over the ear phones for flying

[JeanC]

Hello all...I have the old style Bose (with battery box), and I'm not thrilled with the box, so I was thinking of buying new Bose....but they are $300...and after reading alot on this forum, I decided to buy the Senn HD850.....I'm listening to them right now, and to tell you the truth, I can't tell a difference....the thing is, these puppies are HUGE (they make my Bose look small)....and, someone sitting next to me can hear the sound......sorry to ramble, my question is : is there a comfy small over the ear ,easy to travel with headset equal to bose but not equal to the price...Thankyou!!!!!

[feh1325]

may i ask what kinda files and bitrates you are using?

for flying, i suggest an iem or a closed can
what is your price range?

[Macromedia]

HD850?
I'd try IEMs. Much better for flying.

[JeanC]

Thanks...I want to stay under $100 (now that I bought the senns)...I prefer over ear types and I don't want anyone to hear what I'm listening to and I don't want to hear any crying babies :)

[kschles]

I'd suggest the Sennheiser HD280. It's a closed headphone with pretty good isolation. It's pretty large, but folds up nicely for traveling, and has a coiled cord. You can pick them up on a number of websites for $99.00 (plus S&H).

[feh1325]

but seriously, what bitrate do you import at?
your files are way more import than headphones

[JeanC]

Hi feh....I'm not sure what you mean since I'm quite technically clueless (I even googled bitrate and still have no clue :) .....I have a new HP Pavillion and a 30g video if that helps...I fly ALOT...but I don't carry a laptop .....just a dvd player and the pod Thanks Kschles...I will check out the other Senns, but for now, I'm suddenly realizing I really like my Bose and may want the latest style...just have to figure a way to save on the price (I won my last pair)

[Macromedia]

Then the bitrate is probably horrible. Go into itunes preferences, go into advanced, click on importing, click on setting (It should say "high quality(128kbs)"), go into custom, a window will pop up, click on the Stero Bit Rate, and change it to 256kbs or 320kbs. I like 320kbs. Hope this helps.

[JeanC]

Thanks Macro...my bitrate is now 320 :)

[feh1325]

i used to use 320 but going to around 256 now, for battery conservation

now that you've switched to 320, you're gonna want to reimport all your cds

[JeanC]

well, I guess its too late for that...I got most of my cd's from the library and have over 4500 songs...oh well, at least I imported Depeche Mode at the higher bitrate....by the way, can anyone tell me exactly what having a higher bitrate does?...thanks for all the great info...

[feh1325]

having a higher bitrate does a number of things

the good:
better quality music - mp3's and all music files are compressed from the originals. they electronically filter through the files and take them out. so you're basically listening to a skeleton of your song. the higher the bitrate, the more meat you add the the skeleton. the music sounds fuller, better, more like a cd you bought at the store out of a cd player.
the only electronic format that can be played off a regular ipod and does not filter out anything is lossless.

the bad:
your files will be bigger. much bigger. so you can't fit the claimed "X amount of songs on your whatever ipod. on nanos and shuffles, this really doesn't matter much, but on the hard drive models, bigger files are a little problem. bigger files means more information. more information means the "ram" in the ipod can hold less of your song. in a nutshell, larger files shorten battery life


you can hear the difference between a song imported at 128 and a song imported at 320 from a "master" cd; even through ibuds


and another note, if you import from a burt cd, the bitrates that were burned to the cd are the highest you can get. example

you buy a cd from the store and import it at 128 kbps. and by law (I THINK), you are allowed to burn one copy for yourself for personal use so the original does not get damage. anyways, so you lose the master cd, the one you bought at the store with the pretty pictures on the top but still have the burnt copy. then you delete that cd from your itunes library by accident. when you try to import that cd with the 128 kbps files on it to 320 kbps, you're gonna get 128kbps quality at 320kbps size


i hope my all facts are straight, i'm new to this world as well

[JeanC]

thanks Feh...I dropped mine down to 192 because I have alot more songs I want to download on my 30g....my husband however has only 700 songs on his 60g so he is going to up his br...thanks so much for all the info :)

[JIMBO3031]

I have the HD 280 Pro, I recommend them. The sound and isolation are great.

