[jeffw_00]

Hi - I want a pair of good sounding headphones as follows:

1) efficient - so I can hear well while biking with my iRiver with volume only 3/4 of the way up (I find that any headphones with an in-line volume control fail this test and need max gain, plus, from the player to be heard)

2) classic (old-fashioned) walkman phones design (full but open air cups)
3) very light
4) inexpensive (<= $20 ish?)

I'm funding, unfortunately, that headphones near the high end of the dollar range sound ok but require more volume. By contrast the $7 radioshack model has no volume control, is quite efficient, comfortable, but sounds bad. I'm almost temped to just cut the volume control off my older, better-sounding radio shack phones and see if that makes them more efficient...

any suggestions?

/j

 

[erikzen]

How about KSC-55, although it's not quite classic. It's behind the neck. I think that's as close as you're going to come for something in the $20 range that sounds decent. If you want to go with earbuds you could try the Sennheiser MX 400.

 

[jeffw_00]

not sure about behind-the neck - will they stay on while biking - don't like earbuds. re-wiring my nova 63s is starting to sound like a good idea (sigh)


ps - I'm originally from southern westchester too!

 

[ch1nkster]

Raise your badget a little! ksc-35's can be had for around 10% less than the retail price on koss.com. those are really open phones and greta pretty loud coming from any source. you could also get refurb mx400's for around 10 bucks if you really want to save cash.

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffw_00 ps - I'm originally from southern westchester too!

Cool! What town? Where did you move to?

I think you might be right about the neckband. The Headroom site says it's uncomfortable. How do you feel about clips? The Koss KSC-35 is a great headphone. If you really can't go above your budget take a look at the KSC-50, although it is also a clip on. Going a little higher I like the PX200 or the open design PX100 from Sennheiser. The PX100 is about $40; PX200 is about $50.

 

[chiefroastbeef]

the koss portapros are good, they are super retro old school looking, some people don't like it but i do

 

[austonia]

KSC-35's are the best bang for the buck all things considered.

 

[erikzen]

KSC-35 just doesn't have the form he's looking for.

 

[jeffw_00]

the portapro looks way too big and bulky - the PX-100 has potential - is it really light? is it low-impedence (I.e., can I drive it loud with my iRiver at 3/4 volume?) where could I go to try one out?

thanks!
/j

 

[callanish]

Don't know where you can find a pair of PX-100's to try out locally, but I use my PX-200's ( enclosed version ) while doing all sorts of activities and they stay on pretty well. My Koss KSC-50's kept falling off, so I don't know how the 35's are as far as taking a few knocks without them coming off the ear. As far as driving output, they should be able to drive your Iriver easily. I even use them with a Riovolt SP250 MP3 CD Player( Iriver IMP250 ) with 8 MW + 8 MW and they do a decent job of powering them. So, all things considered, if you can't find them to try them out, buy them from a store with a good return policy, break them in as much as you can, and that'll be your answer if you can live with them on a daily basis.

Good luck
LTM

 

[erikzen]

The Porta Pro is not that bulky. It folds down very small. But I can understand how you might think that from pictures. It's made to be used with portables but has a funky design.

The PX100 - PX200 are made for portables so your player will drive them easily.

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

I use the PX100's with a Nomad Zen Xtra and have no problem driving them. I love the sound of the phones as well. And as for weight, I wear them normally for 3-5 hours a day at work and hardly notice they are there. And they fold up for storage making it easy to toss them in their case and then in my laptop bag.

Hope the info helps.

A_Sr.

 

[jeffw_00]

thanks - i'll try to find some PX100s this weekend - hopefully best buy has them.

I understand the porta-pros may sound better, but they look (and I suspect, are) heavier - I'm used to the ones that come with the cheap players so I suspect both of these will require some adjustment to weight, which i want to minimize (i also suspect both blow the cheapies, and my RS NOVA63s, away, so either should be good)

/j

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffw_00 thanks - i'll try to find some PX100s this weekend - hopefully best buy has them.

Unfortunately, Best Buy (their brick-and-mortar stores) carries absolutely nothing at all whatsoever in terms of the "good" headphones. Aside from the clip-on KSC-50s, all of the headphones that Best Buy carries are the crappy overpriced Sonys and craptacular 'phones from a few other lesser-known brands. In fact, for the portable muff-type on-the-ear headphones with a conventional headband, the only ones that they carry are a pair of abysmal sub-$10 Sonys (which are too quiet for portable use, IMHO) and a pair of equally craptacular Aiwas and a pair of who-knows-which-brand-name $5 headphones. And any Sennheisers that Best Buy currently carries can only be ordered from their Web site.

 

[jeffw_00]

well - i found the sennhesiers at both circuit city.com and target.com - so i'll try there as well