
Ask HN: Which headphones do you use while working? - excitednumber
I have used the Shure 215 (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Shure-SE215-K-Isolating-Earphones-MicroDriver&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B004PNZFZ8) for a number of years. The ability to replace the cable has saved me a number of times and the headphones still work&#x2F;sound great.<p>I am curious to know what others use especially for noise cancellation. The Shure 215 are not noise-cancelling but do significantly block.
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rajeshp1986
I was skeptical about high end headphones till now. My wife gifted me a Bose
Quiet comfort 35 last week and initially I was mad at her for spending so much
but I can confidently say that they are "The best" headphones if you are
coding. The design is great and fits perfectly on ears. I can wear them for
long hours. I couldn't bear any headphones for more than 1 hour continuously
before and always thought there is something wrong with my ear shape.

I am glad to find these headphones. You should definitely try these without
bothering about price. The price will look small when you start using them. If
they allow you to go into Deep Work and focus on whatever you are doing then
the price pays off!

~~~
laurieg
I advise people to give noise cancelling headphones like these a try for 30
minutes to an hour before spending a lot of money on them. I found the noise
cancellation feature causes a pressure like feeling on my ears that was very
uncomfortable and I could not wear the headphones for extended periods.

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coryfklein
I use the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro. Noise cancelling really only works for
static noises (like air conditioning, engine roar), which can actually make
workspace noise like talking and voices stand out more.

In-ear headphones don't provide enough comfort for extended listening day in
day out, so over-ear headphones are the best choice IMO.

Anything of good build quality in the $150+ price range is likely worthwhile,
assuming you don't go for the overmarketed brands like Beats. I chose the DT
770 Pro because they are studio-quality, meant to last, and Beyerdynamics even
supplies repair parts. They are meant to last through heavy use while
providing studio level sound quality.

~~~
skylark
This doesn't match my experience at all. Bose noise cancelling is excellent
and completely blocks out my coworkers' voices.

At home I use Beyers and Sennheisers because I enjoy the audio quality, but at
work these headphones are as essential to me as my keyboard and mouse.

~~~
coryfklein
_shrug_ I have Bose noise cancelling headphones in the drawer at work. For me,
they only seem to remove the sound of the air conditioner.

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dharma1
At home I like Sennheiser HD-650, but being open back headphones they leak
quite a bit of sound in and out. For the office (and commute) I just bought
the Sony MDR-1000x - the noise canceling is very good, better than Sennheiser
Momentum or Bose.

I like IEM's for the size but in terms of comfort not so much.

For those on a tight budget, best value headphones I've used are Soundmagic
e10 IEM's and Superlux HD681 Evo closed back headphones, for about £25 each
they are great.

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Philomath
I also have the Bose QuietComfort 30 and I've been using them every day for
everything, not only work. I am super happy with how comfortable they are, and
while I don't think the noise cancelling is really important working from
home, I really enjoy it when I am in a noisy enviroment.

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jfensch
Audio Technica ATH-50X with velour replacement pads. Blocks a fair bit of
noise while remaining cool.

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softwarefounder
It's great to see such in-depth answers here.

I simply use some cheap skull candy earbuds. The important thing to me is
earbuds. They almost never leak sound, and can easily drown out surrounding
noise at mid-volume.

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iKnowKungFoo
Beats Studio Wireless (latest edition). The noise-cancelling is so good that I
can't tell when somoenee has walked up to talk to me. On planes it manages to
cancel out nearly all engine noise. The bluetooth connection is great and
works over a surprising distance, this allows me to wander about my office as
I'm pondering a problem. Had an issue with the original pair I purchased where
the left ear got disconnected after a few months. Apple sent me a replacement
pair and haven't had any other issues since then.

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19eightyfour
Bose QC 35. I wish the noise cancellation was adjustable and better. I mean it
is good. But I'm one of those people who actually wants to be encased in a
cocoon of total silence any time I choose.

Some examples. Sitting outside in a noisy cafe, with NC and white noise
playing: zero background noise.

Same setup without a track playing, only NC: I can hear everything, but it's
just quieter. Voices, cars still there. Not acceptable.

The way I interpreted the promise of NC was it would actually play the inverse
wave and cancel everything. I don't understand why some sound gets through.
And I feel cheated.

I don't think my expectation was unrealistic because it was based on the
following episode. I was on a plane and the Qatari American guy next to me
chatted to me about films. When our conversation died he started watching
movies, with some huge black headphones. I asked him about them. And he told
me they were NC and asked if I'd like to try. I put them on, then he pushed
one button on the side and whsp! Every noise disappeared! The plane engine was
gone. He kept talking but it was gone too. It was literally a religious moment
for me. I glimpsed another world I didn't know existed. I never knew I could
end all the noise. So naturally I had to get myself a pair. I asked what they
were and he said Bose QC. They were from a few years ago. So you see I thought
I'd found something I could trust.

At Yodobashi Camera I was so excited to buy my QC 35. But when I used them, I
could not rationalise away my disappointment. It was qualitatively different.
On the plane those headphones had clearly put my ears in a pressurized bubble.
Of total silence. But the QC 35 was just like God had turned the world volume
down a third of the way. Really not good enough.

So now I still wear them, but I'm always playing tracks. At least I've
discovered Spotify. But I still think I'd much rather prefer, the Total Noise
Cancellation my first experience promised. Now sometimes I even go back and
question the trustworthiness the guy who introduced me to NC such is the
magnitude of the difference between my expectation and the reality. Did that
Qatari American guy trick me? Did he just start mouthing silently as soon as
he pressed the NC button? Or did that NC tech really cut everything? And if
the tech was legit, did Qatar or 2014 get better NC tech than Japan or 2017?
Why has Bose foresaken me?

