Need advice on Budget Headphones

klrman · 2019-02-08T00:21:24.000Z

Audio is not my specialty at all. Need advice on a decent pair of budget headphones that I can connect to my pc that have good acoustics and noise cancelling. I will use them mostly for listening to nature sounds such as tropical forests, waterfalls etc.

flydiver · 2019-02-08T00:45:09.000Z

I have a pair of Taotronics TT-BH22 that work pretty well. Used them on a 17 hour international flight, and lawn mowing. They aren’t Bose, but they also aren’t $200-300.

Do you have a lot of ambient noise that you need noise cancelling?

klrman · 2019-02-08T01:42:58.000Z

Need to try and cancel out tv noise from the other room that my wife loves to keep on, but other than not nothing much really. Had a look at the TT-BH22 and it says bluetooth. I should have specified I want wired headphones.

Virisenox · 2019-02-08T02:11:17.000Z

Monoprice 8323s are really good for the money.

raccoon · 2019-02-08T05:22:35.000Z

My favorite pair of headphones are my ISK MDH9000 clones.

They are noise isolating, not noise cancelling, however.

BurningPlayd0h · 2019-02-08T06:45:49.000Z

Price range? “Budget” means very different things to different people.

klrman · 2019-02-08T19:01:12.000Z

Thanks for the suggestions for far! Budget about $30?

Marc_E · 2019-02-08T20:24:11.000Z

Closed-back headphones will have a level of passive noise-cancelling, like low quality ear-defenders, you might find a pair good enough depending on how loud the noise you want drown out is. Active noise-cancelling headphones will be less hit and more miss at that price range, cheap electronics tend to introduce hiss which some people will find annoying, depends on your hearing, and money spent on electronics is less money spent on audio quality at what is already the beudget end of the market.
I’ve no idea what’s available where you are or how prices translate but as a starting point Superlux are a good budget brand over here, something like this might work better than cheap active noise-cancelling headphones:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Superlux-HD669-Headphones/dp/B003GU16J0?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffnt-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003GU16J0

There might be a low end Yamaha or even Sennheiser model that fits your budget, and it might be worth finding a DJ forum to see what budget headphones are recommended there as they obviously work in a noisy environment.

When travelling i use IEMs (In Ear Monitors) which act like ear-plugs so have very good passive noise-cancellation, but are more intrusive, less practical and are subject to fiddly fitment in the ear so may not be your thing.

klrman · 2019-02-09T05:24:52.000Z

Thanks Marc, very helpful. I hate the loud hiss personally so will need to pay a little more for better headphones. They sell the HD669 over there and I may just go with them and be happy, thanks for your help!

Marc_E · 2019-02-09T13:01:48.000Z

No worries. If you have access to a department store that has headphones on display it would be worth trying some on to see if that kind of design will provide enough noise cancellation for you.
Just had a quick look at amazon.ca and they’re well over your budget! I have just been educated in Canada/UK exchange rates

flydiver · 2019-02-09T13:26:25.000Z

They also take a standard stereo cable. BT is a plus, and works, but most of my personal use has been with a cable.

klrman · 2019-02-10T19:55:08.000Z

Marc E:

No worries. If you have access to a department store that has headphones on display it would be worth trying some on to see if that kind of design will provide enough noise cancellation for you. Just had a quick look at amazon.ca and they’re well over your budget! I have just been educated in Canada/UK exchange rates

Good idea to try them on first and yes, the Canadian dollar sucks when it comes to exchange rates!

klrman · 2019-02-10T19:56:16.000Z

flydiver:

They also take a standard stereo cable. BT is a plus, and works, but most of my personal use has been with a cable.

Not a fan of wifi head gear and prefer cable as well.

flydiver · 2019-02-10T20:03:06.000Z

Hate cables. Avoid them, hoses, and electrical cords whenever possible. Their only purpose in life is to tangle up and frustrate me.

BlueSwordM · 2019-02-10T20:08:24.000Z

Nah, I have the opposite situation.

Cables are what I like. Most efficient way to transmit power, best audio quality, least signal degradation, etc.

@klrman, I would actually recommend the JVC HA S500:

ebay.ca

JVC Stereo headphone gunmetal HA S500 Z for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for JVC Stereo headphone gunmetal HA S500 Z. Shop with confidence.

These are godly headphones when tuned and modded properly.

klrman · 2019-02-10T20:09:15.000Z

ha, I know what your saying, I actually hate them too especially when it comes to construction but still, I recently hard wired cat6 all around my house as well as 2 x 32ft and 1x 16 usb extension cables with boosters as I don't want all that wifi around.