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Best Portable Headphone

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Happy Hopping

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Noise cancelling: PX250

Isolating: Sennheiser PX200

Balanced sound: Sony MDR-D66SL

OMG TEH BASS!!!111one!11oneone!11: Koss PortaPro

If you don't mind clip-on portable 'phones - I highly recommend the Koss KSC-35's. They are probably the best portable HEADphone's I've heard...or...if you don't mind earphones, there's a whole other world of portable goodness like the Etymotic Research ER-4P's, Shure E3c's, etc...

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Noise cancelling: PX250

Isolating: Sennheiser PX200

Balanced sound: Sony MDR-D66SL

OMG TEH BASS!!!111one!11oneone!11: Koss PortaPro

If you don't mind clip-on portable 'phones - I highly recommend the Koss KSC-35's. They are probably the best portable HEADphone's I've heard...or...if you don't mind earphones, there's a whole other world of portable goodness like the Etymotic Research ER-4P's, Shure E3c's, etc...

I lost my faith completely in Koss. I saw a few of them on Fri., they are all made in China, the foam (or the soft black color part that touches your ear) is hard and cheap.

I like a headphone that can pick up the most quiet sound from the CD. So I would check out Sennheiser & Sony.

==========================

edit: What on earth is Sennheiser doing? 300 ohm for impedance? What are they doing? How long does that last connecting to a MD? One song?

That's not all, that ear cup part, it is too small, it hardly cup the ear, for a high end portable, it should cup the entire ear completely.

That Sony isn't that good neither if it is meant to be top of the line portable. It's only 40mm driver unit, their MDRV900 is 50 mm, but of course, their V900 is way overprice, which may be the reason, as they know there is no competition at 50mm driver set. So for quality w/o looking at price, maybe the V900 is even better than the D66SL.

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The Etymotics don't need to cover the ear--they seal out outside sound by closing off the ear canal directly and putting a tiny high-quality speaker up close to your eardrum. They are not like earbuds or EX70s or the Koss Plug or other in-ear cheapos, which aren't worth anything.

Personally, I tried a pair of 4Ps and found the bass really anemic. Etymotic lovers always talk about the clarity of the bass, and the notes were there but the oomph wasn't. It does depend on the shape of your ear canal, but for me it just sounded weak.

I had better luck with Shure E3, another earplug/canalphone. (E3 is gray, E3c is Ipod-white, otherwise the same.) You have to try all the different earplugs supplied --7 or 8 of various materials and sizes--to get the fit, because each one affects the sound. And although I'm not a bass fanatic, bass boost helped fill out the sound. When you do get the right fit it's a separate world, especially if you're in a noisy environment like an airplane or subway.

They still don't compare with my nonportable Grado SR-125s, which have a more spacious sound, but they're ultraportable and sturdier than the Etymotics, too. Just look both ways crossing the street, because you won't hear the car horns.

They're also a serious investment. But

www.bhphoto.com

had them for $139 a while back, not the $179 list.

On the other hand, if you just want a comfortable, good sounding foldable pair under $50, and don't need isolation, Sennheiser PX100 is just the thing.

BTW, regarding Koss, don't judge any line of phones by its cheapest model. (Or Sony would be out of business.) Before the Sennheisers I had Koss Portapros, which are superb for the price and ultra-comfortable. But I think the Sennheisers sound even better. Don't judge them by looks or preconceptions about whether they should cover the ear--just listen.

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Thanks for the info. It seems the buying factor of all these, is that I have to go by the store who sells these headphones as a speciality store, as in a hi-fi store, instead of buying it thru the web. Fly by night store like Circuit City doesn't seem to cut it on specialized equipments.

It's clear that just to fit the size of the ear canal, I have to try out all the good models before I can decide, so I'll do just that. Thanks again.

========================

I just find something juicy:

How would you compare:

http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_e...4974?Open&row=2

vs.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP....ductSKU=MDRV900

The freq. response as well as the 50mm diameter driver unit seems to be better on the Sony one, but Sennheiser doesn't tell me how many mm their Neodymium magnets is, so it is hard to compare. Anyone own the Sennheiser HD280?

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[ What on earth is Sennheiser doing?  300 ohm for impedance?  What are they doing?  How long does that last connecting to a MD?  One song?

That's not all, that ear cup part, it is too small, it hardly cup the ear, for a high end portable, it should cup the entire ear completely.

