Good headphones for a corporate office environment?

January 29, 2010 8:00 AM

What are good headphones (specific models) for a corporate office environment? I don't want to use noise-cancelling, but I also can't have the sound leaking out and disturbing people. But I don't want to lose all the low-end bass frequency!
posted by kelechv to Technology (19 answers total)

Any of the Shure in-ear models, or Sennheiser HD-280 Pros if you want a closed circumaural set.
posted by kcm at 8:03 AM on January 29, 2010

Best answer: How much do you want to spend? Is it important that absolutely zero sound leaks out, or would very-little-leakage be good enough? What style of headphones (e.g., in-ear, over-ear, etc.) do you prefer? What source will you be using?

If you like in-ear monitor earphones, it's hard to go far wrong with Shure or Etymotic or Ultimate Ears.

If you want over-the-ear headphones, the Sony MDR-V6 (or its brother the MDR-7506) and the Sennheiser HD280 have good reputations and are excellent values (and I've recommended them in probably a dozen headphone questions). Of the two, the Sonys are comfier and probably a little bassier, while the Sennheisers isolate a little bit better. Grado also makes some great over-the-ear headphones, but isolation (and its flipside, leakage) are not their strong suit.
posted by box at 8:06 AM on January 29, 2010

In-ear headphones are not a good choice for an office. Yes, they don't have leakage but you also won't hear anyone since they act like earplugs.
posted by smackfu at 8:08 AM on January 29, 2010

$20 dollar earbuds sound just fine for the use you're describing.

I had my last pair of $20 Sony earbuds for 4-5 years -- they just recently bit the dust. To replace them I 'splurged' on a $40 dollar pair of metal Skullcandy headphones. Quite happy with them, though I'm no audiophile -- I just like listening to music.
posted by wrok at 8:13 AM on January 29, 2010

Response by poster: I would prefer over the ear for the office, as per @smackfu's argument. I have a pair of Grado S60's at home that I would love to use, but they leak like crazy. I'm looking for virtually no sound to leak out. So far @box's Sony MDR rec seems like a promising candidate. You guys are awesome by the way, with responding so fast. I'd like to spend between 50-150.
posted by kelechv at 8:17 AM on January 29, 2010

Best answer: I disagree with smackfu -- in-ear buds are perfect for the office, because they attenuate all the chatter that's constantly surrounding you. None that I've found will actually prevent you from hearing someone talking directly to you, unless you have the music blasting at ear-damaging levels.

I tend to lose them, mostly by leaving them in my pockets when my pants go through the wash, so I'm always on the lookout for good $10-$15 buds. The best I've found were Maximo i490s, which I got off of woot for $12, but they're normally $60 or so. A good easy-to-find option is the JBuds J2s, $14 at Amazon.
posted by bjrubble at 8:21 AM on January 29, 2010

I just got some Audio technica ath-m50ss, which have great bass, and a lot of isolation.
posted by advil at 8:24 AM on January 29, 2010

Is there any particular reason you don't want to use noise-canceling? I work in an office building with an obnoxiously loud air handling system, and my Sennheiser PXC 250s ($80-ish online, 4 years ago) are the only thing that keep me sane on days I have to be at my desk. Relatively low leakage at sane volumes, light, comfortable, and I can hear people if they say something near me. Then again, if your workspace has a less horrid noise floor, I could see an equivalent non-canceling pair being a good choice.
posted by Alterscape at 8:25 AM on January 29, 2010

I recently bought a pair of Etymotic ER-6i earphones based on this consumersearch breakdown of reviews. I've been very happy with them. A lot better than the more expensive Shures I had before. Consumersearch has a separate section on headphones, too.
posted by Perplexity at 8:27 AM on January 29, 2010

I would prefer over the ear for the office, as per @smackfu's argument.

You've got two contradictory goals going here. You want to be able to hear other people (per Smackfu's argument) but you don't want sound leakage. You're going to have to pick one, because you probably can't have both; if other people's voices are to leak in, then your music is going to leak out unless the headphones incorporate some sort of hearing-aid like device that uses a microphone to pick up sound which is played back through the sealed headphones. The in-ear / over-the-ear distinction is irrelevant.
posted by jon1270 at 8:29 AM on January 29, 2010

None that I've found will actually prevent you from hearing someone talking directly to you, unless you have the music blasting at ear-damaging levels.

I guess mileage varies. I have these Sony headphones, and between the earplug-ness and the music, I can't hear people who walk into my office and say my name. So they grab my shoulder and I freak out.
posted by smackfu at 8:31 AM on January 29, 2010

I think there may be some confusion here between earbuds and in-ear monitors. The latter isolates better and does better with bass notes (provided there's a good seal), but is kind of a pain to take in and out, and some people (myself included)
don't like how they feel.
posted by box at 8:36 AM on January 29, 2010

Response by poster: It probably would have been better if I had been more specific; as @jon1270 said, I have contradictory goals. Basically I want to listen to hardcore underground gangsta rap (hence the preference for solid bass), while still being able to hear people yell my name across the room (about 10-15 feet away), while sitting in a moderately quiet environment without a load air system, without the music leaking enough to disturb my neighbors (minimize, as much as possible, the leakage), who are about 4 feet away. I currently use Grado's and v-moda in-ear outside of work. V-moda you have to put way in your ear to get a tight seal to optimize the bass notes. I'm not very familiar with in-ear in general. In fact, I don't know about headphones to an advanced, or even intermediate level.
posted by kelechv at 8:49 AM on January 29, 2010

I love love love my Beyerdynamic DT 770 (pro) headphones, which fit your requirements well except that

a) they are better at blocking outside sound than you probably want (though that also means there is very very little sound leakage to your co-workers), and

b) they are pretty expensive (~$250ish, though you can sometimes find them for less). Though if your home headphones are Grados, maybe that doesn't bother you so much.

I've had mine for about ten years, and still think they compare well with any headphones on the market. I'd recommend finding a shop near you that carries them (which might be tough), so you can try them out for yourself.
posted by chalkbored at 10:09 AM on January 29, 2010

In-ear headphones are not a good choice for an office. Yes, they don't have leakage but you also won't hear anyone since they act like earplugs.

Uh... Depends on the office environment. Where I work, that's exactly why I like in-ear headphones, but obviously, ymmv. I have just trained my colleagues that if they want my attention, they either use the IRC channel we have set up for developers to chat in, or wave in my field of vision (and not, as one ex-colleague used to try, creep up behind me and prod me between the shoulder blades).

My 2c-worth, though, is simply to recommend Sennheiser headphones. I would tend to regard myself as leaning toward "audiophile" and have been really happy with both the HD-280 Pro ("circumaural" or "big-ass cans") and my CX-300 (in-ear) that I've used at work, for combining reasonable sound proofing in both directions with reasonable quality sound reproduction for a not insane amount of money (ie. they're not the cheapest around, by any means, but given that I use them for several hours every day, they seem like decent value to me).
posted by kxr at 11:43 AM on January 29, 2010

I love my AKG-k240s.
Haven't had any complaints about sound leakage, and I don't notice any when my guests borrow them.
I can hear people when they talk at me, even if I act like I can't most of the time. (SHhhhhhh our little secret)
Plus the sound is awesome.
Best part is they're only a hundred bucks.
Honestly I can't say enough good things about these guys
posted by Redmond Cooper at 11:55 AM on January 29, 2010

Best answer: I find in-ear headphones like Etymotic (which I happily use as my phone headset and as my portable listening headphones for public transit and such) are not usable at the office as they take a moment to put in and take out.

I like the price and sound quality from Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, but the ear cups are a bit small and crush my ears. I find them uncomfortable to wear for extended stretches. My wife does not have the ear crushing problem with them.

At work I use AKG K271 mkII's and I love them. No sound leakage, awesome sound quality (on par with my open backed Sennheiser's at home), and comfy. And as a cool added bonus, there is a switch that turns off the headphones once removed from your head. This may seem silly at first, but it is pretty cool to just be able to take them off and not worry about what I was listening to leak out to my nearby neighbors. The only real problem is that to get the best sound out of them, I think they need a power source greater than most portable devices have. At my desk I use a pair of Apple Design Powered Speakers (not all powered computer speakers have decent headphone outputs in them). While a contractor I have happily used a Boostaro Revolution (not sure it's worth $35, it was worth the $20 I paid). I've heard good things (noting that these are not audiophile products, but inexpensive practical devices for normal people) about Fiio's headphone amps as well.
posted by fief at 12:17 PM on January 29, 2010

I have Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80ohms and Sony MDR-7506s. They both have great bass response, great isolation, and comfort. However, the Sonys are more comfortable over long periods, which is kind of the opposite of what you'd expect, given that the Sony cans have pleather pads and the Beyerdynamic ones have velour pads.

For your budget, the MDR-7506s seem ideal.

Both should let you hear someone yelling your name, as long as you are not listening too loudly.

I used to use in-ear Shure earphones, and it was a huge pain to have to pop one out every time someone wanted to talk and then do the reach-around ear-pull, squish-earplug-back-in maneuver when they were done.
posted by MonsieurBon at 2:10 PM on January 29, 2010

If you don't like the pleather, you can switch out the Sony earpads for a set of Beyerdynamic ones, and/or you could get a pair of Headphone Softies. I keep meaning to do this with my MDR-V6s (identical or near-identical to the MDR-7506, and not to be confused with the Sony MDR-V600, which is more readily available and not nearly as good), but have never gotten around to it.

(If memory serves, there's also some kind of swap than can be done w/Grados and earpads. Head-fi.org would be a great place to find further information on this topic.)
posted by box at 2:50 PM on January 29, 2010