Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Headphones for isolation
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Headphones for isolation

post #1 of 4
12/27/05 at 6:41pm
Thread Starter 
Are headphones better than earbuds for home? What headphones do you reccomend? I want good sound isolation, but not noise cancellation, which are artificial. I was thinking of KSC-75. How much sound-isolation does it have. What about the Senn 202. I was thiking of that too, does it go completely over your ears, so your ears are isolated? If you offer alternatives, please keep them in the cheap range(under 50). Thanks.
Reply
post #2 of 4
12/27/05 at 9:02pm
The 202 isolates surprisingly well for a supraaural... if you can get the fit right. But the sound is so-so (bloated bass) and I found it downright uncomfortable. These are phones I like to loan away. :-)
Reply
post #3 of 4
12/28/05 at 4:30pm
For home use, full sized cans generally are much better than earbuds.
Reply
post #4 of 4
12/28/05 at 7:30pm
KSC-75 will have little if any isolation - it's an open headphone design. (Hold a playing card over your ear; it'll be about like that.)

If you need maximum isolation, in-ear monitors generally beat full-sized headphones. (There are exceptions: the most isolating headphones (Senn HD280, say) isolate more than the very least isolating IEMs (Sony EX71 or Panasonic RP(whatever).)

There are a very limited number of choices under $50. In headphones, I'm not familiar with the HD202 but I'm a fan of the HD201. Good sound, but not a lot of isolation. In IEMs, under $50 you're probably stuck with the Sony EX71 or EX81 or the Pana RPwhatever. None of them are terrific, but IMO the Sonys are tolerable-to-good at the price (others disagree; the EX71 was a favorite whipping-boy around her for a while).

Stretching your budget to $70 or so will get you the Shure E2C IEM, which is a big step up in isolation and, depending on your taste, a step up in audio quality as well (though its highs are pretty rolled off).

To get serious isolation in a full-sized headphone you're looking at $90-$100 for Sennheiser HD280 or HD25-SP. (I like the HD25-SP more than the HD280, but I'm in the minority.) For that much money you could get also get fancier IEMs than the E2C, such as the Etymotic ER-6 or ER-6i, the Altec Lansing im616 (has Etymotic guts), or Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3. I'm not familiar with the UE, but the Ety-based products are quite respectable sonically, as well as providing very high isolation.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Headphones (full-size)
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Headphones for isolation