~~~
scherzo
Bose (and other NC headphones) can only cancel repetitive noise. It can only
send an opposite sound wave at the right amplitude and frequency at the right
time to cancel another if it knows ahead of time what to send out. So airplane
noise, traffic, airconditioning, servers whirring. I find that in airplanes it
actually allows me to hear the cabin attendants better, as the drone is cut,
but the voices are not. It's why they are not that great a solution in an open
office.

The isolation you are looking for you can achieve with ear defenders. Put them
over in ear headphones, and you won't hear anything else but your music.

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gaspoweredcat
Etymotic er4p with a custom null audio cable and ACS custom eartips, this is
not noise cancelling, it's total blockage, when you have music playing someone
can stand in front of you shouting at full volume and you won't hear anything
but your tunes

Although ACS no longer make custom eartips there are other places that do such
as snugz, without doubt custom tips are the single best upgrade you can buy
for your sound

~~~
camflan
I agree, getting ACS molds for my ER4p is one of my favorite audio purchases.
All day comfort + maximum isolation

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seanwilson
> The ability to replace the cable has saved me a number of times and the
> headphones still work/sound great.

I couldn't switch back from using bluetooth headphones. Once you get used to
the wire not getting in the way and how you can walk around without having to
take your headphones off, wired headphones just feel awkward. When you can get
ones with 40 hours battery life then that isn't an issue either.

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e_py
AKG K845bt. These are my first bt headphones and I can tell you that they make
a difference. I was skeptical about bt headphones but the freedom you get with
them will change your mind.

About sound quality there is no doubts about AKG, in my opinion one of the
best brands out there.

In reference to the price.. yes they are expensive compared to other
headphones but for someone who uses them more than 5h a day.. I think they pay
off

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RUG3Y
I have HyperX Cloud headphones, they're a gaming headset. The mic has nice
quality sound, I use it a lot for conferencing. The sound is balanced (a lot
of gaming headsets are bass heavy, these are not) and most importantly,
they're very, very comfortable. I can wear them all day no problem.

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zhte415
None. I find a quiet place for things that require concentration, indeed there
are quiet areas for this otherwise private areas exist, work from home, or
otherwise enjoy an open-plan office format when collaboration is prioritised.

Pushing for this shouldn't be underrated.

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sushid
I would highly recommend Bose QC20 in ear. I have the over ear version and
while mine may excel in the noise cancellation department, the QC20 beats mine
out of the water in terms of noise blocking overall.

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bjourne
I've been using Bose QuietComfort 15 for years. Unfortunately, something has
broken in them so they aren't as good at noice cancellation as they were when
I bought them.

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iDemonix
At home I use Sennheiser HD600s, often through my Marantz PM60005 amp, or a
portable Fiio amp. If I'm at work I just Sennheiser Momentums, over-ear kind.

The HD600s are brilliant for gaming, music and movies, but obviously are open
backed so are no good for a busy office. I find in games, people often
complain they couldn't hear me coming, but I could hear them! The sound
quality is amazing and I don't think I'd ever replace them, unless they broke
- in which case I'd either buy more or try HD650s.

The momentums are great for travelling and this morning I actually bought my
other half a pair of the folding on-ear versions for travelling and being away
from home.

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camflan
Working at home lets me use speakers or open headphones most of the time, so
Hifiman 400i, but when I need isolation I use either Oppo PM-3 or Etymotic
ER4p

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hector_ka
