Looking for some good earphones

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Do anybody out there have a suggestion for a good pair of earphones for music listening.

I have only tried the cheap ones and they all seem to do something to the sound that my (somewhat sensitive) ears do not like. The sound gets distortet and "tinny" in some way? I am looking for the big variety (not the earplug style ones). It would be good if they could cut out some outside sound as well.

I think I will try to wear them when going to the big city, to block some of the street noice. I do not nessesarily want to listen to loud music. I just want to find out, if my own music choise might be less stressing than the outside noise?

Oh.. and they are not suppose to emit sound to the environment. The earplug ones seems to do that, which is distracting me no end, when somebody in the train hears loud music and I can sort of hear some of it. Actually it seems to stress me, which is a bit odd.

I have absolutely no knowledge about headphones (or electronic) brands etc.

Thanks in advance
Helle

Try ultimate ears. They are expensive but worth it.

i recently bought a set of AKG K316, and i'm very happy about them, they have a better then average sound definition and above average frequency range.
also, they dont fill the ear, but only slightly rest in the earshell, being supported by earstraps (those things that go behind the ear, making them not fall out)

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Computers, Math, Science, and Technology]

AKG K701 reference headphones - I have no regrets at all for buying a pair of these.

If you can afford it Sennheiser HD-600's. These are professional monitor headphones with an extremely flat frequency response.

Somewhat cheaper are AKG- K240M's, which are practially industry standard monitor headphones.

If you want in-ear headphones, look for a moving armature design with as flat a frequency response curve as you can find.

Cheap headphones have very colored response, usually a large boost in the LF, and another bump between 2-5Khz both of which make the sound muddy and harsh at the same time. Also a lot of earbuds tend to have some very strange phase cancellation issues in the high midrange.

Thank you everybody for your replies. I will take some time to look at all your suggestions.

Kind regards
Helle

I have had a look around.

The Sennheiser HD-600 are to expensive and I dont want earplugs.

I have looked at Sennheiser HD280
They are cheaper than the HD-600 and the description sounds good (well, I don´t know anything about this - ask me about cold water corals and stuff like that The design is not that prettey, but I'll live with that.
* The HD 280 Pro is Sennheiser's most significant closed, around-the-ear headphone to be introduced in years. Designed to exceed the demands of the professional environment, the HD 280 Pro boasts extremely robust construction combined with the sound quality, modular design and aggressive noise isolation the necessary in the field.

and AKG K 701
They sound very good, but I think that the Sennheiser HD280 are better at noice isolation.

I also looked at your other suggetions. For now I think I like the Sennheiser HD280 best.

Helle

Circumaural headphones in general do a good job of limiting outside noise, and you really can't go wrong with Sennheisers. Although, if you really don't want to hear background noise in the city, you might also want to check out some active noise-cancelling phones. (Like the Audio-Technica Quietpoint series, for instance.)

My main headphones are Stax SR303 electrostatic earspeakers with the SRM313 driver which are now discontinued by an updated version. They are mains powered, so not portable.... Stax also do portable electrostatics but I'm not sure about the price. Only problem is that they are open-backd so sound does leak out. I personally love electrstatic speakers and valve (vacuum tube) amps, my main speakers are also electrostatics (Martin-Logan).

I've tried a lot of different portable headphones over the years - my all-time favourites which I've had for about 5 years are the B&O headphones. Not cheap but they have lasted well and I've had no problems with cable breaks or problems with the connections within the plug failing. They are extremely comfortable and have a really good bass and sound very open and natural. I couldn't recommend them more highly.

I had a "cheap" pair of Sennheiser CX300 MK2 in-ear headphones that were great for casual listening, they were only about £20 from Argos, altho eBay can also do them for this price....

i would say it depends on what music you are into, what you are listening on (CD, MP3 etc), whether it's for casual or professional listening - and how badly your ears are damaged, if at all



avoid Dr Dre Beats at all costs.

Just got my headphones Sennheiser HD280. They are fantastic, better than anything I have ever had (well only have had very cheap ones before these). I think they could be a bit warm on a summers day, but that should not be a huge problem where I live

They don´t seem to hurt my ears (How can cheap headphones be able to cause physical pain in my ears - I really don´t get it??) I am sorry to say that I (still) have abselutely no concept of the specs of such electronic things. I expect the stuff to work so that I can do other, more important things just like cars.

I guess I will mostly listen to rocky things Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Eminem, some Danish bands, 1930´s cabaret singers and maybe some Wagner (no need to get stuck in one genre).

Thank you for all your wery good advice.

Helles