Earphones

[ForbiddenFruit]

Between my music, my PSP gaming and sometimes the laptop I get a lot of use out of headphones.

Problem is, I have to buy newer ones quite frequently. The ones I get break after 3 months or so.

To crown my misfortune, I can't have 'normal' earphones. My left ear is a bit misshapen - the little 'bud' that goes backwards over the ear opening is a bit bigger than normal, so that kind of pushes against the earphone and it doesn't rest in my ear, it falls out a lot. Hence I use ones that have a little 'hook' that go around the ear so it stays on, and as such I can only use these or large headphones (which aren't that portable).

How often do yours tend to last? Maybe it's because I keep pushing and re-adjusting the left one to put it back in my ear, as it's ALWAYS that ear that cuts out, not the other. Sometimes I get VERY brief flashes of sound if I fiddle with the wire but I can't really 'fix' them.

[DailyDi]

Mine last for years, but I buy the original ear-muff style ones as any in the ear ones irritate my skin and ears.

[bignappybo]

Mine dont last that long, not like the one i had years ago.

[sarah_ab]

bose $299 noise reduction headphones...

they come with their own carrying case... the things are fucking incredible!!! boyfriend and i each have a pair!

[ItchyTasty]

At the moment I got some Sennheiser HD25 dj headphones which were about £130 when I got them 5 years ago, and they still work...

However they have way too harsh treble sounds on the highs and hurts your ears if on too loud or too long. So I'm getting a pair of Beyer Dynamic hifi headphones soon, probably the DT250, 80 ohm version.

My ones however are mega tough, you could literally stand on them and they wouldn't break as they are made of some sort of flexible plastic and rubber stuff. And have user-replaceable parts. Only replaced the cable and earpads so far before I sell them. As the earpads were tatty from wear and tear over the years, and the cable had a intermittent fault of cutting in and out.

[ItchyTasty]

bose $299 noise reduction headphones...

they come with their own carrying case... the things are fucking incredible!!! boyfriend and i each have a pair!

Noise reduction, do you mean isolation headphones or noise cancelation headphones?

[ItchyTasty]

Between my music, my PSP gaming and sometimes the laptop I get a lot of use out of headphones.

Problem is, I have to buy newer ones quite frequently. The ones I get break after 3 months or so.

To crown my misfortune, I can't have 'normal' earphones. My left ear is a bit misshapen - the little 'bud' that goes backwards over the ear opening is a bit bigger than normal, so that kind of pushes against the earphone and it doesn't rest in my ear, it falls out a lot. Hence I use ones that have a little 'hook' that go around the ear so it stays on, and as such I can only use these or large headphones (which aren't that portable).

How often do yours tend to last? Maybe it's because I keep pushing and re-adjusting the left one to put it back in my ear, as it's ALWAYS that ear that cuts out, not the other. Sometimes I get VERY brief flashes of sound if I fiddle with the wire but I can't really 'fix' them.

Here's a few decent ones:

Sennheiser PXC250 are really decent portable headphones that fold, have noise cancelling, and kelvar reinforced cables. But are £90, but noise cancelling(which uses a special circuit and normally uses batteries) which blocks out external noise totally, always comes at a high price.

Sennheiser HD218 portable headphones, great sound but not otherwise that's it. They are £32 ish.

Beyer Dynamic DT 235 portable headphones, hifi sound, but that's about it. They are £53 ish.

Avoid sony, technics or pioneer dj type headphones as they are hyped up shit, don't last and the brittle plastic joints crack, and sound muffled and sound really cheap.

[sarah_ab]

sorry noise cancelling... Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones.... they are incredible...

[babykeiff]

The basic premise works, to an extent, in that you get what you pay for. As lighteningXIII stated, avoid Sony, Technics and Pioneer. You can easily extend this to any company that makes more than just headphones. (JVC, Philips, Grundig, ... and the list is endless)

Sennheiser, Bose etc specialize in headphone and speaker design and manufacture. Since this is their core business, these companies avoid releasing poor quality equipment on the market. Unfortunately, this means that these cost a little more, but in my experience, they are well worth the cost.

