It's best not to think of the Sound Isolation Headphones (or SIH) produced by the US manufacturer Vic Firth as high-end headphones for audiophiles or mixing engineers. They have been designed far more as a robust monitoring tool for musicians – especially drummers, who often have to deal with extremely loud monitoring levels simply because of the high acoustic volume of their instrument. This can easily lead to crosstalk between headphones and microphones, but far worse is the potential damage it can do to a musician's hearing. Because they are so effectively isolated against external noise, the Vic Firth SIH2 headphones enable users to reduce their monitoring volume, which automatically leads to less crosstalk and also helps protect users' hearing.
Vic Firth SIH2 are closed-back, over-ear headphones equipped with dynamic drivers, despite which they are surprisingly light, weighing in at only 340g – including the cable. Compared to the predecessor, the SIH1s, which had a strong mid-range presence, the SIH2s have a much more balanced and cleaner mid-range. The bass frequencies around 100Hz are slightly boosted; this makes the bass drum, so important for the overall drum sound, more prominent. At the other end of the dial, Vic Firth headphones are pleasingly restrained in the treble range.
The Vic Firth SIH2 headphones have been explicitly designed with the goal of reducing external noise as much as possible, to protect the ears of musicians – especially drummers – from exposure to extreme volume levels. And the SIH2s achieve this with flying colours, reducing external noise by 20dB. This does mean, however, that the generously proportioned headphones look more like professional ear protectors – sometimes called "Mickey Mouses" by industry types – than traditional studio headphones. But if looking fashionable is not a priority, users will get a pair of very effective sound-insulating headphones at an outstanding price.
Vic Firth is based in Newport in the US state of Maine and manufactures drumsticks, mallets, and accessories for drummers. The company was named after its founder, who at the time played timpani for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As Firth was no longer satisfied with the prefabricated mallets available from other manufacturers, he created his own models, which led to the formation of the Vic Firth Company in 1963. Vic Firth is currently the market leader in the field of drumsticks and merged with the Avedis Zildjian Company in 2010. In addition to drumsticks, mallets, rods, Jazz brushes, bass drum beaters, and practice pads, the company’s catalogue of nearly 400 products also includes bags, drum accessories, and special headphones for drummers. Endorsers include artists such as Gavin Harrison, Danny Carey, Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, Terry Bozzio, Stanton Moore, Steve Gadd, and Steve Jordan.
Anyone who is familiar with Vic Firth's earlier model, the SIH1, is unlikely to be particularly surprised by the SIH2s' above-average contact pressure. In addition to the large muffling ear cups, it's this contact pressure which is so effective in ensuring the headphones' high levels of external noise isolation. Fortunately, the extremely soft circumaural ear pads ensure that the SIH2s are still perfectly comfortable to wear. What is more, the high levels of contact pressure mean that even the most animated drummers won't have to worry about their headphones slipping, much less falling off.