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Replacing headphones with specific needs in mind..

  • 11-06-2012 05:01PM
    #1
    UberPrinny_Baal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,239 ✭✭✭


    It is with much lamentation this morning that I noticed my pair of Sony XD300s are finally dying after five years of loyal service. Audio popping in and out, entire ears randomly going silent etc.

    They were a gift, and I probably would never have bought them for myself, but it turned out there were a few things about it I really liked; and would be interested in having in their replacement. I'm wondering what brands or models would cater to the following specific needs (in order of importance).

    (1) Comfort: I wouldn't have thought this was that big a deal, but for long-term wear it become the most important thing for me by far. I thought these were comfortable for pretty much two reasons.

    Big ear cups - So rather than squashing your ears against your head, they fit inside the cup.

    Head strap thing - I don't know what the technical term is, I just called them "scaffolding", but the headphones had two separate frames. One was made of metal, kept the shape and was higher up than the rest. One was made of rubber and sat on the crown of your head. This meant that the weight of the headphones was on your head instead of your ears, which I think was probably the most important comfort aspect. It looked ridiculous though

    (2) Cable length: Really generous cable length, also came with an adaptor so I think it got to 3 metres long. What might be better than a long cable? No cable! A pair of wireless headphones would be really useful for around my home, but probably considerably less so at the office (where I would primarily use them). Not sure if novelty would be worth the potential interference and battery requirements.

    (3) Sound quality: To be honest I'm not sure I'd have known if the overall quality was good or not, since I only listen to MP3s or youtube music. The XD300s had a "Sound mode" switch that went between Music or Movie, and I never noticed any difference at either setting.

    Noise cancelling would be sweet, but would probably add a lot more to the price than I'd be willing to pay.


    Any recommendations under these criteria?

    I see a lot of topics here dedicated to high-end in-ear buds, but I've never liked in-ear headphones, and have always been in pain after wearing them for too long.


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