What do you use for earphones/headphones?

I got sick of using the cheap cheesy earphones that come with Mp3 players, they sound lousy and fall out all the time. I'm not sure what posessed me to do it but I sprang for some Shure SE420 noise isolating earphones and man do they sound good. I am hearing things that I didn't know was in the music. Anyway, just wondered what you use and your thoughts on high dollar earphones!! Doug

I use the Westone UM2s. They're pretty good. More comfortable than the Shure EC4s that I used to use. Definitely worth it to upgrade the earphones. Why give up audio quality for convenience?

I bought "philips noise cancelling" earphones, the big ones that cover your entire ear. the noise canceling [powered by 1xAAA] actually werks quite well when I'm listening to music and brothers playing the "baby grand" piano in the house... but not to any degree of help while cruising 30,000 feet on a 747-400 [which originally was why I spent $70 on it in the first place:shrug:

This thread also discusses this:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/175136

My headphone collection is a bit more modest than it used to be, but my favorite open air headphones that I've owned were my Sennheiser HD600's, and my favorite closed/canal phones were my Etymotic ER4S and ER4P. I don't listen to as much music as I used to, so I make do with lesser models now.

I have some Peltor noise cancellation headphones from Woot, that I use at work. They are good at taking out low frequency machinery and construction noise which tends to set me on edge even when I'm tuning it out. So the noise cancellation feature helps me relax and concentrate at the computer. I think they are not so good as audiophile headphones, so in a quiet environment I'd use my Sony MDR-V6's. There are probably also better noise cancellation headphones out there too, but these were fairly cheap.

Sennheisers, four different models. Earbuds, wraparounds (workout set), noise canceling (travel), high end over the ear (home). I've heard that Shures are awesome, but I dislike ear-canal type phones.

I have a pair of Sennheiser PX100s. They are outstanding! For the price, you can't beat them. And they are really comfortable. I can go hours of wear with no pain at all. Good sound and bass. They're not too much for the active person. More for relaxing, not running... But thats not a problem with me

-C

NeonLights said:

My headphone collection is a bit more modest than it used to be, but my favorite open air headphones that I've owned were my Sennheiser HD600's, and my favorite closed/canal phones were my Etymotic ER4S and ER4P. I don't listen to as much music as I used to, so I make do with lesser models now.

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I have those exact same choices...there is a man who knows his quality!!! BTW, Etymotic finally came out with a new prototype extrememly comfortable excellent dB insulating foam that I have been testing for them over the last 2 months. I can wear them many hours, day after day, with no ear soreness. None of their other Etymotic sizes worked ideally for me, or gave great sound isolation, and I had started using the M-Audio IE-30's for comfort...but now the Ety's are the best by far.

Especially for air travel, the noise cancelling HP's are a joke compared to these....and I finally have Ety's that I can use endlessly. I don't hear the stewardess, or the airplane engines. When going for walks, I don't hear cars going by, or dogs barking....so I have to stay alert. With these new Etymotic ER-4P (or 4S converter), I feel like I finally found the Holy Grail of acoustic Nirvana. They have not yet released these new tips for retail sale yet.

For casual light weight listening/workouts, I use the Sony MDR-A44L that has surprisingly good sound and folds up nicely.

I have never tried the new Shure SE420 or SE530, and they are likely very great, but when I used the E-5c, did not like the fit, isolation, long term comfort, despite the superb bass they produced.

Computer use: Sennheiser HD580. Great pair of headphones, this is where I stopped in my search of the perfect headphones. It's virtually indistinguishable from the HD600 at what used to be 1/3 of the price. I grabbed them when they were $180. Sadly, Sennheiser discountinued them

Portable use: Altec Lansing iM616. Apparently these sound like Etymotic ER-6i and for a price of $60, couldn't go wrong.

Headphones I've owned in the past.

