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I'm a fan of Sennheiser, because these have big cups and I have big but sensitive ears. Small over-ear headphones will quickly start to irritate. So I have the Sennheiser HD 558 for home and office. I prefer wireless but they didn't have decent (big cup) wireless ones. Damn shame, but they've apparently seen potential revenue in those iPhone 7 users. Because there are two new models: the HD 4.40 and the HD 4.50 with noise cancellation.

Really looking forward to getting that last one. I'm working regularly in an open office and every now and then, there's someone calling for an hour or so. A good headphone can keep you sane.

I'm a fan of Sennheiser, because these have big cups and I have big but sensitive ears. Small over-ear headphones will quickly start to irritate. So I have the Sennheiser HD 558 for home and office. I prefer wireless but they didn't have decent (big cup) wireless ones. Damn shame, but they've apparently seen potential revenue in those iPhone 7 users. Because there are two new models: the HD 4.40 and the HD 4.50 with noise cancellation.

Really looking forward to getting that last one. I'm working regularly in an open office and every now and then, there's someone calling for an hour or so. A good headphone can keep you sane.

I don't think airlines care about wifi and bluetooth, I mean I've never heard them ask people to make sure they keep their wifi off when everyone has a laptop.

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/m...
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/w...

The second ones say up to 30 hours of battery. The first are 22 I think.

I don't think airlines care about wifi and bluetooth, I mean I've never heard them ask people to make sure they keep their wifi off when everyone has a laptop.

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/m...
https://en-us.sennheiser.com/w...

The second ones say up to 30 hours of battery. The first are 22 I think.

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/mo... isn't exactly low-end, 600mAH battery, up to 22 hours life (according to a cnet review).

So there's room to improve even on those without getting close to hitting the lightning connector cap.

I don't remember electing you the arbiter of whether Neil's information is false FOR ME.

I have a Pono and Neil's right. But I've also worked in pro audio for many years, and when I say it's obviously better than ipods and such and comparable to a Lavry DA10, I am plugging this into it: http://en-us.sennheiser.com/im...

It's slightly disingenuous to argue for Pono's cheapness when ideally the headphones you use cost as much OR MORE than the Pono, to get those results. But I already had the headphones (in fact I've stripped them to bare speaker elements for critical listening during audio plugin design).

Neil does like going around blowing the minds of amateur listeners who've never heard good sound before. He might not be telling them that you need to spend a bunch on headphones too, but people like blowing stupid money on headphones: look at Beats.

He doesn't need a profit, and it's not false information. I'm afraid you're being kind of silly here.

Somehow, techies are all 'rar, free market, no regulate anything' but the instant it's 'audio frequencies', suddenly all pearls are clutched and it's EEEEE! Protect the poor general public from the evildoer exploiters! Baffling. You don't trust the market perhaps because claims like Neil's gain traction and are taken seriously? There might be a reason for that, for instance 'true information'. Whether it matters that much to you is another story.

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/sp...

Works for me (on linux) - good pickup for a medium-sized room, good sound (though you can use it just as a mic).

Get a set of Sennheiser PX-100 II, or Sennheiser PX-100 IIi if you want a microphone and controls.

Much better sound quality than any earpuds, more comfortable, plus no microphoning noise from the cable like you get with earpuds and in-ear units. Seriously, the PX-100 series is an absolute bargain for how good of a sound quality you get, they're right up there with fullsize cans and lightyears ahead of shit like Beats or Skullcandy.

Get a set of Sennheiser PX-100 II, or Sennheiser PX-100 IIi if you want a microphone and controls.

Much better sound quality than any earpuds, more comfortable, plus no microphoning noise from the cable like you get with earpuds and in-ear units. Seriously, the PX-100 series is an absolute bargain for how good of a sound quality you get, they're right up there with fullsize cans and lightyears ahead of shit like Beats or Skullcandy.

i've had flight attendants wake me up if i just as much as have headphones on my ears with the player off.

Yes, this is an annoyance I've had to deal with as well. The solution (workaround) is to unplug the headphones and have the connector clearly visible.

That way I get all the advantages of noise-isolating in-ear headphones without the TSA Nazis interrupting what little sleep I can get during a business trip.

> annoy the hell out of fellow passengers...

Yeah, because either :

1) it's only just loud enough that you can't quite make it out but it's 'oh so familiar' that it keeps you guessing the song all day. I hate that!

