Hai guise,

What are good headphones for under $200 - that I can use with my Macbook pro.
It has to have some kind of noise cancellation (should cancel out a loud broken fan that sounds like a lawnmower) and I listen to a lot of post rock.

Cheers

Shure or senheisers.

If anyone in the DC area is interesting in demoing some high-end headphones, the local head-fi chapter is meeting tomorrow in arlington:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f24/de...ton-va-449178/

I've never met these guys, but it should be cool to try out some very expensive gear and see what's actually worth it.

I just picked up the Bose QC 15 and the noise canceling on them is great. The only headphones I have to compare to is the HD 280. Now the bose are by far the most comfortable headphones I have ever tried on. On my last plane ride it was amazing at how much noise these cut out. Now to me the sound quality was great but I really haven't had much else to test out. For me these work great, I just needed something comfortable when traveling and something with good noise reduction. Compared to the HD 280 the QC15 beat them out in all categories except price but this is just my opinion. I only picked these up because I had a gift card for best buy and I only had to pay a little over $100 for them. I dont know if I could fork over 3 for them but maybe. I know these get crappy reviews on here but for me they have been great.

HD595s are amaaaazing. So comfortable, great sound.

Are they good unamped into IPOD or PC?

Best bet for no amp is Grado SR60s.
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/grado-sr-60i.php

Watching the MMA Show on the The Score, they were doing a Bellator special. Two of my favourite MMA highlights of 2009...

The submission: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpr9lPqcMDM

The knockout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgfgLnFrvxs

I own the SR60's and love them, but would caution all poker players that if you want to use them for extended periods of time they aren't very comfortable.

Instead of the "around the ear" style of the sennheisers, these pads press right down on your ears with quite a bit of pressure.

Very true. For some they're comfortable.

For me they were downright painful.

With these pads I love them now.
http://www.headphile.com/page16.html

Reading some reviews of Sennheiser headphones on Amazon, several people have complained that the adapters for iPods and iPhones are rather bulky and that they often slip out of your PC connection as well, and that Sennheisers are mainly for audio systems. Any similar experiences?

always have my sennheiser hd555 all day everyday.

I just attended a head-fi meetup yesterday, and finally got to hear a lot of expensive headphones and equipment.

Here's a take based on my very quick impressions:

Grado SR60 - (own these) - $70 - Amazing headphones for the money. A little uncomfortable and build quality not as good as others. Very aggressive headphones, with lots of treble. Soundstage isn't the best, but not terrible either. This makes acoustic music sound great, but occasionally other music sound a bit piercing ( female vocals, electric guitar, etc). Overall though, I really do like the Grado sound signature.

Grado SR225 - $200 - This is an upgraded version of the SR60's. While I would say they sound better, I think a lot of it had to do with the diferent bowl-pads. Very similar sound, and probably not worth the extra money.

Grado SR325i - $300 - Again, a very similar aggressive grado sound. The main difference for me here was that the highs were smoother and more rounded out. Definitely liked them, but not sure they are worth $230 more than the SR60's.

Sennheiser HD555 - $99 - (brother has these) - I just can't get into the Sennheiser sound. They are certainly good headphones, but overall Sennheiser just sounds boring to me. They are nice and balanced and have a good sound stage, but nothing really stands out to me.

Sennheiser HD595 - $180 - I thought these were very similar to the HD555's with a bit better bass.

Sennheiser HD448 - $100 - these are semi-closed headphones that are meant to be portable from sennheiser. I thought these were actually quite good - very similar to the HD595's. My major gripe was that they were rather uncomfortable.

Sennheiser HD800 - $1400 - Unfortunately, I only listened to some classical music on these, so I can't really say how amazing they were. They sounded nice, but I don't really get the hype of ultra expensive headphones.

AKG K601 - $220 - The baby brother of the famous AKG K701's, I thought these might be a good bang for the buck. While they had a similar soundstage and feel to them, I really disliked them for two reasons: 1. Overall had an odd "tinny" sound in the treble. 2. The bass was not nearly as extended as the 701's. It's definitely worth the extra $30 to upgrade to the 701's IMO and it's not even close.

