[Romanamon]

So here I am, a long time reader, first time poster here on HeadFi,
 
My Sennheiser HD595s have served me well for a long time, but since moving into halls of residence at college, I am forever being bombarded by drunken outbursts of singing and fighting which seem to penetrate my walls. In fact, I reckon these walls must be acoustically transparent, the noises are so loud. So, I need a good pair of closed/semi-closed back headphones. My budget is about £200/$300, and I've started to listen to metal more often (Cancer Bats), and some Punk-pop (I love Linkin Park's new album) for good measure.
 
Don't hate on my new music tastes, they are merely a reaction to the synth-pop Radio 1 garbage which everyone in my halls plays (at full volume, with the bass turned up on their crappy overblown subs).
 
In terms of headphones, I have been thinking about Beyerdynamics, possibly the DT 880s 250 Ohms, because I like the idea of semi-closed (so that I can just about hear outside if someone knocks on my door etc). Also, I have a Pro-ject Head Box II, and a DacMagic, so it's just the headphones that need changing.
 
Thanks guys

 

[Romanamon]

A shameless bump. I'd love to hear your ideas about this 

 

[Yoga Flame]

While the DT880 is technically semi-closed, I do not find them to be much different in noise isolation than a completely open headphone like the HD650. It may attenuate external sounds a bit more, but not to any level I can detect casually. I just consider the DT880 as open.
 
Perhaps a DT770 instead? You won't have to turn up the volume as much since they isolate quite well. So hopefully a door knock won't go unnoticed. Still, it's going to be tough to strike a balance between hearing door knocks and yet blocking out drunken outbursts outside your room.

 

[Elanzer]

Yeah, the DT880 is still very leaky in sound and will just let everything in. DT770 would be the way to go.

 

[sumathias]

I concur. The DT880s are simply too open to have any use in a noisy setting. The DT770s will be a vastly better choice.
 
Do check out the ath m50s and perhaps some sony mdr's and the akg k240s as well.

 

[yifu]

Quote:

I concur. The DT880s are simply too open to have any use in a noisy setting. The DT770s will be a vastly better choice.
 
Do check out the ath m50s and perhaps some sony mdr's and the akg k240s as well.

Dont go for the m50s (im a M50 owner and i can say they do isolate sound but not very well). Headphones are generally not very good at isolation, why not go for some IEMs? Or if you really wanted headphones, you could try a fostex headphone, i find that the leather pads isolate pretty well, at least when i tried them.

 

[jp_zer0]

DT770 are very good if you wanna bash some heads in.
 
Nothing beats the Ultrasone Edition 8's concussion-inducing properties but it might be a bit expensive for that purpose.

 

[shaggy]

How about the Ultrasone Pro 750? Sounds damm fine with Linkin Park to me.

 

[Romanamon]

Wow what a fantastic response, thanks guys!
@Yoga Flame I had no idea they'd let in so much sound. Thanks for heads up!
@Elanzer and @sumathias seem to agree as well, so I'm warming to the idea of the DT 770s.
 
@yifu The way I'll be using these headphones is that I am forever taking them on and off, and I find putting on iems comfortably takes me a while Plus, I just love the comfort of a circumaural design.
 
@jp_zer0 I wish I could afford them mate
 
@shaggy I'm not too familiar with the brand but they are certainly a possibility.
 
Well at the moment, I'm starting to lean towards the DT 770s, but I'll keep all of your suggestions in mind (m50s, sony mdrs, k240s, fostex and Ultrasone Pro 750). I also forgot to ask if the Denon D2000 would be a decent choice?

 

[jetblk328i]

I would not go m50. sound isolation is poor at best

 

[earerror]

The Sennheiser HD280's are headphones with good isolation for the price. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The HD280s isolate so well because they crush your skull with the clamp of doom.
 
I never tried a headphone that clamped as hard as the 280s. They scare me.

 

[misformatt]

The Denon AH-D2000s offered surprisingly little noise attenuation when I had them.  They do offer it to some degree, but nothing drastic.  I find that my Ultrasone Pro 900s have a much higher degree of passive noise cancellation.  That said, I got mine for $320 new on ebay, which would already be stretching your budget.  The Pro 750, which are in your price range, are said to be very similar and would probably offer equal performance on the noise attenuation front.  They also have quite a bass kick if that's your thing.

 

[earerror]

Quote:

The HD280s isolate so well because they crush your skull with the clamp of doom.
 
I never tried a headphone that clamped as hard as the 280s. They scare me.

lol.
Probably not the most comfortable thing on the world, but i found them to be fine on isolation. 
Just stretch them a bit each time you put them on. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Nah, I borrowed them briefly. They sounded good, but I couldn't get past the pain of wearing them. XD
 
I'm sure stretching them out would help tremendously. They did isolate the best out of any headphone I have ever tried. The HAS700 also isolates extremely well.