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Best Sealed/Full-Sized/Balanced Headphones for iPo

I'm not a big fan of putting things into my ears, unless it's my finger. I've been using the B&O A8 earphones for some time now but really want something that fits around my ear, rather than goes into my ear. I also want to be able to use it with my iPod, preferably without having to get an amp. I'm open to suggestions though.

I was at the Apple store yesterday and listened to the Bose around-ear headphones and thought they were quite nice. Then someone whispered in my ear: "No highs, no lows, must be Bose."

At one point, during a daydream, I thought about getting the AKG 701s, a Simple iPod amp and calling it a day. I'm a software engineer and work in a cubeless environment so it would be rude of me to force others to listen to my music.

Thoughts, hazings and suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks,

Jon
jwynacht
13 responses Add your response
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Jon- IMO, you are going to be disappointed with any full size cans without a headphone amp, unless its just background music. For details on all things headphone, try head-fi.org.
inpepinnovations
134 posts
 
Listening to an iPod via quality phones, isn't that some sort of oxymoron? Even with a quality headphone amp?
jeffreybowman2k
216 posts
 
agree with swampwalker. consider one of the Ray Samuels Audio amps or the Yamamoto tube headphone amp with Grado RS-1s. I have used this equipment and was very happy with it. Some will swear by AKG, but I prefer the RS-1s.
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,370 posts
 
If you get Bose headphones I will come to your house and give you a beating!
jwynacht OP
20 posts
 
Believe me, I won't be getting the Bose; they sound horrible, so much so that I would gladly suffer my ears to the B&Os for a while longer.

Anybody know anything about the Simpl amp? All this seems so...very...personal. In fact, the more I think about it the more I want to sell my iPod and just enjoy my home HiFi. Nah....
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,370 posts
 
If you must have big ol' headphones and you are pretty much going to only use them at your desk then get a headphone amp too. Unless, were you thinking of going on bike rides with the earmuff type phones? If I were going for a cheap portable headphone amp it would be the
Ray Samuels Hornet. Look at Headroom for more choices too.
jwynacht OP
20 posts
 
Thanks Ejlif....good to know. What about phones? I've only heard from one person so far...looking for something that other folks who sit near me at work won't be able to hear.
jlind325is
113 posts
 
For headphones check out the Sennheiser HD280s. A co-worker of mine just got a pair and they sound quite good. They retail for 200 bucks but he go this new for $80. He bought them off of www.jr.com I heard them with his ipod, and they sounded "good enough" to me.
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,370 posts
 
Seems like your choices are pretty limited if it's a large over the ear style that you want and sealed (Lots of choices in open ear) The Grado's and there is the a set of noise cancelling Sennheiser (PXC 450). Personally I think the top Shure in ears (SE530) are the way to go. They sound really good without an amp and will be much more versatile then a big pair. If you get them and want the Push to Hear option, don't buy it, I have one and you can have it.
jwynacht OP
20 posts
 
Thanks for the advice...I'll be shopping around this weekend and demoing...I'll demo open 'phones too just to hear how loud they get.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Just search head-fi.org for "closed back" phones. There are several including SONY and ATH that sell closed phones, and considered very good.
jwynacht OP
20 posts
 
So I checked out the Ultrasone 'phones this weekend, the closed ones....very nice. Any opinions on them?
jwynacht OP
20 posts
 
So I ended up with the Pro-Ject Head Box MkII and Ultrasone HFI-700 phones. I have my iPod in a dock, with the line out to the phones and it sounds really nice. I'm very happy with the setup and it makes music at work really enjoyable.

Thanks for the help here folks!
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