Most comfortable noise-cancelling headphones [<~$2,000 USD]
Mar 19, 2010 at 11:18 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14

dress

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I own a pair of AKG K601s and they sound great with my receiver. But there are times when just need to shut out the world, and sometimes I even want to listen to music (and other times just nothing).

I did some research, but I created this thread just in case I might have been looking up some obsolete information or there are some updates or new products arriving in the near future that I might want to save my money for to buy it then.

I'd like to shoot as low as I can go, but about ~$2,000 USD is my limit. Technically I could go higher, but 2000 is just a comfortable figure I made up on the spot for my range.

Sound quality is not too much of an importance, but I figure most cans at this price should come with some decent sound by default.

Anyway, the most prominent feature I am looking for is comfort and silence. I want to be able to wear these for hours on end without even knowing they are there, and I don't want to hear the train outside while I'm blanking out the rest of the world (I would like to wear these headphones sometimes without even plugging them into anything just to shut out sound, like if I'm studying or something). I love my AKGs, but unfortunately after wearing them for about an hour or less the area around my ears begin to ache horribly and causes me a lot of discomfort after extended period of consecutive use. I don't want to make the same mistake again.
 
Mar 19, 2010 at 11:25 PM Post #2 of 14
Just get a cusom-molded IEM. Noise-cancelling headphones can't be that great by definition and if you're ok with spending that much, you will get better isolation, much better quality, and similar or better comfort with a custom IEM.

Search around for info the JH Audio JH13, that's probably what you need.
 
Mar 19, 2010 at 11:39 PM Post #4 of 14
Custom IEM's, my recommendation would be the EarSonics EM3pro over the JH13, but now you have the JH16 and UE18... I doubt their better.

If you dont want IEM's then your only choice would be the Ultrasone Edition 8's.

good luck,
 
Mar 19, 2010 at 11:48 PM Post #5 of 14
Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
$2000 and you only care about isolation?????


Comfort is extremely important to me. I can't be wearing headphones/earphones for several hours and end up with an earache afterwards. For some reason I see a trend that these things get exponentially more expensive as they get more comfortable and introduce more isolation little by little. (Same with sound quality but that's not the prime scope of this thread).

I'm emphasizing comfort because many, many people suggested the AKG K 601s to me before I bought it because I was asking around about what the most comfortable pair of cans were, and this was a popular choice regarding comfort. I took their word and ordered one, but I realized it was not comfortable at all and felt like it was squeezing my head together and it really hurts around the area around my ears.
 
Mar 19, 2010 at 11:56 PM Post #6 of 14
Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Just get a cusom-molded IEM. Noise-cancelling headphones can't be that great by definition and if you're ok with spending that much, you will get better isolation, much better quality, and similar or better comfort with a custom IEM.

Search around for info the JH Audio JH13, that's probably what you need.



Seconded for custom molded ones. If you listen to folks that have them, you'll see some very happy people.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 12:04 AM Post #7 of 14
Not sure where you got the idea that more expensive headphones isolate more. If you're looking for isolation I'd also recommend a pair of nice custom IEMs.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 12:12 AM Post #8 of 14
Even if they are custom-molded, would earphones sitting inside your ear for a prolonged period of time not cause any more discomfort than comfortable headphones? Do IEMs get hot too (like the DH2000s)?
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 2:37 AM Post #9 of 14
IEMs do not get hot. Non-custom IEMs can be uncomfortable if they don't fit your ear right but custom ones are generally fine.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 2:47 AM Post #10 of 14
Quote:

Originally Posted by dress /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Even if they are custom-molded, would earphones sitting inside your ear for a prolonged period of time not cause any more discomfort than comfortable headphones? Do IEMs get hot too (like the DH2000s)?


If the mold fit correctly, I can have them in for hours. And they don't hurt at all when I take them out. They also just sound better then their universal IEM counterparts.
Isolation is superb, I have yet to even find ANC or close ear head phone that even competes with this.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 4:04 AM Post #11 of 14
With a budget like that and the requirement for isolation, I'd go for the JH16 Pro if I were in your shoes.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 4:13 AM Post #12 of 14
Quote:

Originally Posted by midoo1990 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
$2000 and you only care about isolation?????


x2...

Or get some Shures (with olive foam?) which should be offer more isolation as reported by some here.
 
Mar 20, 2010 at 6:23 AM Post #14 of 14
go for silicon one if you want extreme comfort.
Though it would be harder to insert than acrylic.
 

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