Recommend a pair of headphones for me

I want some for home listening but I can't find anywhere to ship them to me

: /

I bought a pair of koss porta-pros which are great but I want a pair of those big bulky ones for lounging about at home; the porta-pros are spindly, and dig into my neck when I'm lying down

anyone have any experience?

I think she bought them from amazon

I picked up the HD20s first, because they were huge earmuffs and because they said on the package, "Perfect for DJs." Well, if they're good enough for DJs... actually, that didn't work. DJs have different needs than I do, apparently. The highs are tinny, the mid-range is muddy, and the bass is ri-freakin-diculous. It's boomy and with wayyyy too much sustain. Real crap for everyday listening. Avoid.

So I brought those back to the store and ended up with the PXC150s, and they sound BEAUTIFUL. Balanced, crisp, and the noise cancelling works wonders. (I'm afraid I'm setting myself up for being hit by a car.) Of course this means that I have an extra piece to my portable audio setup now -- the battery pack -- but I spend so much time with headphones on and they sound so great it's totally worth it to look like a bit of a dork wearing a belt clip.

Just ordered some CX300s for that.

Plane Quiet NC6
Has anybody had any experience with Plane Quiet headphones? Recommendations yea or nay?

Might nbe better to get in ear ones that will block out the noise physically.

I just bought some Shure E2Cs and on the short run out they've had so far they're absolutely fantastic and a mile better than the sonys I've just replaced which I thought were pretty good in the first place but kept losing the sleeve (including once in my ear canal - resluting in some worried rummaging while walking along a tube corridor)

Just ordered some CX300s for that.

-- Alba (Alba),

How are they working out for you? Just ordered a pair

Looking for some recommendations as well. I've heard great things about sennheiser's HD25 and Grado's SR60 (though the later don't seem particulary aesthetic or comfortable but based on reviews it seems they have a great sound for the money)

ugh still waiting for my portapros to come back to me. i tried using the apple earbuds today but they are such shit and they wont stay in my earholes for even a second.

i bought some jvc replacement buds for my broek apple ones and they SUUUUUUCK

but spending real $$$ on headphones to wear on the bus/bike is stupid because i lose things like that professionally.

i will swear to the death on my sr60's. They only get uncomfortable if you have them on for like 3 hours.

I've got three headphones right now:

Sennheiser PX100 (good for work cuz I can hear the phone, bad because I can also hear my co-workers)

Shure E2C earbuds (my wife wears these and she loves them, good isolation and once you find the right earbuds they fit snugly and comfortably)

Creative Labs EP-630 earbuds (I use the harder plastic Shure earbud pieces--I find these suit me fine when I am running/on the bus/etc and they are cheap.)

i will swear to the death on my sr60's. They only get uncomfortable if you have them on for like 3 hours.

― the bourgeoisie and the rebel (Stevie D), martes 21 de octubre de 2008 19:57 (7 minutes ago)

So would you recommend them over every other headphone you've tried?

The Shure headphones are a tad overpriced for me :P I'm looking for something below the $90 mark

They are $60 on Amazon.

PX100's were also fantastic but mine were stolen within a month. I was v v sad.

Moka I haven't tried many other headphones but when I did hardcore research before I bought them, all signs pointed to them being THE quintessential sub-$100 headphone, hands down.

anybody try the "iGrado" model?

I didn't go with sr60s cuz they looked so clunky for everyday use. If I wanted a pair of headphones for computer/movies/home that's what I would have gone with.

Did you make a decision then, Moka?

I've been using a pair of Sony earbuds -- I have the model number written down somewhere, but I've no idea where -- for a couple of years, which are reasonable-ish *but* need an adaptor to fit my first-gen iPhone. So far I've been through two adaptors (a Griffin thing, which lasted about six months, and the HEAP OF SHIT that is the Monster iCable, which lasted less than a month: seriously, kids, fuck a Monster) and I'm getting kind of pissed off with that.

I was in the Apple Store today and tried a pair of Bose On-Ear headphones. Fuck me, they were lovely. But they were also substantially more than £100 worth of loveliness, which strikes me as a total waste of time because a) like gbx says, if I'm using them out and about then there's the chance of them getting knackered or lost; b) more importantly, I'm loath to spend that many £££ to listen to MP3/AAC/otherwise compressed sound.

The Sennheiser PX100s are awesomely cheap, and I liked the pair I tried. Not nearly as much as the Boses, but ... yeh, let's forget about that. MASSIVE PLUS POINT: they fold. That's going to be damn useful.

