Best Headphones for Studying

Started by Siverhideo1985
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Siverhideo1985

Siverhideo1985

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What's ur choice headphone for studying? I'm looking to buy some for boards studying so I can drown out the loud 14 year olds at Starbucks, the construction noise at school, and listen to my "Sunshine" soundtrack in crystal clarity.

I also travel a lot (mostly air-travel) and it would be nice to be able to drain out those kinds of sounds as well.

If I make this my bday/xmas present for this year my limit is around $200.

Thanks.
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
What's ur choice headphone for studying? I'm looking to buy some for boards studying so I can drown out the loud 14 year olds at Starbucks, the construction noise at school, and listen to my "Sunshine" soundtrack in crystal clarity.

I also travel a lot (mostly air-travel) and it would be nice to be able to drain out those kinds of sounds as well.

If I make this my bday/xmas present for this year my limit is around $200.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Bose

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=...ancelling_headphones/quietcomfort_3/index.jsp

if you have any sound moving through them at all you cant hear the person next to you speak, you cant hear judge judy at mcdonalds, and you sure as hell cant hear some one tapping their pencil in the library. I had a loud roommate when studying for step 1. I used the Bose and I couldnt hear him, the TV, or world war iii.

They are also cushioned so sit on your ears without causing pain or discomfort, even after hours. This makes them superior to literally every ear bud and most other on-the-ear sets.

They are battery operated (and it only comes with one) with a battery life of some ungodly amount. Ive gone days before it starts blinking. Then its time to charge for two hours to be good for another 24.

The only draw back is that you have to have SOUND MOVING THROUGH THEM. Even if its a track of white noise, sound has to be moving to cancel anything. Its good at reducing airplane noise, but if you want to silence starbucks, you need something going through it. I choose trance through digitally imported (no lyrics so I cant sing along, and active enough to block everything else out).

Good luck!
 
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I would recommend Bose with some caveats but they are 300 dollars not 200. (they are overpriced) I am sure there are others out there that are just as good for 200.

I have used my bose headphones since freshman year of college but had to replace them once cause the tweeter in the right earcup broke or something.(they did give me half off a new pair even though they were out of warranty) Only other real caveat is that you aren't going to be pumping bass through these things. Not something I expected to be able to do with them when I got them but I have seen some people complain about them because they didn't realize what these were for when they bought them. (I mostly listen to pandora while studying, currently the station I have going is Fleet Foxes and that sounds great in these headphones)
 
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Blast some brutal death metal, or get the bose headphones...or both. Do both and you're guaranteed >250 on step-I.
 
Bose are insanely overpriced for what you get. Check any audiophile forum and you will read the same. Heck, look at most tech forums and you'll see the same.

If you were thinking of earphones, Fischer Audio DBA 2 are a great choice.

Here's a list of earphone reviews: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...ompared-ortofon-e-q5-etymotic-mc5-added-04-28

For full sized headphones, Sennheiser HD25-1 II is probably the best you can get for $200.

Here's a list of headphone reviews: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...reviewed-sennheiser-px90-px100-ii-added-04-17
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
What's ur choice headphone for studying? I'm looking to buy some for boards studying so I can drown out the loud 14 year olds at Starbucks, the construction noise at school, and listen to my "Sunshine" soundtrack in crystal clarity.

I also travel a lot (mostly air-travel) and it would be nice to be able to drain out those kinds of sounds as well.

If I make this my bday/xmas present for this year my limit is around $200.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Which Sunshine -- the 1999 one or the 2007 sci-fi one?

If you're after some closed headphones -- actual headphones, as in cans -- Sennheiser's HD280 might be worth a look. You can do better in terms of sound quality, but they're still solid imo -- and do a pretty good job in terms of isolation. Also under half of your budget.

For earbuds, Sennheiser's CX400 with tight-fitting buds might work for you. Just be sure to buy from a top seller... lots of counterfeits.

The rest of my stuff is open design, so it wouldn't do you much good at Starbucks.
 
Bose are terrible, I'd avoid them if you care about sound quality. They do a great job of marketing and packaging, and that's about it. Notice that the biggest Bose fans are the same type of people who swear by Macs without understanding the relative merits/drawbacks of both.

