Good headphones for mp3 player?

[Bob]

What do you use?  I know you're supposed to get decent ones.

I'm thinking earbuds too.

[oxy60]

You will look like someone from outer space with the Bose noise canceling headphones but the sound quality is worth it! However they are also not cheap..

[Bob]

I just want something like normal ear buds.  Inconspicuous.  I do see some with noise cancelling that don't look too odd.  Except that's little extra battery pack for cancellation might be a pain.

[richard black]

There's an enormous range out there, priced from pennies to hundreds of $. What do you regard as an acceptable price? I've tested quite a few, especially expensive ones, and my favourite so far is the Sennheiser IE8 (IE for In-Ear, not Internet Explorer!). But at £200 in the UK and corresponding high price elsewhere, only for the more serious listener. There are some quite good Denon models for around a third to half of that. Etymotic are good but similarly expensive. I'm not a big fan of Shure at any price. Most decent in-ear 'phones will cut out a lot of external noise and make actual noise-cancelling unnecessary. The Etymotic models are particularly good at that.

[Bob]

I was looking around the $100 range.  Maybe $80.  Maybe $180.  So $100-200 I guess.  But for $200 I would want them to really take a beating too.  This is for daily use.  Not always paying attention, throw them in a bag.  That type of thing.  So I'm guessing I wouldn't go after a $200 pair, but maybe the lesser version of that.

I saw someone on Amazon complaining about Etymotic's cords making vibrations they could hear through the headphones.  Something about the cord being thicker and more likely to rub on clothing.   I think any headphone would have vibration sounds like that though.


My earbuds tend to wear out where the cord meets the bud.  Lots of wear and ear there.

[richard black]

I don't recall problems with the Etymotic cords, so maybe they've changed them since I tested a pair. But this is a problem with many (not all) earbuds and indeed full-size headphones. Good argument for getting a specific personal recommendation you trust or, even better (but often hard to arrange) a proper demonstration in a shop.

[john11inc]

My boyfriend has 200 dollar, super-crazy headphones he got from his sister's ex-boyfriend who used them in a recording studio; they're better than any of the Bose I've had (I had a pair of Bose noise-canceling headphones a couple years ago, and these are better).


However:


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013XXXC0?ie=UTF8&tag=peakclick-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0013XXXC0


Are better than the headphones.  Definitely recommend these.

[richardwillyams]

I am now using the Platronix Corded headsets. I think these are the best hesdsets ever. I am also using these are to my office as well. I you think to buy a new headphone, then I will recommand you to buy only this.

[oxy60]

I am now using the Platronix Corded headsets. I think these are the best hesdsets ever. I am also using these are to my office as well. I you think to buy a new headphone, then I will recommand you to buy only this.

I just bought a phone with a built in MP3 player that has an airplane mode so I too will be looking for those same earbud types even though my Bose do a great job on the plane with the matching CD player. The only problem was that I couldn't hear the cabin staff.

The ones in the link have no reviews which seems a little odd.

BTW I transfered some of the MP3's from here to that phone and used the Bose headphones. Great sound! Great playing!

[peterjmathis]

I used to buy noise-cancelling ones all the time, but I found that none of them lasted very long. The cord would always go bad. Right now I'm using the cheapest kind available and oddly enough they've lasted better than any other kind, even if the sound quality isn't as good.

When I'm at home I use Sennheiser noise-cancelling wireless headphones. Great sound quality and they've lasted me a good 4 years so far without any problems.

[Bob]

Sennheiser has come up a lot.  Which model was that?  I keep seeing reviews for one that's $30.

[peterjmathis]

If you mean these, I had those for a while and the sound quality was very good, they just weren't very durable.

The durable pair of wireless headphones I was talking about are really good, but unfortunately the signal sender isn't exactly portable. That's why I use it when I'm in (or just outside of) the house.

[Bob]

Yeah I think those are the earbuds.

I'm still looking.

[oxy60]

If you mean these, I had those for a while and the sound quality was very good, they just weren't very durable.

The durable pair of wireless headphones I was talking about are really good, but unfortunately the signal sender isn't exactly portable. That's why I use it when I'm in (or just outside of) the house.

Until I followed the link for the RS 140 I thought they were Bluetooth compatible. Bluetooth isn't exactly sweeping the world but my phone and computer are both compatible. I'm looking for a set of earbuds to go wireless with my keyboard and pair up with my phone at the same time. That system would allow me to take a quick call and not loose concentration. My keyboard puts out the metronome tick into the sound from the keyboard that I hear. If I can find a way to get that tick into the phone call maybe I can abbreviate the  bla, bla..