Double-duty headphones

[quadnad]

Let me cut to the chase and manage expectations:
I'm not an audiophile, but I like my audio to sound good. I have Klipsch 2.1s on my computer, and I like the way they sound.

My issue is that I need a good set of portable headphones that can do double-duty by working well for a session of gaming (when things need to stay quiet in the aptmt) and work great with my Zune while I walk to work.

Here are the headphones I've tried:

• QuietComfort: Given as a gift, and I quiet liked them (I know audophiles balk at me saying that). They were great with noise canceling, produced warm sound, and were easy/comfortable to deal with. However, they are bulky for traveling with..
• Sennheiser CX300: Bought these after the QCs in search of good but mobile sound. Great sound, but are a huge pain in the ass to get fitted correctly (sometimes I nearly give up because it's so frustrating). Can take nearly 2 minutes to fit every time I want to wear them, and due to the extremely short cord can fairly easily tug out (do I have weird ears?!).
• Etymotic HF5: Bought these after the CX300s, and I find them worse in almost every respect. More expensive, very little bass, extremely uncomfortable for any period of time...

With all that said, where should I look next? Are there such things as "comfortable" and "quick" in-ear headphones? Does my perfect set of headphones even exist?! HELP!

 

[Leman]

• QuietComfort: Given as a gift, and I quiet liked them (I know audophiles balk at me saying that). They were great with noise canceling, produced warm sound, and were easy/comfortable to deal with. However, they are bulky for traveling with.

Still too bulky? Maybe a supra aural model with folding cups, or rotating cups for flat storage. AudioTechnica ES7? Pads might not be comfortable sitting on your ears though. You could always spend money on ESW9 or ESW10JPN. I think the ESW10 has some nice lambskin leather pads... if you pay all $500 for it. Used.

• Sennheiser CX300: Bought these after the QCs in search of good but mobile sound. Great sound, but are a huge pain in the ass to get fitted correctly (sometimes I nearly give up because it's so frustrating). Can take nearly 2 minutes to fit every time I want to wear them, and due to the extremely short cord can fairly easily tug out (do I have weird ears?!).

Doing it wrong. I can get my Super.Fi 3s in in under 30 seconds. If you don't mind looking a little weird, follow the instructions on the Etymotic site for fitting the earphones in. If the cord's too short, the problem is that you're too tall. Try stuffing the music player in a jacket pocket. Also, you actually like the sound? Maybe you should buy something seriously bass heavy instead, or get used to lighter (and tighter) bass. Or buy an extension cord.

• Etymotic HF5: Bought these after the CX300s, and I find them worse in almost every respect. More expensive, very little bass, extremely uncomfortable for any period of time...

Etymotic isn't known for their bass impact. Very accurate, and very small housings though, I believe.

That all being said, I wouldn't wear more than one in-ear when walking, and wouldn't wear headphones at all. It's a "I don't want those sneaky SOB hybrid vehicles running me over" thing.

Other than the ES7 ($100)/ESW9 ($300?)/ESW10JPN ($500 used), I don't think there's much that fit your criteria. Denon D1001?

If you include earphones, I can only think of the Westone brand for comfort. W3, W1, UM3X, UM2, UM1. They get pricey, fast.

 

[quadnad]

*SNIP*

Thank you very much for the thoughtful and well-written reply! I will try to give you some direct responses:

• Regarding the QuietComfort's bulkiness, I would be OK with something of similar bulk (given the frustration I have had with headphones thus far, I'm willing to deal with the size). I don't want to give up quality for size.
  
• I have attempted, with just about every method I have seen on and off the interweb, to get my headphones in consistently and properly. Perhaps my left ear might be a different size or something than my right (weird...they don't LOOK different...) because I always have trouble fitting it into my left ear.
  
• Regarding the tugging, I'm only 6' 2. That's not short, but not overly tall...I just don't get why everyone is so stingy with cord length with higher quality headphones.
  
• You may very well be right about a preference for bass-heavy sound - I listen to a wide variety of music spanning dance to metal to reggae, but hearing the bass pump of the Prodigy is especially satisfying . Anything but rap and country.

For all the headphones you listed, I would ideally like to keep the price under $300. Are you able to narrow down a few recommendations you think will be reasonably comfortable (cans are always comfortable to me FYI, I only ever have issues with the in-ear), and won't require an amp to get the most out of them? Would the Super Fi 3 be worth giving a shot?

 

[obobski]

why not look at those AT's that are like ES-9 or something (its basically the ESW9 without a headband, about half the price usually, check Amazon)?

regarding other headphones for decent sound, around the size of Bose QC's, M-Audio's Q40 is usually suggested alongside Denon's 1001, I liked the M-Audio's better personally (fit wise especially, and they fold )

::EDIT
EW-9, not ES-9, here:
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256839873&sr=8-15

 

[Leman]

Let's start off by stating that I've never head any of the recommendations I'm about to make. The only info I can give you is by word of mouth (text), and what I can see from photos. Next, I'd like to say that I too appreciate an appreciable bass hump. Many times you see people downplaying headphones/earphones for having boomy bass. In some cases, yes, it's just too much, especially when it drowns out mids and highs (CX300). But sometimes you just need that visceral bass to feel the music (particularly, I feel, in dance. I mean, it's called dance for a reason).

