Nice thread!
I am still undecided as to what to do.
I have a range of up to about £350 and I need the following to be fufilled:
-Good for hip-hop 97% of what I listen to
-Good iPhone controls (forwards/backwards, pause, answer calls. Siri integration will be a major plus)
-Microphone has to be A+, or as close as possible (I have big shoulders and they get tired holding a phone for too long)
Other benficial features I would like, are as sturdy as possible (metal), plain black/design.
It maybe a lot, and maybe even worthwhile going wired again, but really didn't want to. I love being wireless in the gym.
I have been looking at the Sony 1BT and 10BT, but many have said they're almost baseless. The others I have been looking at are the Bose SoundLink On Ears: http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-and-personal-audio/headphones-and-headsets/wireless-headphones/soundlink-oe-headphones/
They pretty much hit the spot from what I can see, except for being good for hip-hop (there are no reviews yet). One of the best things I would like to try out is the caller-ID which is a common over-sight in many BT headphones.
So at the minute I think the Bose are on my hitlist, second the Sony 1BT. But there doesn't seem to be much choice. Maybe I should go wireless IEMs?
Since you're using an iPhone (in my opinion) your options increase greatly because you don't have to worry about the wireless headset supporting AptX (headsets of which are far and few between, plus at an increased cost generally, although AptX is becoming more common). iPhone's A2DP Bluetooth profile supports only the default SBC codec and AAC, which are fairly close performers compared to the much higher quality AptX codec.
More importantly, you said hip-hop, which can decisively help point you in the right direction; basshead cans! The only problem is that they tend to sacrifice sound quality in general. It's tough to find a good wireless headset package, but even more so when you're looking for a specific type of sound.
To start off, I'll just say consider the $199
Sony MDR-XB950BT/B (USA link), called "Extra Bass Bluetooth Headset". They have everything you want at half your budget. The only thing that could be potentially added is noise cancelling. We don't have much information on them because they
just released less than a week ago, so you might want to hold off for reviews.
Also, the $399 Logitech UE 9000's are a phenomenal headset. They've got loads of bass and impressive sound quality. They're passively sealed, on-ear, rechargeable, noise cancelling, with a metal band and accents. A little heavy but the build quality and audio quality are there. Tyll over at Inner Fidelity (a highly regarded reviewer here on Head-Fi) published an
article giving them great review (click here). See a quote from the review below:
[With active noise cancelling enabled] the bass is markedly more present in the mix, and markedly more loose and bloated. Additionally, the mid-range is somewhat more recessed, highlighting the presence range which remains at previous levels, making for a "harder" sounding presentation. There's now a more "U" shaped frequency response, rather than the nicely coherent and balanced response of passive mode. However, while it doesn't necessarily make the audiophile in me happy, and I think the EQ changes are a step too far, I also think they may actually improve the listening experience for movies and video on portable devices with a bit more oomph and intelligibility in loud environments.
[...]
[UE 9000]'s Bluetooth performance, however, was the best I've heard to date, so it's going up on the Wall of Fame as a stand-out performer for those who want freedom from the wire, and a dandy headset for your calls.
It's hard to gauge the sound quality of Bose because they do make a lot of duds, but they also hit the mark amazingly hard with some of their specialized products. Two of which come to mind are the popular noise cancelling QC25 (best in class for NC, but mediocre SQ, just pretend you're paying for the NC lol) and the absolutely stellar little SoundLink Mini BT speakers which are incredible performers for their price and especially their size.
I only bring this up because you mentioned them, but your budget takes the Sony MDR-10BT off the list, since the Sony MDR-1RBT is a large upgrade. Nonetheless, the MDR-1RBT are not the best choice for thumping hip-hop. Don't get me wrong, they have very-very impressive sound quality courtesy of their 40mm High Res Audio driver (I'm talking about the follow-up 1RBT MK2 specifically, but the original is great, too). However, you will come up short on bass. The 1RBT are more audiophile-like than basshead-like. There is a great
Gizmodo AU review (click here) if you're interested. The reviewer says "
The general tone of these headphones is that they are balanced enough to not favour any one note too much", in other words specifically for you, don't look here for bass.
