Headphones

[lersting]

What set of headphones you use

I'm running a pair of SOL republic Tracks ultra

[TheColtofPersonality]

Sony MDR-ZX100

They do me pretty well

[starswirlthebearded]

For me its "Pairs"

SO LET'S BEGIN!

Audio-technica ATH-A700

Aiaiai TMA-1

Panasonic HJE900

Granted, this is not including any of the headphones I've gifted or sold... I'm currently saving up for some Orthodynamics... I'm thinking Fostex T50RP with the Mad Dog Mod by Mr Speakers, HiFiMan HE-500 or Beyerdynamic T90s.

[Parker_Izing]

The ones bundled with my iPhone... Who thrown a loaded cat at me?

At 28 I admit I already lost a big bit of my audition, nothing would return that, so, the very least I could do, is take profit of the fact that cheap Headphones are enought for me.

I want to get some of those hoove-things but just for comfort...

[weesh]

I don't like being taken out of the world. I wear cheap buds with nothing to seal up the ear because I still want to be aware of what is happening around me. Is there any way to up the quality of the sound without losing the atmosphere?

[starswirlthebearded]

I don't like being taken out of the world. I wear cheap buds with nothing to seal up the ear because I still want to be aware of what is happening around me. Is there any way to up the quality of the sound without losing the atmosphere?

Open headphones is your answer weeshy. That is what I'm saving up for right now. A nice pair of open headphones for home so I can listen to the world.

Aside from that, you can look at isolation factors. The less it is the more you can hear. That is only for closed back or IEMs though. Personally I like having a balance. Quiet enough so I can hear the world around me, but isolated enough so that I can listen at a comfortable volume.

If you tell me your price range I can tell you some good pairs of open or nonisolating headphones that I think are good.

[weesh]

(five minutes of googling later...)

Oh wow, I had never even heard of open headphones before. I am glad that I asked.

I'd like to slow play this, since my normal budget is about $6 (for something like THIS) but I have also never been happy with any of the cheap ones. I might pay as much as $50, but I'm more likely to make the plunge if the value (increased comfort and quality per cost) is high. Surely anything high end is wasted on me because my hearing is poor, and I listen at low volumes.

[Bellosh]

Bleh, I need to get my headphones replaced. My cheap ones got cheap on me and now I can only hear out of one end. Ah well.

[starswirlthebearded]

(five minutes of googling later...)

Oh wow, I had never even heard of open headphones before. I am glad that I asked.

I'd like to slow play this, since my normal budget is about $6 (for something like THIS) but I have also never been happy with any of the cheap ones. I might pay as much as $50, but I'm more likely to make the plunge if the value (increased comfort and quality per cost) is high. Surely anything high end is wasted on me because my hearing is poor, and I listen at low volumes.

In order of low to high, I can think of three headphones that may suit your price range.

http://www.amazon.co...&keywords=px100

http://www.amazon.co...&keywords=px100

http://www.amazon.co...&keywords=px100

I'm quite partial to the PX100-IIs myself, but I know a few people whom enjoy the Portapro's as well. My friend has a modded pair of the KSC75s and enjoys them as well though (especially for the price apparently). From what I hear they are quite similar to the Portapro's in many ways.

There is also this fantastic thread on one of my favorite headphone communities. I'd look for headphones that rate under a 5/10 for isolation. However, if the headphone isn't designed to not isolate (either by way of foam instead of leather or open back entirely) it may suffer sound issues.

Bleh, I need to get my headphones replaced. My cheap ones got cheap on me and now I can only hear out of one end. Ah well.

That is quite common. I'd venture to ask if you wrap your headphones around your portable music player while they are still plugged in, or apply pressure to the jack in any other way. Loss of one channel is usually the cause of a short by the plug. I can tell you its likely not a driver issue, its very rarely that. Less common is that a kink in the wire caused a short elsewhere. Though this is less common it does occur.

It can happen to any headphone, cheap or expensive. It is all a matter of how well you take care of them and especially the cord. However proper care doesn't always help if the normal wear and tear is a bit... harsh...

Like with weesh I'd be more than happy to give whatever advice I can

Edit: I think I have officially hijacked this thread

[Bellosh]

I'm all but certain that my headphone issue is due to damage sustained to the actual wire; it's all torn up and junk. I used to be able to restore sound to the faulty channel by twisting the jack in a certain way, but even that will not work now. I'll try to be more careful with my headphones in the future, as I may have been....... a little rough with my last pair.