1. They have a tiny amp built in to compensate for the high impedence.

2. The ear cups are not *supposed* to cover the entire ear, just to sit over the entrance to the ear canal. The reason for this is they are supposed to portable and fold up into your pocket.

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But if they don't cover your entire ear, the noise from the outside will goes in your ear, and also, if they don't cover the entire ear, sound may leak.

What? No...they only need to cover the entrance to your ear. It's not like your earlobe can pick up sound... huh.gif

Think about it, etymotic earphones don't "cover your entire ear" yet they give some of the best isolation out there and don't leak hardly at all. Why? Because they get a good seal around your ear canal...

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  • 5 weeks later...

Sometimes, the older, the better. If that's true for alcohol, why can't that be so for audio?

I'm not exactly sure about the MDR-7509, but the MDR-7506s are otherwise known as MDR-V6s which are good if you like bass. From that review, it seems that the MDR-7509s have been tamed a little, but the best advice that anyone can give to you for headphones is to try them out for yourself. Sound is subjective to each person's hearing... not everyone's ears are the same, y'kno.

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Yeah, I can listen to that one, many sony dealer have it. But the article sounds like salesman pitch, and w/ the way our tech. advances, just like many other video or audio technology, for e.g., the functions of an industrial class VCR 10 yr. ago, today any VCR can do.

Regardless what my ears tell me, it is virtually impossible for me to be convinced that a 10 yr. old toy is better than today's headphone, as we advanced so much in 10 yr.

After all, if the spec. is the same, I'll go w/ the MDR-V900, as I tried the V600 once or twice and they are very good.

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Errrrrrrrrrrrr... no, Vx00 series sucks. I had a V700, sold it off about half a year ago.

If you read the original thread, the restriction is "foldable" headphone, meant for portable use mostly. I know there are a lot of headphones better than Sony, but there are very few foldable ones that you can carry.

Among them, I examine the Sennheiser portable, but the impedance is too high that drain too much of my portable MD or CD battery.

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Dude, anyone here can tell you that Eggos are the most popular headphones around here.

Excellent performance/price ratio, designed for portable use, and yes they are foldable. They're also Sony. I never said Sony sucks, I said it was specifically the V500/700/900 that sucked.

You'll have to go through the extra effort of buying them from an e-tailer if you want something good.

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  • 3 months later...

How can a headphone made 10 yr. ago be better than the ones recently made, eventhough the MDR-7509 is a professional class headphone?  Its spec. seems to be the same as the MDR-V900.

Easily - nothing really revolutionary has really happened in sound reproduction for years.

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  • 1 month later...

I don't know if Happy Hopping is still reading this thread but I've got a pair of PX200's and when I drove up to Sydney with my family (12 hours- lots of use) I could put the volume on my md up full blast and my sister in the seat next to me could not hear a thing and I could only hear the radio or conversation when I had teh volume down at about 25%. For a $100 (AU) set of headphones that'll fit in your pocket I reckon that's pretty good.

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  • 9 months later...

OK FELLOWS: ph34r.gif

After have proved many headphones, from the best families, i arrived to ONE conclusion:

If you have more than US$ 150 and want to have a big pair of ears then go for Sennheiser, Bosse, Grado or Etymotic, big supraural pairs.

But ...

If you want to SQUEEZE every dollar (less than US$ 40 on ebay) and get the MAXIMUN for your money and get the QUALITY of the EXPENSIVE MODELS, then all around the world there's just ONE OPTION :

Sennheiser PX 100 !!!

Yes, all the CAPOS from the audio scene, the profs, Know that is the BEST PORTABLE headphone ever made.

JUST buy ONE, STOP searching, these are the ULTIMATE LEADING PORTABLE HEADPHONES, great price, HEAVENLY SOUND.

(don't go for other models like the px 200 or the sound cancelling, is the PX 100 the BEST, take a look at the reviews, in every scene is a HIT, headphone.com or any serious headphone review )

GReetings,

Sergio Claver from PERU (South America) biggrin.gif , owner of a Bose Acoustimass System, Sennheiser Px 100, Sennheiser HD 497, Nomad Jukebox, IPOD 60 GB, Airport Express (Wireless music every where from my laptop IBM T42) and the MUVO SLIM great toys ehhhh ... wink.giflaugh.gif

post-14004-1123173148_thumb.jpg

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