I've heard that the Fischer DBA-02 are good. I personally use Shure SE530's, which are available for ~$300 these days. For under $200, I'd get the Etymotic ER-4P's. They have incredibly sharp, clear sound but are light on the bass. They've been on the market for 20 years and are still unrivaled for detail and clarity. The noise isolation is fantastic, there's no need to get active noise cancellation. If you want more bass, the lower-end Shures are a good option. I haven't heard most of the newer headphones on the market (too satisfied with my Shures to look), so I can't comment much on brands like Fischer, Head-Direct, etc.
 
I bought skullcandy headphones when they were on slickdeals for around $5.00 if memory serves.

Get headphones with different sized gel-covers. Put the correct sized ones on and they will "stick" in your ear, blocking outside sounds as well as any "noise canceling headphones". Skullcandy has a good sound range, definitely mind-blowing compared to the airplane headphones I was using until they arrived.

edit: headphones are like sunglasses: they're VERY easy to lose. don't spend ****loads of money on something so fragile, small, and forgettable.
 
If you want super cheap headphones that isolate sound really well and sound good, get the JVC Marshmallows. I have owned a pair for a while now, and I think they are 50% of the sound quality of my SE530's for 3% of the price. Just $12 on Amazon
 
Easy - Audio Technica M50s. They are phenomenal from a technical aspect but also well-built, have good noise isolation, comfy, and only cost ~$120. I dare you to find a better-rated set of headphones under $500 - just google it to see what I'm talking about.

They're not flashy from an aesthetic perspective, but that's a plus for me. Just a serious set of studio-quality cans.

Whatever you do, don't buy Sennheiser. They've grown a bit lazy on success and I don't think they have a single product that doesn't have a better & cheaper alternative in another brand. Likewise for Bose - they sold their soul long ago and their current market consists almost entirely of supplying audio products to people who aren't shopping for serious audio products (e.g., standard car stereo packages, ipod docking stations, etc.).
 
SN2ed said:
Bose are insanely overpriced for what you get. Check any audiophile forum and you will read the same. Heck, look at most tech forums and you'll see the same.

If you were thinking of earphones, Fischer Audio DBA 2 are a great choice.

Here's a list of earphone reviews: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...ompared-ortofon-e-q5-etymotic-mc5-added-04-28

For full sized headphones, Sennheiser HD25-1 II is probably the best you can get for $200.

Here's a list of headphone reviews: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...reviewed-sennheiser-px90-px100-ii-added-04-17
Click to expand...

Etymotic ER4P/ER4S and Ultimate Ears TF10 are both solid choices as well, but I agree with SN2ed. The Fischer Audio DBA-02 sound fantastic, and at $160 (when I bought them last year), they are a great deal. Very transparent and neutral sound, clean bass (not booming though), good sound stage and instrument separation...I'm using an Mini3 portable amp, but they sound great just plugged into an iPhone as well. I think the only dealer for the US is actually in Canada, but it only took me ~1 week to get them in. You should read that thread SN2ed linked though, I used that when making my decision...good luck...

I don't know how people listen to music when studying, I get way too distracted, but more power to you if it works👍
 
exi said:
Which Sunshine -- the 1999 one or the 2007 sci-fi one?
Click to expand...

The music from the 2007 version. I love that movie...always cheers me up. Is the 1999 version good? Didn't even know it excisted.

I still can't decide if I want to go for cans or earplugs. I've heard of some earplugs where you can get custom fit plugs?

Who would have thought that picking headphones was going to be so hard?

Also, standalone earplugs won't work (they don't play music for one...) and losing my headphones has never been an issue for me...especially if I dropped up to 200 bucks for them.
 
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Siverhideo1985 said:
The music from the 2007 version. I love that movie...always cheers me up. Is the 1999 version good? Didn't even know it excisted.
Click to expand...

The 1999 movie only shares the name -- totally different thing afaik, though I've not seen the movie. Just heard bits of the music. I guess I should've just looked at your avatar. 👍
 
bomgd3 said:
Bose are terrible, I'd avoid them if you care about sound quality. They do a great job of marketing and packaging, and that's about it. Notice that the biggest Bose fans are the same type of people who swear by Macs without understanding the relative merits/drawbacks of both.
Click to expand...

