Isolation + Sound quality help! - Page 3

Nobody mentioned AKG K81 DJ and AKG K518 LE!
They'll cost you a lil more but these cans isolate quite well. Obviously they sound pretty darn good and represent a really good choice for starters (they only differ in the color scheme).
These cans are classified as bassy headphones and they perform well with movies, too.

IDK about gaming, never had a chance to put 'em to the test.
Edited by MrScratch - 9/7/12 at 10:18am

I am currently selling a headphone that suits your needs: soundstage with good stereo right-to-left imaging, isolation, and great SQ. You can't beat the K181 at the price.

 

The only other headphone I'd recommend for gaming (and has very detailed SQ in general) is the KRK KNS-8400. But that'll cost you a few more doubloons.

Edited by roma101 - 9/7/12 at 10:40am

Unfortunately your options are limited under $100, and even more so under $50. For $20-$30 it's pretty much what you can get your hand on for the money; you're not going to get something high-end by any means of the definition for that price.

 

The best all-rounder IEM I can recommend for the price is the Creative EP-630. Good isolation. Sound comparable to others that cost twice as much.

I agree, you're not going to get much IMO. I think it's worth saving and investing something that will be worth your while in the long run.

In terms of isolation, it usually (but not always) goes: headphones < IEMs < Custom IEMs.

 

Nothing is absolute. But at medium to high levels most IEMs will block out mild distractions.

 

The only truly effective form of isolation is a quiet listening/gaming environment.

On your budget I'd give Koss - The Plug a try, they cost 20$ at MSRP (some places even have them for 10$), sound insulation should be quite good, cable is flimsy (it'll break in a year or so) and rather short though (1m). Sound quality is on the bass heavy side, but at that price point probably better than most other stuff. Depending on your ears they can also be uncomfortable or not fit very well, you'll have to give them a try and see for yourself...problem is most people on these boards haven't listened to a sub-100$ headphones in decades and consider anything up to and including 100$ cheap :-P

 

I had a really old pair of them lying around and gave them a quick listen (bought them for an outdoor trip like 10 years ago as I needed something I wouldn't mind loosing/getting broken) and for that price they sound ok.
 

Sound insulation wise they're probably as good as it gets in that price range - their foam plug types so they seal very well. As for the cable - if you wrap it around an mp3 player all the time and stuff it in your pocket it'll wear out more quickly, if you take good care it'll last longer, but that's a problem with pretty much anything in that price range, sooner or later the cable will break and you'll loose sound on one or both sides, the only insurance against that is a headphone with detachable cables and there you're usually in the 100$+ price range, with replacement cables costing 20-30$...
 

All I'm saying is don't put them on and expect everything to be magically silent. No one here can tell you if anything will isolate enough. All you've told us about your "situation" you keep talking about is sound from another TV. In most situations, yes most headphones/IEMs work well for that, but say if someone in your home is working out and has the TV on blast; nothing is going to completely block that out.

 

You've been spoon fed plenty of great suggestions. The only way for you to find what isolates enough is for you to actually take something home and try it out. You can always return the product and try another.

Isolation also depends on your own listening volume - if you have someone with a tv on full blast and your headphones at absolute minimum volume, then you're going to hear them no matter what headphone you use. As soon as you have them say on 30-40% of a normal mp3 players output you probably won't notice any outside noise.

 

Heck I've been struggling to find a headphone that ticks all my boxes (sound isolation (both so I won't hear my coworkers as well as not disturb them), acceptable (Grado SR80 or better) sound quality, comfort, durability & the ability to quickly remove them (that last one ruled out IEM's for me)) for over a month and found it far from easy to find anything that ticks all the boxes...and I'm on a 250$ budget...ordered a KRK SN8400 earlier this week (200$ headphone here in switzerland), here's hoping...this may go some way explaining why people struggle to come up with adequate recommendations...