Recommend a pair of headphones for me

To Osco I will go!

I'd like to think the Etymotic earplugs are like ear diaphragms, Kenan. Lube 'em up and you're good to go for hours, mang.

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.

I’ve had a pair of Beyer Dynamic headphones for maybe 12 years now and they still sound great but the rubber parts have gotten sticky and it’s kinda gross to handle them.

i picked up a fiio E10K for £30 on ebay last week, and it's improved my listening like 200%. i have DT990s, and compared to my macbooks onboard DAC, it's opened up the sound so noticeably. i was always suspicious/curious of the difference, and have never really had any money to spend on hardware, but for so little money, the change is amazing. the low end is tighter, the highs aren't as harsh, and i can turn up my headphones pretty loud without them feeling painful or fatiguing. maybe i'll upgrade in time...

gah, went deaf in one ear whilst walking around this morning, and that was my backup pair.

these were the cheapest skullcandy earbuds which i normally buy two at a time whenever i see them on sale. they are ok, comfortable, symmetrical leads, sound fine.

in my experience things costing 4x as much don't last 4x as long.

an holding off on wireless earbuds until i have no choice - i have old devices that need wires and I'm not sure how the Bluetooth will lessen battery life.

these have actually gone at the plug end, what are the chances of me replacing the plug? i an imagining tiny wires...

oh, "mmcx" seems to be the search term of you want detachable cables. i wonder whether that'll sort all my problems? (or it could mean 3 points of failure)

yeah that or 2-pin (and recessed 2 pin).. which seems to be largely replacing MMCX but they're both still going.

Not sure what I'd recommend as a step up from Skullcandy. I bought some stuff a few years ago and stopped. Maybe something from Tin or BLON.

just what i wanted, competing standards... proprietary takes on those standards as well from what i read. didn't like it when it was Sinclair joysticks, don't like it now.

Alternatively if you just want some good replacement budget earbuds I can recommend these Soundmagic ones, reviewed here at £80 but now available for as little as £34

https://www.whathifi.com/soundmagic/e80c/review

lol yeah. fwiw I've found 0.75 and 0.78 2-pin to be interchangeable but ymmv :)

MMCX is nice for being rotatable, and you can get an adapter from it to 2-pin. And hey, bluetooth adapters eventually?

not sure my time was well spent on these things.

34 quid is budget? I'm in the wrong business...

yep, the wires were tiny, and no inner sleeves so i think the wires must be coated in something so they don't short. i tried running them over a flame to burn it off but no dice

Sorry for appearing to be a moneybags. Apple successfully recalibrated my idea of what budget means by charging £150 for AiPods. That and every Wirecutter article ever.

these are technically dj headphones but by far the most indestructible, best-sounding headphones i've ever had are my sennheiser hd-25s. i have them on at the gym, on trail runs, dj gigs, everywhere i want to listen to something and they're lightweight & solid. the l joint on the cord eventually wore out but you can replace it for $30. a few weeks ago one of the joints above the ear came loose during a gig but i was able to find everything that had fallen off and it all screwed back on just fine, turns out i need to make sure they're tight every few months.

they are around $120 but worth every cent.

i didn't realize this until last year but the head band splits into two bands which makes keeping a tight fit on your head wonderfully easy. i don't even know how long i've had them now, maybe 5 years? feel like i never need another wired pair of headphones again. oh and they sound amazing.

Does anyone have a weird head like me that finds over-ear headphones impossible to wear for more than about three hours before either the top or the sides of my head starts hurting? I've tried three pairs now: Bose QuietComfort 35 II, Shure Aonic 50 and Philips SHP9600, and had to return them all.

All the experts online say over-ear are meant to be more comfortable for prolonged periods than smaller on-ear ones, but the only ones I can wear all day are a cheap pair of on-ear JBLs.

I mean, I'm assuming my head shape must be weird based on this, but I'm not sure how it is weird.

Ime my ears become over heated before i notice any head strain

Re: cheap earbuds, there is a pretty big difference in sound between the cheapest and something of some quality that is worth some $ imho

the skullcandy ones have been fine. i bought the first pair in a supermarket as a replacement for a ~£20 pair that broke when i was on my way somewhere (crystal palace) and they were better than those and 1/4 the price (on sale). i think they may be recently discontinued though.

