Recommend a pair of headphones for me

thanks!

Couple of thoughts. Last hotdesk/open plan office I worked in, we were all issued Jabra Evolve headsets which, despite being over ear, blocked the noise of the call centre coming from the other side of the floor and had a microphone that doesn’t pick up much extra around noise.

I think ours were evolve 40s but i can check when I get home. Wired with both a TRRS jack and a USB doodad.

The other option is a gamer headset. E uses one for teaching and it looks ridiculous but it’s over ear, sound isolating and has a decent mic. It was just a move and one from a local electrical store. Much like a number of these

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4506696?clickSR=slp:term:gaming%20headset:2:223:1

hi folks, can you Recommend a pair of headphones for me? i've read back over recent stuff in this thread and i haven't found anything 100% in my zone.

must-haves:
* over-ear
* bluetooth
* noise cancelling

strongly prefer:
* physical buttons (unless the touch controls are really good and non-frustrating)

don't care about:
* controlling alexa/siri/other creepy robots
* anything to do with microphones actually

So far I have experienced:
Sony XB-450BT: These were kind of my ideal user experience, no fuss, buttons always worked right. But they're goddamned fragile things! My first pair was one a friend gave me for free and after a year or so, the hanger connecting the left earcup broke apart. I figured, well, they were free, who knows what they'd been put through before, etc. Bought myself another pair, got three solid years out of it and then, bang, same exact break. Never again!
Jabra Elite 85h: These were recommended by Wirecutter. Good controls, good sound, no fuss... but between the tight squeeze of the headband, and the sucking feeling of the barely-adjustable ANC, I got a headache within a couple hours of using them. Dangit!
Sony WH-1000XM3: I'm 90% sure these are the ones I tried in between the two pairs of the XB-450s. Sound and fit were great, but the touch controls drove me fucking crazy and it was also pushing my price point at a little at that time, so I gave up and returned them. I see people repping this series in the thread, so if the M4s were like a major major improvement I guess I could be open to trying them, since they don't use the same botchy earcup attachment piece.

I was looking at the Sennheiser 450s, but saw stuff online basically saying that the previous headphones in that line were correctly marketed as "on-ear," and that if you have bigger ears, these are going to get uncomfortable fast. I was also tempted to splurge on the Bose 700s, before realizing that all the physical buttons are devoted to voice-assist bullshit and cannot actually be used to adjust volume or go forward/backward. If someone can reassure me that the touch controls are really really good and reliable, that would be amazing to know!

I also am open to the possibility that the Bose QuietComfort II might actually be my jam - it's a few years old, but how much better can headphones have really gotten? I see some positive comments upthread - are people still rocking these? THANK YOU!!!

I haven't gotten to try them, but give the Anker Q30 a look.

I want these

https://www.musicdirect.com/headphones/Shure-Aonic-50-Wireless-Noise-Cancelling-Headphones

Id rate the xm3 as no better in most ways that matter to the xm2s and the noise cancelling actually a little more effective in that latter

Haven't tried the 4s

several of the podcast snobs at my work have the sennheiser momentums, which i think are now called HD1s? if money is no object. reports of fiddly controls however.

Yeah I totally recommend the Bose QuietComfort 35 ii, they tick all your boxes and I'm constantly hearing sonic detail through them that I've never heard before even on music I thought I knew well. The only downer for me is that they have the old-style micro USB charger but that's not a big deal.

I recently bought a used pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 iis for $157 plus tax. I'm sending them back because the left earphone button doesn't work and I haven't decided whether to buy another pair when I get refunded.

