Headphones for travel

[nar1ta]

Hi all,

I am looking at purchasing some new headphones, I am travelling for all of next year and I need something that will be reliable, yet has pretty decent sound quality. I am looking for over-ear headphones that will be generally used for music. I already own a pair of G35's for gaming, so that is not an issue. Noise-cancelling is not a necessity, basically sound quality takes precedence, but I won't complain if I can get both .

As these are one of my main purchases for next year I am willing to pay a largish amount for them, nothing too extreme though.

I have been looking at the Bose QC15's, but they are quite expensive, they are perhaps nearing the top of the price range for me.

Any recommendations?

Thanks for all your input
nar1ta

 

[slh28]

If you're travelling you might want to consider inner ear headphones, they are way more portable and generally provide better noise isolation than over the ear noise cancelling headphones.

Bose are insanely overpriced for what they are, the sound is average and build quality isn't great either.

 

[learninmypc]

You also might check out Maxell. I prefer ear buds personally.

 

[LNCPapa]

I can't handle in-ear headphones and I know several people who can't either, but if you're okay with them I'd go that route. If you are like me and don't like those then...

As far as sound quality I'd get the AudioTechnica M50 over those bose any day (and I used to work for Bose many years ago). They might be a little bulkier and they lack the noise cancellation, but they will sound better and they're closed ear so it shouldn't bother your neighbor much They're also a lot cheaper than those QC15's and if you still want to spend up to and around $4-500 I might even consider upgrading to some Ultrasone Pro 900's. They're even less portable than the M50 but they do have a travel case for that purpose. I also believe they're 40 Ohm so you should be able to drive them fine with just about anything.

Whatever you do... don't do Beats if audio quality is of any concern unless you really like muddy bass.

 

[nar1ta]

Ok, thanks for the tips.

I am not really a fan of in-ear headphones. I seem to have small ears and they do not sit right.

I will have a look at the AudioTechnica M50, it sounds like the kind of headphones I am looking for, and at a reasonable price range.