[Davidium]

Hi!
 
I'll get straight to the point: do you have any recommendations for headphones for commuting for less or equal than USD $170?
 
I'm kinda tired using my Shure SE215 Special Edition for commuting. Sure, it sounds great for me, but I want a similar, if not better experience than the pair of earphones I bought nearly a year ago. I also want to use headphones nowadays, considering how cool they are. Initially, I wanted a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0's in a heartbeat but they are way over my budget!
 
This is how I think I'll be using a pair of headphones: (Keywords are underlined)
 
Commuting and isolation of sound
The title here is self-explanatory. I want to block out the sound of the noisy people during rush hours. I was greatly impressed by the noise isolation my Shure's has provided. Also, at quiet places like in the library, I do not wish to irritate the people beside me with my music, so isolation is somewhat a must for me. The reason I say this is because I don't really go there much but also use my headphones at home. It's a must, but not really a paramount feature for me. I don't mind whatever cable length, nice to have detachable cables, and important to be portable. Having said that, I feel wireless options are expensive, so no to wireless headphones.
 
Sound
I know this is subjective topic, but I would prefer a flat sound, albeit a V-shaped sound will suit me as well. If needed, I can always tweak the sound with the inbuilt EQ my Sony Xperia Z5 has. So long it does not ruin the music experience, I'm fine. If you care, I'll only be using mp3 files. Lossless files are kinda useless for me (Took me a while to be convinced, but better late than never!), and I listen to a variety of music genres like pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, electronic, and metal!
 
Type
Over ears are my type, no on-ears, definitely a no-no for open-back headphones.
 
Impedance
Well, I don't think I'll (and I hope not to) use a dac/amp combo or a amp, but when songs like the original recording of the album Thriller, it tends to be soft even at the maximum volume available. So therefore I might be inclined to buy an amp for this case. Not a must to have low impedance headphones, but so long the headphones are worth!
 
Choices and styles
As mentioned earlier, I really love the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0. It kinda passes all of my requirements with flying colours, but it's just too expensive for me! I also thought of the Audio Technica ATH-M50x, but for some reason I felt it's weird to take it outside. Same story for the Shure SRH440. But if nothing else can please me, I guess I'll stick the the M50X, given how amazing the reviews are (and yes, I did demo-ed them, sounds amazing, but that was a few months ago.)
 
I appreciate the responses in this thread. Thank you!

 

[CJG888]

HD25 (either new or used - there are plenty around!).

 

[Davidium]

Ooh, but the

70 Ω ​

worries me; I don't feel like buying an amp at the moment!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Ooh, but the

70 Ω ​

worries me; I don't feel like buying an amp at the moment!

 
At over 100dB sensitivity it's about as power hungry as an IEM. The difference will have more to do with comparative noisefloor due to less isolation than due to the driver specs.

 

[Davidium]

   
At over 100dB sensitivity it's about as power hungry as an IEM. The difference will have more to do with comparative noisefloor due to less isolation than due to the driver specs.

But will my phone be able to drive the headphones with the given specs?

 

[pbui44]

Check out NVX XPT100 (HM5 and FA-003 clone):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093PVTPS/ref=sxr_pd_sm_se1?pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2417891702&pf_rd_i=focal+spirit&pf_rd_r=VXRJ8EKB6DDWVA8P1GNZ&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&ie=UTF8&qid=1464791006&sr=1

Comfy as is with different HM5 ear pads to add more comfort (I recommend the HM5 hybrid ear pads), and has a Plain-Jane look that no one cares about.

If you want, also add a FiiO e12 portable amp:

https://www.amazon.com/E12-Blanc-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00B6QXWIY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464791337&sr=8-3&keywords=fiio+e12

It has bass-boost (6db), crossfeed, and LO-HI gain (0db and 16db, respectively), though you will need a pin to change those settings. These pair up very well with excellent synergy on HD700, so power is only a problem with power-hungry cans, like the Hifiman HE-single-or-quadruple-digit Series.

Edit: Want to future-proof your portable rig and desktop/laptop/tablet and use what over-ears you already have? Get the ALO the International+ DAC/Amp:

http://warehousedeals.aloaudio.com/the-international-optical-edition-black

You will have to add $80 to your limit, but this thing has balanced connectors, usb-in, digital-in, and everything else. This thing used to be $600-700, but they were discontinued, so cash in on the savings!

 

[Davidium]

Check out NVX XPT100 (HM5 and FA-003 clone):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0093PVTPS/ref=sxr_pd_sm_se1?pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2417891702&pf_rd_i=focal+spirit&pf_rd_r=VXRJ8EKB6DDWVA8P1GNZ&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhs-carousels&ie=UTF8&qid=1464791006&sr=1

Comfy as is with different HM5 ear pads to add more comfort (I recommend the HM5 hybrid ear pads), and has a Plain-Jane look that no one cares about.