Probably used the cheapos at Best Buy. I went with a company and a brand I could trust. And it worked. Im still using mine, and they're awesome. Did I get suckered by marketing? Maybe. Are there better headphones out there? Probably. Do I care about tweaking this sound quality, this base level, that jooberyjam this hooberystink? Nope.

I got what I wanted. I may have paid a little more, but that payment was for the confidence I needed.

I needed quiet. I got it
I needed isolation from distractions. I got it.
I needed confidence in my product, to not second guess myself. I got it.
I needed not to have to make decisions between 80243-BC and 80243-BD. I got it.

Why options (and threads like this) make anyone's decision WORSE feeling, even if the QUALITY is better.

Boom. I actually think I took less time to purchase the bose than I spent on this thread... Which was awesome at the time (because I had no time). Reflecting on it now, I'm actually perfectly happy with my decision and would strongly recommend them to anybody else.

P.S. I hate macs. Paying 600 dollars extra because its white? I mean, unique. I mean, a pioneer. I mean..
 
I picked up some of the HD-280s at best buy the other day for like 90 bucks new (after tax) and I enjoy them so far. They do get a little uncomfortable after a while, but it ends up being a good break for me to take them off and do other things. I had someone come into my room and start talking to me and I didn't notice them till I saw the bright orange of their shirt move in my field of vision. I was only listening to audio lectures too, so it wasn't like I was cranking anything.

For how much I paid, I'm pleased with them. I've had some nice Grados and what not in the past. I came in wanting something <100 dollars and that is what I left with. They are my step 1 headphones now. If I'm in a real loud place and want silence I may double up and put ear plugs in too. That'd be equivalent to a fire truck driving into the cafe without me noticing.
 
OveractiveBrain said:
P.S. I hate macs. Paying 600 dollars extra because its white? I mean, unique. I mean, a pioneer. I mean..
Click to expand...

I love how suiting this comment is when it appears right after a TED talk about how choice/debate makes everyone's decision feel even more questionable. :laugh:
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
What's ur choice headphone for studying? I'm looking to buy some for boards studying so I can drown out the loud 14 year olds at Starbucks, the construction noise at school, and listen to my "Sunshine" soundtrack in crystal clarity.

I also travel a lot (mostly air-travel) and it would be nice to be able to drain out those kinds of sounds as well.

If I make this my bday/xmas present for this year my limit is around $200.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Love that soundtrack.
 
I much prefer the in-ear canal type of headphones.

Did have a pair of etymotic hf2 that I just loved. VERY accurate, detailed and easy to listen to for hours on end. Only negative I could say is that it didn't have quite enough bass for my liking but it sounded so good I just didn't care.

Currently using a Sennheiser cx300-II pair that I am liking. Plenty of bass so a little more "fun" to listen/jam to and overall pretty good quality. Seems to be built a little more sturdy than the etymotics but not quite as detailed or easy to listen to over a prolonged period.

Sony also makes some decent in-ears for around $30-50 that I'm actually pretty impressed with for the price.
 
CptCrunch said:
Love that soundtrack.
Click to expand...
👍👍

And it sounds awesome on my new Monster Turbine Pro Copper headphones 😀 I found a great deal on them and with the right ear-tips they blocked out almost anything.

Thanks for all the input. I'm not looking forward to much this next month, but sweet tunes will help make it bareable.

Haha, even Goljian sounds great...lol 😱
 
I got the Bose QC15's. They might not have eardrum-busting base or super clear highs out of the range of human hearing, but their noise-cancelling can't be beat by anyone. And that was on the top of my priority list for studying.
 
OveractiveBrain said:
P.S. I hate macs. Paying 600 dollars extra because its white? I mean, unique. I mean, a pioneer. I mean..
Click to expand...

More like 200-300 dollars more for a computer that lasts much longer without upgrade (years) and is of a higher quality on average.

