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

[whl.livejournal.com]

I used to have a pair of Sony V6s; the cushions wore out, and the cord eventually got brittle but they were great.

[min8ive.livejournal.com]

My favorites are Bose in-ear. I have several of the bluetooth headsets, which I use when I need to hear people trying to get my attention.

And I have 2 sets of the noise cancelling wired ones-one of the Apple flavor for my iPod Touch, and one of the android flavor for my Samsung Galaxy phone. (You can only control the volume using the buttons on the cable if you're using the right flavor. And I decided that I use them enough in different places to warrant having 2 pair.)

I can wear them for hours without getting a headache or sore ears, though I do occasionally wish I could swap the left ear on the bluetooth set. But it isn't designed to fit that way, so I'd have to buy a whole nother one just to wear occasionally in the left ear. No. If I get that desperate, I'll wear the wired ones, and just leave the right one out.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

You can buy new cushions for most headphones. These days "replaceable cord" is a requirement for headphones that I pay more than $30 or so for. Even the Sennheiser 598s got a new cord. They came with a ridiculously long cord, I think 3 meters, which got tangled and the chair ran over a lot, so I bought a very nice 1.3 meter silicone cable from a Chinese eBay vendor. It's red too, so bonus points.

[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.