[captian73]

So after nearly 9 years of hard use the cable on my Bose OE headphones has started to die. I'm sure someone here could re-cable it, but the headphones as a whole are looking very tired. I'm looking for a semi portable replacement, any suggestions? I was looking at the Yamaha HPH-PRO300 headphones.
 
Much as i love my Sennheiser HD25-1 (i've had since 1997) they are a bit chunky. However as far as true portable/performance goes, I never felt the AKG K450, Jays C-Jays or Sennheiser  HD238 could compare to the Bose (even with the Bose limitations). As for the AKG K450 and as i used to run fakeheadphones.com (now offline) I know that there are counterfeits K450's in the market so I'm weary. You can see how long i've been out of the game!  I'm really looking for the Bose OE size. I have tried the OE2 headphones, and I preferred the original OE headphones. 
 
I was also looking at the Beyerdynamic DTX501P headphones ... just out of interest. I want to wear them around town but I don't want to stand out too much. the Bose were compact, light, comfortable. I'm loooking for more of the same.

 

[bubsdaddy]

You could always pick up a new pair of Bose OE from SAMs Club or Costco. Both have them for $100 assuming you are in the US and near one.

Otherwise, maybe the V-Moda M80. It's about the same size and fit with better sound quality but doesn't isolate as well.

 

[captian73]

Thanks for your suggestions. I live in the UK. I would hunt for another pair, bar for the fact that there are counterfeits everywhere of the original OE headphones. V-Moda's look nice, however i remember I had a lot of bad experiences with V-Moda in the past, when they first bought out their IEM's back in the day. I hope things have moved on since then! The V-Moda's are around £170 in the UK, I was hoping for something around the £120 max really. But I will consider them. 

 

[captian73]

Another thing: are there any headphones with normal cables, no in-line controls? I'm not interested in hooking these up to a mobile phone!

 

[dweaver]

I think the Vmoda M80 are very well built but they will not be as comfortable as the OE. The M80 does come with a straight cable plus an iPhone cable.

you might want to check out the Zorro HD or their newer model.

 

[captian73]

For all the bad press for Bose, among my (at one time) 120+ headphone collection, the OE's were one of the best for comfort. Those Noontec Zoro's ... Dre wannabees? But at around £40 they might eb worth trying out. Just finished watching a YouTube review of the Noontec's, they get very favorable reviews everywhere!!