in-ears are a good plan, for several reasons. If you can get used to DJ-ing in your head only, which is not for everyone. If you are used to the “classical” way of one side headphone the other for the booth monitor, the transition might not work for you. Well worth trying (you can try it with your regular headphones by using the cue/master balance and mixing completely in your headphones) before investing lots of money into good in-ears.
And good in-ears are a lot of money (I am not saying expensive, as that implies the quality and price are skewed towards the higher price range). For me custom molded would be the first criteria. I can’t stand all those flanged thingies. After 30 minutes they drive me crazy. Custom molded I can wear for 10 hours straight if need be. There are some companies now offering DJ specific in-ears with custom molding. The frequency curve has been adapted to fit the DJs needs (musicians will sometimes have curves that fit their specific instrument – like boost at 2-4Khz for vocals and or 75-100Hz cuts).
The advantage of in-ears that fit like a glove (and you don’t mind wearing) and sound terrific for your purposes, is that you WILL use them most of the time. And if you keep the volume decent, it’s a great way to DJ with “built-in” hearing protection.
Obviously if you try to replicate PA volume levels in your in-ears, that argument doesn’t fly. It’s highly discouraged to do this though.
Not sure about all prices on all brands. But I know some of the high end pro brands can run you up to 1.000 dollars for a custom fitted pair.
I personally don’t think you’ll find a 150 GBP replacement for a good set of headphones in that price range though.
Just my two cents.
Greetinx.
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