Looking for an affordable closed (semi-) portable headphone with good isolation

[GamerGuppy]

I'm a very satisfied owner of a HD650 for at home listening which I received from my father who is an audiophile.
I do travel a lot for my study (about 3 hours a day) and spend a lot of time in the university library. The open HD 650 is
obviously unsuitable to use in these situations (sound leakage in and out). Some time ago I had a chance of picking up some cheap noise cancelling headphones of "Digital Silence".
Eventhough the sound quality was garbage compared to the HD 650, I used them for more than 4 months just because they allowed me to listen to music in the train
without a too high volume. I also bought a HA S500 for listening in the library and love the sound but has too little isolation for the train rides (even ocassionaly for the library).

I was hoping you guys could suggest a headphone that could be used for my train rides and studying. I do not care too much about it's design as long as I don't look completely like mickey mouse. A smaller sized phone is a pre but not a requirement since I've got a pretty large bag with me and will be wearing these during transport most of the time. It must be robust though. What I find more annoying than the size of the cans is the length of the cable. Otherwise my choice would probably be the DT 770 but even the 32 ohm has a 2m cable whereas it's meant for portable audio sources 

.

Recap of main requirements (chronological)
- NO AMPLIFIER
- Isolation
- Good sound quality; Precise. I do like a warm sound signature for vocals.
- Robust
- Affordable

Headphones I've come accross that might be suitable (with pro's and con's I read about them)

Philips Citiscape Uptown (50 euro here = approx 68 dollar)
Pros: Good isolation, very affordable, nice design, shorter cable.
Cons: Music quality is not spectacular. They seem very large.

ATH M50 (139 euro here = approx 200 dollars)
Pros: Decent isolation, coiled cable.
Cons: Music quality is comparable to HA S500 which I already own. it's relatively expensive where I live (overhyped?)

Beyerdynamics DT770 pro 80 ohm (139 euro here, approx 200 dollars)
Pros: Very good isolation, robust, very good sound quality, price is okay. comfortable
Cons: Long cable, might need amp?

Sennheiser HD-1 II (179 euro here = approx 242 dollars)
Pros: Sound quality, portable and robust
Cons: Getting pricy from here for a poor student 

 
Sennheiser HD 380 pro (94 euro here, approx 130 dollars)
Pros: Great isolation, #1 at headfi at noice cancelling (albeit passive)
Cons: Bit industrial design, might need amp? Some other sites claim recessed mids and highs.
 
Your thoughts and suggestions are highly appreciated!

 

[epicFAIL]

  ATH M50 (139 euro here = approx 200 dollars)
Pros: Decent isolation, coiled cable.
Cons: Music quality is comparable to HA S500 which I already own. it's relatively expensive where I live (overhyped?)
 

 
yup they're expensive here as well

 
 how about some decent IEMs?

 

[GamerGuppy]

Thanks for your reply.
Hmm. IEM's, do you have any suggestion then?
Apart from some IEM's that come with a mobile phone, and those noise cancelling from Digital Silence, I've never really tried some higher-end IEM's. I wasn't particulary impressed with the noise isolation the ones I tried provided. Or did you mean custom made IEM's? Think those will be far too expensive.

 

[epicFAIL]

i'm a noob

 
but if you're referring to "earbuds", they don't have the isolation as compared to IEM's  and i'm not talking about custom ones....good characteristics is perhaps a characteristics of a good IEM.
you might try searching the forums about a few.

 

[Me x3]

Hi,
 
IEMs are the way to go if you are looking for great isolation. You should consider Yamaha EPH-100, they sound really warm but also detailed with very good separation and isolation. (Metal made and come with a soft carrying case)
 
If you don't want IEMs you should also consider Focal Spirit One and Philips Fidelio M1. Both have good isolation. I own Fidelio M1, they are definitely on the dark side and have powerful mid bass. Not my cup of tea.
 
I think EPH-100 is one of the best picks based on your requeriments. You can also read about VSonic GR07 and Rockit R50.
 
Best Luck!

 

[LimeANite]

You can also read about VSonic GR07 and Rockit R50.

Best Luck!

As someone who owns the gr07s, I can say that they don't have the best isolation. In general, you want a balanced armature IEM for isolation, not a dynamic.