malefactor
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2004
- Posts
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Mini review:
Desire: Find best noise cancelling / stopping phones for air travel without breaking the bank, providing the best sound quality with TOTAL isolation.
Comparing: Bose QC2, Sennheiser PXC-250, (reference) Beyerdynamic DT770, Koss "the plug" $18 mod-able earbuds. Amped with a Total Bithead, playing full CD-quality.
Overall:
(Reference) Beyerdynamic: My first high-end purchase, probably a mistake, but a sturdy performer nonetheless. Lacks high freq extension that I love. Warm, gentler/less accurate sound overall (but still very good). Somewhat muddled in the middle.
Sennheiser: I love the "accuracy" and "air" of the Sennheiser. If they were in bigger cans, this problem would be solved. However, too much ambient noise creeps in. I almost can't consider this an acceptable solution, even though they're nice and compact and do about 70% of the job. I feel like they suffer, also, because the driver size isn't big enough to produce low extension to compare to other cans.
Bose QC2: Reminds me of the reference in terms of sound quality, but not quite as good. Bass is too boomy, high freq extension doesn't go high enough for my taste. Prefer more accuracy, but surprisingly this isn't bad. Excellent noise cancellation. Good sized cans that keep out outside noise passively. What's wrong here then? $300 feels like too much. Though it does "feel" well made & designed. (it ought to, being v2) Flimsy cord, though. I am not sure that the Bose set I have is broken in properly, so this review may change a bit.
Koss earbud: Cheap, crappy, modifiable. Haven't done so yet. These things actually sound WORSE amped. However they might provide the holy grail of isolation for the cheapskate once modified & used in addition to noise-cancelling cans. I was amazed at the level of isolation by combining those 2; yeah, the sound wasn't the best, but I couldn't hear a bit of another stereo blaring in front of me. Probably an etymotic would be preferrable. Chu Moy reports good sound quality after modification, though.
Specific notes:
Simon & Garfunkel, (Live NYC 1967) - Homeward Bound
Beyerdynamic - reference
Bose - Almost feels like it is missing mids here. Voices feel lifeless to me. Recording hiss is noticeably absent. Feels like overtones of the harmony are gone.
Sennheiser - Recording hiss missing. Voices blend nicely, though. Overall a bit tinny.
Del Castillo, (Vida) - Suenos Madrigales
Beyerdynamic - reference
Sennheiser - The clicking (unsure of the instrument) in the beginning is surreal, and definitely has "air", giving a surreal sense of space.
Bose - Not as much of a sense of space with the clicking instrument.
Del Castillo, (Vida) - Mi Gitana
Beyerdynamic - reference
Bose - I actually hear what I think is interference or noise as a result of the noise cancellation with the initial clapping. It is minor, and a bit hard to notice unless you know what you're listening for. Other than that, there is actually a very accurate start on this song, but maybe I'm being fooled by high freq noise. Overall less muddled than the beyers.
Sennheiser - Really shine here. Pleasant, crisp.
End notes:
Headphones seem to all have different characteristics, and without doing a-b comparisons it is difficult to sense them. You'll probably grow to like whatever you buy. For example, I found the Sennheisers brought new life to some of my music because of the way they render them (Copland conducts Copland; Appalachian Spring Overture, Fanfare for the Common Man).
Sennheiser:
Pros: Cheap, foldable into very small space, gets rid of most rumble, crisp, bright. Seem to be missing some high freqs, though; possibly caused by noise cancellation.
Cons: They don't isolate well enough (totally-- I'm neurotic); They lack low-freq extension that I like.
Verdict: I'd rather carry larger cans than give up bass. I'm sending them back. If space is a premium, though, these may be for you.
Bose:
Pros: Classy presentation out of the box. Excellent isolation & noise cancellation. 60 day return guarantee if purchased through Sharper Image. They fold up reasonably tightly.
Cons: Expensive. $300 feels like too much for these. Bass seems overemphasized; highs seem underemphasized. Crisp, but not audiophile-crisp. They beat my beyerdynamics in crispness, but they seem to miss nuances of harmony and overtone.
Verdict: Jury is out. They're ok, but I have to see if they break in & perform better. I may buy some cheap noise cancellation cans & use some modified Koss plugs with them as an alternative. Currently I just don't think they're $300 good.
