Best headphone for portable dvd player.

[phone cone]

What is a good headphone for a portable dvd player? I would love a nice portable headphone(canal, etc. any size) for the portable dvd player in my car. The headphone I use with it now is a Koss Td61. Are those 5.1 dobly digital built in headphones any good such as the Kinyo model? I've been looking around the forum for my own answers but it is a little confusing coming in. Budget: $120 or less(may go up five or six dollars if it's really worth it). Thanks.

 

[toaster]

i am gonna go out on a limb here and say that there is not a single portable DVD player that gives any thought at all to the output of their headphone jack.

in other words, i don't think you should worry too much about what heaphone you get.

that being said, here are 2 inexpensive options that many people are satisfied with:

shure e2's
hd-497's

again, the portable dvd arena is not a place where audiophilia commonly lives.

 

[go_vtec]

Although sound quality of In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) or Canal phones are far superior than typical headphones for music listening in noisy environment, 5.1 surround sound effect of DVD movies with IEMs is NOT as good as some good 2-channel headphones with good soundstage and imaging. With IEMS, the sound is typically in your head, not around you.

However the strength of providing good isolation and awesome sound on noisy bus/train/plane, IEMs are hard to beat and I can easily overlook their narrower soundstage over full size cans. I think new ER6i would be a good choice under $120, but Shure E3c or Etymotic ER4P may be good candidates for if good sound quality/detail is desired (can be had for $140 or $195, respectively).

I've tried few high end 5.1 surround headphones (by Sony), but I prefer sound of descent wired 2-channel headphones better. Highend wireless 5.1 surround headphones provided better surround effect than typical 2-channel headphones, but their sound quality was not anywhere near 2-channel wired headphones. I had a best experience using Audio Technica A900/A1000 and Sony CD3K for Virtual 3D or Silent Cinema (Sony and Yamaha's 5.1 channel effect on two channel headphones). Overall surround effect was pretty close between 5.1 vs. 2-channel with surround sound processor, but 2-channel headphones had a definite edge over sound quality and accuracy when playing scores/soundtracks during the movie. Of course, if I had to choose a phone for noisy flight/train, I would choose Ety ER-4P or ER-4S for accuracy or ER6 for slightly better boom effect.

 

[pspivak]

For what its worth.

I have two Mintek units, the 5830 and the 1020. The 5830 has a 5.8 inch screen and is one of the brightest DVD units I have ever seen. The audio quality leaves something to be desired. I used this unit on the train and found that the ER-6 headphones were almost a necessity. However it was not until I got an amp (especially with some discs) that I was really satisfied. The amp is the Red Sound Micro (Etymotic used this amp to demo their ER-6 at the CES 2 years ago).

The 1020 has a much better sound chip in it than the 5830 and the 10.2 inch screen is good sized, but it is not as bright as the 5830. The 1020 do not require the amp to power the ER-6's.

As far as the ER-6's go, I really like them for what they are. They are small, light, and portable, with clarity that is reminiscent of Stax (I use Stax at home). The bass is not too bad for what it is. Overall I like the ER-6 for the DVD.