[kleskling]

Howdy! New member and first time post here, in hope of finding help choosing between some cans. So let me know if I am posting this the wrong place, or generally not doing something right.

Alright so I am searching for the best possible headphones for a open office landscape(There is an absolute need for isolation: no leakage!). I listen to headphones for many a hours every day and really enjoy my music, so this has great value to me.

Since I listen to music quite a lot, I listen to pretty much everything, but mostly electronic music. So some extra bass is welcome, but not necessary as I have several amps with bass boost that I can flip on if I need some extra punch for my daft punk. Other than that I am looking for what you would normally look for in audiophile headphones, detail, precision, soundstage etc. I know I cant get the same level of sound as open headphones but if I could get as close as possible that would be great.

This has narrowed the search down to three (four?) headphones for me:

Mr speaker Aeon C (Or ETHER C?)
These are supposed to be great and neutral, however I find them ugly. But if it is better sounding then the z1r at 1/3 of the price I can live with it. (Is the AEON the same as the ETHER or should I consider both?) Supposed to be very light on bass so I would have to bass-boost my amp on em.

Sony MDR Z1R
Although the most expensive, I am leaning towards the Z1R. From what I read the sound signature fits my taste, they are supposed to isolate better then all of the others (which I find hard to believe as they have a vent on the top?) . These look the best of them all! Supposed to have near open back level of soundstage and detail.


Oppo PM 3
Planar Magnetic Bass sounds great! Also supposed to be very good “for the price”, but if compared to the other two the sound/comfort etc is several levels down I would rather invest more.


Headphones I have disregarded:
Fostex TH 610: Supposed to be semi closed
Fostex TH 900: semi closed
w1000z Poor isolation
Beyer t5p: semi closed
LCD XC: Semi closed / poor isolation
Sony MDR 7Z: Vent on the bottom that leaks a lot
Audioquest NIGHTOWL CARBON C: Looks ridicolous, not great isolation
Sennheiser HD 820 Closed (to come): Previews not impressed, poor isolation?


So if anyone has experience with some or more of these I would very much appreciate any input on this difficult decision! Or if there is any other pair of headphones I should consider.


Cheers

 

[Dr. Hugo]

I am not sure where you have looked for the reviews but here are my opinions. I have tried almost all of the headphones you mentioned at the audio show. I would say none of them isolate extremely well, comparing to headphones like the beasts solo 3 or audio Technica m50. Also, LCD-XC isolated very well even in such noisy environment so I am not sure where you get the idea of poor isolation.

I for your budget and needs, I recommend you try to go to an audio show where you can actually experience how they headphones fit on your head (as fit will probably be one of the most important factors when it comes to isolation) and how they actually sound to your ears.

Also, I suggest you consider custom in ear monitors because there is no doubt that a CIEM will have the best isolation simply because they are put into your ears rather than around your ears. The sound for top of the line IEM is not so far apart from TOTL headphones, especially with the fast progress on IEMs recently.