Ask Slashdot: Best Headphones, Earbuds, Earphones?

alexbgreat writes "What do you think is the best set of head-mounted loudspeakers for the money, with a cost of less than $50? Here are some featuresthat would be stupendous to have (in descending order of importance): noise isolation (not cancellation), flat/near flat response (I need to be able to hear bass, but I don't need my eardrums blown out), long-term comfort (earbuds usually hurt for me), and durability. Over-ear is preferred to anything on- or in-ear. Boom mics are permissible, as I may well use it as a broadcast intercom headset." If you have experience using headphones from different price ranges, feel free to share that as well.

Comments

DIY Custom Molded on the cheap

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want comfort and ultimate noise blocking you can do a DIY version. I made a pair and they were fantastic and comfortable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmk-y_9exJ8&feature=player_embedded

Just pick up a set of decent earbuds, I used skullcandy ones when I did mine, and a radians custom earplug kit ($11).

http://www.amazon.com/Radians-Custom-Molded-Earplugs-Red/dp/B002XULPSQ

Re:20 dollar sonies

[Nerdfest]

Part of the method used to protest bad corporate behaviour is to boycott them. The other part is to spread the word. Only being boycotted by the people you've screwed over probably wouldn't even do much damage to Sony, (although it would be much more than most)

To stay on-topic, my favourites headphones are these JVCs at about $50, They have a cheaper pair for about half the price (HX-33s?) that are almost as good. They isolate noise enough tthat I wear them while woodworking or mowing the lawn. Great sound, and I can wear them comfortably all day. You can actually get them on sale for about half the price listed on occasion. They seem quite sturdy, but I'm not that rough on headphones despite wearing them so much.

Re:http://www.head-fi.org/

[Prune]

I know Jude personally (the guy that runs the site), and I can tell you that threads get deleted if they criticize any of the products of companies sponsoring the site. And there's quite a few of those. It's a very biased site as a result of persistent and biased moderation (not the users themselves). The old headwize used to be much better; at this point, one is best to refer to diyaudio.com (no commercial conflict of interest) and also the measurements and recommendations at headphone.com (commercial, but have managed to be very objective from what I can tell; plus I tend to look at the measurements more anyway).

Re:http://www.head-fi.org/

[Prune]

Unless you poorly review the product of one of the site's many sponsors, and then when a critical mass of this has accrued, posts, entire threads, and/or users are "disappeared", which Jude (site owner) freely admitted in the sponsors-only forum.