Headphones

wyerd · 16-04-2003, 6:26 PM

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some good quality Walkman or any other light headphones for my mp3 player (actually an iPaq with 256Meg SD Card).

I'm off on holiday next month, so they have to be comfortable to wear sitting on the aeroplane for 12 hours and lying on the sun bed on the beach. I've looked at the Sony over the ear types, but wondered if they're any good?

Cheers,
David.

TameRacingDriver · 16-04-2003, 9:02 PM

Most cheap Sony headphones are not the best.

If you have to have Sony headphones, at a cheap price, the only ones I can recommend are the Sony MDR-EX70LP "Fontopia" headphones, which are good for the money, have superb bass for their size, and also offer excellent isolation. They are a bit on the bright side though, so if you dont like that, I'd look elsewhere.

Looking elsewhere, how about Sennheiser's PX-100 or PX-200 headphones, simply excellent headphones for a portable use, and IMO probably better than the Sony's for sound quality.

rOAdeh · 16-04-2003, 9:09 PM

You don't mention a budget for around £30 there are basically 3 options which seems to get a lot of postive approval from most people:

1) As mentioned above the mdr-ex70lp - these are the only ones i've owned out of the 3 and i have to say they are very good headphones and the fact that they actually mould to the shape of your ear canal means you cut out the majority of ambient noise; certainly handy for noisy planes :D. RRP about £30

2) Sennheiser MX-500s - can be found at RS for £20 atm. Again earbuds that a lot of people recommend and certainly something to perhaps consider

3) Koss Portapros - RS are selling these for £35 but i expect you can find them cheaper maybe without duty at the airport, these are actual headphones tho and may be preferred over ear buds due to ear buds often becoming irritating to your ears for any significant length of time (well i find that anyway)

I don't want to compare them directly since I've only owned one of them though, although i certainly would recomend the Sonys. Will be interesting to see what others with more experience have to say.

Regards,

rOAdeh

wyerd · 16-04-2003, 9:20 PM

Thanks for the quick response guys.

I don't get on too well with in the ear types, so the Sony MDR-EX70LP's are out.

The Sennheiser's PX-100 or PX-200 headphones look very interesting. My budget's around £30-£40 so they fit that nicely.

More comments please!

wyerd · 16-04-2003, 9:35 PM

Mind you, the PXC250's look the biz! - twice my budget though.

Justification............mmmmmmmmmmmmm. ...... GUYS!?!?!?!?!

TameRacingDriver · 16-04-2003, 10:52 PM

Cant help you justify it I'm afraid, but I'd like to suggest to you that you also search the forums at www.headfi.org

You will find TONS of information about headphones there. AFAIK, the PX series has been quite well received by people who've bought them...

17-04-2003, 2:28 PM

Koss PortaPro'a get a thumbs up from me. Soundwise they are very, very good - much better than any other headphone I've owned for use with my minidisc. They truely are exceptional, extremely light and comfortable, on the other hand they don't block any ambient noise but IMO are perfectly usable on aeroplanes.

However I'm a bit sick of proper headphones and am thinking of getting some earbuds probably MDR-EX70LP's or if I win the lottery Etymotic ER4P - which are the daddy. Cost over £200. ER6's are about £150 - but I haven't checked up on them for a couple of years.

Ooo just found a link for Etymotic dealers in the UK

http://www.pjbox.co.uk/Etymotic/etymoticindex.htm

Nobber22 · 17-04-2003, 2:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wyerd
an iPaq with 256Meg SD Card.....sitting on the aeroplane for 12 hours

Hope your're flying BA Business class, so you can recharge your IPaq somewhere over the Seychelles.

wyerd · 17-04-2003, 3:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nobber22
Hope your're flying BA Business class, so you can recharge your IPaq somewhere over the Seychelles.

No, World Traveller Plus to Mauritius.

I think I'll go for the PXC250's. The PortaPro's maybe comfortable to wear but they look, IMHO, dreadful!

17-04-2003, 3:23 PM

Quote:

The PortaPro's maybe comfortable to wear but they look, IMHO, dreadful!

Agree, they're definitely not "lookers". This thread has spurred me on to buy a pair of Sony (spit!) MDREX71SLB's from Unbeatable @ £26.99. However they don't have any in stock, quelle surprise - hope I don't have to wait as long for them as I did for my Pioneer 2011

NicolasB · 17-04-2003, 3:36 PM

I suggest you check out this thread.

wyerd · 17-04-2003, 3:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by NicolasB
I suggest you check out this thread.

Interesting, but they're talking about in ear phones. They never fit my ears properly and get uncomfortable to wear after a while.

