best portable closed (or noise cancelling) headphones

[neufeld]

hi,
first of all im new so hi all.
i was just wondering what are the best portable closed headphones. i was looking at buying the px 200 or px 250 or the like but i am unsure if there is anything for better value. Is there anything you could recommend. I am also travelling to the US in a week and i was wondering where was the best place in new york city to buy headphones in terms of range and price.
thanks,
josh

 

[catscratch]

How much do you want to spend? And must the be full-size headphones? If you want isolation, no closed or noise-cancelling phones will approach the levels of isolation and practicality provided by canalphones.

I would recommend the Audio-Technica A900 in the $200 range and the A500 in the $100 range. www.audiocubes.com sells them, but I doubt you'll find a place in NY that stocks them. However, these headphones are huge, and while they're easy to drive, they're not especially convenient for portable use. There, canalphones can't be beat - check out the Etymotic ER-4P for classical/acoustic music and Shure e3c or e4c for rock.

[Edit: oh yeah, forgot:

Welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet

]

 

[pbalcer]

How much are you readu to spend??? During commuting I'm using Sennheiser HD25-1. The isolation is great, sound quality is quite good too (but after the cans became fully burned in - in the begining they sounded a bit harsh). Subway noise is not a problem.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

I am going to second the A900. I have them and sound really good. I think that is the top of the line besides the 595s. But I like the bass and high end better in the A900 compared to the 595s.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

You really cannot use A900's (or any full-sized AT cans for that matter) for portably. Aside from the fact that they're just too big, they won't stay on your head if you move too much.

As for recommendations, PX200 and AKG K26P are probably the best bang-for-buck portable sealed cans.

 

[sionghchan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neufeld hi, first of all im new so hi all. i was just wondering what are the best portable closed headphones. i was looking at buying the px 200 or px 250 or the like but i am unsure if there is anything for better value. Is there anything you could recommend. I am also travelling to the US in a week and i was wondering where was the best place in new york city to buy headphones in terms of range and price. thanks, josh

If you need active noice cancellation, I cannot recommend the Sennheiser PXC250 enough. I own a pair myself. However, their strength is really in being used on planes. I bought a pair specifically for this reason. I was almost commuting down to US once a week for the entire last year, thus was looking at about 10 hours of plane travel everyweek. I was really really sick of United Airlines' crap headphones they provided onboard where I had to crank up the volume to almost max to listen to movie tracks (especially if you were to sit by the row nearest to the plane engine.

With PXC250, you still hear the engine, but it becomes a distant drone. Both, music and voice becomes very clear. I had a colleague travelling with me sometimes and the minute I let her audition it on board, she bought a pair immediately after we landed.

In my mind, the PXC250 sounds better than Bose's Quiet Comfort 2 and provides just as much active noice cancelling but costs 1/3 the price.

However, be aware that the PXC250 is not the best headphones around for its price if you don't need the noice cancellation. They sound more laid back and not as engaging as my Alessandro MS1s or Grado SR60s. However, for travelling, their noice cancellation is not just a gimmick but really, it is a pair of cans that really do work as per advertised.

Hope this helps...