Secondly, the 'miniature' type of headphones don't have a long life due to physics. Even if the headphones were made out of Kevlar etc, the constant flexing of the cable (3 core minimum) will cause it to break. If you are really looking for good miniature headphones, look at the sets that come with / as replacements to wireless in-ear stage monitoring systems. These systems are not as fragile as the so called 'professional' headphone systems, but they cost in the range of $50 - $500.

With any device, there is two choices - get the cheapest on the market, and replace it every 2-3 weeks OR get the best on the market, have it custom fit and replace every 7 years (average life for electronic goods). The cheapest is the $1.99 or .99 set that you can get 50 of which will last you 3-5 years.

If you are constantly having to adjust the ear-buds, then the size / shape is incorrect for your ear. These ear-buds should fit so perfect and comfortable in your ear, you forget that you have them in.

[babykeiff]

At the moment I got some Sennheiser HD25 dj headphones which were about £130 when I got them 5 years ago, and they still work...

However they have way too harsh treble sounds on the highs and hurts your ears if on too loud or too long. So I'm getting a pair of Beyer Dynamic hifi headphones soon, probably the DT250, 80 ohm version.

My ones however are mega tough, you could literally stand on them and they wouldn't break as they are made of some sort of flexible plastic and rubber stuff. And have user-replaceable parts. Only replaced the cable and earpads so far before I sell them. As the earpads were tatty from wear and tear over the years, and the cable had a intermittent fault of cutting in and out.

The frequency response of the HD25 is close to flat across the 16-22k range, so if you find them treble harsh, there could be a problem with the headphone amp that you are driving them with. Most portable devices are trimmed (read filtered) to suit the custom headphones that comes with the unit - IPod has a boosted bass at approx 25-30hz since their headphones has problems creating / reproducing this range. Most mobile phone amps are not powerful enough to create the ends of the frequency range, (20-35hz & 18-20k) so the headphones are trimmed to suit. This is easy to see if you directly feed the output from your portable device to a spectrum analyzer (available as a gimic on some home stereo systems). To cope with these limitations, some home devices have specific inputs for IPod etc which try and reboost the specific frequencies.

Also, the impedance of most portable devices is 32ohm, not 70ohm. Using higher impedance headphones will damage the blocking capacitors (used to correct bass response) leaving a direct short (high bass or muddy bass) or an open circuit (high treble or treble distortion). Using a lower impedance headphones will overload the output stage of the amp = damaged or blown matching power transistors / power amp ic. Despite the device you do this on, it is usually less expensive to replace the device. Class G amps have 4 matching transistors per channel (common employed design) which if one is damaged, all four need to be replaced, and to keep audio quality and stereo matching, usually the 8 are replaced, as well as the output capacitors. Most amplifer circuits have a break in the input stage to drive headphones, which when not inserted, sends a low level signal to this stage which is systematically steped up. Once the headphones are in circuit, they switch off the bypass resistors and the input level (via the headphones) can be greater than the tolerace of the high current stage = overloaded transistors, blown power capacitors and a dead amp.

[redneck diaper boy]

I have a pair of Stax that I bought back in the 80's. I paid $1200 for them. I use a BGW amp to drive them. They are a geriatric pair of electrostatics

[Diapers4Me]

Have a pair of Bose also. After owning them for 4-5 years, I broke the sliding part that allows them to size properly. I called Bose, and they sent me a box, I shipped them back, and they sent me a new pair....even though they were out of warranty! LOVE THIS COMPANY!

[Lanthey]

I have a pair of £12.99 headphones (I bought them because they were pink.....) I use them everyday, so far they've lasted me 6-7 months, they work fine sooo.... YEY PINK HEADPHONES!!

[ItchyTasty]

I have a pair of £12.99 headphones (I bought them because they were pink.....) I use them everyday, so far they've lasted me 6-7 months, they work fine sooo.... YEY PINK HEADPHONES!!

You got a bargain there, as long as they last a few years and sound nice.