The Koss PortaPros look like they'd be worth checking out if I wasn't 99% sure they'd also need an adaptor to work with the stupid fucking recessed iPhone socket (or I'd have to trim the plastic round the jack, which I really don't like doing). If that's the case: I'm ruling them straight out.

The iGrados, again, look like they've got one major flaw: they don't fold. So how the hell I'm meant to stop them from getting bent/buckled/broken in my bag, I've no idea.

Hmm. This is really just thinking out loud, isn't it?

Koss Koss Koss

There's 3mm between the base of the actual plug and where the chunky bit begins - could be enough?

I highly recommend the Sennheiser PX100's. I did away with the ipod buds about a year ago b/c they irritated my ears, and I've been happy as clam with them ever since. The folding is handy. Biggest plus is that the sound is lovely and rich...even though they're over ear and there's some leak, it's SO easy to lose yourself in the music with these headphones. Other people are always surprised by the quality when they try them out. The low price is definitely a selling point, but honestly I'd have happily paid more for them given how great the sound quality is.

But wait! There's more! If you order now, you get 2 extra sets of foam covers and this ginsu knife normally valued at $50!

porta pros work with ipods fine

I can't recommend the PX100's enough. I've moved on from the pair I bought a few years ago, but every now and then I dig them out and am very surprised at how satisfying they sound. Sure, you can do better, but at the price they're hard to beat, and incredibly well-built considering how flimsy they look.

porta pros work with ipods fine

It's not an iPod. It's a first-gen iPhone with a recessed headphone sockets. So a lot of standard-issue headphone sockets won't fit.

There's 3mm between the base of the actual plug and where the chunky bit begins - could be enough?

Gah, that sounds like it'll be just not enough. It's got an L-shaped connector, hasn't it? Those are usually a no-no.

Basically, I just need to get my hands on a pair and try 'em ;)

It's a first-gen iPhone with a recessed headphone sockets. So a lot of standard-issue headphone sockets won't fit

OK, Simon, try not to write ILX posts while doing something else at the same time. Recessed headphone socket (singular); a lot of standard-issue headphone jacks won't fit. Sorry.

I have a pair of the i-Grados and they sound absolutely great, unfortunately they are as leaky as all hell, on the tube outside noise pretty much drowns out the sound, even with the sound on full. Of course that leakiness works both ways and so they're not exactly fellow commuter friendly.

Am using some cheap-assed skullcandy in-ear phones at the moment and they're just right for what I need on my commute - not much tube noise leakage, decent sound and nicely compact.

yep grimly, it's l-shaped on the portapros :(

You can always perform surgery on the minijack with an x-acto knife and whittle away plastic until it fits...

(on the headphones, not the iPhone, of course)

I have a tubey headphone amp, but I needed something as my amp didn't have a headphone jack.

The headphones I have are Beyer Dynamic DT 990's, which I mainly bought because the guy in front of me at the hifi place looked like Jimmy Page, and he bought a pair of them. He wasn't Jimmy Page, but just the fact that he looked like him made me think that there must be something to the product. They're really comfy to wear.

xxp that makes sense, kind of what I suspected. Thanks!

I very much recommend Phillips Fidelio X2HR, very very very comfortable.. and they sound really good to me too.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JL0AFHjfL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg

april 2023 to jan 2026 is, i guess, better than the usual 6 months but i'm back again looking for earphones, iems.

actually, i could just buy cable for the existing ones given that they are detachable - the problem this time was the cable near the jack, it's obviously been rubbing against the cuff there. but nobody seems to sell cables with the right connector (qdc) without also being moulded for around-the-ear, and i don't think that'll work with my glasses. i could by around-the-ear cables and cut off the plastic sleeves but i don't really want to mess.

(or given that the current cables are 4 distinct cables, maybe i can trim and solder a replacement plug on. nothing to lose...)

i'd buy an exact copy of the pair i currently have (trn-m10), only they stopped making them.

Sennheiser Momentum TW4 are the best earbuds I've ever used, highly recommended.

i'm not really a wireless person (another thing to charge, bluetooth wasting phone battery). that's also about 10x what i normally pay 8) it's nearly as much as my phone was

Linsoul KZ ZSX

For over-ear iem I like Linsoul 7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2.
Tanchjim One gets good reviews for straight connection.

I need new headphones. A friend convinced me that her Sony noiseless were the greatest thing in the world (she put them on me and they did sound great), so I bought a pair, but prolonged exposure to the noise cancellation makes my ears feel like they’re getting microwaved and I hate them v v much

I have become a Porta Pro true believer over the last several months. I am extremely finicky about headphone comfort. IDK if I just have a weirdly shaped head and ear canals or what. I loathe the way earbuds feel, and every pair of over-ears I've tried give me serious jaw discomfort after a few minutes. So for cheap, lightweight, good-sounding on-ears that don't make my head/ears/jaw hurt, it's Porta Pro all the way. The only disadvantage is that they don't block sound, and I live in a fairly noisy neighborhood.

