Headphones recommendations?

[mandroid]

Link in# 22 was weird, so a separate search found: They were Active, Noise Canceling Headphones,
and their battery caught fire , [ Flying and Lithium batteries not a good pairing.. apparently]
the woman wearing them immediately , threw them in the Isle of a China to Australia flight

Stomped on them to try to put the fire out, and the flight attendants put them in a bucket of water ..

Wired headphones of course won't be a problem..





...

[whitzmusic]

I use a pair of AKG K240's, which are actually built for studio use. I prefer the open soundstage, and don't mind the minor sound 'leaking'.

[Phil Goodson]

Nothing to do with sound, but if, like me, you have very little hair on top of your head, be sure the inside of the band going over your head is smooth.

I have a pair of phones that I like very much, but I always have to wear a cap when I use them, to avoid a dent in my scalp for a few hours.

[lukmanohnz]

+1 for the Sony 7506s. I’ve had my pair for a long, long time (well over a decade) and they are still going strong. They are modestly priced and sound great. I’d also suggest checking out Beats wireless ‘phones. I was very pleasantly surprised by these when I got a pair for free at the Apple store when purchasing a Mac laptop a couple years ago. I didn’t need another pair of headphones and thought I’d never use them, but I checked them out and was an instant convert. Really great sound quality (no strong bass boost which was what I expected), super comfortable, and they have a mini stereo input that disables the wireless and turns them into a set of wired headphones. The sound isolation is better than the Sony 7506s, so when I track rhythm guitar using a click track I don’t get any bleed of the click from my ‘phones into the microphone.

[Verne Andru]

Consumer wireless communicate via Bluetooth which is a hyper compressed format. All wireless formats use some form of compression which neuters the sound. If you like the sound of MP3's - which are horrible IMHO - then you should be fine with Bluetooth. But if you actually want to hear the dynamics of what you're listening to it's best to look for alternatives.

[John Bertotti]

I had the Sony mdrV7?? for 25+ years but as my son grew they somehow became his. I now have DT880 pro, I really like the semi-open design but if you are looking for total isolation these aren't for you. I like the stereo separation with these and they don't fatigue my ears as much as closed back cans do.

[Rob Roy]

Sony MDR-7506 Professional. Industry standard in studios for a couple of decades in the past. Unfortunately, the stock ear pads are not comfortable but amazon has options for replacement pads that are. Maybe a little more expensive than some of the other recommendations here but very flat response and reliable.

[J Mangio]

I use Sony MDRZX110 folding over-ear phones. Cost me $40 Cdn but currently on clearance for $10 at Walmart. Surprisingly durable in that cheap portable phones usually break or malfunction within a year or much less. I always stick these in my jacket pocket or backpack and despite the fragile looking plastic balljoint that folds the earpieces inline with the headband, they are still unbroken and functional after two or three years of this maltreatment. Sound is perfectly adequate for practice or casual listening. Recommend.

Thanks for the tip!
I just ordered a pair of MDRZX-NR 110, the diff is NoiseReduction feature, uses a AAA Battery, good for 80 hr play time. $15.00
Better hurry folks only 5 (open box) left. NFI.

[kurth83]

If you care about your ears, ultrasones (a lesser-known but reputable high-end German brand) are specifically engineered to sound 40% louder for the same SPL, and deliver stellar sound quality

I have both the 580i and the 780i, fantastic for use onstage (in lieu of IEMs), crystal clear and loud as needed, with lower risk of ear damage.

[Mark Wilson]

he thing is that headphones that sound great to most people might be uncomfortable to you for whatever reason, like I hate coiled cables but other people don't seem to mind.

I recovered from 10 years of H.A.S. A coiled cable is a minus for me. I have a collection of pricey headphones but I grab my $100 AT every time because it has straight cable. My 600 ohm set sounds nice but doesn't work as well on some equipment. Also prefer a fabric ear cover to most pleather-like material. The pleather will flake and seems to be hot if you use for long time. Usually replaceable but will flake off again.

Go for comfort on a good brand name mentioned above

[GuitarGearFreak]

Typically you would want some open back headphones so you're not hearing an overwhelming amount of low end frequencies building up, so maybe some Shure SRH1840 or Audio-Technica ATH-AD700.

Tried looking around for open back wireless headphones, but there doesn't seem to be many...interesting.

[Folkmusician.com]

Last year I purchased the Bose QC35 II noise-canceling headphones. At first I was extremely disappointed with the sound (I still am). They sound better plugged vs Bluetooth (to be expected), and they sound much better with noise cancelling off. Even wired with NC off, they come nowhere close to any good $100-$150 pair of open back cans I have tried. Despite being highly disappointed with the sound, a funny thing happened. I started using these all the time! With bluetooth and noise cancelling on, the AC and heater fan doesn't bother me. It is so much more enjoyable to listen to music while driving. I can walk around while listening and they are extremely comfortable to wear for hours. I find the noise isolation helps with work and times I use headphones for practice (in this case wired).

I am hesitant to call a set of headphones "life-changing" but they have been! Same situation with Apple Airpods. I baulked for a long time, but once I got over it and tried them, I wouldn't go back to wired no matter how much better they sound. Of course this doesn't apply to anything where latency is an issue.