[oxymoron]

Hi, I'm looking for recommendations. Here's my situation and experience:

I ride the Toronto subway to work a half-hour each way. It's very noisy. I've got tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and every iem/canal earphone just makes the ringing go insane! Buds are better, but still have fit issues. My home headphones are AKG K701's. I like that sound signature, but the outside world requires compromises, so I'm not expecting anything like that in a portable headphone. Am kinda self-conscious, so big headphones are out.

OK, and I'm wearing asbestos underwear for this one, I recently got a pair of Bose On-Ear at a great price [lemme preempt: what? like $5?] and have a love-hate relationship with them. Love the fit on my big head, the size, the build quality is quite good (though for the full retail price I'd expect more metal), and the isolation is very good indeed for passive. Best of all, when I take them off [some might say "that's the best part!"] after the ride my ears feel fine, which is new for me with commuter phones. As many say, the sound is bassy and muffled, but not entirely awful for subway use. The isolation and hyped bass actually helps keep levels low.

Anyway, I don't entirely hate the sound, but I suspect I can do better. The question is, would I be trading isolation and comfort for qualities that will be lost on the subway or for hyped mid and treble that'd make my ears hurt? I listen mainly to classical (chamber mostly), opera, electronic (from ambient to dnb and all the wacky mini-genres in between), and spoken word.

Other trivia: I was going to get K81DJs originally but have some concerns about fit/comfort; the lower-end Grado sound also makes my tinnitus go haywire; Senn buds have been a disppointment; and I've not liked the Senn PX's or AKG K2x's.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any suggestions you might have.

oxy

 

[Molondro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oxymoron /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I'm looking for recommendations. Here's my situation and experience: I ride the Toronto subway to work a half-hour each way. It's very noisy. I've got tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and every iem/canal earphone just makes the ringing go insane! Buds are better, but still have fit issues. My home headphones are AKG K701's. I like that sound signature, but the outside world requires compromises, so I'm not expecting anything like that in a portable headphone. Am kinda self-conscious, so big headphones are out. OK, and I'm wearing asbestos underwear for this one, I recently got a pair of Bose On-Ear at a great price [lemme preempt: what? like $5?] and have a love-hate relationship with them. Love the fit on my big head, the size, the build quality is quite good (though for the full retail price I'd expect more metal), and the isolation is very good indeed for passive. Best of all, when I take them off [some might say "that's the best part!"] after the ride my ears feel fine, which is new for me with commuter phones. As many say, the sound is bassy and muffled, but not entirely awful for subway use. The isolation and hyped bass actually helps keep levels low. Anyway, I don't entirely hate the sound, but I suspect I can do better. The question is, would I be trading isolation and comfort for qualities that will be lost on the subway or for hyped mid and treble that'd make my ears hurt? I listen mainly to classical (chamber mostly), opera, electronic (from ambient to dnb and all the wacky mini-genres in between), and spoken word. Other trivia: I was going to get K81DJs originally but have some concerns about fit/comfort; the lower-end Grado sound also makes my tinnitus go haywire; Senn buds have been a disppointment; and I've not liked the Senn PX's or AKG K2x's. Sorry for the long post and thanks for any suggestions you might have. oxy

You might find an issue with confort with the K81 DJs at first, but if you do the headband trick, They can be a lot comfier. I Haven't done it, and after 2 months of use, I don't have any problem with them. In prolonged hearings (4-5 hrs) I start to feel the pressure, but that's because I wear glasses, mind you.

As far as SQ and isolation, you should be more than happy with them.

 

[nibiyabi]

Sell your Bose for $150 and buy the Sennheiser HD25-1 (not HD25-SP).

 

[ericj]

Don't you know Bose is hindi for "rip me off"?

wear something the muggers won't recognize.

 

[nibiyabi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't you know Bose is hindi for "rip me off"? wear something the muggers won't recognize.

Good point. On a subway you want something low profile -- the ultimate sound quality/low profile combo would certainly have to be the Yuin PK1. These things look like they aren't worth $5.