If anyone else here relates to this and has recs for actually comfortable sound-blocking headphones, I'd love to know

Wow at the price of those Sennheisers!

In mitigation, they sent me them free of charge because I had a pair of TW3s (which were slightly cheaper) that packed up while they were still under warranty.

I ~hate~ noise cancellation. I do not want headphones that have it as an option— you’re not “cancelling noise” you’re just feeding your ears additional information to mitigate that noise. It’s entirely intuitive but I am absolutely sure that they’re terrible for your eardrums and will cause hearing loss

I’m really into the Audeze concept of “open back” headphones that attempt to not “cover” your ears from ambient sound— makes more sense for what I want my headphones to do. They did make open-back buds and a friend of mine swore by them for usage while recording (like having one ear on, one ear off) but they sadly discontinued that line

it's amazing on flights or on busy trains/buses. i never use large noise cancelling headphones day to day tho, too big to carry and i don't need noise-cancelling when walking around.

some of you do not work in an "open concept" office

fgti Option is right.. hope you've turned it off!

Passive noise cancellation is underrated. A chonky IEM can block more sound and in a less aggravating way than many active setups can.

That said I love open back stuff most for when it fits the use case.

+1 on Koss Portapro.. and all their other stuff that uses that driver, or the titanium coated variant (KSC75.. for anyone who can't take headband pressure at all). Wireless forms are great too, and even include wired USB to 3.5mm passthrough that doesn't utilize the battery.. so they won't necessarily be trash when the battery dies out.

Love porta pro. They make everything sound like an LP somehow. Someday I want to try the 3rd party foam pads

I also really dislike noise canceling, but I wear the older wireless Sonys (WH-1000XM4) for commuting, because they also feature the opposite setting: there's an ambient sound pass-through, tilted toward speech frequencies, so you can hear what's happening around you. I didn't especially care about this feature when I bought them, but now I doubt I'd ever buy daily-outside-use headphones without it; even wearing regular closed-backs at home has started to feel slightly claustrophobic. It works well for the obvious handy stuff — catching train announcements, knowing what's happening around you on crowded streets, being able to one-touch dim the music and have quick conversations without taking the cans off — but it also makes the music sound nicely open. So the tools of noise canceling can also be used for good! Instead of phase-canceling ambient sound those mics can be piping it in!

I forget which model I have of those but on mine you can hold your hand over one ear and all the sound comes in. Quite handy.

I typically only use full noise cancelling if I'm locked into an activity or at work, or in a generally noisy environment. nabisco otm that the transparency modes are really nice, especially if you might need to hear certain things.

I don't live somewhere with a subway or commuter trains, but having visited places that do have them it's nice to be able to pop in earbuds with noise attenuation and still be able to hear announcements. Or walking under the L in Chicago, definitely a plus

Love porta pro. They make everything sound like an LP somehow. Someday I want to try the 3rd party foam pads

Kinda like a worn out needle? Drilling some holes in the grilles helps with that!

Yaxi pads overrated imo. Plus makes the things look too big for my head.

are you talking abt the oversized yaxi pads? cos the ones i have are more or less the same size as the stock pads

that said i have a slightly different setup, i call them The Liar's Portapros: KSC75 headphones with the earclip things removed, an aliexpress knockoff portapros band attached (this is very easy), and yaxi pads

image of them (cw: the most cat hair in the world

Yeah those. Good work. Nice and bright sounding I'm sure.

I'll sometimes browse the "kossmods" subreddit for fun.

In all seriousness this stuff is what I'd recommend to someone taking an interest in decent headphones. poke around that lineup until you're good. $20 KSC75 might be enough. I love those earhooks, can wear them all day and forget they're there.

i went with some cheapish KZ-ZSN PRO X ( https://kzmusicstore.com/products/kz-zsn-pro )

haven't worn them in anger yet but a quick two minutes in a zoom meeting sounded fine. lots of passive noise reduction.

around-the-ear is new for me. not sure i like.

annoyingly the cable isn't quite compatible with the previous pair i had (whose cable broke last week)

the KSC 75s are good but the cables are fragile and like to break where they're soldered to the drivers, so I've been through two pairs. I ended up modding mine to connect to an IEM cable, then that broke too :( the Porta Pro cable has so far held up.