[mroth]

Hello all,
 
I'm going to be spending the next academic year in Paris, France and I'm looking to invest in a good pair of headphones for my time abroad.
 
I'm by no means an audiophile; on the contrary, I'm a musician who spends most of his time listening to his iPod or computer. 
 
Since I'll be spending a lot of time traveling (on planes, trains etc.), I'm looking for a reasonably priced, sturdy, comfortable pair of closed headphones that will cut out some outside noise. I'm not looking for top of the line, noise-cancelling cans. Unfortunately, the only closed headphone I'm familiar with is the infamous Bose Triport. (I'm not looking to spend $125). As far as price is concerned, I would like to spend less than $100. 
 
Here are some of the products I've looked into thus far:
 
http://www.headphone.com/selection-guide/audio-technica-ath-fc700a.php
 
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-218-Closed-Back-Headphone/dp/B001RNO91U
 
http://www.headphone.com/selection-guide/sennheiser-hd-228.php
 
Any suggestions?

 

[mroth]

bump

 

[semisight]

I'd recommend the audio technica just for the noise cancellation feature.
 
If in ears don't offend (or cause you serious pain), I'd recommend them instead however. For plane flights a decent in ear (IEM) will block more noise than the active noise cancelling (ANC) headphones.
 
Regardless of that preference, what kind of music do you listen to? It can help narrow down the selection.

 

[mroth]

Thanks for the quick response, semisight.
 
Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of in-ear headphones. You're right, though; they would cancel noise very well.
 
As far as music goes, I listen to a lot of electronic music (e.g., RJD2, Justice, Daft Punk) and rock'n'roll. 
 
Do you know anything about those audio-technicas?

 

[semisight]

Not a thing, but AT has a good rep around here so I figure they must be worth something.
 
Their most popular <$100 model is the ES7, a closed pair (without ANC). Given their bass-head reputation I think they'd match up with dance/electronica pretty well.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

They are sturdy, do bass, come with a great travel case that fits a ipod as well and work well with or without NR on, so I would recommend the Goldring NS1000. They can be had for about £60 online with Play.com who deliver to France.

 

[BlackSushi222]

Try looking into the:
 
JVC HA-S 650
JVC HA-M 750
 
Denon AH-P 372
 
AKG K 518
 
Sennheiser PX200-II
Sennheiser 418
 
Joker reviewed the Sennheiser 228 as only have a 5/10 in isolation.
 
Out of the list the AKG K 518s are 9/10 in isolation, but are the least comfortable.

 

[BlackSushi222]

Check this awesome thread by Joker.
 
A whole list of portable headphones, with closed variants.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/433318/shootout-44-portable-headphones-compared-sony-mdr-xb500-alessandro-ms1-added-07-08
 
This helped me alot to picked a closed portable set for myself.