Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Headphones?

A couple of people mentioned liking the Grado. Do they have any noise cancellation?

Nope, no noise cancellation on Grados, and they're all "open" design, so they let plenty of noise in. I really like mine, and they're fairly portable (they store flat). I think they're decently comfortable, but they are not known for comfort.

But probably not what you're looking for.

I use Sennheiser HD280s when I want sealed headphones. They're well built and block noise quite well, and sound decent, but they're not especially light and portable, and apply a good deal of force to the head (which helps the seal, but may not appeal to everyone).

Headroom (headphone.com) has a bit of audio snake oil floating around their site, but they have spot-on advice regarding headphones for various uses and price ranges.

I came up with these options from headphone.com:

akg-k-26-p

or maybe these: sennheiser-eh-150

or Beyerdynamic DT 231

I'll keep looking and trying to narrow it down.

I would recommend the AKG K81DJ for a closed phone that is easy to drive and is fairly portable.

Not a bud choice to help out the poster who revived the thread, but I thought I would update it with what I ended up with after also asking advice in this thread regarding upgrading to a 'relatively' inexpensive, noise canceling model for travel.

While I was on that particular trip I ran across the Shure 110s for only $65.00 in a closing out sale for Music World in Ottawa. They are the lower end Shure models in the ear canal category but I figured from what I learned here, that they would be better than anything by the more 'household' brand names that live in that price range.

I had some initial disappointment when I tried them on the flight home. The passive (ear canal blocking) noise canceling worked very well on a noisy plane but I found them to be dull, kind of distant almost.

However, I am happy to say that when I got them home and I experimented with the different ear pieces that are included, that the smaller foam covers totally cured that problem. I am now VERY satisifed with them. I think maybe the medium foams that came installed just ended up being too squished in my ear canal and the openings were maybe partially or completely blocked by the squished up foam.

I can now report that they are not only more comfortable but I am also enjoying my MP3 player a lot more than I used to. Much like when I upgraded my HT to Axioms, I never truly realized just how much I was missing with my old stock ear buds.

I own a set of V-Moda Vibes and I thoroughly enjoy them. I bought them after returning the UE SuperFi 3. I returned the UEs because they didn't fit right, bass was virtually non-existent (which could have been due to the poor fit) and they blocked out too much sound. I couldn't hear my phone at my desk at work.

I find the V-Moda Vibes to be the exact opposite of the UE SuperFi 3. The choice of headphones is driven by their intended application. Some people like lots of sound isolation while others want less.

I didn't mention the AKGs (which I have and like) because they can be extremely uncomfortable, especially if someone wears glasses (like I do). I can't use them any more because of this. Without glasses, they're likely to be fine--they just have very strong clamping.

While we are on the topic of headphones, although I know it's not what you're looking for, I thought I would post this for computer users.

I have a Tritton AX360 5.1 surround sound headset which is Dolby Pro logic and Dolby Digital certified. It's supposed to be primarily used for gaming but I use it for watching movies on my computer which I do a lot of. There are three speakers and a subwoofer in each earpiece. It comes with analog inputs for the back of a sound card, and also comes with a SPDIF cable which allows you to use the headphones Dolby Pro logic/Dolby Digital processor box which allows for the best audio output.

It's pretty amazing for watching movies. With the design primarily for gamers, I can only imagine what it sounds like.

Just my two cents.

Do you own a pair of these?? I'm looking for a good all around set of cans that I can use with my stereo and maybe mp3 player, but also use to cancel out some noise when I'm flying.

I do. They're pretty good, quite comfortable. They are huge, however.