Looking for new headphones

Paulw

Hi folks,

I'm looking to buy a new, and decent set of headphones. I don't mind paying around €200 for them.

I know that Sennheiser seem to be very highly rated, but from reading a lot of reviews, it seems that anyone beside you can also hear what you're listening to. Not exactly ideal.

I've looked at the reviews for the HD 558, and HD595.

Would Bose headphones be the way to go? Bose® AE2 audio headphones?

Noise cancelling would be optional, but not required. I'd just like some decent quality but don't want the person sitting next to me being able to hear what I'm listening to.

Any recommendations would be great.

Brian

You want closed-back headphones, something which the HD 5XX are not. Possible recommendations depend on the use case - are they just for use at home on the computer are will you be taking them out for walking etc?

Paulw

Mostly for use at home. More for when I want to listen to something on the laptop, while wife watches TV, or such.

But, may also be used outside (on bus/train).

Brian

OK, so you probably want something around mid-size. That suggests to me models like the Shure SRH840, which are admittedly quite large but have great sound and decent isolation:



If isolation is the absolutely top priority, the standard recommendation for passive phones is the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II:

Paulw

Thanks for that. The Shure seem more like what I want. I want over-ear. Those Sennheiser seem a bit small, and I would expect some ambient noise getting in and sound escaping too.

I've just been browsing reviews of the Shure SRH840, and so far everything is very positive.

Now I just need to find where I can buy them.

Thanks for the advice and recommendations.