[ItchyTasty]

The frequency response of the HD25 is close to flat across the 16-22k range, so if you find them treble harsh, there could be a problem with the headphone amp that you are driving them with. Most portable devices are trimmed (read filtered) to suit the custom headphones that comes with the unit - IPod has a boosted bass at approx 25-30hz since their headphones has problems creating / reproducing this range. Most mobile phone amps are not powerful enough to create the ends of the frequency range, (20-35hz & 18-20k) so the headphones are trimmed to suit. This is easy to see if you directly feed the output from your portable device to a spectrum analyzer (available as a gimic on some home stereo systems). To cope with these limitations, some home devices have specific inputs for IPod etc which try and reboost the specific frequencies.

Also, the impedance of most portable devices is 32ohm, not 70ohm. Using higher impedance headphones will damage the blocking capacitors (used to correct bass response) leaving a direct short (high bass or muddy bass) or an open circuit (high treble or treble distortion). Using a lower impedance headphones will overload the output stage of the amp = damaged or blown matching power transistors / power amp ic. Despite the device you do this on, it is usually less expensive to replace the device. Class G amps have 4 matching transistors per channel (common employed design) which if one is damaged, all four need to be replaced, and to keep audio quality and stereo matching, usually the 8 are replaced, as well as the output capacitors. Most amplifer circuits have a break in the input stage to drive headphones, which when not inserted, sends a low level signal to this stage which is systematically steped up. Once the headphones are in circuit, they switch off the bypass resistors and the input level (via the headphones) can be greater than the tolerace of the high current stage = overloaded transistors, blown power capacitors and a dead amp.

I don't use a headphone amp when I occassionally use the Sennheiser HD25's. I either put them into the headphone socket on the front of my pc tower or tv headphone socket. Both when louder than quiet volume the highs are harsh. So maybe the transducers are damaged...I've had good use out of them for many years though. But buying replacement transducer capsules is almost as much as buying a new set. And having heard others in a hifi shop such as the Beyer Dynamic DT250 that I demoed and really like the warm flat non-fatiguing sound of. At least it's my Sennheiser HD25's that sound bad, not my ears. They could either be damaged from years of constant use at medium-high volume levels. Or as they are dj headphones maybe they only sound good with like pre-amps that are built into dj mixers like I used them before for.

[ItchyTasty]

Between my music, my PSP gaming and sometimes the laptop I get a lot of use out of headphones.

Problem is, I have to buy newer ones quite frequently. The ones I get break after 3 months or so.

To crown my misfortune, I can't have 'normal' earphones. My left ear is a bit misshapen - the little 'bud' that goes backwards over the ear opening is a bit bigger than normal, so that kind of pushes against the earphone and it doesn't rest in my ear, it falls out a lot. Hence I use ones that have a little 'hook' that go around the ear so it stays on, and as such I can only use these or large headphones (which aren't that portable).

How often do yours tend to last? Maybe it's because I keep pushing and re-adjusting the left one to put it back in my ear, as it's ALWAYS that ear that cuts out, not the other. Sometimes I get VERY brief flashes of sound if I fiddle with the wire but I can't really 'fix' them.

Some others, probably a few of the best for travelling.

Sennheiser PX200 Mk2 £60. http://www.richersounds.com/product/headphones/sennheiser/px200-mk2i/senn-px200-mk2

And they are foldable.

Or AKG K480 noise cancelling(blocks ALL outside noise, great for on the train,etc) portable headphones for £100. http://www.richersounds.com/product/headphones/akg/k480-nc/akg-k480

[Guest]

I've learned the hard way about a crap company called Skull Candy, they make overpriced crap that can't even hold up to their claims of what their product is intended for. As for my Sony ear buds,they just crapped out yesterday, but that's not bad since I got them used with my used 4TH generation Ipod nano 3 years ago. My Skull Candy's lasted 3 months with gentle use. I've had good luck with Sony, I don't care what anyone says about them. I will be getting another pair of Sony ear buds on Friday. I'm always getting dirty, or getting knocked around, so I prefer electronics that are built to last, and so far, the only thing that holds up to my abuse is Sony. Sure other companies promise better sound, or better warranty (Skull Candy), but none of that means shit to me when I'm out mountain biking in the middle of no where, and don't have the resources to make a warranty claim.

