Headphones

[johnridley]

Headphones really are addictive. I already have a couple of good pair, though the 7506s seem to have disappeared in a Tom-wardly direction after he borrowed them for gaming, never to return. I don't mind. They're fine sounding headphones (studio monitors, very flat response) especially for the price ($80ish) but the cord is heavy and long and non-removeable, and also the folding mechanism is quite loose so they tend to flop about a bit, so they're not actually my favorites.

At work I have some in ear monitors which sound great but I can't wear them for more than about 30 minutes. I took my Sennheiser 598s home, they're open and aren't really effective in knocking out sounds from around my cube in the new open office. I scrounged through the box and the other over-ear closed headphones I have are all < $30, and are all on their last legs - literally falling apart.

I have a $23 pair of Bluetooth over ears coming from Banggood, just because what the hell, $23, I'm just curious to see what you get for that money from China. But I also just ordered a pair of Audio Technica M40x. I was kind of looking at Sennheiser HD280s but quite a few reviews indicated that they were a bit prone to breakage, and plenty of M40x reviews indicated they were just as good if not better. And the price is sub $100 so I'm willing to leave them at work. Also I've never owned AT before so I'm interested in trying them.

I had been using the 7506s for audio editing, but with them missing I plugged in the 598s this evening to edit concert tracks, and wow. So nice.

I just need to keep rolling high saving throws against the Oppo PM-3 planar magnetics on my Amazon wish list...

Comments

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I had a pair of Bose QC15 noise cancelling. I couldn't wear them for more than about 15 minutes before I had to rip them off my head. It felt like there was a pressure on my ears and it drove me crazy if I left them on too long.

Also, honestly, they didn't sound that good. I have $80 headphones that sounded better as far as music quality goes. The Bose were about $200 new I think (I actually found them on the road - then a year later sold them for $100, so I can't complain).

[min8ive.livejournal.com]

Are those around ear? Yeah, I can't wear those for very long, either.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Yes. If I'm wearing in-ear, I don't really need noise cancelling. I have some $15 in-ear monitors that block out sound very well, in fact about as well as the Bose around ear QC15s do and sound about as good too.

I've never tried in-ear noise cancelling. But at this point I'm pretty convinced I don't need it anyway.

[min8ive.livejournal.com]

I don't use the noise cancelation very often. But I use the headphones all the time without. I'd use the bluetooth ones more at home if my desktop computer had built in BT. I have a USB dongle, but it doesn't quite reach where I need it to when I go upstairs anyway. :-P

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

OK as I said I've not tried the in-ear ones. The QC15 headsets, you can't use them without the noise cancellation turned on. You turn it off, they go dead.

I should check to see if there are BT dongles that aren't the tiny little things and might have a shot at reaching farther. My tablets will reach the whole house so it's possible.