Hi all

Looking some recommendations for some old school style headphones, I’m still old fashioned and use my iPod classic everywhere so no need for wireless or volume control or anything like that.

Have a holiday to New York and Mexico coming up in a few weeks so looking at getting sorted for 4 longish flights!

I currently have a set of old seinheisser over ear headphones I was given that are past their best so looking some recommendations, nothing that is going to break the bank really.

Cheers in advance

Simon

Over the ears, in ears, noise cancelling, open back, close back?

Or just something to plug in and listen with?

In ear – Sony MDR-EX650AP. Great sound, great external noise isolation, very durable.
Over ear – Can’t fly long haul without my Bose QC35s, so I’ll have to recommend them.

Just to add another thought direction. I can’t stand over the ear headphones on Long Haul. The QC35’s are great I agree, but whilst trying to sleep I will always knock them off my ear slightly and that always wakes me up. I prefer the in-ears with good fitting rubber seals to block the sound. I would like to get some of the Bose in ear noise cancelling, but I’d end up leaving them on a flight as I seem to do with all hear/ear phones eventually.

If there are still Bose qc25 kicking about cheap then I’d heartily recommend them.

Dunno how I’d manage train commute and shared office without them now.

seinheisser Are one of the better brands for spares, for not much money my hd25’s were refreshed and now are nearly as good as new… so that could be a good option?

Elsewise, I’d go with a pair of old bose qc25’s should be able to get 2nd for reasonable money, that would be a good option…

Or spen on the qc35s and then you have wireless for the future, but can run wires.

At the budget end SoundMagic do some cracking earbuds for the money. I’ve got some E10s that, once I found the right tips for, I’m dead happy with and have done me proud. Had some E30s before that which were great.

Old school, cable only? Can’t fault the Audio Technica ATH-M50X. I’ve had a pair for going on 6 years now. Very comfortable and the sound quality is really properly good. You should be able to find a pair even cheaper than Amazon with a bit of googling. Mine were £75 brand new.

The audio technica ones are amazing. They are proper studio monitors though, so won’t have any of the artifical bass etc of other brands

I have some Shure SE535 IEMs that have been excellent, although on the expensive side.

Replaceable cable which can be replaced with a bluetooth option if needed.

Listened to the Boses QC35s, Sony 1000s, and some Sennheisers whilst at the airport, using AptX bluetooth and a track I know really well (BBNG) and they all sucked in the important midrange area when compared to the Shures.

Noise reduction is good as it is an IEM and I have also slept in them successfully when needed (sharing a hut in Ambleside with a bunch of snoring/farting civil engineers) with low level music playng.

AKG K550mkiii ( losed-back reference) have been spoiling my ears at home but always dig out my smaller (and folding) Y50 (wired set) for dog-walking, bus and train journeys etc. Used them yesterday for the first time and they still surprise. Also super-comfy to boot.

*edit: K550s are half-price at the moment

/end thread for that deal.

(Couple of things to be aware of – they are fairly quiet externally when on ears, but can be loud if you take them off. They are big, and the proprietary cable is mahooosively long and heavy so not ideal for travel. But at a hundred quid buy them anyway, and a pair of Y50 for the road 😎)

its worth considering that a lot of wireless bluetooth headphones (especially the over-the-ear-noise-cancelling jobs) support a wire as well (some of the bose ones do, my plantronics B8200s do as well) – from a future proofing perspective it might be worth considering – I was wired only till recently, but now really appreciate not dealing with a dangling cable.

I can reccomend the B8200s – at £300 rrp they’re probably no better than Bose, but at the £90 that the referb place on amazon sells them for, they’re a steal – 2 levels of noise cancelling, great call controls (probably not relevant to you), wired port as well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Plantronics-Voyager-Bluetooth-Headset-Cancelling/dp/B073YN75NM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=plantronics+bluetooth+b8200&qid=1562060513&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Can’t fault the Audio Technica ATH-M50X. I’ve had a pair for going on 6 years now. Very comfortable and the sound quality is really properly good

Came here to say that. Like on all the other headfone freds. 🙂

The only pair of new QC25 I can find on Google, collect only and very reasonable at that price…
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2975195?cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59158|acid:532-198-3455|cid:598735121|agid:24290005730|tid:aud-641224040377:pla-197295863810|crid:86845380290|nw:g|rnd:5699177511337634836|dvc:c|adp:1o1|mt:|loc:1007230&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgezoBRDNARIsAGzEfe56kGhUPwGZ1ja7iWJpq0wvsBFo-Wf7BsmcwyrB7MNxqivTfthCSUAaAp1UEALw_wcB

What better excuse to sample the delights of Skelmersdale? It truly is magical in July.