I am looking for recommendations for a headphone purchase. I would like to spend no more than $200 (Canadian). I like listening to talk radio and metal and grunge at fairly high volumes and, since this is for my office, a critical criterion is NOT having my music spilling out to my neighbors (picture semi-cubicles with coworkers 3 feet apart).
I also want good sound quality though I listen from my ipod or computer. Wireless or not is irrelevant.
I’ve been using Koss headphones for at least 20 years and they have always been great. Moderately sturdy, good sound quality, reasonable price range.
Added recommendation of what is a big deal for me to have:
Long cord. I want a six foot cable or more so I can move around a little. Some units out there give you a three foot long cable and this can be a pain to live with. (I’ve never gone wireless)
I really much like to have a volume control on the cable or on the ear piece so I don’t have to get up to change volume.
There is a real difference on how much noise will leak out that others can hear depending on what kind of ear phones you get. The cups that cover the ears completely usually keeps your music from your coworkers and also they do better at filtering out outside noises you may not want to hear. Usually the better padded cups do better at this.
I’ve always liked Sennheiser over-the-ear headphones. Comfortable, good sound quality, and they always seem to be about 30-40% less expensive than they ought to be.
Not sure if it’s the exact model, but something like this is what I use for listening and for music practice.
Another vote for Sennheiser. I have the Sennheiser HD 558s, which replaced a pair of Koss Pro 4AAs. The improvement in listening experience from those old Koss 'phones was amazing.
Another Sennheiser fan. I mostly use the HD 600, but HD 280 pro are pretty isolating for a non-noise cancelling model. Very little if any sound leakage - I’ve used them on a crowded airplane.
However…Sennheiser is mostly not known for a punchy bass. I use them for all sorts of music, but if you’re mostly a metal/grunge guy you might want to try them out first if you can. Not everybody will prefer the more neutral sound profile.
Long term headphone nut here. I have gone through a number of headphones for work. Currently I use Shure SRH1540 headphones driven by a Topping DX3Pro DAC/Amplifier at work. Sadly I have just blown the OP’s budget by a factor of about 5.
Years ago I used the Sony MDR7506 (which is essentially identical to the MDRV6 but with a “pro” tag), and it is a very good headphone. However the noise leakage led to complaints from some workers nearby, and I stopped using them. So you need to be careful, not all closed back headphones have low enough leakage to be co-worker friendly. I swapped to using in-ear monior style phones. (I used Etymotic ER4-S) which have silly good isolation and very very good sound. But they are expensive and because they are inserted into the ear canal with a tight fitting seal, not always comfortable to wear for extended periods. They make IMHO the ideal travelling headphone hey have such good noise isolation that plane noise is inaudible. They are as good as industrial earplugs. The cheaper Etymotics (say the ER2 series) can be had under 150 USD, so within budget.
As noted, the Sennheiser phones are universally loved. I have a pair of HD600. They can be had via Massdrop for $200US. But they are open backed and light on bass slam, so useless for the OP.
Something like the BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro, (available via Massdrop for 140 USD right now) might work well.
Something to consider - an iPod will drive any headphones reasonably well, although some are more demanding than others. Computers universally have very poor headphone outputs. I used to delight in lending my little HeadRoom Dac/Amplifer to work colleagues for a while to show them what a difference it could make. They were all universally amazed. So, I would consider purchasing a small USB Dac/Headphone amplifier as well as the headphones. A great place to find out about the real performance versus the hype and value for money is here. This site is the Straight Dope of audio. They discuss the merits here.
The Sony MDRV6 mentioned above also has a pretty flat response. If you’re used to “normal” bass-pumping headphones (and that’s most consumer phones on the market) then you’ll be wondering where all the bass went to with cans like the Sonys, and I suspect also with a similarly-priced set of Sennheisers.
I use mine for video/sound/music editing so that flat response is desired and appreciated. Folks that just want to listen to music however, may be happier with headphones that juice the EQ.
Personally, I’d suggest considering the Sony WH1000XM2 or XM3. They are outside your budget range (mid $300s), but I bought a pair on eBay for $185 about a year ago.
The reason I suggest them is that they provide many different options…wired, wireless, work as a headset for your cell phone (either wired or wireless), folding and portable, great sound cancellation that works when wired or when wireless, suitable for office or traveling. (“One headphone to rule them all!”)
Sound quality is pretty good, though not perfect. The huge advantage for me is that I wear hearing aids and these fit over my entire ear, including the hearing aids, very comfortably. They seal very nicely and your co-workers will not complain. Another cool feature is that you can hold your hand to the right earcup and temporarily turn off the noise cancellation when somebody wants to talk to you.
Would software EQ be good enough to overcome a flat response you may not like?
(I personally use software EQ to lower bass response as I find that the overdriven bass kinda sucks. Thought it may also be that I’m losing hearing on the top end, and so need the treble louder. But no one else seems to complain.)
I love my HD-280 Pros. It’s not that they have weak bass, it’s that they’re very accurate and non-colored. I use them for listening to sound from the mixing board while I’m actually at a concert shooting video. They have about 30 decibel of isolation.
Can I ask for recommendations, too? Or is the correct ettiquite to start a new thread?
I would like to replace an old set of Sennheiser nose cancelling headphones that seem to have become unreliable. Maybe a wire got partially broken or something.
I am looking for nose cancelling headphones to wear on an airplane. I don’t need awesome sound, not perfect noise cancellation, but I want to be able to hear movie dialogue at normal levels, I don’t want to have to crank it way up.
And i have two other constraints: I want them to be small and light for convenient travel, and I don’t want them to sit in my ear. I had a lot of ear infections as a kid, had to wear earplugs when by ears were already sore, and I just don’t like stuff in my ear.
The ones I have are small and don’t encase the whole ear, which is perfect. Anything that covers the entire ear is likely to be larger than I want, although I’d consider a really small earmuff style. But I’ve been having trouble finding anything between “in ear” and “full muff”.
I have some Bose noise-cancelling 'phones and I love 'em. They’re especially good at negating low-frequency repetitive noises… like aircraft engines! They’re classic Over/Around-The-Ear design… I think you need that to seal out noise.
I prefer wireless earbuds in real life, but they don’t do noise-cancelling as well (Or doooo they? Anyone tried noise-cancelling earbuds?)
Anyhow, for everyone posting here: check the wirecutter… great articles and reviews.
I’m not going to comment on specifics, but if not bothering your coworkers is important, I’d highly recommend ‘over ear’ headphones. They generally do a great job of confining your noise to your ears.
For long-term wear (several hours a day) I would recommend against ‘on-ear’ headphones. They can get painful after hours of use.
‘in-ear’ style can be comfortable to wear and can also do a pretty good job of confining your music to your ears, but I find opinions to differ widely depending on personal preferences.
I use cheap ‘in-ear’ headphones for working out and expensive ‘over-ear’ headphones for work and listening to stuff at home.
The most comprehensive headphone reviews I’ve encountered are at rtings.com, which provides vast amounts of analysis, and dozens of “Top 5” categories. Hugely customizable sorting options.
If you want to know the average ear temperature increase for a certain pair of headphones, they’ve got you covered.
The only thing I’ve noticed missing is information on Minimum Volume, and I’ve only noticed that because I loaned my daughter a pair of headphones and she returned time in an hour, saying they wouldn’t play softly enough.