Sennheiser HD202 (where did the treble go? Left earpiece went out)
Sennheiser HD515 (nasally, but otherwise quite nice. Roommate rolled over them with his computer chair, bye bye headband)
Etymotic ER-6i (Lacking in the bass department, but probably the most invisible IEM, cord is really thin and eventually snapped)
Shure E2c (Dynamic driver IEM competing with balanced-armatures, stuck out of my ears way too much, Y-connector connecting left and right earpieces developed a short)
Shure E3c (When these were EQed properly, they were pretty much the best IEMs I've ever heard. But alas, iPods don't have proper equalization, left earpiece tube broke [wtf isn't this stuff supposed to be like bulletproof?])

Depending on what I'm doing I have some sony over the head but in the ear headphones for normal use, Some Bose http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_PRODUCT_PAGE_EVENT&product=triport_ae_headphones_index headphones when I'm playing games or watching movies on a portable device in nosier areas. I'm looking for some Shure e530's for my dad. He's doing metal detecting and between his bad hearing and a $5,000 metal detector he can't differentiate the sounds too well. I also have numerous in the ear phones tha came with things, I generally use those under helmets and that's about it as I really hate them.

I alternate between Bose QC2s and Ultimate Ears Super 5 Pros. I have a cheaper pair of Sennheisers (CX 300B) that I sometimes use as well. The Ultimate Ear headsets are noticeably better to my ears than the Etymotic ER6is that I used to use. They are all far above the ones that come with the Ipods. Value wise, the Sennheisers are the winners, quality wise, the Ultimate Ears. Check out www.headphone.com for headphone reviews.

For a nice midrange price pair of earbuds go for the Sony MDR-EX71 or MDR-EX81. They are extremely comfortable and both sound pretty good. the 71's are more bass heavy and the wires aren't quite as durable as the 81's while the 81's are a good mix of bass and treble and the wires are really durable. I use the 81's everyday and am very satisfied with them

Etymotic ER6i Isolators are the only thing I've found to wear while riding my motorcycle.

Excellent sound quality and the dampening qualities, mean you can keep the volume down on your Ipod and still hear your music very clearly.

They are on sale now at Amazon - one of the better prices I've seen for them @ $69.99.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQSGMM/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Stax SR Lambda. AWESOME!
Been through numerous Sennheisers as well, but nothing beats the electrostatic priciple in headphones (or ear speakers as Stax likes to call them) IMHO. Distortion is _extremely_ low and frequenzy range is fenomenal. A word of caution though: As the distortion is so low, you wont really notice how loud they are playing.

Jan

I'll probably stick with my Grado SR 60's until they die. They sound great, they're easy on the wallet, and I still prefer over-the-ear headphones.

For you guys with the Senn's, do you think the HD590/600 would be a huge upgrade over my HD497's?

gswitter said:

I'll probably stick with my Grado SR 60's until they die. They sound great, they're easy on the wallet, and I still prefer over-the-ear headphones.

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ABSOLUTELY! I've never heard better, and they're very comfortable. The only thing they lack is noise cancellation, and I'm not so sure that's such a big trade-off for the benefits the Grado SR 60's offer.

LuxLuthor said:

... BTW, Etymotic finally came out with a new prototype extrememly comfortable excellent dB insulating foam that I have been testing for them over the last 2 months. I can wear them many hours, day after day, with no ear soreness. None of their other Etymotic sizes worked ideally for me, or gave great sound isolation, and I had started using the M-Audio IE-30's for comfort...but now the Ety's are the best by far. ........... With these new Etymotic ER-4P (or 4S converter), I feel like I finally found the Holy Grail of acoustic Nirvana. They have not yet released these new tips for retail sale yet.

Click to expand...

What's the story on this new foam? When will it be available?

I use AKG K81DJ's - they're passive sound-canceling cans - pretty sweet headphones, with a great sound. They get uncomfortable after a couple hours of wearing them, but that doesn't deter me. They stay at work all the time, and come with me whenever I travel - great for on the plane!

HeadRoom, aka Headphone.com, is an incredible review site and store that's SUPER helpful with questions, has awesome reviews, and is up front about what they think about headphones, whether they be $15 or $1500. :thumbsup: That's where I'd go to get any headphones. Highly recommended!

john