deandob
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2004
- Posts
- 12
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- 0
Hi,
Usually I don't post 'what to buy' threads as I spend hours reading and researching for my gadgets, however on the topic of what IEM to buy I really can't determine a short list to buy without directly asking specific questions about my needs and seeking feedback.
Being Australian and having a job which involves regular travel to other countries means that I spend a lot of hours in the air. I have an older pair of Sennheiser HDC 451 noise cancelling phones which do an OK job on noise cancelling on flights and sound quality is OK, better than airline phones but not great either. I have found that I use earplugs as well as the 451's which combined does a great job of noise cancellation, as the earplugs cancel the higher frequences and the noise cancellation of the 451 cancelling out the engine drone, so this setup works well for me. However listening to over ear phones with earplugs obviously does not make for a great audio experience, so I thought I should transition to a good pair of IEMs with noise cancelling that give me the earplug isolation and the drone cancellation as well as decent audio quality.
I see lots of posts on this site saying why bother with IEMs with noise cancelling when the isolation is so good, but the drone cancellation is definitely a benefit of noise cancellation for airline use.
So here is what I'm looking for:
- A budget of up to $400 - I look for value more than absolute price
- As good audio quality as possible for the price, specifically solid bass with clear treble.
- My source will be the new Zune HD (using 320kb mp3s encoded well), so I probably dont need to go for the ultimate quality due to the zune quality being the limit (it is said to be better than the ipod), and airline use will still leak some ambient noise, but definitely looking for a 'quality' sound.
- Comfortable in ear use. For prolonged airline use I find earplugs start to be a little irritating but I get used to it.
- Ideally want IEM isolation with a good active noise cancelling, but will settle for a straight IEM if the isolation is really good.
The only 2 IEMs I can find that may fit my criteria but have no idea of the relative performance differences are the:
- Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 Headphones
- Sony MDR-NC300D (not available yet??)
Please post experiences with IEMs in airlines as well as recommended IEMs (with or without NC). Many thanks for the feedback.
Usually I don't post 'what to buy' threads as I spend hours reading and researching for my gadgets, however on the topic of what IEM to buy I really can't determine a short list to buy without directly asking specific questions about my needs and seeking feedback.
Being Australian and having a job which involves regular travel to other countries means that I spend a lot of hours in the air. I have an older pair of Sennheiser HDC 451 noise cancelling phones which do an OK job on noise cancelling on flights and sound quality is OK, better than airline phones but not great either. I have found that I use earplugs as well as the 451's which combined does a great job of noise cancellation, as the earplugs cancel the higher frequences and the noise cancellation of the 451 cancelling out the engine drone, so this setup works well for me. However listening to over ear phones with earplugs obviously does not make for a great audio experience, so I thought I should transition to a good pair of IEMs with noise cancelling that give me the earplug isolation and the drone cancellation as well as decent audio quality.
I see lots of posts on this site saying why bother with IEMs with noise cancelling when the isolation is so good, but the drone cancellation is definitely a benefit of noise cancellation for airline use.
So here is what I'm looking for:
- A budget of up to $400 - I look for value more than absolute price
- As good audio quality as possible for the price, specifically solid bass with clear treble.
- My source will be the new Zune HD (using 320kb mp3s encoded well), so I probably dont need to go for the ultimate quality due to the zune quality being the limit (it is said to be better than the ipod), and airline use will still leak some ambient noise, but definitely looking for a 'quality' sound.
- Comfortable in ear use. For prolonged airline use I find earplugs start to be a little irritating but I get used to it.
- Ideally want IEM isolation with a good active noise cancelling, but will settle for a straight IEM if the isolation is really good.
The only 2 IEMs I can find that may fit my criteria but have no idea of the relative performance differences are the:
- Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3 Headphones
- Sony MDR-NC300D (not available yet??)
Please post experiences with IEMs in airlines as well as recommended IEMs (with or without NC). Many thanks for the feedback.