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My 35yr old Sony headphones have finally given up the ghost and need replacing. Are they all much of a muchness now? Are Sony still good? Sennheiser? Bose?? I'd like the over ear noise cancelling type, preferably bluetooth so I can actually listen to the music/podcasts stored on my phone without buying "buds"
Approx budget £150.
I've bought some soundcore space one headphones. Not tried em yet but at £54 they are the most expensive head phones I've ever bought. I'm sure they'll be fine for listening to the radio.
Every review site I've seen has these as the top option:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/sony-wh-1000xm4-wireless-headphones
... if I was buying now I would definitely be getting them.
I have an older pair of Sennheiser Momentum that I'm happy with (not noise cancelling, but great sound and very comfortable for long periods). While I'm waiting for a new set of pads to arrive I've been borrowing my sisters Beats Studio Pro. I've always had a bit of a downer on Beats, considering them gimmicky, but I've had to reluctantly admit they sound great and work well.
I just got some Sennheiser momentum 4 from Amazon for £179. Went and listened to them all in curry’s (including the Sony Xm4 and 5 and the Bose quiet comfort) and the sound of the Sennheiser was IMO much better and it helps that they’re cheaper than most of the other options too.
The biggest bonuses of the Sennheisers though are they have 60hr battery life with ANC on and you can also play them through the supplied cables when they’re dead.
Reconsider wireless, for the budget you’re looking at you can get an outstanding pair of wired headphones that are studio grade, that you can plug into a cheap Fiio DAC and listen to music in Lossless, which BT can’t do, you never have to worry about the battery dying or wearing out, and you can find them for around £117…
I’ve had mine for a couple of years, and I love them to bits, I wouldn’t go back to wireless, having had a couple of pairs of BT headphones and earphones, I got fed up of finding the batteries dying suddenly while I was out and having to Fanny around having to recharge them on the hoof, any noise cancelling was a minor advantage compared to being able to just grab my headphones or any of my in-ear earphones and just plug them into my phone.
I've collected my soundcore space one headphones and stuck them on my head. They seem comfy enough, fit my ears, sound is good listening to the radio.
I'll take them on a noisy public transport trip tomorrow and report back on their noise cancellation abilities...
Soundcore Q30s are great. Not as 'cool' as Sony XM whatever but having listened to MANY overear headphones in my attempts to find the 'perfect'* headphone the Soundcore ones, and JBL ones are great.
IF you are after some overear headphones for home use with a cable. then AKG make some great open backed ones for very reasonable prices.
And if you like AKG but want more 'audiophile' qualities then Austrian audio do some VERY sweet options.
Imo headphones offer even smaller incremental gains than speakers. Having tried some exquisite headphones I would now be unwilling to spend more than £250 on ANY overear headphone. But I am old and my hearing is not what it used to be.
*The 'perfect' headphone does not exist. But it is more within reach for anyone than the 'perfect' speaker. Having said that, the BEST headphone sound I have had has come from custom IEMs - either plugged direct into amps or iPods or plugged into a Fiio Bluetooth DAC. The second best headphone sound, and frustratingly close to the best, has come from Apple AirPod Pros. Followed by my AKG open backed headphones and a list of others ...
Mmm have to say those Rhøde ones @countzero suggests look appealing.
Xm4s here after trying them and what ever the equivalent Bose were back then Wireless is the way forward 100%
Can always plug them in with the wire if you feel like going back to worse times
On a tram and the adaptive noise cancelling feature on the sound core space one headphones is doing a reasonable job. No passenger noise as such but the rail noise is significantly dulled. I can hear the automated tram announcements. Volume on my phone is only around 50% which is 50% less than I would usually have to run in ear wired cheap non active headphones.