waifnstray
New Head-Fier
Hi everyone,
I'm composing/producing music on a Dell XPS with an RME Babyface. I do this at home, on the train, and in hotels.
At home I have iLoud MTM desk speakers. But I need to choose headphones for the train and hotel. I will leave dedicated mixing tasks for home, but want the headphones to give as accurate a representation of the mix as possible, for composition tasks.
The key requirement for the train is good ANC. It's not just the background noise of the train that I have to deal with: the incessant announcements (listing every station on the route, at every station) are driving me crazy. I've read that the best ANC comes from Bose QuietComfort Ultra - but these are wireless only, so I would need to get a little Bluetooth transmitter plugged into my Babyface. I can't bypass the Babyface without getting jittery playback. If I wanted wired ANC, it seems the options are severely limited these days. (I used to have a pair of Sennheiser PXC 350, but they died)
The Mark Levinson 5909s almost tick the box but only if you use the digital USB connection; I would be using the analogue connection into one of the Babyface headphone ports, and according to the 5909 manual: "The № 5909 can be connected passively to any product that has an analog 3.5mm or 6.3mm (1/4") audio connection using the included 1.25m or 4m to USB-C proprietary audio cables included. NOTE: When connecting passively, none of the electronic or app functions are operational." - which I take to mean that wired implies passive, and passive implies no ANC.
The T+A Solitaire T seem to offer ANC over analogue wired, from my reading of the manual, and an email from their support team confirms this: "If you operate the headphones in passive mode, i.e. the headphones are switched off, ANC mode is also deactivated. However, you can also connect the headphones to a source device / headphone amplifier by cable in active mode. ANC is also active in active mode. In active mode, it must then be ensured that Bluetooth is deactivated." However, reviews suggest the ANC is not in the same league as Bose. (The Solitaire manual claims that "The headphones’ passive damping completely eliminates unwanted noise in the mid / high-frequency range without any electronic intervention", which sounds promising for dealing with the announcements, at least).
I'm prepared to consider different headphones for train and hotel - but obviously it would be more convenient if I didn't have to.
So far it seems my options are:
1) T+A Solitaire T, or
2) Bose QuietComfort Ultra PLUS Bluetooth transmitter PLUS a decent set of passive headphones for the hotel
I'm leaning towards the Solitaire T but I don't want to find myself regretting not going for better ANC. However I am sure on the Bose over Bluetooth, the sound quality will suffer in comparison.
The music styles vary. Current piece is a traditional blues remix with a dash of reggae thrown in. Other works have a Tom Waits feel, some classical sections, some EDM.
Any advice greatly appreciated. Are there other options I haven't identified?
Thank you!
I'm composing/producing music on a Dell XPS with an RME Babyface. I do this at home, on the train, and in hotels.
At home I have iLoud MTM desk speakers. But I need to choose headphones for the train and hotel. I will leave dedicated mixing tasks for home, but want the headphones to give as accurate a representation of the mix as possible, for composition tasks.
The key requirement for the train is good ANC. It's not just the background noise of the train that I have to deal with: the incessant announcements (listing every station on the route, at every station) are driving me crazy. I've read that the best ANC comes from Bose QuietComfort Ultra - but these are wireless only, so I would need to get a little Bluetooth transmitter plugged into my Babyface. I can't bypass the Babyface without getting jittery playback. If I wanted wired ANC, it seems the options are severely limited these days. (I used to have a pair of Sennheiser PXC 350, but they died)
The Mark Levinson 5909s almost tick the box but only if you use the digital USB connection; I would be using the analogue connection into one of the Babyface headphone ports, and according to the 5909 manual: "The № 5909 can be connected passively to any product that has an analog 3.5mm or 6.3mm (1/4") audio connection using the included 1.25m or 4m to USB-C proprietary audio cables included. NOTE: When connecting passively, none of the electronic or app functions are operational." - which I take to mean that wired implies passive, and passive implies no ANC.
The T+A Solitaire T seem to offer ANC over analogue wired, from my reading of the manual, and an email from their support team confirms this: "If you operate the headphones in passive mode, i.e. the headphones are switched off, ANC mode is also deactivated. However, you can also connect the headphones to a source device / headphone amplifier by cable in active mode. ANC is also active in active mode. In active mode, it must then be ensured that Bluetooth is deactivated." However, reviews suggest the ANC is not in the same league as Bose. (The Solitaire manual claims that "The headphones’ passive damping completely eliminates unwanted noise in the mid / high-frequency range without any electronic intervention", which sounds promising for dealing with the announcements, at least).
I'm prepared to consider different headphones for train and hotel - but obviously it would be more convenient if I didn't have to.
So far it seems my options are:
1) T+A Solitaire T, or
2) Bose QuietComfort Ultra PLUS Bluetooth transmitter PLUS a decent set of passive headphones for the hotel
I'm leaning towards the Solitaire T but I don't want to find myself regretting not going for better ANC. However I am sure on the Bose over Bluetooth, the sound quality will suffer in comparison.
The music styles vary. Current piece is a traditional blues remix with a dash of reggae thrown in. Other works have a Tom Waits feel, some classical sections, some EDM.
Any advice greatly appreciated. Are there other options I haven't identified?
Thank you!