I've got about £30 ($50) and want to buy some portable headphones for my ipod and laptop. I'm at university, and I gather that if I'm going to use them in a library without other people getting annoyed I'll need closed ones, along with the fact that I spend most of my time walking on busy roads.

So far I've seen the PX200 from sennheiser and AKG P 26. They both look like what I'm after, the P 26 seems to get lots of praise on other forums but I wondered what people thought, anything else I should be looking into?

I do own a pair of AKG P26's ... and I have a somewhat ambivalent opinion about them.

The sound quality is really nice to my ears and they do have a decent efficiency that allows high levels of sound pressure with weak outputs ... but I find them uncomfortable as hell after some 15+ minutes of listening.

Additionally, they do not sit as tight on my head as they could ... so sound quality (especially bass response) alters with virtually any head movement in my case.

I would not recommend the P26 to anyone due to the lack of wearing comfort ...

I have both the PX200 and the K26, along with the Koss PortaPro's. I don't have any comfort issues with either, but they do sound different.

The Senn's seem to have more detail, while the AKG's seems to be more bass heavy with a high end rolloff. I also seem to notice a slight boominess in the AKG's in the mid-bass region when I drive them hard. Might have been an alcohol induced illusion ;-)

I find that if I'm going to listen to rock at high volume, the Senn's are better. At low volume I like the way the AKG's sound, with a slight bump in treble with the EQ (I have 40 year old ears).

If I were only going to buy one pair, I would probably buy the PX200's. FWIW, I think both sound better than the PortaPro's.

On a side note, I just got some Koss KSC-75's for work listening (they are open), and I REALLY like the sound of these, especially given the price of $13.99 US.

edit: and JeanLuc is right about the efficiency of the AKG's. Low power output devices can drive them really well.

I have PX 200, AKG K 26 P and Koss Portapros. All have their pros and cons. I like the PX 200 least, because they don't seal very good and are somewhat bass-weak - otherwise they sound great...

As said before the AKG sound great, but the pressure is very high. I can only wear them for about an hour comfortably.

The Koss are still very good overall but I'd prefer PX 100s because the sound at least as good if not better, are very comfortable and fold up very nice.

EDIT: I'd say the answer to your question "best closed portable" is AKG K 26 P... if you're mostly into classical take a look at the PX 200 though

hmm,

whats the fit of the Px200's like, I have a pretty small head and I'm worried about what was mentioned about the AKG ones not being very comfy, or being very tight.

I listen to alot of 'ambient' music like sigur ros, I'm thinking I'll probably go for the PX200 at the moment, but really it depends on the fit.

I don't like the PX200 at all. IMHO, it lacks highs and bass isn't great either. The PX250 are a bit better because of their noise cancelling circuit. With it turned off, they sound like the PX200. I went with the PX100, but they are open.

I've bought he Koss KSC-75 recently, and after my listening experience with them (they're great according to my taste) I don't like the PX200 any more.
However the PX200 are not bad, and I still use them for abxing because of their accuracy.

For enjoying music in a noisy environment (the KSC-75 are open) I prefer simple Sennheiser MX400 earphones or - if it's not for a long time - Creative EP-630 canal phones which totally isolate you from your environment.

The Koss SportaPro are closed, and having the same drivers the KSC-75 have they may be good. But I don't own them and can't tell about them.

Hiya. I have the PX200 / K26P. Unfortunately I've only tried the Portapros but a) they were non-isolated and therefore leaky and b) sounded pretty muffled.


In the choice between the PX200 and the K26P, for me the PX200 easily takes it due to noticeably more refinement and capability.


My first PX200 had a stiff last detent on the headband so that I couldn't get a good fit (big head) and didn't realise it extended more. I dismissed it out of hand but when I used the PX100, I realised there was something wrong because the PX100 extended more. So I went back to another PX200 and it's worked fine for me ever since. It's isolation isn't quite as much as the K26P, but neither isolates as much as an in-ear or a truly isolating pair of closed phones. The sound is laid back and relatively refined as far as cheap phones go, it is not bass heavy but it delivers enough provided you get a good fit.


The varying opinions on the K26P, especially due to the rumours that there were varying batches around, intrigued me enough to get three pairs in all, two recently (one a well-used example). All have exactly the same wooly flabby 'bass-over-all' sound that I don't like... it's "McDonalds audio" that even the audiophile may find enjoyable in extreme moderation but it just annoys me. Moving it around to just break the acoustic seal a bit does get you more treble but results in a very splashy uncontrolled sound. It is fit dependent to a degree, but if you are actually getting the 'seal' to take full advantage of the isolation these offer, then your experiences should be similar to mine.


So part of the choice depends on the shape of your ears. Prince Charles or pinned-back? Big or large? They do seem to have a major bearing on the opinions people have of these two phones. However in terms of what the phone drivers are capable of, the AKG seem to be inferior to the Sennheisers.

I too am looking at portables...

But I think Shure's E2C's (canalphones) would be the best in this case...

the PX200's by sennheiser I've had mixed feelings about.

I heard the closed Koss Sporta Pro this afternoon in a shop:
- sound is great
- they look cheap
- they are cheap.

I did a short test last night. For me personally, the PortaPro sounded better at high volume than either the AGK or Senn's. Bass was there, but tighter and not muddy. I don't think any of the three have good high freq response, but with the same EQ setting, the Koss sounded better. Not a fair comparison though as the Koss are not closed.

Personally I don't like the PX200. I bought mine for portability when I got my laptop and to me they sound more muddy. Especially since they cost more than my HD433 (which sound great), and I also have HD600 which are just sooo nice. Testing all three on the same equipment the PX200 is by far the worse of the three and even worse than my 8yr old Sony buds.

At least the PX200 fold up nice and protected in their case which fits neatly into a laptop bag side pocket. They are reasonably confortable to wear for long periods too and do reduce a fair amount of ambient external noise. But soundwise they seem to be mostly midrange with a noticable lack of clean bass or crisp treble. They certainly don't live up to the Sennheiser name nor my experiences in the past with their products.