I'd also like to note that I don't have several thousand dollar's worth of audio equipment, although I wouldn't mind having it.

Fitting issues: Maybe you need a different sized tip for each ear. Stick a finger in each ear and see if one is tighter than the other. Tip types also matter. Foam ear tips, I've found, are pretty much god-tier. Shure's black foam is long lasting, highly isolating, comfortable, and is decently priced ($20 for 5 pairs, I believe. Comply is $30 for 5 (?) and don't last nearly as long). However, they won't fit on a CX300 (or many others for that matter. I took some pliers to stretch them over my SF3s), but do fit on Etymotic (?), Westone (for sure), and Shure SE series earphones.

I wouldn't exactly recommend IEMs for gaming usage, especially if you need positional audio. But they'll work. It's up to you, however, to see if they're comfortable.

I did a quick search, and the usual contenders are:

• ES7: $100, decent all around
• ESW9: $300 new, higher tier, beware of fakes
• AKG K450: $150, seen a few recommendations
• Sennheiser HD-25-1 II: $200, well regarded.
• Denon D1001: $100, competes against ES7. Not as shiny.

The ES7, ESW9 can lie flat, and include a bag. I'd recommend a hard case if you're going to stuff them in a bag.

You could also consider the Shure SRH440 and 840, and the AT M50. They're bigger, but they fold DJ style, so they'd be ok in a bag. I think you can fit the 840s pads to the SRH440, but you'd have to order the pads through Shure. Some say there wasn't much of a difference between the 440 and 840 except for the pads. They go for $100, $150, and $100 respectively.

You'll probably find all of these slightly bass light. Spend some time getting used to it. My A700s were bass light at first, but I got used to it afterwards and found it to be highly acceptable for electronica. It's enough to move you, but not enough to cover up other frequencies.

IEMs: Some say the Futuresonics Atrio M5 is a rather nice bass earphone. I wouldn't know, but there's a review on ABi. There's the NuForce NE-6 under $100. Monster Turbine. CX300/400/500 (or any CX for that matter). Sennheiser IE6/7/8.

Don't bother with the Super.fi 3 (discontinued), Shures at that level, Westone at that level, or Etymotic at that level. They'd probably disappoint in the bass department. I needed foam eartips and a Fiio E5 before I found the bass good enough on my SF3s.

You know, I shouldn't be helping you this much. Look it all up yourself, and decide. That's what the internet is for. Look for prices at B&H, J&R, Amazon, eBay, and a couple other places. Beware of fakes on Amazon and eBay.

I've got a chemistry midterm. Alcohol, away!

 

[obobski]

if you want in-ears that can rattle your head with bass, grab a pair of Denon's C751's or C700's (I don't know what the difference is, I own the 751, they look identical) and go at it, decent imaging for gaming/movies (never actually sat and played competitively, but on the go its more than good enough), excellent for music, comfortable, comes with a few sizes of tips, cost around $100 on Amazon (I think Denon wants $200 on their site)

 

[quadnad]

Thanks again to everyone for the helping hand.

You know, I shouldn't be helping you this much. Look it all up yourself, and decide. That's what the internet is for. Look for prices at B&H, J&R, Amazon, eBay, and a couple other places. Beware of fakes on Amazon and eBay.

I hear you, only that in the land of audio it's difficult to find quantitative measures of a products "goodness." I've always been madly in love with computers, and it's easy enough to benchmark and define features; with the level of subjectivity involved in audio, it's definitely a place I seek fellow [H] forum goers advice.

I'll take a look at some of these suggestions and report back, but I'm definitely leaning towards some full on cans. I'm just too frustrated with finding a proper and easy on/off fitting in-ear set.

Having said that, barely used Etymotic HF5s for sale!

EDIT: Good GOD reading through audio reviews hasn't changed at all since the last time I did it...it's the same obscenely biased bullshit as it always has been. *sigh*
I wish there was a store where you could try all these things out...

 

[obobski]

yeah, it will always be the subjective "I feel this is the best and if you don't agree you're inferior" dribble

check a pro audio shop, like Guitar Center, they'll usually let you try out headphones, and they usually have a half decent selection

 

[Leman]

Audio reviews are always going to be subjective. You just need to pick out the objective parts, and ignore the rest.

What I wish more reviewers did was compare their sample against others in the same price range, compare them to ones in other price ranges, or to compare them to reference samples (ie. Expensive setups tuned for neutrality). It'd best that way so you could make the best choice, but I guess most people don't have the money for that. Shame. I've been trying to find a decent review for Westone 1s, but there's nothing. That's why people need to contribute to the community by letting Google's web crawlers find their posts.

 

[quadnad]

I hate subjectivity when it comes to spending hundreds of dollars with no real tangible information available! I agree with you about the comparisons, it would help if there were sources dedicated to reviewing this hardware (i.e. sites gifted the hardware, but focused solely on headphones), similar to how there are so many computer hardware sites. I can read countless forum reviews on head-fi until my eyes bleed, but it all seems to sound the same without consistency and comparables.

I'll be spending a few days looking around and making my choice with all my biases in mind. I'll check my local music stores too, thanks for the suggestion, to see if they have these headphones available for toying with.

Thanks to everyone who contributed for the suggestions, wisdom, and perspectives!