Quote:

Originally posted by Dazed
Agree, they're definitely not "lookers". This thread has spurred me on to buy a pair of Sony (spit!) MDREX71SLB's from Unbeatable @ £26.99. However they don't have any in stock, quelle surprise - hope I don't have to wait as long for them as I did for my Pioneer 2011

I'm still waiting for my Sony STR-DB180 from HiFiBitz - ordered 8th March!

17-04-2003, 4:23 PM

Quote:

I'm still waiting for my Sony STR-DB180 from HiFiBitz - ordered 8th March!

8th of March! That's nothing mate - I first ordered a Marantz SR7300 in late September/early October last year - I cancelled that in December to order a 2011 which was eventually delivered 2 weeks ago. Still it's a beautiful bit of kit which IMO sounds exceptional. certainly better than my humble old £200ish two channel amp.

Daneel · 17-04-2003, 5:43 PM

If you can stretch to £50 the Philips HP890s are supposed to be very nice. They are available in larger Dixons stores at £49.99.

nigel_williams · 17-04-2003, 8:24 PM

If you can find them, the Beyer Dynamic 231s are superb for around £35. Won the What Hi-Fi award 2 years running. Comfortable to wear for long periods and great bass - better than Sennheisers at the same price range IMO, compared them to a friends last week. Using them right now on my Archos Jukebox.

NicolasB · 19-04-2003, 2:42 PM

Beyerdynamic DT231 Galactic (awful name) is good value. Grado SR60 is probably the next price/performance step up from there. Next above that would probably be the Sennhesier 580s, but there you're starting to get into needs-a-headphone-amp-to-sound-good territory.

**alexs2** · 20-04-2003, 12:56 AM

The Etymotic phones are superb(I have a set)and fit most ears very nicely,and also very comfortably,with the benefit of a huge decrease in ambient noise intrusion...well worth looking at,despite any reservations about comfort.

wyerd · 22-04-2003, 5:24 PM

Thanks for all the comments guys- much appreciated.

I've blown the original £30-£40 budget and gone for the Senns PXC250's @ £76 from HiFiBitZ. Reasons being:-
1) Sound quality
2) Styling and size
3) some sort of noise reduction gizmo
4) Comfortable to wear
5) stows away in its own pouch!

wyerd · 26-04-2003, 8:51 PM

The Sennheiser PXC205's I decided to order arrived this morning. I blew my original budget of £30-£40, but they are worth every penny! They are so comfortable to wear, I forget that I am! The sound quality is amazing. Thanks to pbirkett for recommending them.

The noise guard facility works a treat - it cuts out external noise very well - especially the other half!!!

TameRacingDriver · 27-04-2003, 3:54 AM

Excellent. Glad you got sorted

darthballs · 27-04-2003, 4:20 AM

Hi,

I have a pair of Sennheiser px200's on my Sony NetMD and they are very comfortable, lightweight and come comlpete with a rather nifty carry case so they won't get bashed about when not in use.

I highly recommend them.

Cheers

darthballs

darthballs · 27-04-2003, 4:22 AM

Oops !!

Maybe I shoud have read the whole thread, huh...

17-04-2003, 2:28 PM	#7
Dazed Guest Posts: n/a	Koss PortaPro'a get a thumbs up from me. Soundwise they are very, very good - much better than any other headphone I've owned for use with my minidisc. They truely are exceptional, extremely light and comfortable, on the other hand they don't block any ambient noise but IMO are perfectly usable on aeroplanes. However I'm a bit sick of proper headphones and am thinking of getting some earbuds probably MDR-EX70LP's or if I win the lottery Etymotic ER4P - which are the daddy. Cost over £200. ER6's are about £150 - but I haven't checked up on them for a couple of years. Ooo just found a link for Etymotic dealers in the UK http://www.pjbox.co.uk/Etymotic/etymoticindex.htm Last edited by Dazed; 17-04-2003 at 2:42 PM.
	Quote

16-04-2003, 9:09 PM	#3
rOAdeh Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London Thanks: Gave 18, Got 6 Posts: 578	You don't mention a budget for around £30 there are basically 3 options which seems to get a lot of postive approval from most people: 1) As mentioned above the mdr-ex70lp - these are the only ones i've owned out of the 3 and i have to say they are very good headphones and the fact that they actually mould to the shape of your ear canal means you cut out the majority of ambient noise; certainly handy for noisy planes :D. RRP about £30 2) Sennheiser MX-500s - can be found at RS for £20 atm. Again earbuds that a lot of people recommend and certainly something to perhaps consider 3) Koss Portapros - RS are selling these for £35 but i expect you can find them cheaper maybe without duty at the airport, these are actual headphones tho and may be preferred over ear buds due to ear buds often becoming irritating to your ears for any significant length of time (well i find that anyway) I don't want to compare them directly since I've only owned one of them though, although i certainly would recomend the Sonys. Will be interesting to see what others with more experience have to say. Regards, rOAdeh
	Quote