(actually, if i'd've kept the receipt they are still under warranty. or were before i cut them to pieces)

have also noticed that 90% of the detachable cable alternatives are those around-the-back-of-the-ear type which is not great if you wear glasses. it's probably to get the weight of the cable off the connector but still...

amazon have some that meet all my criteria for £13 so maybe i'll try those first. after that they jump to ~£40

yeah not a whole lot of cable-down IEMs around with removable cable. Though you can find cheap cables without the loop-around molding that should be ok worn downwards on anything that isn't shaped like the inside of an ear.

You might have more luck if you are open to the old style, flat head earbud. Something like the TRN EMA fits the budget. I haven't heard it.

Alba I got a couple of pairs of these for the family during lockdown and they’re very comfortable. Almost “loose”. Hard to imagine them hurting.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AKG-K72-Performance-Closed-Back-Monitoring/dp/B01AYSNHVQ

I find over-the-ear headphones the most comfortable type. They're even more comfortable if I can remove my glasses while listening. The only part that gets uncomfortably is where they press against the temples.

I haven't got on with over ears before but the Anker Q20s are v comfy and sound great for £50.

new earphones have arrived, TRN-M10, and do feel like an upgrade.

the actual in-ear bits are labelled L and R but there's nothing to say which cable plugs into which driver or, indeed, which way around the two-pin connectors go, which could mean they are out of phase. checking L-R ness will be easy enough, i think, but the phase thing? there's a 50/50 chance it's right, i guess...

haha that was fast. You found a down-wired IEM, cool. I think you can just turn that cable around if there are phase issues?

How's it sound?

not listened yet. trying to think of an mp3 i have that i can check the stereo with.

it does mention the L-r thing in the manual

"IMPORTANT NOTE: Whether the left or right earphones are placed in the ear in the correct direction does not affect them Listening experience you experience. L applies to the left ear. R applies to the right ear."

so that's good...

Since they're not ear molded or anything, they are exactly the same. Assuming they wired the polarity right on both!

each individual lead can be attached to the driver in two different ways though, they are completely unmarked. it would be easy to do the earphone equiv of this
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-phase-your-speakers/

that said, this site suggests that they are correct L/R and are in phase.
https://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_polaritycheck.php

and, of course, there's the question of if i'd even notice

tested them in the park this morning. they sound good, obvious inprovement in sound quality (although almost everything that played was unfamiliar. maybe i ought to try it on tracks i know)

the metal cases are slightly bigger and heavier. and colder!

the cable is stiffer and twisted, not smooth, but not importantly so - i was worried it would scrape against clothes

when i pushed them in slightly too far they did some odd kind of bone conductivity thing(?) where my footsteps were really loud. re-seating them helped. not clumping around also helped.

so the cable microphonics aren't bad but the occlusion effect is. You didn't get that with the previous ones? Using smaller silicone tips could help. But this is generally why I prefer flat-head buds if I'm using anything while walking around.

i was thinking the larger tips would stop me putting them in so far (which i think the previous ones did just because of their shape). will experiment.

yeah, you can see here the chamfer meant the body wasn't in my ear at all, just the rubber bit

https://i5.walmartimages.ca/images/Enlarge/658/879/6000198658879.jpg

compared with these where the actual barrel can end up inside

https://trn-audio.com/trn-m10.html

Oh I see. At times I have needed a little extending. There's ways. For example, flipping your tips

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/flip-tips-or-fliptips-prepare-to-have-your-mind-blown.906357/

if you don't flip your tips are you even really listening to music

i wouldn't generally recommend that site but that comes in pretty handy lol

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 4.50BTNC wireless headphones (with an optional wire). I love the noise cancellation and the sound reproduction. The earpads were fantastically uncomfortable; I replaced them with some soft, kind of fuzzy ones (described as "Velvet") and I can now wear them for hours.

^ i see that one can get the Sennheiser HD 350BT for about $40 cheaper than the these. are they comparable?

at this point i'm waffling between a pair of $40 soundcore BT noise-canceling headphones (essentially the cheapest option?) and a pair of Sennheisers in the $90 - 120 range.

do I need a headphone amp if I’m already going through a stereo receiver? I’m not having volume issues at all. Do they make music sound better? Warm tubey goodness?

I've gone done that road (without spending all that much) and I would say no. Not unless your receiver sounds obviously noisy or is under-powered (like you're almost maxing it out to listen at a comfortable level).

Light dabbling in tubes I also found kind of a waste of time. And reading accounts of people with higher end stuff (who could be honest about it) it's really kinda like, well the lights look nice. Sort of like digital vs vinyl.

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!