If you want, also add a FiiO e12 portable amp:

https://www.amazon.com/E12-Blanc-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00B6QXWIY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464791337&sr=8-3&keywords=fiio+e12

It has bass-boost (6db), crossfeed, and LO-HI gain (0db and 16db, respectively), though you will need a pin to change those settings. These pair up very well with excellent synergy on HD700, so power is only a problem with power-hungry cans, like the Hifiman HE-single-or-quadruple-digit Series.

Edit: Want to future-proof your portable rig and desktop/laptop/tablet and use what over-ears you already have? Get the ALO the International+ DAC/Amp:

http://warehousedeals.aloaudio.com/the-international-optical-edition-black

You will have to add $80 to your limit, but this thing has balanced connectors, usb-in, digital-in, and everything else. This thing used to be $600-700, but they were discontinued, so cash in on the savings!

Haha, thanks for the reply,! But I'm more interested in portable audio, as I feel I stay away from my computer for the whole day! Maybe some basic stuff to recommend?
And oh, I looked into the XPT100 you recommended, but I don't think it's available for my country (I don't do online shopping at the moment), any other alternatives?

 

[Davidium]

(Couldn't wait for the mods to review my post, gonna reply directly)
I don't really feel like splurging a lot on audio equipment, just want to get the best bang for my buck! And I look into the NVX XPT100 you recommended, unfortunately I don't want to shop online and I don't think my country has these pair of headphones. any other popular recommendations? 

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davidium /img/forum/go_quote.gif

But will my phone be able to drive the headphones with the given specs?

 

How else can I phrase that? Driver specs, no problem, the sensitivity is as high as some IEMs. Your problem, again, is the lower isolation level - the IEM will not just need less power because it has higher sensitivity, but because there is a lower noise floor due to the seal. What I am saying is that I'd worry more about the noise getting past the earcups and into your ear canal since it isn't like an IEM that seals it off. You will use a higher volume setting than what your were using with the IEM. As to whether that's enough to get audible distortion is something we can't tell for sure, all I'm saying is that the lower isolation is a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger issue than it being 70ohms.

 

Now, going by your example of how a properly recorded album that is not a combatant in the Loudness Wars, like Thriller, isn't loud enough on the 215, you're in big trouble with the HD25. And practically every headphone out there barring the Beyerdynamic T70P. Even then, if an IEM that seals better and has a much higher sensitivity than the average headphone (barring Beyerdynamic's Tesla series) is too soft with Thriller, then in theory a headphone would need to have a sensitivity that is over 3dB higher than the 107dB of the Shure given the same impedance. Your safest bet here is the T70P, but even then it's not guaranteed, on top of which we're not even sure if you'll like the sound even in a quiet environment.

 

So put another way...you either put more power into practically any headphone, or you stick with IEMs. Maybe even get one with a higher sensitivity.

 

[Davidium]

 

 

How else can I phrase that? Driver specs, no problem, the sensitivity is as high as some IEMs. Your problem, again, is the lower isolation level - the IEM will not just need less power because it has higher sensitivity, but because there is a lower noise floor due to the seal. What I am saying is that I'd worry more about the noise getting past the earcups and into your ear canal since it isn't like an IEM that seals it off. You will use a higher volume setting than what your were using with the IEM. As to whether that's enough to get audible distortion is something we can't tell for sure, all I'm saying is that the lower isolation is a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay bigger issue than it being 70ohms.

 

Now, going by your example of how a properly recorded album that is not a combatant in the Loudness Wars, like Thriller, isn't loud enough on the 215, you're in big trouble with the HD25. And practically every headphone out there barring the Beyerdynamic T70P. Even then, if an IEM that seals better and has a much higher sensitivity than the average headphone (barring Beyerdynamic's Tesla series) is too soft with Thriller, then in theory a headphone would need to have a sensitivity that is over 3dB higher than the 107dB of the Shure given the same impedance. Your safest bet here is the T70P, but even then it's not guaranteed, on top of which we're not even sure if you'll like the sound even in a quiet environment.

 

So put another way...you either put more power into practically any headphone, or you stick with IEMs. Maybe even get one with a higher sensitivity.

Oh, thanks for the info!

 

[pbui44]

(Couldn't wait for the mods to review my post, gonna reply directly)
I don't really feel like splurging a lot on audio equipment, just want to get the best bang for my buck! And I look into the NVX XPT100 you recommended, unfortunately I don't want to shop online and I don't think my country has these pair of headphones. any other popular recommendations? 

What country is your residence? I can look for them on-line to see if they have any locations near you.

 

[Davidium]

What country is your residence? I can look for them on-line to see if they have any locations near you.

Singapore.

 

[kelly200269]

Sony MDR-10RBT's are good for the commute. Lightweight, easy to drive and Apt-X Bluetooth to boot.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

[pbui44]

Singapore.

Check these places out:

http://jaben.com/

http://www.stereo.com.sg/

https://www.yelp.com.sg/biz/the-adelphi-singapore?page_src=related_bizes

https://www.yelp.com.sg/biz/hung-brothers-singapore

The last link's website is ancient, so I don't know if this place is still open. Here is an ancient link asking about stores in Singapore:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/27693/headphone-stores-in-singapore