Radial Engineering has released the StageBug SB-7 EarMuff – a headphone interface that enables muting of one side of a set of headphones to eliminate bleed when recording.

The SB-7 EarMuff uses a standard quarter-inch TRS headphone input with a second TRS headphone output on the other side to feed the headphones and supplemented with a mini 3.5mm TRS jack for ear buds. A Mono Sum switch allows blending the left-right signal to mono, while a local level control allows further volume adjustment. A Left Ear Off switch is used to mute one side of the headphones. The SB-7 EarMuff is completely passive, and so does not require power.

‘When recording classical music, violinists will often remove one side of the headphones to uncover one of their ears so that they can better hear their instrument when performing,’ says Radial Production Manager, Steve Hopia. ‘This generally improves their intonation and tone versus only hearing their performance through ‘a set of cans’. This causes a bleed problem whereby the open phone is now being picked up by the ultra sensitive condenser microphone, mixing in with the instrument. The SB-7 EarMuff solves the problem by enabling the artist to turn off the unused side of the headphone.’

The StageBug SB-7 EarMuff is now shipping and retails for US$99.

More: www.radialeng.com