This technique works because the source is 5.1 sound and there is a center channel. Most music is just mixed in stereo and vocals fluctuate across frequencies, mixing in with other instrumentation.

Depending on the label and genre, it is sometimes not so hard to find singles with an acapella or instrumental mix.

Edit: I reread Cody's suggestion and it sounds like that source is just stereo. So.. maybe?

So Cody's suggestion should work well in this instance because voice-over tracks for TV/Movies/Games are almost always perfectly centered in the mix, meaning the voice in the left channel is exactly the same as the voice in the right channel.

Vocals in music are more complicated because there are often multiple layers with multiple takes, spread out to various points in the stereo range. So the voices you hear in the left channel are often not identical to the voices in the right channel. There will be a decent amount of overlap, so it would still partially work, but not as effectively.

Depending on the label and genre, it is sometimes not so hard to find singles with an acapella or instrumental mix.

Edit: I reread Cody's suggestion and it sounds like that source is just stereo. So.. maybe?

Ω - Ohms of Resistance (AKA Impedance). This is the electrical resistance of the speakers. The higher the # the more power it takes to drive them.

And generally, the higher the resistance, the better the headphones. My wife was telling me that while she loves her 280 Pros, they eat the batteries on her iPad much faster than any of our other headphones. So if you want mobile, be prepared to sacrifice battery life. If you get headphones with their own preamp that can reduce the battery drain because you have an external battery powering the headphones.

Also, if you just want to listen to music, you are probably better off with a closed design as opposed to an open one. You'll get better bass from the closed design.

kHz - the frequency range the headphones will play. I'm not sure the limits of human hearing, and I know as you age you lose the ability to hear higher frequencies. When you're talking 8 & 12 hz you're talking pretty dang low. Music really doesn't get that low. 25kHz - 38.5kHz is really really high, as in you probably can't hear it. We're talking the highest pitch whines you might hear coming from electronics.

Human hearing at best is 20hz to 20khz. You can feel vibrations from lower than 20hz but you can't hear them.

It's also pointless getting something that plays frequencies above 20khz since CD music is sampled at 44.1khz and band limited, which means those higher frequencies don't even exist in the audio file.

I have a set of HD 280 Pros that I love, but they're worn out and due for replacement soon. I've been debating just getting another set since they're only $99 now, or if I should look at a higher end set.

http://headphones.specout.com/compare/356-357/Sennheiser-HD-598-vs-Sennheiser-HD280-Pro

I think it comes down to if you prefer open-air or a closed headphones.

280: 8-25kHz, 64Ω, 102dB sensitivity, closed
598: 12-38.5kHz, 50Ω, 112 dB sensitivity, open

I've honestly never even used an open-air set. I'm like you, in that I'm enough of an audiophile to want a good set of headphones, but I don't actually know all that much about the differences. All the numbers mean absolutely nothing to me.

This much I know about the #'s...

kHz - the frequency range the headphones will play. I'm not sure the limits of human hearing, and I know as you age you lose the ability to hear higher frequencies. When you're talking 8 & 12 hz you're talking pretty dang low. Music really doesn't get that low. 25kHz - 38.5kHz is really really high, as in you probably can't hear it. We're talking the highest pitch whines you might hear coming from electronics.

Ω - Ohms of Resistance (AKA Impedance). This is the electrical resistance of the speakers. The higher the # the more power it takes to drive them.

Sensitivity - The is similar to impedance. I'm not entirely sure how this is measured. I think this is the volume produced with a certain amount of power. Portable electronics can't drive as much power as an amplifier like your receiver on your home theater. So I guess more sensitive is better for portable devices. I don't know if lower sensitivity is better for devices able to put out more wattage.

If you decide you want to discuss, shoot me an email: breitzen@gmail.com

I have a set of HD 280 Pros that I love, but they're worn out and due for replacement soon. I've been debating just getting another set since they're only $99 now, or if I should look at a higher end set.

http://headphones.specout.com/compare/356-357/Sennheiser-HD-598-vs-Sennheiser-HD280-Pro

I think it comes down to if you prefer open-air or a closed headphones.

280: 8-25kHz, 64Ω, 102dB sensitivity, closed
598: 12-38.5kHz, 50Ω, 112 dB sensitivity, open

They were a gift, if I were purchasing I would seriously consider those 280's. My previous pair of headphones (audio technica somethings) were a closed system and I definitely noticed a difference (not good, not bad, just different) when moving to these open-air phones.

I've honestly never even used an open-air set. I'm like you, in that I'm enough of an audiophile to want a good set of headphones, but I don't actually know all that much about the differences. All the numbers mean absolutely nothing to me. I'll probably follow Blackt1g3r's advice and just get another set of 280 Pros. I may look at a set of 380 Pros for the extra fifty bucks--I think they're just the upgraded version of the same set (?), but I'm not sure I'd really be able to tell the difference. I've heard good things from a buddy that upgraded to the 380s from the 280s. Hell, I don't know. I sure love my current set, though! Enough that I'm actually a bit frustrated at myself that I didn't think to look at Sennheiser when I picked up my Astros for gaming.

I have a set of HD 280 Pros that I love, but they're worn out and due for replacement soon. I've been debating just getting another set since they're only $99 now, or if I should look at a higher end set.

http://headphones.specout.com/compare/356-357/Sennheiser-HD-598-vs-Sennheiser-HD280-Pro

I think it comes down to if you prefer open-air or a closed headphones.

280: 8-25kHz, 64Ω, 102dB sensitivity, closed
598: 12-38.5kHz, 50Ω, 112 dB sensitivity, open

They were a gift, if I were purchasing I would seriously consider those 280's. My previous pair of headphones (audio technica somethings) were a closed system and I definitely noticed a difference (not good, not bad, just different) when moving to these open-air phones.

If you're offering... Yes please! Hope everythings going great on Golem.

All I really need is a clean version of Giancarlo's lines. You wouldn't happen to have those lying around would you? ;)
I've got a clean copy of the music (thank you for that!).

If you have premiere or some other program that is audio savvy, you can try to do a center extraction in the eq. it's in different places in different programs, but it will extract only what plays on both channels equally, which is voice 95% of the time. Then apply a vocal isolation eq and you can get it reasonably clean. It won't be perfect, but I can be better.

I have a set of HD 280 Pros that I love, but they're worn out and due for replacement soon. I've been debating just getting another set since they're only $99 now, or if I should look at a higher end set.

I like them. :) How's that for an answer? I'm enough of an audiophile to want good headphones, but not enough to give a good critique. I really need to get a decent pair of headphones w/ mic for my ps4...