DaveMiddleton

I have bought at least 8 sets of headphones over the last couple of years and am still not happy with what I have.
Currently on B & O A8 Headphones. Have tried various "in ear "Sonys and Sennheuser etc. Am thinking I must go to the new Bose Quiet Comfort 3 "On Ear" ones but will post here first for some opinions please.
I mainly use my IPod on flights and in airports (I travel frequently all over the place on business).
What are my options please?

Paddi70

Bose, as you have already said. Answered your own question buddy

scoobymad555

iTrader: (1)

these look pretty awesome ..... $1500 might be a little ott though

World's most expensive headphones, the Ultrasone Edition 9

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Have you tried Sennheiser HD25? They're designed for DJ use and do a fantastic job of blocking out outside noise as well as keeping other people from hearing your music.

I believe BA used to use them in their 1st Class cabin too.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

Have a look at this little number

Earphones - Bang & Olufsen

GC8

Sennheiser for me.

Gordo

Are you listening to decent quality mp3 files?

PB S5

Headphoneworld, google it, I got E6i (i think its them) they are awsome.

I use the Bose ones u mention above for my laptop movies. Thoroughly recommend them

what would scooby do

..and also ipods are not exactly the last word in audio quality..

get a decent player that supports flac files

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

not high quality, but cheap

BigPockets.co.uk :: Belkin MP3/HP iPAQ Stereo Earphones (F8U0106EAHP) £0.99

get 10 pairs of these at 99p and they will last you ages

markr1963

If you mean the Etymotic ER-6i Earphones – LaptopStuff.co.uk - Products then

Jamz3k

have you thought of ditching your Ipod and maybe getting something that has a better audio output.

I used to have an I-River and its interal DAC's were leagues ahead of the Ipod.

hux309

Right then, what's your budget and what is the intended use all i see is a bunch of people spouting what they love without first finding out what you love.

Do you like your bass heavy or light, mids forward or recessed, treble a bit rolled off or sparkly, what music do you generally listen to.

There are a tonne of phones out there, personally i would register here and ask their advice.

Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio - Powered by vBulletin

Btw don't mention bose or they'll tear you a new one.

I currently have ultimate ears super fi 5 pro iems but i have a pair of sleek custom monitors on the way so i like to think i have an idea.

RB5_245

I have shure headphones - Shure - SE420 Sound Isolating Earphones

sound spot on to me, and come with about 10 different fittings to get the right one for your ear.

hux309

Shure are good, cables are weak and prone to breaking though, comply tips work very well with most iems.

Westone 3 are meant to best the se530's atm and are flavour of the month [fotm] on head-fi.

But like i said it depends what the op is after he may not like the rolled off highs that shure are known for.

corradoboy

Peanuts....



The Sennheiser Orpheus
Retail Price: $27,999.00


“The Orpheus combination offers the audiophile the ultimate in reference sound reproduction. The Best Headphones In The World, that is the unanimous verdict on the Orpheus reached by the international trade press.”

The Sennheiser Orpheus - SGHeadphones

I had the pleasure of hearing these babies at an exhibition when they were launched. SUBLIME !

hux309

Just a wooden hd650 with a valve amp senn are now replacing them with the new hd800.

The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

YouTube - Sennheiser HD800 at CES 2009

gingerboy

Both me and the wife have Shure headphones............. I'm no sudio nut but do know the difference between good quality gear and crap. For me Shure are pretty good for the money.

I'd buy them again for "shure"...............

I doubt you would be dissapointed, think i paid about £70 for per pair for ours from memory.

Cheers

GB

abbott

I got a set of Sennheiser CX500 last week for my ipod , the 1st time i have ever bought headphones more than about a tenner .

they sound AMAZING so far on a mix of hiphop and rock and are proper comfy .

although there seem to be some guru's here so ill grab my coat !

.:mike:.

Another vote for Shure here too - both my wife and I have them. Put them in, turn on the ipod and smile as the screaming child on the train and the idiot on the phone just melt away . You can spend upto about £210 for the top end ones but i've got the se210's which seem to give the best 'bang for buck' and cost around £60-70. Totally recommended. The only problem I know of them (and already mentioned above) is that they can have problems with the cable cracking around the earpiece, and this has happened to a friend of mine with the se530's. Having said that - they'll be sorted out by shure.

