  and home recording

Win a Pair of SRH750DJ Headphones with Shure and Mixmag!

Our Shure SRH750DJ headphones have been going down a storm since they were released and we’ve teamed up with Mixmag “The worlds biggest dance music and clubbing magazine” to give away a pair.

To enter the competition visit the Mixmag website, answer a really simple question and you could be the proud owner of a new pair of Shure DJ headphones !

Just see what people have had to say about them:

“On looks alone the SR750DJ is a winner and that’s before you even listen to them! Great job, Shure.” IDJ

“They’re one of the best set of DJ Headphones in their price range and sound better then most the DJ-branded cans.” Future Music

“The SRH-750DJs offer great sound, quality and looks.” Scratchworx

 

Good luck everyone!