Whether in the field recording a music performance or editing a pastor's speech in an edit bay, headphones are crucial for editing clear audio and a quality presentation. It's not enough to record the event and hope the audio is ok. Why take a chance when confirming crisp audio via a simple set of headphones is so easy? Like Al Jolson told us in The Jazz Singer, "You ain't heard nothin' yet!"

Randy Hansen is a television news chief photographer and uses headphones in his daily work.

Watch the news tonight and you're bound to see the anchors and reporters wearing a tightly-curled earplug in one ear. These are called IFBs in the television industry. IFB is an acronym for Interruptible Feed Back. These are highly specialized headphones meant for a singular purpose.

TV hosts, ENG personnel and others in the "biz" use these to provide a stealthy audio feed from the control room or off-air. The IFB is not intended for studio-quality music, but for hearing the producer provide time countdowns or new information and for the anchors who may ask questions to reporters in the field. Videographers also use them, as they often plug into and listen to the same IFB signal as the talent.

IFBs are custom-made to each ear. A gel-like substance is pressed gently into the ear canal and allowed to harden. The resulting shape is sent to the IFB manufacturer, where it's ground down to a unique shape roughly the size of a peanut and returned to the talent. By the way, the master is kept at the factory for later reorders, as the ear canal never changes.

Click here to download a PDF Manufacturer's list of Videomaker's Headphones Buyer's Guide.