AKG K701 - $250 - My favorite headphone of the day. Amazing sound stage, and a very balanced sound all around. Some complain that these are light on the bass, but they felt pretty normal to me.

Headphones I still want to hear in the < $300 price range:
- Beyer DT770's and 880's
- Denon 2000's ( supposed to have great bass )

Overall, everyone should take a listen and see what they prefer. My vote for someone that wants some variety would be to pickup the SR60's, the AKG K701s (or 702s in black), and a cheap dac/amp and call it a day.

Picked up a pair of Klipsch S4s today from Best Buy.. impulse buy for sure. I am scared to look at how much I overpayed for them. I don't have much to compare it with.. but they are better than my Etymotics ER-6i's for sure.

Really like the look of the Shure SRH240's but notice that they dont have noise canceling. I had a pair of audio technias before that i liekd but they broke and looking for something new. Also looking at the Sennheisser 555's or 595's but again these meet my needs but dont have noise cancelation?

ANything similiar to either of these that have noise cancelation in them?

Edit: also just read that the 595's are open headphones? what does this mean exactly? other people will hear what im listenign to right? want to use headphoens for live poker as well so not sure if these are best then

did a lot fo research today and decided the best bet was two buy 2 pairs of phones. one for home use and 1 portable

Bought Sensheiuser 595s for home use
Bouth Klipshe s4's for portable

will post reviews when i get them wednesday

I'm curious if you guys that just got the S4s have the same problems I did w/ them as you approach higher volumes.

OK just read this whole thread and I'm ready to ask for some recommendations/advice. I'm looking for a pair of over-the-ear headphones. I have the Bose QC3s and like them but my only complaint is that they become uncomfortable on my ears after a few hours of wearing them (hence my seeking of over-the-ear). I will use them for both home (computer/plugging into my receiver while watching tv/movie/PS3 games) and for ipod travel (noise canceling is essential for planes). FWIW, I'm not an audiophile so I probably don't need top of the line audio quality and everything I say in this post may not make complete sense.

Here are my requirements:
1. Over the ear, as stated already
2. Noise canceling (or noise isolating? I don't know the difference, if there is one)
3. I don't want to have to use an amp
4. Preferably not too big and bulky
5. I have no idea if this exists...I prefer but don't require a switch that could turn off noise canceling mode while continuing to play music so I can hear others talking
6. Price range: preferably but not limited to < $300

After some research and reading this thread here are my candidates:
1. Sennheiser HD-280 Pro http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-...0347004&sr=1-1
2. Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO - 250 Ohms http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-P...0351558&sr=1-1 Or some other Beyerdynamic model such as 880, 880 Pro, 990. Honestly I don't know the difference between them and can't figure out which have noise canceling.
3. Sennheiser PXC 450 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...cm_cr_asin_lnk
4. Sennheiser PXC 350 http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PXC...0349857&sr=1-4
5. Bose QuietComfort 15 http://www.amazon.com/Bose®-QuietCom...pr_product_top I KNOW Bose is disliked by audiophiles for being overpriced and "mediocre" quality. However, I've read multiple reviews saying their noise canceling and comfortable fit are both exceptional which are my two biggest priorities and I'm willing to spend a little extra to meet my needs so it's hard for me to rule them out.

Which one do you audio savvy guys recommend? Please point out if I've made any incorrect assumptions i.e. one on my list doesn't have noise canceling, requires an amp, etc. Thanks in advance.

ok so I'm probably ******ed and should have taken better care of my shure 530s.

The cord is becoming ripped and some of the wires are poking out. Earphones still work fine though...should I never be wrapping my earphones around my ipod touch? That's pretty much how I've always carried them around and it's just recently I've noticed the tear + poking wires

2nd) Does shure offer warranties on this? I don't have a receipt tho and I got it off ebay

Yeah, its happened to myself and some others ITT, its a materials fault in earlier models and Shure replace them no questions asked.

sweet! thanks a lot So I guess wrapping the cord around the iPod is ok then eh?

Well i wouldnt recommend doing something that intentionally strains the cable, no.

then how do you carry around your cord+ipod/mp3 player?

I haven't noticed anything and I have had them as high as I feel comfortable turning up the volume.

I just stuff them in my pocket.