[beachesnmusic]

Audio-Technica ATH-A500. Absolutely awesome headphones. They're HUGE, but they're closed and more than comfortable enough to wear for 8+ hours at a time. They isolate well, the sound quality (espicially the bass) is great. They'll blow your Bose away ;) Even at 128kbps.

You can get them for about $106 shipped from www.audiocubes.com

[isanity]

you can hear the difference between a song imported at 128 and a song imported at 320 from a "master" cd; even through ibuds



Who's 'you'? 99% of people can't (random number, but pretty close). ;)

[Macromedia]

Who's 'you'? 99% of people can't (random number, but pretty close). ;)
Listen close enough and you should be able to hear the difference. Of course one of those LAME trolls might come in and claim that 128kbs LAME encoded is as good as the CD

[isanity]

Listen close enough and you should be able to hear the difference. Of course one of those LAME trolls might come in and claim that 128kbs LAME encoded is as good as the CD

128kbs LAME encoded is as good as the CD. For us lesser mortals. :)

[thedodgyguy]

They'll blow your Bose away ;) Even at 128kbps.

You can get them for about $106 shipped from www.audiocubes.com


No they wont and the isolation is pretty poor - 15db at most, and there are better, more comfortable closed phones you can use for semi-portable use (e.g. the Beyerdynamic DT250-80). The Ax00 series are also comparatively fragile, along with the rest of the closed Audio-Technica range. They will not take well to being stuffed in along with luggage and nor will they fold for portability. And the Bose QC2 is not inferior to the A500 to any bitrate when used on a plane.


You may want to use something before you pan it. Similarly, beware of talking up something new that you've got which is great to you, but only because you had crap before.

---------------


The HD280 isn't as comfortable as the Bose for me but it is among the most isolating phones for regular noise. Problem is that because it is a circumaural phone it creates a mini-chamber around your ear and this creates resonances which actually enhances certain elements of engine noise.


The only HEADphone I've found truly usable for airplane use apart from the Bose is the Sennheiser HD25-1. It's lightweight, very robust and therefore very portable (for a full headphone) and is highly isolating - even more so than the HD280. Better still, since it sits on your ear and doesn't form a 'mini-chamber' there's no engine resonance and you get true attenuation of all sounds around you. This is however $200. The cheaper HD25SP will do almost as good a job, but is not as usable, not as robust and doesn't quite sound as good. The other issue is that it does clamp to achieve the isolation and therefore becomes uncomfortable after a while. 4 hours or so I can put up with, any more and I can't deal with it.


So what do I do for long-haul flights? I use in-ear phones exclusively in aircraft. IMO, they're the only way to go once you get past the initial wierdness. the Etymotic ER-6i is $100 or less, and does an excellent job of isolation if you use the foam tips (expensive to replace, but worth it). Sound is not so hot with an artificial boost in the highs to create a false feeling of detailed sound which swings attention away from the abysmal bass, but it does the job. I can certainly deal with it for a few hours. I'd say use the ER-6i, and don't bother with headphones. If you have to bother with phones, get the HD25-1 or the SP.

[xaggie]

I was at the Bose store today and tried the QuietComfort 3's. They were truely amazing as it relates to the noise cancelling and comfort. I really don't want to pay 350 though. I will be doing long haul flights 8 hrs plus and looking for can type headphones. Not sure I can wear my in ears for that long a period. How do Sennheisers px's compare or does someone have any recommendations.

[xaggie]

Well after much research I dropped some money and bought the Sennheiser pxc 300's in lieu of the bose. So far been pretty pleased with the noise cancelling system and comfort.

[Jokieman]

Thanks Macro...my bitrate is now 320 :)


If you listen to any rock or other heavy types of music you might also want to run MP3 GAIN over your songs to reduce the amount of clipping as well.

Sennheiser PXC 250 Noise canceling closed headphones should work for you.

The thing is, with over the ears there just aren't a lot of choices that do everything you want. Most people go with EIM's for what you are looking to do. (No Leakage, noise canceling, etc. compact in size, etc.)

[thedodgyguy]

The PXC's are excellent at cancelling out the noise of droning engines. They are however completely useless in cancelling out the noise of the screaming baby two rows away from you.

[wgb113]

After using a pair of Shure E2c's for 6 months I switched to a set of Sennheiser HD280PRO's and for $100 I'm not sure they can be beat. They sound good, isolate well, are comfortable for long periods, are durable, and fold for portability.

Bill