[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhd812 oK i WILL ADMIT i HAD A SET OF THESE FOR A WEEK ONLY THEN RETURNED THEM..so they werent burned in...still I cant see them getting much better though, I believe in burn-in but we need a miracal on these.. lol they have to be closed huh?

LOL, you sound like me with the HD595's. Sometimes you just aren't going to like a set of headphones. It happens. If headphones were all ment to sound the same, they'd all sound like dt531's.... or Sensas.

 

[Nightrain]

Alright I am thinking about possibly getting the A900, but I want to make sure the noise canceling is good. I have a loud computer plus a TV in the room that at times is loud, plus all the people going in and out of the house. So anyone that has experiance with them can the A900 do this? Also yes these will be my "at home" headphones.

If noise wasn't a problem I would just get a kick ass 5.1 system with a better sound card. This is why I am looking into headphones.

Also thanks to anyone that helps!

 

[HiroshimaJoe]

I can't help you directly with the A900, since I haven't tried them, but I use the family computer which is in my brothers room, and he regularly watches TV while I sit at the computer, and even using open Sennheiser headphones HD 433 or my Audio Technica FC7 (closed) it shuts out most noise when I listen to music or play games, so I can only imagine that the A900 which are closed and cover your entire ear will provide enough noice cancelling

 

[bassd00d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightrain Alright I am thinking about possibly getting the A900, but I want to make sure the noise canceling is good. I have a loud computer plus a TV in the room that at times is loud, plus all the people going in and out of the house. So anyone that has experiance with them can the A900 do this? Also yes these will be my "at home" headphones. If noise wasn't a problem I would just get a kick ass 5.1 system with a better sound card. This is why I am looking into headphones. Also thanks to anyone that helps!

I had the A900 for a week...had to return them, but I'm getting replacements, which should arrive later this week or early next week. I could give an accurate impression of how well they do with noise then....but from what I remember, they blocked out sound fairly well, but I could still hear outside noise. Depends on how loud the music is.

I think that the Sennheiser HD25 blocks out noise better. I have a pretty loud computer case myself (4 case fans, cpu fan, video card fan, 2 power supply fans), plus the tv is on fairly loud at times...but the noise doesn't bother me with when I'm using the HD25. Blocks it out pretty well, but you'll still hear noise if the music is playing softly.

Can't remember how the A900 did with that much noise, but I'll find out soon enough.

 

[commando]

A900s will give you as much isolation as any closed headphone. It'll probably be less than the Bose ones, especially with the active noise cancellation. If you really want quiet, keep the QC2's. If you want reasonable isolation and good sound, get the A900s.

bhd812, the Senn 280s take 300-500 hours to sound their best. They're a good entry level audiophile headphone, they have their problems, but IMHO they're better than you have said.

 

[Snoodge]

I think my 280pro's sound better than pretty much everything ive listened to as far as accuracy goes, and thats what I like. I have about 150 hours on them, 100 of which were overnight heavy burn in bassy stuff @ high volumes.

I think its the best $80 ive spent.

 

[malefactor]

Currently pouring over the same dilemna as this fellow.

A900? What make/model are you folks referring to?

I picked up some refurb Sennheiser PXC-250, and it is certainly better than I expected sound-quality-wise (and hence, I understand why people recommend it), but the can size concerned me -- I'm not convinced it's going to block, passively, all the noise that the bose qc2 will.

I took my beyerdynamic sealed cans on an international trip thinking that I was soooo smart, and infact the Bose qc(1 or 2, unsure) provided by the airline were much more preferrable; sound quality be damned, the hideous rumble was GONE! I only tried the Bose because I didnt have a headphone amp, and the beyers impedance was too high... and I only tried it with a massive chip on my shoulder.

It pains me to admit it, but the Bose seemed to be a very carefully designed, good niche product. I can't help but think that it's more style than substance, though. I went to sharper image to audition them (lol.. never thought id say that), and the employees told me that they dont have them in-store because Bose DOES NOT PERMIT IT IN ANY STORE .. which makes me strongly think they've got something to hide.