EDIT: I might add that the HD25-1 is certainly not high-profile:

 

[penguindude]

Wearing Bose is like telling people "I'm stupid, come and rob me!"

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibiyabi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good point. On a subway you want something low profile... the HD25-1 is certainly not high-profile

You might get mugged for your HD25-1, but mainly by techno djs, unemployed musicians, and retro-loving hipsters-- pretty easy types to fend off.

 

[milkpowder]

Exactly what I was going to say... If I were the thief, I'd rob the guy with the HD24-1 on (of his headphones)

Either way, it's a no go. I'd rather be robbed by a Head-Fi'er though

 

[kanamin]

Second vote for the K81DJ.

 

[penguindude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega /img/forum/go_quote.gif You might get mugged for your HD25-1, but mainly by techno djs, unemployed musicians, and retro-loving hipsters-- pretty easy types to fend off.

LOL, they wouldnt rob your headphones, they'd rob your wallet cause they know you're rich enough to afford something like Bose.

 

[Alex M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oxymoron /img/forum/go_quote.gif The question is, would I be trading isolation and comfort for qualities that will be lost on the subway

I would say yes. If IEM is not an option, any quality improvement you can get by "better" headphones are likely to be more than offset by decrease in isolation. This will force you to increase the volume to drown out the noise, not something I would suggest if you have tinnitus.

 

[oxymoron]

Yeah, Alex M, that's what I was thinking.

Everyone, I'll look into the K81Dj and the ATH-SJ5. The HD25-1 look great, but I need something that folds up.

Good reminder about the thievery-factor. I actually did think about that in the beginning, but now...well I wouldn't put my life in jeopardy defending them!

And I'm glad this didn't degenerate too badly into a Bose-bashing thread. When I first tried on the On-Ears at a retailer, it wasn't the sound that impressed me

but the extent of the passive isolation...which led to the idea that they'd be great subway cans. In the end they're good for the task, despite the fact that I'd never use them at home or anywhere else their isolation-qualities are not required.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who replied.

Cheers, oxy

 

[productred]

When I tried the OE at the vendor, it wasn't the sound that impressed me most either..............I simply like the OE's design. nice and smallish yet big enough to give a big-can sound, extremely comfy, looks pretty good, has a very good case and nice cables, and folds up nicely and neatly. I can't go with K81.......it looks pretty big on my head. HD25 looks horrible. Triports (now AE) looks super-horrible. and i want something bigger than PX200 and alikes. As a plus, it feels way more durable than the old triports in my hand.

However, after about a week of frequent use a.k.a. slow burning in, I'm beginning to develop some love in the OE. a big disclaimer first: I AM AN ETYPHILE BY BIRTH. My main earphone is ER4P and it's always a good idea to bring with me also some cans to contrast those (character-wise) with good quality. OE outdoes the old triports in almost every aspects - I'm the most impressed with its mid-treble. sweet and clear and, to my utmost astonishment (stemmed from my previous experience with the old triports), detailed. Not Ety's hyperdetailed, but at least the shures' juicily detailed. The treble really open up and shines. The bass is, on the otherhand, big, fat, and horribly deep. So deep that much bass is FELT rather than HEARD.

of course these are not superb sounding. bass still tends to overpower. Right out of the box the bass is jaw-droppingly exaggerated. After a few days (with ety intervention to lessen the effect of ear burn-in) the bass lessen in quatity and tighten up. it is pretty obvious though that its frequency response is not even. strange enough, deep bass are there kicking hard, yet upper-bass and lower mids are somewhat distant and lacking. normal mids are very present and smooth, yet there's clearly some emphasis on higher mids and lower highs. the outcome is a pretty natural top, eq'ed and kicking bass plus some missing elements. not the most coherent cans in the world. but which one is?

I'm pretty happy with my purchase. I'm no bose fans nor bose defenders. I hate the triports. I even hate the IEs which seem to be quite well received here (I got a pair but had it sold in 2 weeks). But the OE are truly fine cans when its design and functionality and portability are also taken into account. Still............... it IS overpriced. maybe a cut of one-third of the current price shall be a more reasonable price.