PS: my dad has the same headphones and has also suffered a loss of sound in one channel, but I'm sure he doesn't abuse his headphones in the way I would.

[starswirlthebearded]

I'm all but certain that my headphone issue is due to damage sustained to the actual wire; it's all torn up and junk. I used to be able to restore sound to the faulty channel by twisting the jack in a certain way, but even that will not work now. I'll try to be more careful with my headphones in the future, as I may have been....... a little rough with my last pair.

PS: my dad has the same headphones and has also suffered a loss of sound in one channel, but I'm sure he doesn't abuse his headphones in the way I would.

If it was by the tearing you would be able to visually see the break in the wire. It is far more likely to have occurred in the soldering point in the jack. This would also explain why twisting would allow it to return temporarily, as the point where the solder weakened or broke would reconnect, and give you the channel connection. Also, it would allow for only one channel to be affected completely, where as wire damage in line would be more likely to affect both (the channel wires are intertwined after all). Kinks in the wire are unnatural bending from pressure. Occasionally this will cause a short in one channel but it is not often, as previously stated. Soldering points are the weakest which are in 3 places... 1) the jack (which has two solder points, the one for the left channel and the right channel 2) left ear (depending on the headphone this can be one or two points of soldering) and 3) the right ear (same as the left). The soldering points are the most common place for headphone shorts. If twisting at the jack helped I'd put money on it being a short at the jack.

[TortoiseShell]

I use cheap $5 ear buds from Microcenter - I usually only have to use headphones at work, so I like them to be discreet and not very noticeable. While we're allowed to listen to music and such when nothing is going on, I still prefer if the executives can't tell right away if I'm listening to something.

Some day I would like to invest in a really good monophone ear bud. I'm deaf in one ear so I only need one bud; the extra one just gets in the way.

[starswirlthebearded]

I use cheap $5 ear buds from Microcenter - I usually only have to use headphones at work, so I like them to be discreet and not very noticeable. While we're allowed to listen to music and such when nothing is going on, I still prefer if the executives can't tell right away if I'm listening to something.

Some day I would like to invest in a really good monophone ear bud. I'm deaf in one ear so I only need one bud; the extra one just gets in the way.

You could get bone conducing headphones... Something like this.

The technology is used for hearing aids and such so it is designed for the deaf. They might be bigger than you'd like, but on the whole better. There is however a trade-off. There isn't perfect frequency response, and to get higher frequency response, it costs a considerable amount of money.

You can read about it here and here.

Oh and as a bonus, you can tell them that it doesn't impede your ability to hear at all

[Kryptchild]

So I've had a very consistent problem with my own headphones. I'm a very active and fidgety person, I tend to move around a lot, and when I go for my longer walks or jogs I can only get far if I have music (or I start to get bored and remember I have things to do at home).

For a while I've been using standard Skullcandy ear buds. They stay in when I jog and have GREAT sound quality, but they only ever last about 3 to 4 months before the same problem arises! The wires at the base of the jack begin to fray! I can tell exactly where the issue is, because when the problem starts and sound dies in one ear, I can for a little while get sound to continue by holding the cord at the base of the jack at a certain angle. Eventually this stops working, then the other side begins to die.

Can anyone recommend a brand of Ear buds that are more motion resistant and less likely to fray? I don't even need theater booming quality (so long as I can still hear the thump thump thump). I've gone through two skull candies so far, and right now I'm stuck suffering through using those god awful iPod earphones with the stupid shape that can't even hold against gravity let alone the slightest bit of motion.

[PIJIN]

Sony MDR-ZX100

They do me pretty well

Same, just the white version.

[PIJIN]

So I've had a very consistent problem with my own headphones. I'm a very active and fidgety person, I tend to move around a lot, and when I go for my longer walks or jogs I can only get far if I have music (or I start to get bored and remember I have things to do at home).

For a while I've been using standard Skullcandy ear buds. They stay in when I jog and have GREAT sound quality, but they only ever last about 3 to 4 months before the same problem arises! The wires at the base of the jack begin to fray! I can tell exactly where the issue is, because when the problem starts and sound dies in one ear, I can for a little while get sound to continue by holding the cord at the base of the jack at a certain angle. Eventually this stops working, then the other side begins to die.

