Headphone advice?

[Patrick Warner]

I want to get some headphones with better sound quality than the standard ipod ones, but also just as loud.

I have got a set of those new Bose in ear headphones. Sound quality is good, but they are only really useful in quiet environments. In noisy places like on aircraft, they are just not loud enough. It's lucky I bought my ipod in the US - on a capped EU ipod I reckon those Bose in ear headphones would be totally useless. In fact, for a while I thought the ipod classic had been volume capped in the US as well, until I realised that I had bought new headphones at the same time as the classic.

I used to have some Sennheiser MX500 and I remember they were loud enough and also quite good sound. Should I go for another pair of them or is there something better these days? The only annoying thing about them was that I kept losing the felt covers off the ear buds.

Or should I invest in some proper noise cancelling ones, and if so what would you recommend? I sometimes like to carry my ipod in my pocket, so I guess if I had bulky headphones I would also need an earbud type set as well for when I don't want to carry large headphones around.

cheers
Patrick.

[captainnewbie]

what's your budget?

[Patrick Warner]

Hoping not to spend more than 50 GBP but could go up to £100 if really worth it.

[sebulr]

Get yourself some proper IEMs. I personally recomend Shure E2C's although they are hard to find now. The isolation from these are 10x better than any active noise cancellation ciruit I have ever heard and they are a lot more sensitive, meaning they go very loud. Not that you would need it.

I guess the new Shure's are just good at isolating, although I couldn't back that up, as I have not got any. If noise is a nuisance for you when you listen, they are a godsend.

[captainnewbie]

sorry for not getting back to you sooner.

i agree with seblur, i think you need a pair of IEM's and would advise also to stay away form noise cancelling stuff at your price range.

agree: my cousin loves his shures, and said they isolate well

agree: i have seen a fair few complaints on people struggling to get a good seal with some of the new Shure's.

now i don't have a pair of shures, but i do know that for some reason the e2c's have shot up in price, and the new SE110's are among the cheapest shures on offer....i think. see amazon for more details.

beware: something i would advise about buying a pair of shure e2c. don't buy from anywhere other than amazon themselves. the e2c's and sennheiser CX300's are regarded as among the most forged and copied earphones on he market, and my advice is stay way form them altogether.

i do love my Metro.fi 2 but the cable is a little stiff, and they can be vey naughty. yesterday mine just kept on easing out, so today i took my iGrado's into uni instead. i've never really had a problem with the metro.fi's but yesterday they were playing up, they just would not stay in my ears.

I think the crossroads mylars might lean towards the Shures, in sound signiture, but that's an assumption. however, i do love the mylars

www.jaben.net

[Patrick Warner]

When you say buy only from Amazon, do you mean Amazon direct or Amazon sponsored suppliers? When I put Shure e2c into Amazon, they have them, but they are marked as "Supplied by Royal Foto" or whatever.

Sounds like there are some folks saying the E3c is actually not so good as E2C then.

I have also read good comments about "Etymotic Er6i" - have you tried those?

Do places like Best Buy in the US have those? I am going to be in the US on business next week.

cheers

[a7dk]

I love the Ety ER6i's. They are very good at blocking out outside noise. I have not seen them at stores such as best buy; mine came from online. (Amazon, I think). And they are generally found for less than $100 now.

[hyroboarder]

I love the Ety ER6i's. They are very good at blocking out outside noise. I have not seen them at stores such as best buy; mine came from online. (Amazon, I think). And they are generally found for less than $100 now.

Er-6i's definitely are excellent at blocking out the noise, etymotic research actually specializes in audiology. I don't like shures especially the low end ones. The er6i's are cheaper and sound better imho.

The theory behind "active noise cancelling" is there is a tiny microphone on the outside of the can which intakes outer noise. This sound is "reversed" so when you hear both outside noise and noise processed through the microphone, the two cancel each other out. It sounds good, and I will say noise cancelling sets are usually nice, but IEM's are the way to go. Nothing is better than a natural airtight seal from the outside world and that's exactly what they do. Bottom line: Don't look into noise cancelling headphones.