[alex 04]

am now on my 4 pair of earphones in like 8 months i did use the apple head phone but there not good they break to easy now

i went and got some skullcandy hope they last

i only will use this pair for when am on my bmx for my ipods

[freswith]

It's really easy to keep them on - just tie a piece of string around the earphone, pass it in one ear, out of the other, and then tie it round the other earphone.

Simples!

[alex 04]

It's really easy to keep them on - just tie a piece of string around the earphone, pass it in one ear, out of the other, and then tie it round the other earphone.

Simples!

[justagirl4fun]

Between my music, my PSP gaming and sometimes the laptop I get a lot of use out of headphones.

Problem is, I have to buy newer ones quite frequently. The ones I get break after 3 months or so.

To crown my misfortune, I can't have 'normal' earphones. My left ear is a bit misshapen - the little 'bud' that goes backwards over the ear opening is a bit bigger than normal, so that kind of pushes against the earphone and it doesn't rest in my ear, it falls out a lot. Hence I use ones that have a little 'hook' that go around the ear so it stays on, and as such I can only use these or large headphones (which aren't that portable).

How often do yours tend to last? Maybe it's because I keep pushing and re-adjusting the left one to put it back in my ear, as it's ALWAYS that ear that cuts out, not the other. Sometimes I get VERY brief flashes of sound if I fiddle with the wire but I can't really 'fix' them.

I have the ones with the hook that go around the ear too. I can't wear earbuds...my ears must be too small or something, because they hurt to wear. I think my headphones are by Philips and I've had them probably about 5 years now, but I don't use them that often...mostly just when I'm out walking, or traveling.

[Letluvsrool]

I use a pair of Shure E3's, they're $100 but totally worth it. Sound quality blows away those terrible ipod earbuds. They come with a bunch of different fittings for your ear, but I've found the best fit is to get a set of washable earplugs that have the 3 rubber discs, pull the stem off of them and fit them on to the Shures. I've had them for a couple years now, every so often I'll wipe the earplugs off or wash them so they don't look so gross.

Also BOSE is overpriced overhyped garbage marketed to people with a lot of disposable income and no technical know how. BOSE = Buy Other Sound Equipment

[Bettypooh]

It's really easy to keep them on - just tie a piece of string around the earphone, pass it in one ear, out of the other, and then tie it round the other earphone.

Simples!

I tried this but the cobwebs got in the way I got some ten year old cheap phones by Koss, but with my damaged hearing they sound better than anything else I've tried, save for a set of very old Sennheisers a friend owns- and he won't part with them Probably a good thing- those phones can be turned up past "painful" and that kind of volume is why my hearing is damaged Unless you like saying "Huh?" all the time, keep the volume down

Bettypooh

[justagirl4fun]

Well, I just got a new pair of headphones - the Lady Gaga heartbeats - and they are pretty much AMAZING. The sound is incredible...I'm hearing things I've never noticed in songs I've listened to dozens, even hundreds of times. Everything is crystal-clear and perfectly balanced. And the best part? They come with 6 sets of interchangable earpieces in different sizes. Like I said in my earlier post, I normally can't wear earbuds because they fall out and they hurt my ears, but once I found the right size earpiece for these they stayed in fine and are quite comfortable. And in addition to ensuring a comfortable fit, using the proper size also creates a good seal to reduce outside noise. Another nice feature is that the cables are flat instead of round which is supposed to keep them from getting tangled. Haven't used them enough to test that out yet, but I have high hopes. All in all, I'd say they're more than worth the $100 price tag.

[sonofninasayers]

My head phones that I have for my MP3 player don't last long for after a while I can only hear music in one ear. But I always carry a spear pair with me for I don't know when it would happen and it saves me keeping on buying another