This having been said, with coupons this will end up being $300 from sharperimage.com, and a 60 day return policy. It's too much money, but I think I'm willing to give it a shot to compare to the sennheiser. I honestly think it will reduce noise better. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

My biggest lament is that I would really like to know if etymotics do the job as well or better. They're clearly a different product, though. I consider the Bose because I also work around loud computers with lots of fans, and it is very inconvenient to remove & insert canalplugs 40 times a day.

Advice would be very welcomed. I'll report findings.

 

[Flasken]

malefactor,

my experience has been that passive isolation blocks high freq noise while active blocks low freq. Hence, passive will probably be better for blocking out computer noise than for blocking the rumble of an airplane.

 

[devwild]

The ATH-A900 is made by Audio Technica, and only available in the states through audiocubes.com as it's an import. But many, many people on these boards have bought them from there.

The QC2 is very possibly the best on the market for noise cancelation, so if you want something for flying and can't stand the noise, that's a good option. Me, I flew this year with my HD280s, sitting right next to the rear side jets, and I was perfectly happy with the result. Especially when the 280's were only $75.

For standard computer noise, any closed can will probably do the job just fine if you are capabable of even remotely ignoring the little noise that might be left. For TV and people noise, active cancelation can hurt more than help, though I don't know how the QC2's are in that respect. Active cancelation involves outputting noise to cancel noise, which means a slight delay due to processing. For constant noises this works well, but when someone is talking or the like it can introduce added distortion from the cancellation process.

To the original poster I agree with two sentiments: If you like them, enjoy them, and for goodness sakes, avoid this thread.

Otherwise, get a normal closed pair of anything that sounds good to you for home, and something else portable for the bus and such.

And get some switches to mount on the front of your case for those fans. If you watch your temps closely and you aren't doing bad, you might grab a Zalman throttle for the CPU fan too. You don't need them except when your gaming (and you probably don't even need all of them then), and when you're doing that you're too involved to care about a little noise. At least when you put everything on switches, you only have to have the hurricane blowing when you are showing off.

If all your noisiest fans are on components (video card, cpu, power supply), you may be happier overall investing in quieter soulutions for each of those (heat-pipe vid heatsync, quiet running power supply, quieter/larger cpu fan or even fanless cpu heatsync...) because that will improve your working environment overall, and done well, won't affect your performance.

Have fun with whatever you do.

dev*

 

[Nightrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild The ATH-A900 is made by Audio Technica, and only available in the states through audiocubes.com as it's an import. But many, many people on these boards have bought them from there. The QC2 is very possibly the best on the market for noise cancelation, so if you want something for flying and can't stand the noise, that's a good option. Me, I flew this year with my HD280s, sitting right next to the rear side jets, and I was perfectly happy with the result. Especially when the 280's were only $75. For standard computer noise, any closed can will probably do the job just fine if you are capabable of even remotely ignoring the little noise that might be left. For TV and people noise, active cancelation can hurt more than help, though I don't know how the QC2's are in that respect. Active cancelation involves outputting noise to cancel noise, which means a slight delay due to processing. For constant noises this works well, but when someone is talking or the like it can introduce added distortion from the cancellation process. To the original poster I agree with two sentiments: If you like them, enjoy them, and for goodness sakes, avoid this thread. Otherwise, get a normal closed pair of anything that sounds good to you for home, and something else portable for the bus and such. And get some switches to mount on the front of your case for those fans. If you watch your temps closely and you aren't doing bad, you might grab a Zalman throttle for the CPU fan too. You don't need them except when your gaming (and you probably don't even need all of them then), and when you're doing that you're too involved to care about a little noise. At least when you put everything on switches, you only have to have the hurricane blowing when you are showing off. If all your noisiest fans are on components (video card, cpu, power supply), you may be happier overall investing in quieter soulutions for each of those (heat-pipe vid heatsync, quiet running power supply, quieter/larger cpu fan or even fanless cpu heatsync...) because that will improve your working environment overall, and done well, won't affect your performance. Have fun with whatever you do. dev*

Thanks for the long post. My family room (where my computer is located) hasn't been to busy but once Christmas comes around, it will get it. Bose has a 30 day trial, and if when the cancelation for TV, and people isn't what I expect it to be, I will return them and probably go with the A900's. As long as the A900's are good with most types of music, and provide the bang for gaming I will be more then happy. Thanks for all of your help.