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On and over the ear headphones for i-device

phrehdd

phrehdd

Contributor
Original poster
Oct 25, 2008
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I have a couple of headphones that have served me well over the years but are getting a bit long in tooth.

What over the ear and on ear headphones do you folks use and why that particular maker/model? Price...heavy bass...accuracy...comfort for long continual usage ... noise cancellation or ... ???

What is your recommendation for listening to CD quality files for accuracy and comfort for use over 1-3 hours per listening session? Also, do you use a different mic cord than the maker of your headphone and which ones do you recommend for the iPhone?
 
phrehdd said:
I have a couple of headphones that have served me well over the years but are getting a bit long in tooth.

What over the ear and on ear headphones do you folks use and why that particular maker/model? Price...heavy bass...accuracy...comfort for long continual usage ... noise cancellation or ... ???

What is your recommendation for listening to CD quality files for accuracy and comfort for use over 1-3 hours per listening session? Also, do you use a different mic cord than the maker of your headphone and which ones do you recommend for the iPhone?
Click to expand...


I have SOL Republic HD on-ear that has great bass. I also have Beats (Tour, Version 2) that are in-ear. The latter is noise-isolating and is way better than the first version. The SOL is great, lot of bass - comfortable and extremely durable.

As far as which to get, up to you. I usually use the beats out in public since on-ear headphones are a bit awkward to use out and about. When at home, I use the SOL. Comfort is subjective for the SOL depending on your head size. The beats now include some sort of ear thing to hold it more in place and it's quite comfortable - moreso than the first one.
 
My current On Ear headphones for my i devices are VMODA M80s. They have replaceable cables and the cable comes with a mic, as well as 3 button remote for answer and volume controls.
 
I can appreciate the Beats offering etc. for bass heavy music. For me, I have such a large variety of music, I tend to go for a more neutral or "flat" response set of cans.

The V-Moda seems interesting and I'll have to investigate. Presently I was looking at the Sennheiser Momentum. Only challenge I see other than being quite visible when worn is comfort level for 2-3 hours play at a time.
 
You generally can't go wrong with the Audio Technica ATH-M50. They are considered one of the best all-rounders ignoring price. If you can afford $150 usd these are the ones to get.

I have the $200 B&W P3s and tbh they're not for everyone. Smaller soundstage and not bright by any means. It's an acquired taste, but once you're accustomed to them you appreciate how tight and "not sloppy" it sounds compared to something cheap like the Apple branded earphones.

If you're looking for bass-heavy nothing beats a pair of Velodyne v-pulse.

Just throwing these out there based on personal experience with these products.
 
swerve147 said:
You generally can't go wrong with the Audio Technica ATH-M50. They are considered one of the best all-rounders ignoring price. If you can afford $150 usd these are the ones to get.

I have the $200 B&W P3s and tbh they're not for everyone. Smaller soundstage and not bright by any means. It's an acquired taste, but once you're accustomed to them you appreciate how tight and "not sloppy" it sounds compared to something cheap like the Apple branded earphones.

If you're looking for bass-heavy nothing beats a pair of Velodyne v-pulse.

Just throwing these out there based on personal experience with these products.
Click to expand...

I was about to suggest the same. The Audio Technica ATH-M50 is the best headphones under $200! Period! :D
 
headfi.org

Your wallet and family may never forgive you, but check out headfi.org (the premier headphone site). If you think people on the MacRumors forums are passionate/crazy, you are in for a surprise.

Having considered going overboard and, thankfully, pulling back, here are my favorites (all of which can be used without a headphone amp):

(1) Bose QC15 - You can read all you want about noise cancelling headphones, and hate Bose as much as you want as being a marketing driven company, but their noise cancellation headphones are great. I haven't tried their new in-ear NC headphones (QC20/20i), but the QC15s are excellent at noise cancelling. There is a reason just about every single serious industry review of noise cancelling headphones makes reference to these as the standard.

(2) PSB M4U 2 - This headphone has a built-in amp and noise cancellation (good, but not as good as the QC15s), and I think that they sound fantastic with the iPhone. They are big and heavy for a "travel" headphone, but the sound in a reasonable quiet environment, when you use just the built-in amp and not the NC circuitry, is tremendous.

(3) Sony MDR-1BT - I really love these as BT headphones. The sound is very good (not as good as the PSB's, however), and they work great with the iPhone, depending on the iOS. (Some iOS updates made these headphones work slightly less well than others, but never really an issue unless you are jumping around tracks all the time.) Not being tied by a cord, as silly as it may sound, it wonderful.

None of these are cheap headphones, but having spent a lot of time researching and listening, I really like these. If I could only have one, it likely would be the Bose because I use headphones most when I travel on a plane, and NC is critical. If I could only have one outside of travel, it would be the Sony, because these sound that good despite being BT.

There are many good headphones that are much cheaper, so shop around. I haven't written about IEMs because you are looking for on/over-ear headphones.

You can also go crazy, and it may be worth it for you. I listened to a pair of Bayerdynamic T5p's through a decent headphone amp. The detail, clarity and depth of the sound blow any of the above away, and that was still using an iPhone with 256K files as the source.

Have fun!
 
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