RB5_245

Mine get used rough through all sorts of sports and other things, and have been fine for a couple of years, though the ipod looks like it's been through a food blender. So I wouldn't worry about them being sturdy enough.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I had some Shure in ear jobbies that only lasted a short while, the cable broke inside the join at the jack. If you hold it in exactly the right position and wobble it about a bit it works but isn't exactly practical.

I replaced them with some Bose over ear jobbies that are much easier to wear and sound better. Long hair and in ear headphones don't mix very well

The only problem I have now is that I can hear all the flaws of an MP3 track and it's starting to drive me nuts If I listen to a CD it sounds MUCH better. Does anyone else suffer with this problem? Is the only answer to rip in audio?

hux309

When you find flaws it's time to rip in 320kbps or flac/alac losless formats depending on what player you use.

7digital MP3 Music Downloads ? The Home of MP3 Downloads is good most mp3's are 320kbps.

Im afraid finding faults is the problem with better earphones it allows you to hear all the compression along with it, music will sound flat and lifeless and you will hear the music whooshing in the background again due to compression.

Shure are hit and miss with cable faults apparently they are using a different cable which does seem to have improved thing but imo i would just buy the westone 3 it's meant to be better than the se530 anyway.

Ultimate ears and sleek audio have user replaceable cables, i have the super fi 5 pro iems and though they are great for the first timer and very sturdy i have been finding fault with their warm and laid back nature and crave something more analytical and precise, they work well with electronic music though just vocals are very recessed hence my decision with sleek customs, expensive but worth it for overall comfort.

That head-fi link i posted up is a great site for anything music related.

I have an xrcd version of the eagles live when i fire that up it's awesome, duffy's rockferry album is also great for sq, very well mastered.

Even some cd's can sound crap good to see people are picking up on the flaws in the music industry, for me though it has to be vinyl check this out for sq.

Be sure to watch it in hd.

YouTube - Some More Random Vinyl

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

That describes EXACTLY what I hear

I downloaded a FLAC album for my Dad last week then had to convert it back to MP3 for him to listen to on his ipod I didn't have a player that recognised the FLAC files but Google threw up a very nice little player called Media Monkey MediaMonkey Free Media Jukebox, Music Manager, CD Ripper & Converter which I installed on my Dad's machine although I didn't get around to listening to the album. I think I'll grab MM for myself and have a listen to some FLAC stuff. Cheers

I was looking at those Westone 3's last night....must resist...

hux309

For an ipod you want to use alac, it's their version of flac and just as good, you need to go into itunes options and in ripping cd select alac it'll do the rest from there.

Haha westone 3's are the daddy when it comes to universal iem's or at least for the moment, comply foam tips are great for improving the seal, there's a tonne of people on headfi who have and love them.

Go on you know you want a pair.

Mediamonkey is good, ive used it in the past but i tend to use jetaudio from my cowon as it uploads to the player for me.

I think westone use similar tips to shure might be comply t100 either way they're worth it.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Doh, I didn't know that Still, it's only for my Dad and he's a bit mutton anyway (He also reads this forum so I'm in trouble )

Stop trying to turn me into an audiophile, I've enough expense in my life as it is I'm just hoping that with the onset of middle age my hearing will start to degenerate and I'll not notice the difference in sound any more

hux309

Lol fair enough.

DaveMiddleton

Guys,
Thanks to all for the variety of responses to my original question.
I have a better idea now, but probably the MOST important thing I learned was that NONE of my current 2000 MP3's on my ITouch are recoreded at the level of "alac"!! Ah well, start re-recording my CD's I suppose!

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over that right now. In my experience the effect of low cabin pressure in an aircraft has a far, far worse effect on how music sounds than converting it to MP3.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Sounds just like a compressed audio file being played through the cheap DAC in my laptop...

Seriously: it seems odd for someone to show off how good vinyl can sound by demonstrating it on a YouTube video - though I must admit, I was expecting to hear more scratches and surface noise.

I guess the real problem here is the hateful 'loudness war' that means recordings destined for CD get compressed to within an inch of their lives... maybe since it's only audiophiles that buy vinyl these days, recording engineer and producers at least know not to f**k them up

The industry doesn't care, of course. If it did, everything would be released on SACD as a matter of course - but it's not.