[sumitagarwal]

Hey guys, at my current job I work in a relatively noisy environment and also frequently need to take client calls. I need great headphones with good isolation for buckling down and focusing on work, but also an excellent microphone for calls (its critical that this is good quality as I'm regularly on calls with executive management at Fortune 1000 firms).
 
I've tried a few stereo bluetooth options and have generally been very disappointed and found the devices to also be inconsistent. It seems one limitation is the bluetooth protocol itself, which does not handle high-quality outbound audio plus inbound microphone simultaneously.
 
Anyways, I'm thinking my best bet is the V-moda BoomPro 3.5mm cable with in-line boom mic. Apparently it works very well.
 
Now the question is: what headphones are great and work well with them?
 
One option seems to be the Sony MDR-1A, although if I can get something similarly good for cheaper that would be best (don't want to raise eyebrows with my expense reports).
 
For reference on my tastes I listen to: Shure SRH-840 for closed, Alessandro MS-1i for open, UE Triple.Fi 10 for in-ear.
 
Ideally I'd use a 2.5mm --> 3.5mm adaptor to use the mic with my Shure's but it doesn't seem like there are any good rigid+small adaptors for that, and I don't have the available time to modify the headphones myself.
 
Any thoughts highly appreciated...

 

[sumitagarwal]

Wish there was an easy cheatsheet of headphone cable sizes...
 
Anyways, looks like there's also the older MDR-1R and Audio Technica ATH-MSR7?
 
Its really annoying that I have to resort to doing Google Image searches on the cables for different headphones to visually compare the sizes of the two ends...

 

[turkeylord]

I'm going to bump this one. I have the same need.
 
Ideally, I'd love to have a nice USB DAC to go with it that has an iPhone style TRRS headphone jack capable of handling mic and remote inputs. I don't think one exists unfortunately.

 

[turkeylord]

FWIW to future searchers...
 
I wound up going with the Behringer Xenyx 302USB & V-moda BoomPro. Actually using in combination with my FiiO E10K as my softphone output device so I can set it's volume independent of other computer sounds. E10K feeds the 2-track input on the mixer.
 
Zero delay (analog loop) sidetone (aka mic monitoring) and good sound quality. Only real complaint compared to my old USB headset is that the mic is live even when I'm not in a call. So I kill it's gain to avoid hearing office noise, and have to crank it up to take a call. Would be nice if the BoomPro was a little better at rejecting ambient noise as well.
 
Bonus feature - using the main mix to feed my desktop speakers and can go PA mode if I need to speak to the whole office