Desire: Find best noise cancelling / stopping phones for air travel without breaking the bank, providing the best sound quality with TOTAL isolation.
Comparing: Bose QC2, Sennheiser PXC-250, (reference) Beyerdynamic DT770, Koss "the plug" $18 mod-able earbuds. Amped with a Total Bithead, playing full CD-quality.
Overall:
(Reference) Beyerdynamic: My first high-end purchase, probably a mistake, but a sturdy performer nonetheless. Lacks high freq extension that I love. Warm, gentler/less accurate sound overall (but still very good). Somewhat muddled in the middle.
Sennheiser: I love the "accuracy" and "air" of the Sennheiser. If they were in bigger cans, this problem would be solved. However, too much ambient noise creeps in. I almost can't consider this an acceptable solution, even though they're nice and compact and do about 70% of the job. I feel like they suffer, also, because the driver size isn't big enough to produce low extension to compare to other cans.
Bose QC2: Reminds me of the reference in terms of sound quality, but not quite as good. Bass is too boomy, high freq extension doesn't go high enough for my taste. Prefer more accuracy, but surprisingly this isn't bad. Excellent noise cancellation. Good sized cans that keep out outside noise passively. What's wrong here then? $300 feels like too much. Though it does "feel" well made & designed. (it ought to, being v2) Flimsy cord, though. I am not sure that the Bose set I have is broken in properly, so this review may change a bit.
Koss earbud: Cheap, crappy, modifiable. Haven't done so yet. These things actually sound WORSE amped. However they might provide the holy grail of isolation for the cheapskate once modified & used in addition to noise-cancelling cans. I was amazed at the level of isolation by combining those 2; yeah, the sound wasn't the best, but I couldn't hear a bit of another stereo blaring in front of me. Probably an etymotic would be preferrable. Chu Moy reports good sound quality after modification, though.
Specific notes:
Simon & Garfunkel, (Live NYC 1967) - Homeward Bound
Beyerdynamic - reference
Bose - Almost feels like it is missing mids here. Voices feel lifeless to me. Recording hiss is noticeably absent. Feels like overtones of the harmony are gone.
Sennheiser - Recording hiss missing. Voices blend nicely, though. Overall a bit tinny.
Del Castillo, (Vida) - Suenos Madrigales
Beyerdynamic - reference
Sennheiser - The clicking (unsure of the instrument) in the beginning is surreal, and definitely has "air", giving a surreal sense of space.
Bose - Not as much of a sense of space with the clicking instrument.
Del Castillo, (Vida) - Mi Gitana
Beyerdynamic - reference
Bose - I actually hear what I think is interference or noise as a result of the noise cancellation with the initial clapping. It is minor, and a bit hard to notice unless you know what you're listening for. Other than that, there is actually a very accurate start on this song, but maybe I'm being fooled by high freq noise. Overall less muddled than the beyers.
Sennheiser - Really shine here. Pleasant, crisp.
End notes:
Headphones seem to all have different characteristics, and without doing a-b comparisons it is difficult to sense them. You'll probably grow to like whatever you buy. For example, I found the Sennheisers brought new life to some of my music because of the way they render them (Copland conducts Copland; Appalachian Spring Overture, Fanfare for the Common Man).
Sennheiser:
Pros: Cheap, foldable into very small space, gets rid of most rumble, crisp, bright. Seem to be missing some high freqs, though; possibly caused by noise cancellation.
Cons: They don't isolate well enough (totally-- I'm neurotic); They lack low-freq extension that I like.
Verdict: I'd rather carry larger cans than give up bass. I'm sending them back. If space is a premium, though, these may be for you.
Bose:
Pros: Classy presentation out of the box. Excellent isolation & noise cancellation. 60 day return guarantee if purchased through Sharper Image. They fold up reasonably tightly.
Cons: Expensive. $300 feels like too much for these. Bass seems overemphasized; highs seem underemphasized. Crisp, but not audiophile-crisp. They beat my beyerdynamics in crispness, but they seem to miss nuances of harmony and overtone.
Verdict: Jury is out. They're ok, but I have to see if they break in & perform better. I may buy some cheap noise cancellation cans & use some modified Koss plugs with them as an alternative. Currently I just don't think they're $300 good.
