I have been reading for a few weeks now on over-the-ear bluetooth in the under $400 range...head-fi.org has a TON of great info......had narrowed it down to the Plantronics Backbeat Pro and the Sony MDR-1RBTMK2 - ultimately went with the Plantronics as the Sony's are not sold in the US and thus would be a warranty issue. Both get fantastic reviews....Plantronics have ANC, 100' range, 24 hr battery, pause when you take them off your ears automatically, open mic to hear conversations around you and terrific sound. Retail $249 on Amazon....looking forward to trying them out.

Very quick first take on the 598s - very comfortable, look cool, feel solid, open is kinda nice because I can maintain some awareness of my surroundings if I want or just drown it out.

The sound - hoping for some input here because I'm pretty sure my signals are just garbage (streaming Amazon Video, streaming Spotify free etc) but I'm not totally blown away... What's the best way to test what these things are capable of?

get some 320kbps mp3s. probably try listening to them on your phone, as you might be slightly limited by your laptop setup.

i also think your expectations might be too high. in my experience, as opposed to being blown away, it's more likely in a year's time when you're watching a movie you'll think 'jesus it sounds like these conversations are taking place right inside my head, and these are so comfortable i forgot i was even wearing them'. and when that happens you'll be really happy.

also, people will swear blind that they will sound better over time due to burn in, but it's almost certainly bs.

Got mine today, only listened to a few songs but really pleased so far. Love the look and they're super comfortable. Thanks again for the help.

Got the Plantronics Backbeat Pro in today and wow. These are really increadible.....great range - walked all over the house with no issues, ANC, mic feature that plays music in background and allows you to listen to open sound around you, paused as soon as you take off your head and the sound is GREAT. $249 on amazon...highly recommend if looking for bluetooth over the ear.

The 598s definitely improve a lot with a little break in. Run some pink noise at medium to high volume (obviously don't blow them up ) for a few days, and the sound will improve a lot.

Also yeah just treat yourself to spotify premium, $10 / mth and all their music is 320kbps ogg which is better than 320kbps mp3 and many audiophiles can't distinguish from lossless. If after a while you really really love them and want better sound quality and the option of adding some more bass, grab this

I have a buddy wanting a pair of over ear non-powered headphones in the 200-400 range. Currently, I've recommended the Phillip X2 Fidelio's at $300. Is there another pair that would be a better purchase? He's going to listen to music and watch movies with them.

open or closed?

open i guess. just did some reading, yep, those look like a great choice.

Yeah some stuff sounds a little tinny/distorted but afaik that's just because I'm streaming from Youtube. I'm using these pretty much nonstop though, very nice and Spotify Premium may be in the cards. Thanks again.

Considering getting the Momentum On-Ear or Bose Soundtrue on-ear. Both are roughly the same price. What is everyone's thoughts?

I see a lot in the thread like the Momentum's, but nothing about the Bose.

Also, does anyone know if Bose will give trade in credit for QC2s? Told me I could upgrade to the QC15 for $149 which seems an EOL model.

Yeti,

Yeah, closed. Thinking of the V-Moda 100s also. I really don't know much about headphones so it's all based on random google searches and head-fi.org threads.

the x2s look like a very sick choice...but they are open.

Jesus, I have no idea why I wrote that. I meant to say open or closed. I'm losing it.

Update: Bose is out, unless I got for QC 25, as their on-ears just slip off. Anyone else have this problem?

Unfortunately tried on Bowers & Wilkins P5 S2 Headphones and might be in heaven. Little bit tight if I have glasses on, but feel almost perfect on ear.

Is it worth the extra $180 over the Momentums?(Which feel terrific as well)

Zik 2.0 delivered today. Really fun. I have a big head and they seem a little small fully extended. Not sure if I'm going to keep them.

Please use them for a couple of days and give full review!!

I'm debating on whether or not to get them.

*bump*

Sorry! So I ended up returning the headphones. Full disclosure: I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to headphones. This is a very uneducated review - I suggest not putting too much stock in it

First, I was looking for a few things in my search for headphones. Wireless connection. Active noise cancelling. Comfortable. Bonus points for looking cool or having neat features... hence me giving the Zik 2.0 a chance.

Design: You've seen pictures. I personally like the look. They are really 'low profile', not bulky in the least. The faux leather material felt very soft, high quality but seemly not very durable; however, no idea if this is the case.

Bluetooth connection: Easy to connect. They feature Bluetooth 3.0 not 4.0. No idea what the different is or why I should care. Bluetooth worked as expected.

Touch controls: Loved em. Much cooler than pushing a button. Worked well for me - not finicky at all. The only thing I didn't like was that there was no touch control for activating "street mode" or whatever Parrot calls amplifying outside noise. You had to go thru the app to do this. Kind of annoying IMO.

IPhone App: Meh. Only reason I would use the app was to activate street mode; however, it is much quicker to just pull the headphones off if someone is talking to you. Kind of defeats the purpose of street mode if you must navigate thru the app to activate.

Active noise cancelling: Really outstanding. I've since received the Plantronics Backbeat Pro...while I like the backbeat pro better overall, the noise cancelling on the Zik 2.0 is significantly better. Not even a comparison.

Comfort: Kinda meh. These headphones were really too small for my big head. I wear a 7 3/4 hat size. Fully extended my earlobes were scrunched up at the bottom of the earphones if you can imagine what I'm trying to say. I thought they started to get uncomfortable after 15 minutes or so. Maybe a smaller head wouldn't have this problem.

Sound: Seemed good enough to me; but I primarily listen to crappy MP3s and Spotify. I suppose a seasoned audiophile wouldn't like any Bluetooth headphone, but these seemed fine to me. The app allowed you to set various sound profiles but this seemed more of a novelty to me than something useful. I set the equalizer the way I liked it, then never messed with it again.

Ultimately, I returned them for comfort reasons. Would have kept them otherwise.

Sorry for crappy review. Let me know if you have some specific questions and I will try to answer!

Hey guys, I just picked up 3 pairs of the Steelseries Flux IEM's on a really good sale in order to get free shipping. Normally $50 each.

If anyone wants a pair for $25 shipped let me know. I only need one pair, but figured the deal was really good so I'd sell/gift the other 2. They get really good reviews on head-fi.org:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/478568/mult...1-12-15-p-1028

(and that's at the $50 price point)

thanks, sorry for slow reply. i was looking for something on-ear but not closed because i use them on my commute a lot and i found other over-ear closed pairs got too hot and swampy during warmer months. also occasionally use them for talking while driving and prefer not to have fully closed headset on in that setting.

Nah that review is great, thanks for that. I don't think i'll bother getting them then either as comfort is key for me as well as i'd have them on for hours. I don't wear hats but got a tape out and measured my napper and it was around the same size.

Guess i'll i'm going to stick with what i have then. Bose QC25 for traveling and my shures for everything else.

Ordered the Sony MDR-1RBTMK2 ....so great. Fit is superb and sound is outstanding. Highly recommend. Bluetooth Over-the-Ear.

For $300 or less, are the QC25's the best out there? I've tried them on and they seem great but I don't know much about these things and I don't have stores around here that I can try stuff like Audio Technica or less common brands, so I'm hesitant to buy others online without having tried them on.

Mainly looking for something that is compact and comfortable, in a case, good for flights/trips with ANC. Watching TV/video only, no games. Things like bluetooth/wireless are not really needed. I'm not an audiophile so the finer points of audio quality might be lost on me.

They'll be absolutely perfect, I use mine for flying/traveling only. I do several 8h+ flights a year and they're comfortable for the whole time.