Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Harmon Kardon hk 3480 and Axiom M80's

The other thing to consider is that the open Sennheiser headphones are really open! As in, you can hear what someone's listening to when they're wearing them. As in, as far as annoying coworkers go, that would probably do it.

Bigjohn, consider these .

thanks for the link.. have you ever used these? and do you know if they are the type that CANT be heard by the people around you?

bigjohn

bigjohn,

The type of headphone you want is called a "circumaural" design (around the ear) or sealed type, which isolate the listener from ambient noise. And since those are not of the "open-air" variety that rest on the ear (supra-aural), others nearby won't hear your headphones. I always forget those terms and have to look up my own article, which Sound&Vision magazine still runs in the 2005 Buyers Guide.

As I point out in the article, comfort is really paramount. I once had a pair of electrostatic phones which, while capable of lovely midrange and highs (no deep bass), were so uncomfortable I couldn't leave them on for more than 10 minutes.

I much prefer the open-air (supra-aural) types, so I can't advise you on sound quality of the sealed variety. But do keep in mind that there is NO correlation with sound quality, good balance, and price in headphones.

Regards,

No, John, along with Alan I definitely prefer open back headphones. I'm not a big headphone user, but on occasion I use my AKG 501s for some middle-of-the-night Rachmaninoff. For your use at work however, you clearly need a closed back headphone which doesn't leak sound to the outside, so I looked up a well-regarded example of the type available at a very good price.

Bigjohn,

I bought the Sennheiser HD-280 closed ear headphones after trying several other brands/models. I think they sound terrific and are very comfortable. They have a gold plated 1/8" jack with screw-on 1/4" adapter. I run them on a $30 portable CD player with no problems. Also they don't leak sound in or out. I bought these about a year ago for $100. The goodcans website turned me on to the 280s which are shown on the page below. You'll have to cut and paste because I'm a posting buffoon:

http://www.goodcans.com/HeadphoneReviews/recommendations.htm

Good luck.

Link

Thanks, I'll figure out how to do that one of these days. Right after I learn to tie my shoes.