best noise-cancelling headphones?

[cassettefetish]

These aren't for me... I have a good set of regular ol' cans...

Anyway, here's my criteria...

-less than $150
-GOOD SOUND (for $150)
-somewhat compact
-comfortable at the gym
-prefer noise cancelling, if good ones exist at this price...

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

--Nick

[I'm Painting Again]

I have tried both the vic firth and the extreme isolation ones..the vics block out more sound from the room..but the extreme has better clarity for making mic placements..

[Mr. Dipity]

These aren't for me... I have a good set of regular ol' cans...

Anyway, here's my criteria...

-less than $150
-GOOD SOUND (for $150)
-somewhat compact
-comfortable at the gym
-prefer noise cancelling, if good ones exist at this price...

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

--Nick

Noise canceling headphones are inherently poor quality at any price. However, conceivably a manufacturer could add noise cancelling to a great set of headphones, that would then sound good with noise cancelling turned off. I am pessimistic that any manufacturer would consider this a good market niche.

Unfortunately, a set of isolation headphones isn't going to be comfortable while exercising, either. However, for much less dosh, you get genuine, actual silence in your cans, instead of a shitty comb filter.

The Sony MDR series is my favourite - I think the 7600 is $100. It's not noise cancelling in any way however.

[norton]

i cast a strong vote for the sennheiser hd280 pro's...

durable, even have a quick replacement modular cord. cool for sure.

they sound good and offer up to 30 db of isolation. i've tried a few other headphones.... sony's, koss, vic firth iso phones and they all sucked compared to the sennheiser's. $90.... just about anywhere.

did i mention the modular cord?!??

[jca83]

http://www.gk-music.com/index.htm

[I'm Painting Again]

err i didn't see that you wanted them fo rthe gym..lol!

[Bwanasonic]

I have yet to try the ones you jam into your ears (Etymotic ER6, Shure E2C, etc.), but they have their fans. As far as using them at the gym, there might problems with mechanical noise from jostling the cord. I know there was thread about them on the *old* board that also contained some fascinating info about earwax.

Kerry M

[Ethan Holdtrue]

If you can drop an extra $50 (aprox $200) the Beyerdynamic DT 770's are pretty groovy.

-Ethan

[centurymantra]

I purchased a pair of Remote Audio 7506 headphones and consider them to be one of my finest investments in recording gear. I think they attenuate something like 45db and make mic placement a much simpler process. They use the same drivers as the venerable Sony 7506 headphones and actually sound pretty decent. They are, unfortunately, not cheap ($285) but are IMHO a very good investment. The other, (cheaper), option I would suggest is getting the nicest pair of earbud headphones you can justify and pick up a pair of ear muffles at a sporting good store, the kind sold to folks that do a lot of shooting. I tried this first, but my ears and sinuses simply don't like earbuds and they are quite uncomfortable for me. If it weren't for this, that setup would be plenty suitable for the purpose. The earbuds attenuate some volume on their own, and if you pick up the heaviest duty ear muffles (the ones I got were made by Remington and attenuated 31 or 32db) it's a pretty good isolation setup. And when you're not using them for recording, you can stick 'em on your head when you're mowing the lawn or vacuuming around the house!

[cassettefetish]

Thanks for the suggestions... I will definitely look into these.

--Nick

[chillhouse]

i second the sennheiser hd 280 pros. my go to phone for monitoring in a loud live room. i stick 'em on drummers all the time. they get LOUD!