£100-150 budget for office headphones

UselessLuke · 22-05-2009, 7:45 AM

I currently have a paid of Sennheiser HD205's but find them so uncomfortable to use for anything longer than 30 minutes or so. They seem to press in on my ears, as well as the top of my head too much. I don't think the fact that I wear glasses helps this. Because of this, I'm looking into getting some new full sized headphones but can't quite decide on what to get.

I'll mainly be listening to rock, metal, accoustic and podcasts. I've read that Graco would probably be the best for me when it comes to these sounds but given that I'm in an office, I don't want any sound to escape, so super-aural phones may not be best for me.

I've tried on a pair of Bose Triport Around Ear phones and loved how comfortable they were but I was unable to test this with my own music source, so I can't really judge the sound quality.

The Sennheiser HD595's seem to be much hyped. How comfortable are these and how much noise bleeds from them during listening?

Are they any others I should be looking at in this price range? I'd like to stick to the lower boundary if possible but will push up if it's really worth it.

Edit: It's probably also worth noticing that the source is going to be an iPhone with mp3 at at least 192kbps, higher when I'm ripping the CD myself

hinch87 · 22-05-2009, 11:07 AM

If you are looking for an IEM check out the, Klipsch Image S4. Apparently they scale up pretty nicely to Shure's SE310 according to CNET -and even prefer the S4's. They can be had for £59.99 with the help of google

CNET review http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/k...-33577358.html

UselessLuke · 22-05-2009, 12:17 PM

Thank you for your reply but IEM's are the only ones I've categorically ruled out, as I already have some Shure 210's, which I love but aren't suitable for work given I often have to take them in and out frequently. I'd much prefer a full sized pair of headphones for the office.

The criteria I'm after are:

- Not IEM
- Very comfortable, bearing in mind I wear glasses
- Don't leak sound as it would annoy colleagues

Other than that, I'm pretty open

hinch87 · 22-05-2009, 12:38 PM

How about the Goldring NS1000? They offer great value for money.. Sound sig is a bit like Grado - though a bit more laid back. Only thing is that you would need switch on the noise reduction to get the full sound quality of the cans. Which in turn introduces white noise to the right earcup (well it does on mine but its not noticable when playing music or in a enviroment with ambient noise). They are pretty comfortable and are closed back so they won't leak much sound unless you turn it stupidly loud. I would not suggest the 595 since they are openback and will leak out sound..

£54.40 @ Play.com after you enter the code. Link here Play.com (UK) : Goldring NS1000 Active Noise Reduction Headphones : Electronics - Free Delivery and code to lower the price is "PLAGRING66".

(Oh they also need 1 AAA battery to run the NR function, so if thats inconvienent then forget about them lol)

Drubbing · 22-05-2009, 12:56 PM

All opens leak about the same, whether it annoys anyone at work will depend on how far away you are, and how loud you have them.

The 595s are open, as open phones leak from the back of the cups, not out from the ears, so the Grado's will leak the same, regardless of covered ear designs. Shame you rule open out, as I reckon the Grado's suit your music and comfort needs.

I don't know the others suggested here, but the Audio Technica A900 are worth a look. AT make great sounding, super comfy phones with a very light fit, so good for glasses. Not good for those with small (54cm) heads though.

They run well off portables and don't need an amp either, but be aware any phone you get will be held back a little by your source, so make sure any phone you look at doesn't require amping.

UselessLuke · 22-05-2009, 1:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Shame you rule open out, as I reckon the Grado's suit your music and comfort needs.

I would have open if I had the choice but I don't think it's plausable for these circumstances unfortunately.

For the price, with the voucher code, I've decided to take the risk on the Goldring NS1000. At half the price of the other options, it's worth a bash. I've read very favorable reviews about these so I'll give them a go.

Thanks a lot to everyone for their quick replies. You've been a great help

One final question. Do you think it'd be worth getting a portable headphone amp to use these when using an iPhone as a source? I'll try them out first obviously and see if it is a good enough sound for my liking, but do you think there would be a significant enough difference to be worth buying a cheap amp?

Thanks again people

Drubbing · 22-05-2009, 2:34 PM

It depends on the amp; if you get a cheap and nasty one it could adversely affect SQ.

You'd need a line out dock to connect one, so you'd be buying two products, the LOD bypasses the headphone out on the player and connects to the amp, this can improves SQ, but it needs to be a reasonable quality amp. Also depends on the quality of the phones too.

Which would probably mean spending as much, or more than the phones, which is a false economy - in which case you'd get better SQ far easier, by buying better phones to begin with.