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.

20 dollar sonies

[negRo_slim]

My 20 dollar white sonys from walmart are excellent. Dont know the model # off hand. But like I said 20 bones walmart.

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:Bose

[Prune]

The lower end Etymotic earbuds are also around $100 and much better than the Bose.

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 [amazon.com] 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.

Etymotic HF series

[futuresheep]

Get Ety HF series that work with phone OS you use. I bought a set of the HF2's for my Droid and love them. They're crisp and clear, without the artificial overpowering bass that most earbuds on the market have. The sound seperation is excellent as well. I have a set of Audio Technica NC cans, which are nice headphones, but I highly prefer the sound of the Ety's over those.

On top of that, the sound isolation is excellent and I find them to be some of the most comfortable in canal phones I've used. Plus, for and additional $100.00 you can get fitted for custom buds that are molded for your ear canal.

Amazon carries them for $120.00 or so. Well worth it.

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.

Re:20 dollar sonies

[Anonymous Coward]

I've spent the better part of my adult life wearing in ear headphones. It started for me when I went to Germany when I was 16 and got a pair of Sony in ear with a retractable case and some exotic saphire diaghphrams. They lasted me for over 10 years until I accidentally put them in a jacket and zipped up the then thin cord with my zipper.

Next, were Koss "The Plug" another odd make for me. In ear huge foam tips and very cheap ($14.99) and I think a lifetime warranty, if I hadn't lost my two pairs I bought (one failed and I just grabbed a new one at the store) but we are talking cheap, but very good sound quality.

After the loss of those I went to Beats Tour that I found on Craigslist for $65 for a pair of them (probably knock offs) and within a week I skimmed over one of them because they fell out, and son of a b*tch. They broke! Great sound, terrible quality, noisy jacket on the cable.

My favorite pair so far have been another pair of Sony, flat cord, MegaBass features. They were a $25 clearance find at a Walmart in my town. They haven't shorted over long workout sessions from sweat, they get pretty loud to the point where I know I should go back one or two clicks on my iPhone. But these have lasted with the same action of falling to the ground and me skimming over it. These do fit fairly nice, only really fall out if I have tension on them for a few body cycles and eventually they walk out. I will more than likely own another pair of Sony headphones before any other brand.

I was given a pair of Shure 2xx series headphones from my old boss at an audio distributor, pro headphones. They were pretty flat, not very enjoyable sound wise, and they fit terrible. I gave them to an ex, which she sold for pretty good cash. So there's my take on those, ha ha.

Look on Sony's site and they have some XBA-1, they are $71.99 but I bet they are probably pretty damn good.

Re:Monoprice

[TubeSteak]

so I refuse to listen to music through his headphones, 'lest some of his "golden ears" rub off and I find myself needing more expensive gear)

I made the mistake of shelling out a hundred bucks for a new pair of Shure headphones recently and now half my music is unlistenable.
And I've also discovered that my laptop's headphone jack produces a steady hiss when it's powered on.

Good headphones are a blessing and a curse.

Bose noise cancelling

[careysb]

I know what you mean about the exaggerated bass, that's is exactly what I experienced with their speakers in their show room. However, I purchased their original noise cancelling head phones ($300) when they first came out because my cubical was immediately below the heating and air conditioning system. The head phones DID NOT exhibit the same bass boost that their speakers did and the noise cancelling ability was outstanding. I've tried other noise cancelling head phones just as a point of comparison and none did as good a job. The tonal range seemed to be evenly distributed and the ability to reproduce sounds accurately was good as near as I can tell. Also, Bose will (or at least did) give you a $100 credit if you brought in an old pair for replacement. Seems like an absolute necessity if you work in a cubical environment.