2) it's loud enough that you *can* make it out, but it's something crap, but catchy, and you embarrass yourself by singing it all day at inappropriate times. I *really* hate that!

Closed back headphones should be mandatory on public transport. These are my favourites :

http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf/root/502188

and these aren't half bad either :

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=502103 ..but for sound isolation, I haven't found better than these :

http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/PersonalMonitorSystems/us_pro_SCL3_content

fitted with these :

http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/Accessories/us_pro_PA750_content

I find them very comfortable too.

is a good pair of Open Ear headphones. Sennheiser makes some very good ones. (IMHO The Best)

I've got an older pair of their higher-end open 'phones, and I can carry on a conversation while music is playing, as long as it isn't too loud. Sound quality is incredible, too. $120 and worth every penny.

One thing to be careful of, though: Open phones are more prone to leakage the other way too. Turn it up too loud, and you might as well be running desktop speakers.

Get a pair of rather nice, open-back, full ear headphones. The set I use with my iPod are Sennheiser HD 590's (purchased at The Great Indoors for ~$30, down from ~$70). They sound absolutely amazing, but because they aren't sealed you can still hear the phone, people talking directly to you, etc.

Earbuds are nice and cheap, but they block out too much sound. You need to ensure that the headphones are really comfortable and have a nice long cord, though, since you'll probably want to move around your desk a bit and be wearing them for hours on end. Also, if you are running the sound out of your desktop or notebook and it's kinda crappy (bad S/N ratio, interferance, etc) look into a Griffin Technologies iMic. As they are just a standard USB audio device, they work without drivers on Macs or PCs and sound excellent.

I personally find it extremely rude when coworkers insist on playing music out loud (headphones solve this) or having conference calls on speakerphone (that's what headsets are for). Hopefully if more people start using a more personal listening device, the workplace will be calmer for everyone.

The first problem they were having is that the most expensive $600-$800 wireless audio systems are the cheapest. If you're not willing to drop $3000 per channel on sennheiser transmitters and receivers, where squelch, sensitivity, frequency, and a zillion other things can be set at the venue, you'll have problems. Also, you won't find any serious show using VHF. To much interferance. Most cheepo units are VHF.

The first problem they were having is that the most expensive $600-$800 wireless audio systems are the cheapest. If you're not willing to drop $3000 per channel on sennheiser transmitters and receivers, where squelch, sensitivity, frequency, and a zillion other things can be set at the venue, you'll have problems. Also, you won't find any serious show using VHF. To much interferance. Most cheepo units are VHF.

On my computer, for both listening to music and other such things I used to have a set of relitvly cheap speakers.. to be honest they sucked.

So, I went out and bought myself a pair of sennheiser headphones.

Let me assure you, these things rock. If you get a descent model (i've got the HD200) the sound is awsome, and you dont disturb anyone else around you.

Most of my friends have stopped buying CDs and while I still buy them [...] I do it more from a guilty conscience (and because I can afford to) than due to any real need.

It saddens me when I read comments like these. Yes, MP3's are nice, quick, easy and cheap, but do they deliver good quality music? If your answer is 'Yes', then I suspect you have never really heard the difference between a good CD recording and an MP3 made from the same CD.

Allow me to suggest that the one and only reason why MP3's have caught on is due to the crappy plastic stereos most people use in their 'home theaters' and elsewhere. The sound you get if you combine a decent pair of headphones, an at least halfway decent CD player and perhaps a homemade headphone amplifier is absolutely out of this world compared to the digital line noise called MP3. The fabled SB64AWE Gold and directly ripped WAV files (ie. no compression) is not even close to natively played CD's on decent playback equipment. If you are stupid enough to connect your high quality headphone amplifier directly to any sound card, then you will quickly discover that computers generates noise and distortion in more ways than by the spinning of fans and HD's. That people dont notice can only be attributed to the crappy japanese department store plastic they hook up to the PC.

Do I have a large HD shock full of MP3's? Sure I do, but they are mostly used as background noise when programming etc. When I really want to listen to music, then the PC's are shut down and the tubes are heated up. These days I mostly download MP3's to seek out new musical waters before diving in with my wallet. You just might get a feel of the real thing by listening to MP3's, but to get the totally enveloping experience you just got to have a CD (or LP). If you think differently, then you have a problem, pal...