[Oopu]

Hello Head-fi!
 
Any office workers out there? I've recently moved to a pretty small office where wearing my lovely Audio Technica ATH-AD700s is no longer an option due to the noise leakage, but neither is isolating myself from the rest of the world with a set of IEMs. I was wearing some ancient Sony MDR-V6s, but what I am looking for are suggestions on closed-back (or mostly closed) headphones that can let me enjoy my music without forcing the rest of the room to do the same or to scream at me for attention.
 
Anyway, some more specifics on my own plans and preferences:

1. My favorite headphones by far are my STAX SR404s and their SRM006tII amp. Bringing that to the office however is a no-go, not the least of which because of the sound leakage
2. I overall value a wide soundstage, comfort, fast, and sometimes even warm headphones, but I'm not too particular about the latter point.
3. I do plan on getting an integrated DAC/amp soon, as using a port straight out of my PC is terrible. I don't plan on spending a grand on any such equipment anytime soon, however, and the Matrix Cube actually seems right up my alley if you want a reference.
4. The types of music I listen to are all over the place, but given the office setting I tend to listen to a lot from electronic and jazz genres, mixed with the occasional instrumental piece.

 
I've got to imagine that I'm not the only one here with this predicament, so while the above topic is a question geared toward my own circumstances, I'd be happy to see the thread open up to all office dudes.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Any closed headphone, with music playing, will likely prevent you from hearing normal speech from someone near you. So expect a lot of shoulder taps, unless you stay open-air.
 
Matrix Cube is excellent, I use one myself. It can power most headphones just fine. So anything you get will likely work. My first thought in the closed world of headphones for jazz and electronic is the Ultrasone Pro 900, followed by the Ultrasone HFI 580. Otherwise, I'd look at the DT770, HD380 Pro and SRH940. I think overall the Matrix Cube + PRO 900 would be pretty much the end of the road for you for that type of setup. I have them, so I can attest, they're just awesome to behold. But again, isolation with music playing means someone will always have to basically touch you or yell to get your attention. You can even go cheaper with the uDac2 and do fine as well (or equivalent).
 
Very best,

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

1. I overall value a wide soundstage, comfort, fast, and sometimes even warm headphones, but I'm not too particular about the latter point.

Soundstage can be a bit tricky to get from most closed headphones. First of all, I would probably avoid the portables. Some like the DT1350 in particular can sound really great, but all day comfort is a problem. I'm not sure what your max budget is, but the JVC DX1000 sounds like a prime candidate for you. They are big and comfy, and have excellent soundstaging for a closed phone. If that's a bit too much, I would say get a Denon D2000 or D5000 with the JMoney pads, and consider sending it to Lawton Audio for the mod.
 

 

[leng jai]

I've never understood how people use cans at work. Seems ridiculous to me that your co-workers can't get your attention by talking to you without eye contact.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I've never understood how people use cans at work. Seems ridiculous to me that your co-workers can't get your attention by talking to you without eye contact.

Some people have jobs that involve deep and prolonged concentration - programmers, engineers. If office conditions aren't right, cans are the only way to go.
 

 

[koolkat]

Agreed. When I put my phones on when doing work, it's really difficult for others to call me without tapping my shoulder or coming really close to me. Recently, I was going to my seat in the lecture theatre while listening to some dubstep at 60% volume. Didn't realise someone was shouting at me till I took my phones off. True story. 
 
It kinda reflects badly on yourself, imo, if someone has to call for you twice or thrice before you realise that they're calling you. 
 
lol.
 
Quote:

Heya,
 
Any closed headphone, with music playing, will likely prevent you from hearing normal speech from someone near you. So expect a lot of shoulder taps, unless you stay open-air.

 

 

[monoethylene]

Right now I have the Stagedac/Concerto combo at my office with the DT770 Pro and personally I am very satisfied. The best is that I dont even hear the telephone

 

[jupitreas]

I use the open DT990 regularly at work and at the volume level I use them on, I have no trouble at all hearing when someone is talking to me. Also, at this level, there is no sound leakage to speak of...
 
In other words, I think you might be listening to music far too loud, if you are drowning out background noise with an open can and are leaking enough sound for other people to hear.

 

[Redbeard65]

Quote:

Some people have jobs that involve deep and prolonged concentration - programmers, engineers. If office conditions aren't right, cans are the only way to go.
 

I write software for a living. I've been wearing full size cans or IEMs for many years at work.
I almost can't write anything without music anymore.
My cure to people being able to my attention is to arrange my cube so that I am facing the entrance. I don't get any sneak attacks that way. Before I started arranging my cube so I could see the entrance it made a lot of people feel uncomfortable when they tried to get my attention, myself included.
My coworkers now know that if I don't have some sort of headphones on I'm probably not doing anything productive.
 
 

 

[Oopu]

Silly forum setting, not actually notifying me of updates when there were plenty...
 
Thanks for the feedback, and I'm glad this got some varied discussion going. I've never really played with any Ultrasone headphones, so I'll have to try some out if I can find the chance. Reviewers here tend to be so thorough though that it almost can take the fun out of experimenting, lol.
 
As for the issue of getting attention... yeah, I totally know where you are coming from. I might be an unusual case, however; I'm hypersensitive, so I'm prone to being distracted by just about everything around me, and I learned years ago that I only ever become super productive in either a very quiet room filled with white noise or with a good rhythm (usually without lyrics) pushing me forward. That probably explains my musical preferences.
 
Obviously it's very tough to get the best of both worlds ("both" being isolation from others vs. able to communicate without issue), so I appreciate your suggestion, Jupitreas. I also wondered if either the AKG 701s or 702s would have a similiar experience, in that they are only somewhat open. I could also just keep things down...
 
... I knew it was an issue when everyone around my office looked at me with concerned stares after I had listened to the first few minutes of a Tool track with my ATH-AD700s at a volume I considered only slightly louder than normal.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

As for the issue of getting attention... yeah, I totally know where you are coming from. I might be an unusual case, however; I'm hypersensitive, so I'm prone to being distracted by just about everything around me, and I learned years ago that I only ever become super productive in either a very quiet room filled with white noise or with a good rhythm (usually without lyrics) pushing me forward. That probably explains my musical preferences.
 
Obviously it's very tough to get the best of both worlds ("both" being isolation from others vs. able to communicate without issue), so I appreciate your suggestion, Jupitreas. I also wondered if either the AKG 701s or 702s would have a similiar experience, in that they are only somewhat open. I could also just keep things down...
 
... I knew it was an issue when everyone around my office looked at me with concerned stares after I had listened to the first few minutes of a Tool track with my ATH-AD700s at a volume I considered only slightly louder than normal.

I know what you mean about productivity. I'm at my most productive while listening to headphones, usually with something like Carbon Based Lifeforms or Ishq or Solar Fields playing. It allows me to shut most of my brain off except what I need to concentrate on my work. Fortunately my office is at home, so I can listen to my Stax Omega 2s while working and don't have to care about who I might bother

 
The AKG cans are wide open, and anyone near you will be able to hear what you are listening to. They also have zero isolation from outside noise. I still think the Denon D2000/5000/7000 would be a great choice. The stock soundstage is decent, but the JMoney pads and Lawton mod can really open them up. The amount of isolation they provide is considerably less than the typical studio monitor headphone, so you should be able to hear people that are trying to get your attention, without hearing every little noise and without people hearing your music. Two other cans worth looking at are the Sony MDR-Z1000 and the Audio-Technica W1000X, both of which are now available in the US.