Sound Isolating Headphones
 

I'm strongly considering getting a pair of sound isolating headphones to help me study while others watch TV, etc.

Rather that the expensive type such as Bose, with electronic sound processing, I'm looking at models which attenuate enviromental noise physically (think: the cans you wear at a gun range, but with headphone speakers inside).

I was looking at the Direct Sound EX-29, but have pretty much settled on the Sennheiser HD 280. Any experience with either, or other recommendations appreciated.



By the way, found this neat white noise generator via a link in a headphone review.

Sounds great, but I can't smell the bacon.

You can take the cans you wear at the gun range, and stick the mini-speakers from a pair of clip-over-ear headphones (or the oldschool cheap & dirty headphones) inside. For short stints, the cord probably won't protrude enough through the foam to be irritating, and the mini-speakers will stay stuck enough in the cavity that you don't even need some glue.

Those Sennheisers are what I currently have. They are comfortable as fuck, bit on the heavy side, and definitely muffle almost any outside noise. The way they fold up for packing is pretty nifty as well. Plenty of cord, almost too much, and its perfectly coiled so it stretches and rebounds nicely without being too stiff or loose.

I always find closed-ear headphones to be uncomfortable after 20 minutes.

Etymotics was one of the first proper ear canal buds, and they still are a leader. They make the majority of musician's ear plugs, that attenuate all frequencies so you can hear clearly at -20db or more.

They come with an alternate foam tip deal that removes the outside world pretty completely. These work like the E.A.R.S. and the Hearos foam plugs: you squeeze the foam, fit it into your ear canal, and the foam expands until it's a tight fit. At that point the outside world is cut off.

My kid likes these from Vic Firth.

My son got a pair of them last year for xmas. He loves them.

Thanks, Griff, the Rodd Morgenstein "drummer headphones" are something I've also looked at.

Undertoad, my man. The Etymotic Research MC5 are something I am now seriously considering.

I am a cheap bastard and just put my Peltors over my earbuds.

WHAT?

Yep. A kid I know just uses his regular earbuds, and then wears industrial-model ear protectors over that to block out everything else.

Me, I can't do earpieces, headphones, none of it. My ear canals hurt within 20 minutes.

That's from listening to Parliament (obscure lyric reference)

Briefly read some reviews for Shure SE215, their $100-ish level sound isolating in-ear monitors.

Pretty quickly came to these conclusions: they sound pretty good, but they tried to "enhance the bass" to meet consumer demand--and I hate that. I listed to Bose (you know: no highs, no lows, that's Bose) and I'm in love with "flat" response. Even so, in my 2008 Honda Odyssey (stock Bose system) I have to turn the bass AND treble 1/3 of the way down to get a "flat" sound. Even Bose these days is hamming it up with the vanity frequencies. What's more, I don't need bass in an in-ear monitor, in a musical situation--considering my experience with wearing earplugs while playing my drums is that I can still hear/feel the bass, while the ear-killing highs are what is being blocked out. What people have said about the Etymotic Research MC5 is that it "has no bass" which probably means I'll think it sounds perfect.

Some other things I've read about the Shure SE215: they are awkward to put on, awkward to keep in, bulky, clumsy, the "stubby" ear piece is counter-intuitively less comfortable than the deep canal design, and (according to a bazillion people) the sound frequently cuts out due to the brilliant "detachable cord" design.

The Etymotic Research MC5 are almost half the price, appear lighter, more comfortable, have better sound (for my tastes), and they were recommended by Undertoad--so I'm ordering some. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Nope. Worst sounding headphones I've ever heard, and the insides of my ears feel like they've been ground into hamburger by having sandpaper jammed inside them.

These are NOTHING like foam earplugs. I wear foam earplugs every time I sit down at my drumset--I roll up the tip, place it in (note: don't have to CRAM it in) and hold it down for about 5 seconds while it expands and makes a seal. The foam tips on these earphones work nothing like that: can't roll up tight enough to fit in, don't go in far enough, and when they expand they get pushed out of your ear--they never make a seal. AND they fracking hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. The triple flange hurt even worse.

There are literally no bass frequencies produced by these drivers--no matter how far you cram them into your ear canal there is never a "magic seal" that corrects this. Placing even a moderate swell in the mid-bass of an EQ instantly produces a distorted, literally "blown" sound.

All I really wanted was to do my homework and listen to some Mozart, but I don't think I can stand trying to jab these things directly into my brain, just to get a few more db of isolation. And the crappiest sound quality ever. These things suck.

damn... sorry


we must have radically different ear holes

Blergh.

Ordered the Sennheiser HD 280s. Underwhelmed. The sound isolation is, at best, maybe a little better than my Sony MDR-7506s--although the difference is close to imperceptible. The Sennheiser audio reproduction is definitely not on par with Sony; the Sennheisers do have "crisp highs" and "punchy lows" (which is apaprently all consumers care about these days) but the midrange sounds "honky" and artifical whereas the Sony performance is smooth and perfectly natural.

At the end of this whole endeavor, the Sony MDR-7506s perform at least as well at "sound isolation" as any of the "sound isolation" headphones I've tried, and they sound much better. The Sony MDR-7506s are the exact same model of headphones I used 20 years ago.



I found this site, which posts detailed specs in their reviews:
Sony MDR-7506
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro