I enjoy listening at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven

October 9, 2007 9:30 AM

I'm looking for recommendations of good-sounding headphones that don't leak sound, so I can crank up the volume without annoying my coworkers.
posted by harmfulray to Technology (14 answers total)

The sealed headphones here are probably a good place to start looking. What is your budget?
posted by exogenous at 9:35 AM on October 9, 2007

I use Sennheiser HD-280 Pros at work and Shure E3cs on the bus for this. I think the SE310 is the E3c replacement.
posted by kcm at 9:38 AM on October 9, 2007

Response by poster: exogenous, thanks for the link. I'd like to spend US$100 or $150 tops.

kcm, can you comment on how well the Sennheisers avoid leaking sound to people nearby?
posted by harmfulray at 9:45 AM on October 9, 2007

I'm loving these headphones. They're cheap, sound good, and are noise isolating. They dont seem to leak too much sound because they get inserted into the ear.

The downside is theyre of the "one short, one long" cable design which is a real PITA sometimes.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:47 AM on October 9, 2007

Sennheiser HD212Pro here, no leakage whatsoever. That goes both ways, I've had people standing in my office not a foot behind me having a conversation that I couldn't hear a word of. Sounds pretty good (pretty great, actually) for the $50 or so I paid.
posted by dragstroke at 9:52 AM on October 9, 2007

I use AKG K26Ps and they are great. They are pretty well regarded at Headroom, and they aren't too expensive, which is why I picked them. I use them at work. They sound nice, are sealed, and aren't huge and bulky. I used to have much bigger DJ style headphones, but I felt ridiculous wearing large headphones in an office.

The other option are in-ear headphones, but I find that with those you won't hear when people are trying to get your attention. They are very isolating.
posted by chunking express at 10:14 AM on October 9, 2007

I use Shure E2cs with my mp3 player -- they are absurdly effective. I don't hear people when they knock on my door, and am consistently startled at my desk when using them at the office. I think they're an excellent option under $100, though the wiring on my current pair is starting to go.
posted by tigerbelly at 10:42 AM on October 9, 2007

I have Sennheiser HD200 and they are perfect for an office with closed backs and a really long cable. They do look pretty 'iPod' though with their white plastic cups.
posted by stackhaus23 at 11:27 AM on October 9, 2007

I have Sennheiser HD280s as well and they can't really be heard unless you really crank them up to uncomfortable levels (I've tested this). The closed cup Sennheisers are probably all going to serve you well in this regard as long as they seal well over your ear.
posted by ssg at 12:02 PM on October 9, 2007

++Sennheiser HD 280 PRO. Love 'em.
posted by trinity8-director at 1:02 PM on October 9, 2007

Response by poster: Thank you everyone for your recommendations.
posted by harmfulray at 1:21 PM on October 9, 2007

I'm surprised that no one mentioned the Etymotic ER6i. They're $150 direct, but you can get them for under $100 from a number of places including Buy.com. They sound great and do a fantastic job of isolating noise.
posted by SubFuze at 2:21 PM on October 9, 2007

I made these these exactly as described and they work great.
posted by canoehead at 6:02 PM on October 9, 2007

Just for the record, I love my Grado headphones but they leak sound like a sumbitch. In fact they allow 100% of all outside noise in, and vice versa. So don't get those for this purpose.
posted by jlowen at 7:31 PM on October 9, 2007