The pros:

• They do sound good. Not perhaps as good as I hoped for $300 headphones, but I only have experience of much cheaper ones so wasn't sure how much of a leap to expect
• I like the physical buttons, particularly the one you slide to turn off rather than dicking around with holding down a button for three seconds or whatever
• 'Multi-point' Bluetooth technology means I can have them paired to more than one device at once rather than having to pair and un-pair

The cons:
• As with my Jabra 65T earbuds, the multi-point Bluetooth is implemented with a fundamental flaw: it thinks it's a good idea to beep at you when one of the devices (even if it's not the one you're currently listening to) becomes disconnected. With the Jabras, this happens when the other device (say, my laptop in another room, while I use them with my iPhone) is just too far away for a Bluetooth connection, which is of course very annoying when it's just on the edge of range and will inform me of the connection and disconnection several times in a row. With the Boses, it's even worse because it seems to just lose the connection when it's right there next to me. Maybe mine are faulty. Anyway, I think I'll just stop using the multi-point thing and just have one device paired at once. It's more trouble than it's worth when there's no way to turn off the bloody beeping.
• These are the first over-ear headphones I've owned and as a glasses-wearer, I find they start digging in after a few hours of wearing them. The cheap on-ear JBLs I have are much more comfortable for all-day use.

Anyone try the Koss PortaPro bluetooths? They didn't get great reviews last time I looked but I'm tired of misplacing my Lightning to 3.5mm dongle.

great responses, everyone, thank you!!! i'm still mulling but leaning towards the QuietComfort... I do use Bluetooth on multiple devices but I'm used to just clicking the BT off on my tablet when I'm not watching a movie in bed, otherwise it's my phone all the time... so i should be able to evade the beeping. the glasses thing is a bit more worrisome but i'm willing to roll the dice and see.

Another plus for the QCs: you can use them wired if the battery is flat. Apparently some noise-cancelling headphones sound terrible without the battery, but these bypass the NC properly so they're fine. The battery is non-replaceable, btw, as most are, so eventually they'll become wired headphones if they don't break first.

But yeah, after another morning of wearing them, they just hurt too much for me with the glasses arms underneath. I think I'm back to on-ear, rather than over-ear in future.

slept on it, now pretty settled on the QuietComfort IIs, allowing that I might have to return them and go back to the drawing board if I experience the glasses-related discomfort.

the Shure Aonic 50s and Sennheiser HD1s are both very appealing. but looking at the instruction manuals, both have really annoying control schemes --- "tap this button once to pause, twice to go forward, three times to go back." these things list for $400 - just put another dang button on there you cheapskates!!

wait goddammit i forgot to double-check the QCII manual. they have the double-press thing too! so i'm back to square one. or just have to pick between one of these. whyyyyyyy

It’s a physical button but it’s loaded up a bit.

re: the Anker Q30s which maffew12 mentioned: these have a slightly less annoying control scheme; the +/- buttons are used for both volume adjustment and track skip, where you hold for 1 second to do the skip. that might be viable. Wirecutter says the cheaper Q20s are very very similar performance-wise (and have bigger buttons?), just missing an app to adjust EQ. supposedly the app also lets you adjust ANC level, but their review makes it sound like this is only supported for Apple devices. tbh the only reasons these weren't on my shortlist before were that reviews suggested that both sound quality and noise cancelling were lackluster. getting some peace and quiet on NYC subways is pretty crucial for me here. so these might be great for some folks, especially with the super super cheap price point. hrmrmrmrmrmrmrmrmm......

just put another dang button on there you cheapskates!!

I would love a future of dedicated buttons. Apple has a lot to answer for.

apparently, Apple's new flagship over-ear headphones have punted the touch/swipe controls for some kind of physical dial. hope that trends.

tbh I never use the navigation buttons on my QCIIs, I always navigate on the phone screen. ymmv.

yeah i think i got spoiled on the controls of the sony 450s, probably their best feature. suuuuuper handy both for skipping tracks in shuffle and for jogging 15 seconds forward/backward in podcasts, without digging my phone out of my pocket and waking it up.

1000Xm series quite comfortable over glasses ime, also allow for ANC customisation through app

Gestures/swipe take getting used to but are in time predictable and reliable

Quality of mic on calls is iffy and they do get warm after a few hours tho

Also work through cable as per above

So has anyone tried out Apples AirPods Max?

So, I've returned my QCIIs and have just forked out for some $299 Shure Anonic 50s. Despite my experience I've been convinced by everyone else that over-ears are more comfortable than on-ears and am hoping that the Boses just didn't suit my head for some reason. Fingers crossed.

anyone using koss porta pros? the treble on my beyer dt990s is getting a bit exhausting

they used to be my main headphones. they’re great!

I picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD350 BT for £42 on the Sennheiser outlet https://en-uk.sennheiser-outlet.com/shops/index.php , marked as B-stock but to my eyes they look as good as new and sound way better than a fourtt quid pair of cans. I'd guess I have average size ears and they fit fine. Not noise cancelling but it's not something I'm fussed about. The Sennheiser smart control is good in that you can tweak the equaliser to your tatse.

Damn typos.

Ach, got the Shure Anonic 50s and they're just as uncomfortable and hot on my ears as the Bose QCIIs were, so going to have to send them back. I think I must just have a very tall head combined with big ears: even pulled down do the maximum band setting, my earlobes still get squashed by the pads.

Koss Portapros still my go-to for our-and-about headphones. Never come across anything close at the price point. Still get comments on how cool they look, too.

Dug out my Grado Alessandro Music Series headphones last night to listen to some Godspeed on. Not used them in ages. Bloody marvellous.

Sony XB-450BT: These were kind of my ideal user experience, no fuss, buttons always worked right. But they're goddamned fragile things! My first pair was one a friend gave me for free and after a year or so, the hanger connecting the left earcup broke apart. I figured, well, they were free, who knows what they'd been put through before, etc. Bought myself another pair, got three solid years out of it and then, bang, same exact break. Never again!

saw this post and i was like "oh wow, never had a problem!" (diff sony headphones though) fast forward a few weeks, the stupid fucking things broke. considered buying new headphones but read enough "these broke" or "these are squishing me" reviews on every other pair that i was like, fuck it, i'm gonna try to fix em.

https://i.imgur.com/k0aIOoe.png
the ones i have i think are the same as the one mh mentioned way upthread, which i also got on a big sale -- i think i paid 150 max CAD for them? and it was a few years ago. i just walked into a box store and bought em because i tried em on and they didn't hurt. and they sounded great! and they lasted a while! then they snapped here. Unusable.

https://i.imgur.com/xMdyIbw.png
So I superglued the shit out of them, all in and around the cracks. And because I felt like that wasn't going to be enough i also superglued some cut-to-length zipties for support.

https://i.imgur.com/55DoTC1.png
Then I wrapped the whole nightmare in tie-dye duct tape. So far so good! They aren't leaving the house again though just in case. They're computer headphones now. Luckily I just upgraded my phone to something with an aux jack again so I can use my decent cheapo earbuds while out.

My 6-year-old AKGs have finally given up the ghost, what can I get out there for about £50 which will sound good? Headphones only, no earphones, would be nice if they folded up, I need then for doing audio restoration work so high frequencies as well are needed.

i appreciate that post, Will, though i have nothing to add

i love my bose quiet comfort wireless headphones. i've owned bose products before but these are the best ones i've ever had

Philip Sherburne over on pitchfork listing recommended wired and wireless headphones:
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-wired-headphones/
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-wireless-headphones/

Best 28?

Hey gotta get those referral click$

"Every pair of headphones – ranked from best to worst"

I guess that's rtings.com, actually.

so the headphones in the above thing broke in a new, much harder to fix place, so i said fuck it and ordered a pair of akg open back headphones (k 240). never used open back before, interested to see how this goes!

oh ok i see theybve been brought up a bunch itt, and now im wonderingf if i shouldve ordered a dac too :/

nah man fuck it. they'll be fine

Why do so many cheaper headphones have this ridiculously thin, fragile leatherette on the ear pads?

It inevitably starts to flake and it looks like you have dark dandruff

:(

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/business/john-koss-dead.html

Porta Pro shockingly unmentioned

RIP, porta pro forever

Man, for a while my Sennheiser 6xx had a fucked up cable, and I just didn't bother to replace it for months. Finally did, and oh man I forgot how gd good everything sounds. I've just been sitting here listening to stuff for like 1.5 hours and I can't tear myself away.

Those might be the best headphone deal of all time (at the old price)