Spracht Konf-X with noise cancelling. $79.99 .Way cheaper than Bose, and very
comfortable for me . I also use them when flying.

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1123581321
Velodyne vQuiet. They're not the best, but they periodically go on sale for
$30 and they're very good for that price.

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ddorian43
I use Panasonic Ergofit earbuds:
[http://www.ebay.com/itm/322284263220?_trksid=p2057872.m2749....](http://www.ebay.com/itm/322284263220?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
(really ergonomic, have kept them for 12+ hours/day (fell asleep))

Also have Sennheiser 380 Pro but am looking for something that blocks a lot
more.

------
TCS_Alone
Sony MRD-1000x's are fantastic. Very comparable in price to the QC35's, but I
find the active noise cancelling to be noticeably superior.

Also if your media playback hardware is Sony, you can use their proprietary
Bluetooth audio codec (less compression) for superior sound... (assuming your
source media is high enough quality)

------
kevinherron
Bose QuietComfort 35

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amirouche
Marshall Headphones M-ACCS-00152 Monitor Headphones

------
Shanbo
sennheiser 598. Forget that they are on, sound good enough. For noise
cancelling, I use the bose quiet comfort.

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newsat13
Koss Sporta pro

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jbdigriz
If you're willing to pay top dollar, I highly recommend the B&O Play by Bang
and Olufsen Beoplay H8 wireless/wired headphones. I got these at an airport a
few years ago when I forgot my AKG headphones and am convinced they are the
best to be had. The sound quality is phenomenal and the active noise
cancellation is superb. They have a removable battery which is huge for
headphones at this price range ($500) and they can last 14 hrs on a single
charge which is best in class. But if battery goes dead, can always plug them
in an use as wired headphones (though worth mentioning that you lose the noise
cancellation which sucks if say you're watching an in flight movie). The best
feature is the touch interface for stop/start, volume control, skip/previous
track, activate/disable noise cancellation and answering calls. It's resistive
touch which means you can use it without removing your gloves which is huge!

Build quality is phenomenal and they're surprisingly low profile. My first
pair actually had a problem with the touch interface and B&O not only replaced
them, they expedited shipment so I'd get them in time when I explained I had a
long trip coming up - so great support.

The only drawbacks are:

\- they're on-ear which takes some getting used to, especially early on before
the band takes shape to your head and can press to your ears. However, the
padding is very soft and even replaceable! I now believe on ear produces the
best accuracy as there's no acoustic reverberations and feedback that you can
sometimes get with over ear. However, over ear is more comfortable and even
after breaking these in, you'll still get ear fatigue after some hours of use.
That being said, I've fallen asleep for hours on flights wearing these and not
even playing music as the noise cancellation completely eliminates engine
noise and most external sound in general

\- they cannot be charged and used at the same time, even if using the wired
lead. This is probably the biggest drawback though at 14 hrs play time and
having a replaceable battery, this can be mitigated

\- the previously mentioned drawback of not having noise cancellation when
using them wired is annoying because the noise cancellation is exceptionally
good

\- they don't fold in any way, so you need to consider how to carry them if
not in use. I usually just extend the headphones and keep them around my neck.
In general though, you'll find the higher quality headphones won't be foldable
as that's an easy point of failure

They're pricey but I've tried a number of other brands and the features/sound
quality of these are far and away the best to be had. Not to mention, they
look great when worn unlike most others that look cheep or goofy in their
bulk. Highly recommend

Amazon has them on Prime: [https://www.amazon.com/Bang-Olufsen-Wireless-
Headphone-Cance...](https://www.amazon.com/Bang-Olufsen-Wireless-Headphone-
Cancelling/dp/B01KOAJLGE/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1490804439&sr=1-5&keywords=B%26o+h8)

