[davidelliott]

Hello all, 
 
New member here seeking some advice for a prospective purchase.  
 
I listen to classical and opera (as well as some smooth jazz now and then) for approximately 8-10 hours a day while at work.  My current in-ear headphones get somewhat uncomfortable after 3-4 hours.  I'm hoping that over the ear headphones will be more comfortable.  I would like to purchase new, not used headphones.  Unfortunately, I am in a rural location and cannot try headphones on before I purchase them so I will rely heavily on your recommendations.  
 
I'm hoping you can recommend some options given the following parameters:
- Total budget of $350. 
- My music is played via an ipod touch, current generation. 
- I do not have a portable amp, but can purchase one if necessary.  The funds would be taken from the $350 though.  
- I do wear glasses.  
- Over ear / on ear recommendations are preferred. 
- Closed back is a must so that I do not disturb my office mate.  
- As mentioned above, I only listen to classical music, opera, and smooth jazz.  I do not listen at high volumes. 
- Comfort is a must given the multi-hour listening sessions.  
 
I looked through some threads here at the forums and it seems as if Audio-Technica, Phiaton, AKG, Beyerdynamic, and Sennheiser all have at least one or two models in my price range.  
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and respond. I promise to promptly respond to all comments and suggestions.  
 
Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information. 

Best, 
 
David

 

[cifani090]

Shure SE535's or Westone 4's. Their good IEM's for yor type of music

 

[davidelliott]

Quote:

Shure SE535's or Westone 4's. Their good IEM's for yor type of music

Thank you.  I have edited my original post to make it clearer that I am not looking for in-ear headphones.  Sorry about the confusion.  Do you have any other recommendations? edit - Both of those appear to be outside of my budget as well. 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
You sound like someone who wants a pair of SRH940's. They're great for those genres, comfortable, and easily driven. They're under your budget too, which leaves you room to get an amp for use at work which can help a little (it benefits amplification, but is not required by any means). If you get the SRH940 at Headphones.com with the HeadFi 15% discount, they'll be $245. That leaves you enough room to buy a $100 amp. You could get a FiiO E9 for that if you want something desktop oriented and powerful. Or you could get a portable DAC/AMP like the FiiO E7 (even though you're using your an iPod touch), or on the cheaper side the PA2V2 or FiiO E11. Ideally if you can find one, get a Digizoid ZO (or wait for next month's release of revision 2, which I recommend) amp to pair with the SHR940 and you'll be in heaven.
 
To know more about the SRH940, check out the review in my signature (click the SRH940 link).
 
Very best,

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

Heya,
 
You sound like someone who wants a pair of SRH940's. They're great for those genres, comfortable, and easily driven. They're under your budget too, which leaves you room to get an amp for use at work which can help a little (it benefits amplification, but is not required by any means). If you get the SRH940 at Headphones.com with the HeadFi 15% discount, they'll be $245. That leaves you enough room to buy a $100 amp. You could get a FiiO E9 for that if you want something desktop oriented and powerful. Or you could get a portable DAC/AMP like the FiiO E7 (even though you're using your an iPod touch), or on the cheaper side the PA2V2 or FiiO E11. Ideally if you can find one, get a Digizoid ZO (or wait for next month's release of revision 2, which I recommend) amp to pair with the SHR940 and you'll be in heaven.
 
To know more about the SRH940, check out the review in my signature (click the SRH940 link).
 
Very best,

+1
 

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

Thank you.  I have edited my original post to make it clearer that I am not looking for in-ear headphones.  Sorry about the confusion.  Do you have any other recommendations? edit - Both of those appear to be outside of my budget as well. 

 
Well $350 is where you can get a used pair, are you looking to go used or new preferably?
 
 

 

[davidelliott]

Quote:

Heya,
 
You sound like someone who wants a pair of SRH940's. They're great for those genres, comfortable, and easily driven. They're under your budget too, which leaves you room to get an amp for use at work which can help a little (it benefits amplification, but is not required by any means). If you get the SRH940 at Headphones.com with the HeadFi 15% discount, they'll be $245. That leaves you enough room to buy a $100 amp. You could get a FiiO E9 for that if you want something desktop oriented and powerful. Or you could get a portable DAC/AMP like the FiiO E7 (even though you're using your an iPod touch), or on the cheaper side the PA2V2 or FiiO E11. Ideally if you can find one, get a Digizoid ZO (or wait for next month's release of revision 2, which I recommend) amp to pair with the SHR940 and you'll be in heaven.
 
To know more about the SRH940, check out the review in my signature (click the SRH940 link).
 
Very best,

 
Thank you for the recommendations!  I will check out your review right away.  
 
 

 

[davidelliott]

Quote:

 
Well $350 is where you can get a used pair, are you looking to go used or new preferably?
 
 

Preferably new. Thanks.

 

[davidelliott]

That was a very thorough and excellent review!  Are there any options i should consider in addition to the shure headphones? 
Quote:

Heya,
 
You sound like someone who wants a pair of SRH940's. They're great for those genres, comfortable, and easily driven. They're under your budget too, which leaves you room to get an amp for use at work which can help a little (it benefits amplification, but is not required by any means). If you get the SRH940 at Headphones.com with the HeadFi 15% discount, they'll be $245. That leaves you enough room to buy a $100 amp. You could get a FiiO E9 for that if you want something desktop oriented and powerful. Or you could get a portable DAC/AMP like the FiiO E7 (even though you're using your an iPod touch), or on the cheaper side the PA2V2 or FiiO E11. Ideally if you can find one, get a Digizoid ZO (or wait for next month's release of revision 2, which I recommend) amp to pair with the SHR940 and you'll be in heaven.
 
To know more about the SRH940, check out the review in my signature (click the SRH940 link).
 
Very best,

 

 

[Tacoboy]

Audio Technica ATH-A900s, they are only 40-Ohms, so they work well with any source.
Not a heavy bass headphone, but if you wearing headphones for long periods,
I'm assuming you do not want to fatigue your ears with lots of heavy bass.
And they are selling for half your budget.
Lots of reviews for this headphone on Head-Fi.
 
You can get a low cost ($50) single tube headphone amplifier, off eBay, ships from China.
Tube amplifiers add some "warmth" to music.
Not sure how will they work with Ipods?

 

[davidelliott]

Thank you for all of your advice.  I purchased the Shure SRH940 headphones.  Should be here in a few days. Looking forward to receiving them.

 

[davidelliott]

Quote:

Thank you for all of your advice.  I purchased the Shure SRH940 headphones.  Should be here in a few days. Looking forward to receiving them.

The headphones arrived and they are wonderful!  I wore them all day at work and they were very comfortable and the sound is far superior to anything else I have used in the past. 
 
Thank you so much for the recommendation. 
 
If I could trouble you all for another recommendation, what would you suggest for listening to classical / opera / jazz at home given the same $350 budget constraint?  The headphones need not be closed back this time, open back / semi open would be fine too.  edit - would still be listening via ipod (no amp at present)
 
Cheers.