I can understand preferring a particular operating system, but there is a lot of blind hatred (on both sides) with this stuff. I have a 2 year old Lenovo with Windows 7 and a 5.5 year old macbook and I still use the macbook when I'm at home. Not because I'm some fanboy but because the thing runs smoother and doesn't crash every few seconds.
 
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LRAccord624 said:
Does anyone have an opinion about Able Planet headphones?

Specifically these:

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=npbKTZLKDITw0gGs0cngBw&ved=0CH4Q8gIwBA#

I asked for noise-canceling headphones for a present and my dad got these for $80. I like them a lot so far but have no experience with Bose or other comparable brands.
Click to expand...

I'm curious to know people's opinions on these, as well. They look good but I'd be willing to spend more on a better pair if these are deemed insufficient.

~Kalyx
 
MossPoh said:
More like 200-300 dollars more for a computer that lasts much longer without upgrade (years) and is of a higher quality on average.

I can understand preferring a particular operating system, but there is a lot of blind hatred (on both sides) with this stuff. I have a 2 year old Lenovo with Windows 7 and a 5.5 year old macbook and I still use the macbook when I'm at home. Not because I'm some fanboy but because the thing runs smoother and doesn't crash every few seconds.
Click to expand...

Really depends. Lots of Thinkpads last a long time, probably longer with Apple. The downside of Apple is they try to control everything, release a new product every few months, they overcharge, lots of software compatibility issues, and functionally aren't as good $ for $. Upside is they are trendy.

It's not blind hate but I definitely wouldn't buy an Apple product again, other than possibly an iPod.

$ for $, Thinkpads are much better. As for any evidence that, "my Thinkpad broke after 1 year..." or stories like that, those are typically user errors. I guess Apple is dummy proof but Thinkpads are not.
 
MCAT guy said:
Really depends. Lots of Thinkpads last a long time, probably longer with Apple. The downside of Apple is they try to control everything, release a new product every few months, they overcharge, lots of software compatibility issues, and functionally aren't as good $ for $. Upside is they are trendy.

It's not blind hate but I definitely wouldn't buy an Apple product again, other than possibly an iPod.

$ for $, Thinkpads are much better. As for any evidence that, "my Thinkpad broke after 1 year..." or stories like that, those are typically user errors. I guess Apple is dummy proof but Thinkpads are not.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I would call that an upside. I like macs (don't own one though) but the pure fanaticism of some of the followers makes me want to vomit.
 
:laugh::laugh::laugh:

how do 75% of all SDN threads end in the mac-vs-everyone else discussion. And no one ever seems to tire of the discussion
 
Siverhideo1985 said:
:laugh::laugh::laugh:

how do 75% of all SDN threads end in the mac-vs-everyone else discussion. And no one ever seems to tire of the discussion
Click to expand...

I do apologize. I've committed a party foul. Although it was difficult to watch someone imply that Macs last 5+ yrs while a Thinkpad can't last 2 years. Hence why I felt I needed to reply...

Anyway, back to the original topic, 👍.
 
I really like my sony mdr 7506 Professional. They won't last forever, but they have fantastic highs and mids. Can't speak for their noise isolation though. I will test them for that purpose and get back to you.
 
hearingdoct01 said:
Well this topic would have been closed.
But I wonder 2 pairs: noise isolating earbuds like Etymotic Research MC5 (which was reviewed at http://www.wearableinear.com/best-noise-isolating-earbuds/) or noise cancelling earbuds Bose QC 20.
Has any of you experienced those 2 pairs.
Click to expand...

I have a pair of these (Etymotic MC5) and absolutely love them, use these to study for Step 1 which involved listening to a lot of music. The highs are very crisp and clear, mid-or great as well, definitely lacking in bass but it all depends on what you want and what kind of music you listen too. If you are listening to music with a lot of lows like hip hop then you will probably find these lacking, if you are listening to rock and like hearing the mids and highs of guitar solos you will love these
 
I second the shure products. Sound quality is amazing and the sound isolation is great as long as you use the right foam piece.

If you are looking for something a little bit cheaper, check these out. I use them as my workout headphones but they really good sound quality (for the price) and the sound isolation is not bad either.
 
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