I really don't know if this is the correct forum to post. If it's not please point me in the right direction.

Well, to the matter of it. I recently bought an Ipod and was considering to replace the headphones that came with it for a better ones. Would you recommend me good model? Noise cancelling isn't a must but it would be nice...

PS I have a budget of $150.

The Audio Hardware forum is more appropriate for this kind of discussion.

As for your question, are you searching for regular headphones or in-ear canal phones? And for regular headphones, do you have some preference or requirement about size?

If you need in-ear phones (also called IEMs), Etymotic and Shure have some great products in that price range. For regular small headphones you might want to look at portable ranges from Sennheiser and Koss. If you can handle some larger headphones, you'll have much more options, such as higher-end Sennheisers, Grado SR60 or AKG K-81 DJ. Some people even use AKG's K-701s (a very high end headphone) with iPod.

For that budget you can IMO get a pretty good set of headphones, but the problem is that they may not be very portable at all. Also some larger headphones are seriously underpowered by a regular iPod headphone output and need amping.

Here are some popular and inexpensive models you might want to take a look at:

Sennheiser PX100 and PX200
Sennheiser PXC 250 with noise cancellation
Koss PortaPro or SportaPro
AKG K-81DJ

If you want to read more about high-end headphones than you ever believed was possible, feel free to visit the Head-fi forums.

if you're after in-ears, read some reviews of "Shure e3", "UE Super.Fi 3" and some of Etymotic's IEM's. Those are nice phones that should fit your budget.

Sennheiser HD280 Pros, are, in my opinion, the best 100$ you could spend on headphones.

i second recommending sennheisers. they are awesome headphones.

Thanks everybody for the prompt input. My bad I didn't specified more what I wanted.

I hate In-Ear Phones so what I want is an over the ear model that I can wear confortably. I have big ears, not Dumbo big, LOL, it's just that I'm a big man (6'4"/1.93 M). Portability is not an issue since I can use the original ones as a portable option. I just want a confortable, great sounding phones that my Ipod can "move" for about $150 ($100 would be even better...). Like I said before, Noise Cancelling is not a must but it would be nice even if its passive noise cancelling.




I read that particular model is not recomended for portables...

HD-280 Pros are your best bet! http://www.headphone.com/products/headphon...-hd-280-pro.php

I have the Sennheiser HD 202. Not the best, but it suits me.

I have a pair of these, geart sound and very confortable

http://www.gradolabs.com/frameset_main.htm

I'm convinced they are a great headphones. The brand says it all. What worries me is that maybe my Ipod is not powerful enough for them. Any testimonials?

A quick google search reveals this :

http://www.mp3.com/sennheiser-hd280-pro/ha...73/reviews.html

(by the way, I don't work for Senn, but I bought a pair of 280s, and a friend of mine liked the sound, so he also bought one of his own, for his iRiver player)

Well, I suppose it's settled then. Thanks.

I'm using B&O earphones - they are incredibly comfortable and offer decent sound quality, beautifully made also:

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/p...ub=ls&prodid=33

Cost me €150 in Denmark so I would guess they're around the $150 mark in the US.

Yes those B&O aren't bad sounding and compared to all other clip-on/hang-on/rest-in ear buds out there these are actually adjustable and comfortable.

But.. un-amped there is only one king, the sennheiser HD-595.

The 595 might not be perfect, but never have music been so enjoyable on my laptop, from my mp3 player, portable dvd etc etc. For the price (remember no amp) it can't be beat.
It's like sennheiser has found a golden middle compromise. There is no big flaws to distract you from the music. Very homogenous.
No hollow can sound, no boomy uncontrolled bass, no sibilance out of control.

They are forward, but not Grado 'feel the spit from the vocalist in your face' forward. Compared to the HD600 20'th row in the back, they might be row 3-4.
The midrange is the best area. Voices never sounded better. close and detailed. These are also the headphones that reveal easiest artifacts from compression
but unlike most phones they don't carve your ears out with them. So it's no problem enjoying a less than optimal mp3 or streaming radio.

Some say it lacks bass, but that's not true. It's just very well dampened, so they don't reveal themselves with Mmmm Mmmm resonance after every impulse. It's deep, punchy and clean.
I'd kill to have speakers that sounds like this. Sometimes the bass even scares me, like it appears without warning. Watching dvd's with a well mixed soundtrack on these is a blast.

They are comfortable and not too big either. Okay since it fits around your ears they are large phones but not like the K701 (OMG!)
I easily bring them with me on the bus, the train, the plane, at work .. anywhere except when I'm on my bike.

I must have spend something like 3000dollars on headphones over the years. the 180bucks HD595 set me back was well worth it.
It's now my favorite together with AKG K701 which must have an amp and costs 2-3 times more.

for more rants like this go visit the head-fi forum: http://www.head-fi.org/

-Pusle

I enjoy my Sennheiser 280Pro's.

For $70USD the Grado SR-60s are hard to beat - wonderfully up front sound. However, they are completely transparent to external sound and so a bad choice in a noisy environment.

I have the Sennheiser PXC250 noise cancellers as well - they work OK but pale by comparison to the $300 Bose noise cancellers both in isolation and presence. The Senns sound neutral but unexciting, while the Bose QC2 is interestingly musical - much more compelling and much more comfortable. I know the common opinions of Bose on forums like this, but I really find these to be exceptional headphones that work beautifully on flights.

All of these 'phones work very well with portables.

I have the Sennheiser HD 555 and i love them. They got a value rating of 5.0 out of 5 on HeadRoom and here's a quote from them :



Source : http://www.headphone.com/products/headphon...iser-hd-555.php

Just an Update....


I bought the Senn HD 280 two weeks ago. At first the sound was horrible. I was so frustrated I just wanted to put then on the driveway and drive over them. Then, I remembered many said they took a while to burn-in so I made a custom CD with all the types of music I listen to and waited. And waited some more...I took about 50 hours for them to become enjoyable. They are not perfect cans, but for the price they offer what I was looking for, good sound, confort and noise reduction.

I have a pair of PXC 250 under-warrenty. I like them a lot. I haven't made use of the noise cancelling feature on them yet or haven't had a need to. None the less I was extremely impressed for the price and quality.