Recommend me some headphones that keep to themselves

In My Humble Opinion
1

There are plenty of headphones out there that are designed to block outside noise. I have a pair of those, and they are most excellent. What I require now, however, is a pair of headphones that excel at keeping their own noise inside.

Oftentimes, you see, usually on the bus or on the D.C. metro, I encounter a person whose “personal headset” is radiating semi-rhythmic pulses that can be detected by the unaided ear of the partially deaf at a distance of ten kilometers. This is annoying. I do not wish to be one of these people. There are times, though, when I do wish to turn my own music up to eleven. Up to this point, I have made do with the sub-par quality and loss of clarity that comes with quiet listening.

However, I grow weary of this wholly unsatisfying auditory experience; this tantalization of tintinnabulation; this canorous cocktease, if you will. I long to enjoy my portable music in the same extravagant luxury as exists in my own home; to bask in the self-gratification of the highest level of amplification. All this I want, yet still I ask for more: I must engage in this practise with naught but a single detectable decibel eminated therefrom.

And so, my friends, I come to you, and I ask, HOW? How might I revel once again in the fullest pleasures of aural indulgence, yet uphold the boundaries of respect for my fellow beings, philistine though they may be in their disdain for my distinctive dulcet delectation. How, then, is’t possible to…

[/Overdramatization]
[/Cheesy faux-Shakespearean accent]

Dammit…I keep leaving those things open. Sorry about that. So, does anyone know of a good pair of headphones that can handle loud music without bothering those in the immediate vicinity? I have a couple of longish flights coming up, and I’d like to have some before I go. All suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

2

No responses? Come on.

Okay, okay, the OP was over the top. I was feeling extravagant. You don’t have to indulge me; just answer my question. Anybody?

3

I had this problem at work. I used the in the ear phones until one day a coworker told me they could hear the music down the hall even with the headphones on. :eek: And it’s not like the rest of the office wants to hear the Burden Brother’s “Dirty Sanchez”. So I got a good pair of ear encompassing Sennheisers and no one can hear what I’m listening to.

The bad thing about these earphones is that I can absolutely not hear anyone else. So I can’t use them when I’m goofin’ here because someone could walk up behind me while I’m reading a thread about shaving pubic hair. I think they’d be fine for a plane but I wouldn’t use them when you need to hear what’s going on…

4

Most audiophile headphone enthusiasts would probably recommend in-the-ear-canal style cans for what you want. Basically, you need sealed, rather than open-back, headphones to prevent the noise leakage you’re concerned about. But the sealed headphones generally don’t sound as good as open-back models do. The in-ear phones take care of both issues, by forming a seal with the inside of the ear canal that isolates your noise from the rest of the world and vice versa, as well as putting the driver an extremely short distance away from your eardrum, and in physical contact with it (through the earphone tip and the walls of the ear canal), with only a very tiny amount of air to have to move.

Check out http://www.headphone.com for more than you ever wanted to know (and probably more than you ever wanted to spend!) on quality headphones.

5

Geez, Roland … aren’t you a pop music star? I’d think you’d know SOMEone who could get you some decent headphones …