Headphone questions....(not sure where to post this).

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Dave7

Legendary Member
Location
Cheshire
MrsD, for some reason, cannot use ear plug types.
She doesn't want BIG boxy ones.
Can be cheap as she only listens on her tablet.
Is there some sort of compromise ?
 

Sterlo

Early Retirement Planning
Depends how much you want to pay. I bought some cheap ones for £20 to use with the laptop and the sound quality is unimpressive. I've gone back to using my Grado hi-fi ones instead.
I used to have some Sony ones a few years ago, which were quite good I seem to recall, not too bulky and reasonable sound, got lost when we moved house.
 

Beebo

Firm and Fruity
Location
Hexleybeef
Look for on-ear slim headphones.
Over ear tend to be the boxy type.
The draw back with on ear is that external noise will leak in.
The old school Walkman ones with sponge pads may be a cheap option.
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
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https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shokz-open...V7YxoCR0IPQNGEAQYCCABEgK61vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

Cycleops

Legendary Member
Location
Accra, Ghana
Not sure what you mean by 'some sort of compromise ' but they either are in ear or over ear. Small drive units will always mean much lighter bass.
Cheap over ear usually sound rather tinny. Look for Sennheiser as good sound is usually guaranteed. Plenty of videos on YouTube:


View: https://youtu.be/GqTakp_fBsc

I use some Bose Quiet comfort 45 phones. They are excellent but quite pricey.
 
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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I think you need to understand the usage of the headphones before you can start narrowing down what is required. The primary use case seems to be with a tablet, so I'm going to assume that some form of bluetooth headphone is required, if Mrs 7 is happy to use a dongle though that opens up wired headphones as an option - much cheaper and greater choice overall.

You said she wants neither in-ear or big boxy headphones, but you haven't stated whether you want on-ear or over-ear headphones, this makes a drastic difference to comfort over longer periods. One reason why "big boxy" headphones are popular is that for extended periods they are incredibly comfortable, Mrs C tried using a bunch of headphones which were all small and "cute" enough for her, but it wasn't until she tried some of mine that she changed her mind about them, I gave her my set of Bose 700s which she finds very comfortable for use over long periods.

There are a lot of smaller headphones which you can get which might work, but frankly I would avoid, without spending quite a bit of money you will end up with terrible sound quality and poor construction. I would try to stick to a good quality headphone brand if buying blind (Sony, Sennheiser, JBL maybe).

Headphones are generally quite a personal choice, when I first started to listen via headphones I used to be able to go into a shop and listen to a few pairs to see how they felt on my head or sounded. Sadly they started to disappear in the 90s, the last good one I remember was City Radio in Liverpool.

FWIW I'm down to 7 pairs of headphones now, but that may change in the near future, they're easier to hide from Mrs C than bikes :laugh:
 

presta

Guru
These disposable ones they use in my local hospital sound fine to my ears, but I'm not particularly fussy, or a fan of headphones. One of the reasons I'm not a fan of headphones is that I find they hurt after a few minutes, and these are the only pair I've ever worn for hours on end in comfort.
£1.89 if you can find somewhere that sells them individually (ask at your local hospital maybe).

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newts

Veteran
Location
Isca Dumnoniorum
Over ear tend to be more comfortable than on ear (you get hot spots after a short time as they compress the ears). I use in ear buds alot during the day, with the correct size gels they are very comfortable for a couple of hours at a time.
 

winjim

Smash the cistern
For a reasonable budget option I would suggest the Lindy BNX-60. Choice of wired or bluetooth, with noise cancelling. My wife bought me some for Christmas and I've been suitably impressed. OK, the sound quality's not going to be as good as something like a Bose, and the noise cancelling isn't amazing but for £70 they're a pretty nice set of headphones, I use them a lot.

They're over ear but not too big and boxy, I find them comfy enough.

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With bluetooth headphones on a tablet, do make sure you consider latency. A wired option is always useful.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
For a reasonable budget option I would suggest the Lindy BNX-60. Choice of wired or bluetooth, with noise cancelling. My wife bought me some for Christmas and I've been suitably impressed. OK, the sound quality's not going to be as good as something like a Bose, and the noise cancelling isn't amazing but for £70 they're a pretty nice set of headphones, I use them a lot.

They're over ear but not too big and boxy, I find them comfy enough.

View attachment 658745


With bluetooth headphones on a tablet, do make sure you consider latency. A wired option is always useful.

Not used them, around that Price I'd probably be tempted to go for the Sony CH710, but for comparison if you can go wired, I'd opt for the Beyerdynamic DT240 or the Sennheiser HD400s, both will sound far and away better than anything wireless in the sub £120 range.

But then wired headphones usually will, but you have to match them to the source and for a phone/tablet go for a lower impedance option.
 
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