I'm surprised to see Klipsch do so poorly. Their Image X10s are my favorite earbuds of all time, especially for classical.
Agreed, I love my S4s. They are the perfect in-ear headphones for the office and gym. Not to mention a great deal at ~$80.
Headphones for Hackers
71–80 of 188 posts
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#72My workplace has become absolutely impossible without headphones, so I recently went on a search for something better than what I had on hand, and ended up with three pairs. Specifically I wanted closed 'phones so that I don't drive my coworkers as insane as they drive me, but I didn't want noise cancellation. * Shure SRH-640. Amazing sound, but a bit heavy and annoyingly prone to creak every time I move my head a mi…
> but boy do they make my ears feel hot after a while I love the sound of over the ear headphones. Also, I get way too hot. (I also swap shoes for sandals, Mr Rogers style, once I get to work. Can't program with hot feet.) I alternate between Sony and Shure SE 215 earbuds when I need to work heads down. The Shure's are really effective.
I was hoping someone else would mention the Shure earbuds. They really are amazing. They manage to block out all of the noise around me, except for one particular co-worker...
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#73I find that often when I wear headphones, it makes the noise of co-workers more annoying. Without the headphones, I can hear distracting conversations, but I also hear other assorted office sounds, and the wind outside. With the headphones, I hear music, but I can still hear some of the conversations, but none of the other noise. Since the conversation doesn't fit in with the music, and I'm missing the other office n…
I find with my active noise canceling phones it works best to play a white noise track in the background. The white noise track ensures that even during the gaps in the music or periods or low volume that I don't get distracted by conversations.
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#74Nothing beats the Sennheiser HD-280 as an awesome pair of hacker headphones. For ~$80 you get terrific sounds, great noise reduction and amazing comfort. I've tried previous iterations of the Bose QC line but I was disappointed by a) the battery requirement, b) the sound quality (poor and muddled by active noise cancellation) and c) the build quality---my pair died after a year and those things never did anything but…
I love my 280s. However, lugging them around is a bit of a bother so I usually leave them at my desk. When I'm on the move, I pack in-ear buds. Skullcandy makes the best: inexpensive and really great bass. My favorite are the Titans ( http://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-Titan-S2TTCB-047-Black-Chro... ) but even the entry level Ink'd are a huge step above any other buds at that price point. And people actually use the wh…
When I'm coding the last thing I want is bass. My goals in that situation are:
a) Block out everything around me. b) Play music that helps me concentrate.
I find that bass is counterproductive WRT #2.
As for the Apple earbuds, they fit me and I can wear them for about an hour before my ears start to hurt. I keep them around when I need to be on-the-move. Personally I've never been a big fan of Skullcandy.
I do have a pair of Etymotic ER-6i canalphones. I don't use them unless I'll be using them for a while at a time since taking them in/out is a bit of a process but the sound quality is superb and they do a terrific job of blocking out my environment. They're magic on a plane.
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#75The Pioneer HDJ headphones ( http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-HDJ-2000-Reference-Professiona... ) rock, as well as the less pricey Audio Technica ATH M50s ( http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Mo... ).
The ATH M50s are the first pair of proper over-head headphones that I've owned. I think they sound fantastic with just my iPod, desktop or laptop (via headphone output) and they come alive when connected to my amplifier. I own a pair of Shure SE115 which work very well to block outside noise.
I do recommend at least trying to physically examine a pair of over-ear headphones before buying them. A music shop will probably have monitor headphones and they should be okay with you taking them out of the box. I was also considering Shure SRH840 but they were so heavy I just went with the ATH M50s. Great headphones are worth owning if you have high quality music and an effective delivery system.
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#76I'm a longtime Head-fi member, first set of workplace cans were HD-280s about 10 years ago. This article is a decent start, but there are many better options in these respective price ranges. Head-fi is there to help - http://www.head-fi.org/ I've moved considerably upmarket over the years and won't talk about the rest of my setup, but my main cans now are Ultrasone Editions 8s. They're very pricey (retail $1500 for…
HD280 is the best bang for the buck. I've bought 5 pairs now for other people!
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#77My workplace has become absolutely impossible without headphones, so I recently went on a search for something better than what I had on hand, and ended up with three pairs. Specifically I wanted closed 'phones so that I don't drive my coworkers as insane as they drive me, but I didn't want noise cancellation. * Shure SRH-640. Amazing sound, but a bit heavy and annoyingly prone to creak every time I move my head a mi…
I second the recommendation for any Shure IEMs or cans, and add Senn HD25-IIs for portable use (closed back, high sensitivity, small, light, short cord, built like a tank, German :D ) and Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros for awesome isolation and all-day comfort for your desk.
I'm running a Behringer USB DAC (because it's the cheapest thing that has optical out) via TOSLINK into a Behringer Ultracurve DEQ2496 (using that as my DAC) running balanced XLR into a Henry Engineering Matchbox HD (found used on ebay for $30 mis-listed as "usb headphone amp" lololol -- they're ~$200 new) running unbalanced RCA into a SOHA tube amp that I built. All the stuff that requires mains power is on a OneAC isolater that is built to reduce hum on telecom gear.
And that's my work desk :)
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#78Sennheisers were standard issue at Google for a long time, I wonder if we could normalize by the number of Google hackers.
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#79I've got a pair of Sennheiser HD-25 SP-II headphones (they are monitor headphones and spend a fair amount of time whacked into the front of a Korg Trinity). I paid 30 GBP for them in 2004. I've replaced the cable once for 20GBP after repeatedly running over it with a desk chair for 5 years and replaced the earpads once for about 10GBP.
I would not swap them for anything.
They run rings around headphones which are 5-10x the cost. Rumor has it they piss on 1KGBP headphones. They sound much better than HD280s as well (I've had some as well). The frequency response is pretty much 100% linear. They are very comfortable. They block out pretty much everything. Most importantly you just cannot hear any static/noise on them at all.
They are godlike.
Unfortunately they change hands for a hell of a lot of money now otherwise I'd grab another pair :(
Re: Headphones for Hackers
#80Nothing beats the Sennheiser HD-280 as an awesome pair of hacker headphones. For ~$80 you get terrific sounds, great noise reduction and amazing comfort. I've tried previous iterations of the Bose QC line but I was disappointed by a) the battery requirement, b) the sound quality (poor and muddled by active noise cancellation) and c) the build quality---my pair died after a year and those things never did anything but…
I love my 280s. However, lugging them around is a bit of a bother so I usually leave them at my desk. When I'm on the move, I pack in-ear buds. Skullcandy makes the best: inexpensive and really great bass. My favorite are the Titans ( http://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-Titan-S2TTCB-047-Black-Chro... ) but even the entry level Ink'd are a huge step above any other buds at that price point. And people actually use the wh…
Sennheiser in ear buds are the only thing that make mass transit survivable. The almost completely block out ambient sound, and I can listen to podcasts enven in loud environments.
The only caveat is that buds, especially when thrown into jackets and pant pockets, only last 6 months to a year, but are completely worth the 40$.