A good pair of earphones

[Tonberry]

I sleep on a sofa, I work on the floor or that short table in the living room. Sometimes I want to segregate myself from what's going on the TV next to me for some privacy or focus. Does anyone know of a good pair of earphone that can do that without me turning the laptop volume to 90%? I'd like to keep my hearing abilities when I'm old.

[Tim Murphy]

Well, I don't have any earphone suggestions, but if you're also considering headphones I put my vote in for these Sony ones.

Good quality sound, pretty good outside noise cancellation, really comfy (and I'm someone who has really sensitive ears), and a pretty good price.

[RangerX]

I sleep on a sofa, I work on the floor or that short table in the living room. Sometimes I want to segregate myself from what's going on the TV next to me for some privacy or focus. Does anyone know of a good pair of earphone that can do that without me turning the laptop volume to 90%? I'd like to keep my hearing abilities when I'm old.

went through this in the sixties just purchase the cheapest after all, its create your space, even when in the recording studio you don't have isolation and this is the best for isolation, you'll always hear the bleed, maybe the earphones that cover the ear, but at the end becomes uncomfortable

[OldJake666]

I'm guessing you're asking for in ear headphones? I've been through just about every brand of in ear headphones, Denon, Sony, Bose, Seinheiser, Audio Technica, etc, etc, etc. And the best I've used so far I recently purchased which are these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GFNDDG They sound really quite spectacular, and I am particular about sound quality.

[Kamber Parrk]

I stand corrected!

[Tonberry]

Both links look like almost a day's pay for me, lol... but probably worth the investment if I can concentrate better on my own reading or tutorial video watching while the TV is running next to me. Thanks for replying!

[Tim Murphy]

Both links look like almost a day's pay for me, lol... but probably worth the investment if I can concentrate better on my own reading or tutorial video watching while the TV is running next to me. Thanks for replying!

Aye, while they do look kind of expensive, I'm quite a frugal person, so here's how I justify it.

Most people say that those last about ten years, so let's just assume they last on the low end of five; this brings it down to about $14 per year, about 4 cents per day. Now I personally use them about 4 hours a day, so they cost me about a penny per hour. I am far more than willing to pay a penny per hour for sound quality and comfort.

[Meloncov]

If your primary concern is stopping audio bleed without hurting your ears, I'd get active noise canceling headphones. Something like this would work: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-110-Fo...8484378&sr=1-1.

Now, it's not going to be quite the same sound quality as some of the other ones linked, but most people can't really tell the difference.

[Falchion]

Skullcandy ear buds are my drug of choice. These suckers can make a gunfight outside sound like really distant hail. Sound is excellent, but I'm not a big hardware aficionado.

[OldJake666]

Skullcandy headphones are really really bad quality. They're cheap plastic and they sound like crap. I'll admit I actually heard a high end pair that sounded pretty good, though. Also shit are the Dr. Drey Beats. Avoid those like the plague. Disgustingly overpriced and overhyped they are.

[velderia]

Avoid skullcandy like the plague. The first pair I got actually worked okay for a long time, but after that, everything else I tried by them just got shittier progressively and quickly. I probably spent over 50 dollars and everything I got from them broke or the sound died out in them. It's such a shame because they have some nice designs.

Now I have these Panasonic headphones that work okay, but I'm not sure if I would recommend them to everybody.

[megaten]

Skullcandy headphones are really really bad quality. They're cheap plastic and they sound like crap. I'll admit I actually heard a high end pair that sounded pretty good, though. Also shit are the Dr. Drey Beats. Avoid those like the plague. Disgustingly overpriced and overhyped they are.

With the Beats headphones my understanding is they actually are really good headphones. There just not good enough for the price the charge for them. ( though I haven't used them myself.)

[Imaginary]

With the Beats headphones my understanding is they actually are really good headphones. There just not good enough for the price the charge for them. ( though I haven't used them myself.)

They're ok, not really good, and when you take the price into consideration they're bad. Way too much bass, imo. Of course if you're into electronic music they could be a decent buy... but then again you'd be better off with a pair of Ultrasones.

Anyway, OP, go on head-fi.org and read around for a bit. A lot of useful info there on everything audio related.

[Barefoot]

As the son of a sound engineer/studio manager for BBC radio, I can tell you that the best things for your ears (protection wise) are over-ear, closed cup headphones (1). Because they block sound from the outside, the volume doesn't need to be turned up to eleven. They also don't actually go INSIDE your ear, which is not good for you. The second best ones, if you don't want big head band looking things, are the ear-bud headphones(2), the ones that look like ear-plugs, they block out sound but they do go inside your ear, not far though, so they don't cause any damage.
You don't want to use the regular earphones (3) because they don't block out any sound so you turn up the volume more which isn't good, they can also cause a build up of ear wax because your body thinks you need more protection.
The last and worst are Dr. Dre's earphones (4), they work like ear-buds but they go really deep inside your ear, and yeah, they block out noise but you should never put anything down your ears, it can cause infections, etc.
Oh yeah, remember, once you go over about £65 for headphones you are no longer paying for quality, you are paying for the brand, my dad actually had to choose the headphones for the whole of his department (about 200 people) around a year ago, so he had to test out dozens of headphones and he got me to help out, we discovered that £65 is the optimum price for buying headphones. (this was headphones, not earphones).
You are better off going for professional over 'civilian', don't go for skullcandys or whatever.
These are NOT recommended brands, they are just examples so you can see what I am talking about.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1318504622
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1318504622
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1318504622
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1318504622

[Tonberry]

So update, sort of, I bought the Sony pair suggested by Tim, and they, even at low volume, blocks out the TV next to me so well it's just a faint blur like underwater and far away. And my ears don't hurt after a while. Thank you so much, the money will soon be worth the investment.

[OldJake666]

Those Sonys are good. They're the industry standard for studio work. The Audio Technicas that I have, however (I forget the model number) was designed specifically to improve upon the Sony headphones. And they're much better (or even better, you could say.)

[LORD M]

I got myself a pair of Sennheiser HD 595 and I've never been happier, music and sound became a whole new experience! It was like night and day.
Beyerdynamics is another brand I can recommend.

Just make sure you buy a pair of audiophile headphones.

[Bill]

Audio Geeks love Sennheiser. Monster has a bad rep aside from their Turbine buds. I'm using the Turbines as I type this and they're very solid. I think they usually retail for over $150 but they occasionally pop up on Amazon for ~$60 which is when I got mine.