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I've been asked what I'd like for Christmas & I quite fancy getting some wireless headphones; mainly for using at work.
With a degree of timeliness, this morning the left channel of my Sennheiser CX300II's has given up the ghost.
There is quite a lot of background noise in our office so if decent noise cancelling can be had too, that would perfect.
But, I'd rather forego noise cancelling, if it is not well implemented at the price level I am interested in.
It would be nice to block out the office hubbub, so I am guessing that over-ear, rather than on-ear would be preferable? And closed back to avoid annoying colleagues.
There seems to be various Sony models around, one pair that have noise cancelling for around £80 depending on where you look seem to get good reviews.
AKG gets mentioned a lot; AKG Y50 I think from the top of my head.
Urbanears do some wireless headphones that look pretty nice, but I am not sure how good they are sound quality-wise.
I know Bose/B&W etc. get mentioned a lot on here, but I don't think the budget will stretch to it.
Any recommendations? A girl in the office has some £300 Sony's that are really good, but way over budget.
Ta.
I've basically asked for the same thing.
Although whilst doing some research in anticipation of the "which ones" question from the non tech savvy in laws i saw a few things to take note of.
Normal wireless bluetooth ones are fine for audio but if you want to watch TV with them you need ones with a "Atpx low latency" feature, this apparently removes any audio / visual sync differences to 50ms instead of 250 odd ms.
If that is the case you will also need a Atpx low latency compatible bluetooth transmitter to connect to the audio out of your TV, a normal bluetooth one cant deal with the latency so you will get out of sync audio. As far as i could tell they just plug into the 3.5mm headphone socket of your TV.
Denon do a model of wireless ones AH-GC20 which are Atpx low latency, bluetooth and noise cancelling for not to silly money. (edit, £50 more than your budget but there are others out there in your budget)
And apparently if something is labelled Atpx it wont do the latency thing of ones marked Atpx low latency, Atpx low latency is a specific thing for audio visual listening (TV,DVD etc)
Sorry if a bit off track but some reviews of wireless bluetooth headphones mentioned the audio sync issues as a real problem so headphones with Atpx LL are necessary if you'll be doing that.
Id have just gone for the ones i thought looked nicest with good reviews in my price range until i saw that but then thought about how i'd be using them on the spin bike with a non bluetooth TV. When the bluetooth transmitter adaptors I'd need for the TV got looked into i found all this out.
Having had 450s, 451s and N60NCs, my default response to any ‘what headphones?’ Type question is ‘whatever AKG make for that application/your budget’
So, err, that.
AKG C50BT from Argos. Same as Y50BT, only £70 🙂 Got a pair this week, happy with connectivity and they sound good.
Jabra Move (as per [url= https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bluetooth-headphones/ ]thewirecutter's recommendation[/url]) have been great for me, feel much more expensive than they are, and can often be had for about £50 on Amazon.
neverownenoughbikes - I hadn't even considered that, to be honest.
These will be mainly for listening to music at work so I don't think it will be an issue, but something to bear in mind!
I did see some of the Sony reviews mentioned a software upgrade to aptx, but not sure if that was low latency, or not.
AKG seem like a safe bet, if going for non-noise cancelling ones.
richpenny - how well do the Y50BT isolate general background noise. The ear pad looks quite small - I guess they are on ear, rather than over ear?
There are some real moaning ranters sitting near me at work & some days their incessant whinging really grates - my in ear headphones don't really block it out very well, so I'd like something that isolated me from the office, if possible!
ive got bose soundsport pulse that I use for commuting, picked up with a heavy (family) discount - excellent, but not sure I would go for RRP.
I don't use them in the office as I need to hear stuff going on around me.
I don’t see why you would want wireless to use at a desk. Surely a decent set of wired without a battery to charge would sound better for the same money.
Lindy over-ears ones are pretty good, I'd say (sound is far better with the NR on than off, weirdly). Wired and bluetooth
soobalias - Member
ive got bose soundsport pulse
Cheers, but not really what I'm after & I think they'd be over-budget, even on offer.
andyflaw - Member
I don’t see why you would want wireless to use at a desk. Surely a decent set of wired without a battery to charge would sound better for the same money.
Yeah, well.....I know what you mean. I currently use wired headphones & they are fine. But, I just like the idea of the freedom of wireless headphones. I frequently get up to go to a cupboard, or to the printer etc. and it would be nice to just get up & wander off, rather having to pick my phone up & carry it with me....I know it's not a major thing & I did think do I really need wireless headphones.....and I do think if I went for conventional wired versions I would regret it.
simon_g - Member
Jabra Move (as per thewirecutter's recommendation) have been great for me, feel much more expensive than they are, and can often be had for about £50 on Amazon.
They look good, although perhaps battery life a bit less than I'd like compared to others, and a couple of reviews mention they aren't great at isolating background noise & the leak quite a bit, which might annoy my colleagues.
scaredypants - Member
Lindy over-ears ones are pretty good, I'd say (sound is far better with the NR on than off, weirdly). Wired and bluetooth
Just looked these up - they look pretty good!
So I think my shortlist from here is those AKG ones and the Lindy ones.
The Sony ones I have seen are: SONY MDR-ZX770BNL. They seem to get good reviews & battery life seems good. Decisions, decisions.....
I had exactly the same requirement today, and settled on the Sony MDR-770BN which are currently around £80 quid, down from £150ish...
Because I'm a sucker I ended up buying the Sony MDR-1000X from Currys at £229 down from £329 because they've just been discontinued and superseded.
AKG C50BT from Argos. Same as Y50BT, only £70 Got a pair this week, happy with connectivity and they sound good.
Picked some up also, think they’re back up to £90
Used them on the turbo a couple of times and all seems good, they fold up pretty neat but there’s definitely an issue with the left hand piece knocking the power button on the right hand side.
Whilst we are here...
I've tried expensive (£250) ones in a shop and was stunned by the instant silence. I didn't think cheap ones could do that same job, but I tried a mate's Cowin E7 I think cheapie ones (£60) and they did the same thing. Audio quality obviously not as good.
Is this the best way to get instant silence for that kind of price?
Can you get in-ear ones that my Mrs can use on the trainer that cut out noise as well for a similar price?
You can get active noise cancelling in ear phones too, though it's somewhat less necessary as they create a better seal in your ears.
Price wise I suppose it depends if your priority is noise cancelling or sound quality.
molgrips - Member
Whilst we are here...Is this the best way to get instant silence for that kind of price?
There is apparently quite a bit of variation in the effectiveness of the noise cancelling.
A bloke at work has a really cheap pair of noise cancelling headphones and while they work, it's more of a muffling effect than actually silencing.
However, another colleague has got some that are amazing at the noise cancelling bit. But they are £300 Sony's.
I suspect they use similar technology as the cheaper ones in the range, so am erring towards those.
Although the Lindy BNX-60 also gets good reviews.
You can get in-ear ones but given they don't cover the ear, I'd be surprised if they are as effective.
Having had 450s, 451s and N60NCs, my default response to any ‘what headphones?’ Type question is ‘whatever AKG make for that application/your budget’
This! Love my N60NC, and all the other AKG's I've had before that.