New head phone time again (£300~)

Robert1986

Robert1986

Robert1986

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I've been thinking of getting some new home head phones for several months now. Bought some AKG240 Studio headphones back in 2007 and they're amazing but I want an upgrade. Looking for Noise-cancelling headphones.

Had my eyes on these..... I know everyone hates bose bought I am after a good pair of Noise-cancelling cans.

Bose QuietComfort 15 (can get these at a high street store. I have a £10 gift card plus about 20 odd ps3 games I could trade in to help with the price)

Sennheiser MM 550

Sennheiser PXC 450

Grado PS1000 (When I win the jackpot :()
 
Out of interest, is there a particular reason for restricting yourself to noise-cancelling only?

There are many good closed-back headphones in that price range which will probably isolate well enough, but sound better IMO.
 
Shamrock said:
Out of interest, is there a particular reason for restricting yourself to noise-cancelling only?

There are many good closed-back headphones in that price range which will probably isolate well enough, but sound better IMO.
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I have these. http://www.ferra.ru/online/multimedia/75700/page-2/

Aren't those closed-back? With these on, I can still hear outside traffic and more annoyingly, my pc fans which is really annoying. I want something that drowns out these things.
 
Best thing to do is try as many pairs as you can get your hands on.

I only have experience with the Bose, and I rather like them. At first the "pressure" sensation is a little odd, but the noise cancelling is very effective, and the sonics are decent.
 
joeyjojo said:
Best thing to do is try as many pairs as you can get your hands on.

I only have experience with the Bose, and I rather like them. At first the "pressure" sensation is a little odd, but the noise cancelling is very effective, and the sonics are decent.
Click to expand...

I've tried the bose on in store but couldn't use my own music. Was a while ago but I remember liking them.

Whould the bose be an upgrade from the akg's I currently have?
 
Robert1986 said:
I've tried the bose on in store but couldn't use my own music. Was a while ago but I remember liking them.

Whould the bose be an upgrade from the akg's I currently have?
Click to expand...

If it's anything like the pair I heard, definitely not. They could just about match my £15 Koss KSC75s.

I'm not sure why you specifically need sound cancelling headphones, unless you're more concerned about outside noise, rather than sound quality, in which case spending £300 is overkill as you can get something much cheaper that will do the job just fine (e.g. Goldring NS1000).

With a £300 budget you'd be foolish to not go with a decent fully closed headphone, something like the Sennheiser HD25-1 II which has pretty much everything you want, except noise cancelling, which isn't needed anyway because isolation is so good.
 
Too much Bose bashing here, if it's noise cancelling you are after no one beats Bose for noise-cancelling, quality though is a different matter. You could give the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b a try as well, there's a Sony Digital NC set which is meant to be very good as well.
 
I tried the Bose QC 15s today in HMV. The effect of the isolation/noise cancellation is truly amazing, and I was very impressed until the music started playing (okay, it wasn't that bad, though defo not ~£300 worth). I also tried QC 3s (LMAO), Beats Solos (LOL), Beats Studios (slightly less LOL) and Beats Pros Which were not bad from what I could hear, despite the annoying NOW DANCE 2597! music they were having played through them at uncomfortable levels. I wouldn't pay anything like £350 for them. Not even half that.

The cans that impressed me the most were Denon D1001s. These are closed back and were actually pretty decent for the money. But annoyingly I was unable to see how they isolated, as they were hooked up to some concealed source with no way of stopping the music. I also tried Sennheiser HD 25s despite owning a pair in the recent past. These are good, almost indestructible but don't isolate as well as some closed backs without noise cancelling.

My 'local' HMV is a pretty small one, yet they have loads of audio gear on display to try out. If you haven't tried HMV, definitely have a look at what they have out on demo.
 
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Looking at getting the "Sennheiser HD 25-1 II". Are these any good for portable use?

How much of an upgrade are the II's compared to akg240's?

or are the "Sennheiser PXC 250-II" better for portable use?
 
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HD 25 1-IIs are pretty much indestructible, and most bits can be replaced easily.

They are very good for portable use, but they don't isolate as well as headphones with NC. Note that the ones I had had velour pads (which are a bit comfier). The stock vinyl pads are meant to provide extra isolation in comparison. Definitely give them a try before you buy.
 
Just got back from the apple store and bought the QC15's for £284. They also had the HD 25 1-IIs and bowers and wilkins P5 but I had my mind set the QC15's. I'm not an audiophile but these sound really good. Will have to leave them on over night to burn them in (read that somewhere :p).

They do sound better than my AKG 240 studio headphones.

Also, very very comfortable. Read somewhere that over time your ears start to burn... and I forgot to mention the NC feature, works really well. Kinda freaky actually.

I was reading I'd be best getting an amp? Everyone seems to be liking the "FiiO E5" mini amp.

I have 14 days to decide if I want to keep those bose headphones.
 
Really liking these Q15's now. My only problem is the rubbish quality cable. Could snap it half really easy... plus, its really short. Will have to buy an extension.

Going to have burn them in for 50 or so hours. Is there any sort of genre best for this? I plan on just leaving my mp3 player on overnight and play random music.
 
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