Can anyone recommend a brand of Ear buds that are more motion resistant and less likely to fray? I don't even need theater booming quality (so long as I can still hear the thump thump thump). I've gone through two skull candies so far, and right now I'm stuck suffering through using those god awful iPod earphones with the stupid shape that can't even hold against gravity let alone the slightest bit of motion.

Same happened to me as well, my problem was that they just short circuited. One ear-phone would go out then, then I would get by with one until the other one slowly died. I went through out 3 pair in the course of one week. (Yeah...) So I eventually switched to over ear headphones.

[starswirlthebearded]

So I've had a very consistent problem with my own headphones. I'm a very active and fidgety person, I tend to move around a lot, and when I go for my longer walks or jogs I can only get far if I have music (or I start to get bored and remember I have things to do at home).

For a while I've been using standard Skullcandy ear buds. They stay in when I jog and have GREAT sound quality, but they only ever last about 3 to 4 months before the same problem arises! The wires at the base of the jack begin to fray! I can tell exactly where the issue is, because when the problem starts and sound dies in one ear, I can for a little while get sound to continue by holding the cord at the base of the jack at a certain angle. Eventually this stops working, then the other side begins to die.

Can anyone recommend a brand of Ear buds that are more motion resistant and less likely to fray? I don't even need theater booming quality (so long as I can still hear the thump thump thump). I've gone through two skull candies so far, and right now I'm stuck suffering through using those god awful iPod earphones with the stupid shape that can't even hold against gravity let alone the slightest bit of motion.

Honestly? Every single last headphone and earphone will suffer that problem. The only solution would be to get something so your music player would be out of your pocket, and thus fidgeting and jogging wouldn't cause any strain on the jack. Honestly you should be using a clip or an arm band for jogging anyway. Keeps your player safer and in a better position than your pocket.

Your OTHER option is to get an IEM with replaceable cable. That way you only need to replace the cable rather than the whole headphone. Like the Shure SE215 or the Sleek Audio SA1. (The former would match up better due to bass, as I can recall, the Sleek Audio SA1 headphones weren't very bassy) Personally I have the Panasonic HJE900, but they are more expensive and a bit harder to come by.

Disclaimer: I hate 90% of all Skull Candy headphones. Asking my opinion on them other than the Roc Nation Aviators or Mix Master Mike headphones is ill advised and will garner a negative response.

[TortoiseShell]

You could get bone conducing headphones... Something like this.

The technology is used for hearing aids and such so it is designed for the deaf. They might be bigger than you'd like, but on the whole better. There is however a trade-off. There isn't perfect frequency response, and to get higher frequency response, it costs a considerable amount of money.

You can read about it here and here.

Oh and as a bonus, you can tell them that it doesn't impede your ability to hear at all

Oh my gosh. These would be perfect!

It doesn't help my deaf ear - I have complete neural loss in that ear, so I can't even hear through bone conduction. However, one of my problems is that since I am deaf in one, I can't just leave one ear open like other people, so when I have the ear bud in, I can't tell if someone is trying to talk to me.

I need to research now, I would love something like this that just wraps around one ear and not the whole head.

[Bellosh]

UPDATE: I finally got replacement headphones. They're still cheap like the last pair, but they'll do for the time being.

[cuteycindyhoney]

[colour=#0000ff]I have Sentry HO300 headphones. I like them because aside from sounding good, the earpieces swivel around so they're flat to pack in with my netbook. They only cost ten bucks at BigLots. [/colour]

[kamerad]

Plantronics Gamecom 780s. So much oontz.

My friend also gave me a pair of Streets. :3

Both are awesome and comfy.

[lersting]

I am a sales rep for sol republic. I can give a discount on a set of headphones

Email me at zuneman@gmx.com

[Drakecoth]

I use the Trittion http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tritton-720-plus.jpg

[Kasurion]

I have a pair of Bose. I forget what kind they are, because I threw the box away. I got them last Christmas, and they are really good!

[ArdillaVerde93]

I don't have working earbuds or headphones at the moment, but the most recent ones I've used were the Bioworld Fluttershy earbuds. I got about a half-year out of them, before they broke. They worked pretty well, but they were only sold at Hot Topic, and they don't sell them anymore. T_T