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On Jun 3, 8:21*am, Ger wrote:
On Jun 2, 12:22 am, " wrote:

Spouse watches TV. I listen to music. She won't close caption. I use
Bose noise-reduction units on my laptop to listen to music, but I can
still here the TV, no matter how low it goes. I assume I need over
the
ear headphones. But what are the best that will close to 100 percent
drown out TV and other noise?

I'd go for Beyerdynamic DT880, although to maximize what this
'closed' (and
fully-cover-the-ear) phones can do you'll need to use a (small as a
lighter, even) battery run headphone
amplifier. I like the ones athttp://www.fixup.net/products/index.htm....
both phones + amp together are a
lot of dough, but I don't think you'll ever look back (and you'll
forget completely about the TV!)

Wide price variance on the amps. Do I need to go all the way?

[Greg Wormald]

In article ,
" wrote:

I picked up the Beyermeyer 880s via Amazon. Now
about those amps? I'm not a cheapo, but how much should I spend,
honestly, just for listing to internet radio on the laptop while the
wife watches Oprah on TV? Is there a rule of thumb that the amps
should cost X times the cost for the headset or vice versa?

There really is no such 'rule' although with what I would call 'fairly
expensive' headphones, I'd be going for a similar amp. It really does
depend on how much hi-fi you want and and how much you want to spend.

I'd be considering that internet radio is probably only 256 bps at the
best, and if you are listening while surfing, they your attention is not
focussed on the music, so a high-end amp may be overkill. The other
issues are whether you want a portable with battery power, and do you
want to use a dedicated DAC or just the headphone out socket on the
computer?

I have an old version of one of the cheapest Headroom amps and the
crossfeed circuit makes this one of my favourites. I use mid-range Grado
'phones.

Greg

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On Jun 10, 12:30*pm, Greg Wormald wrote:
In article ,

" wrote:
I picked up the Beyermeyer 880s via Amazon. Now
about those amps? I'm not a cheapo, but how much should I spend,
honestly, just for listing to internet radio on the laptop while the
wife watches Oprah on TV? Is there a rule of thumb that the amps
should cost X times the cost for the headset or vice versa?

There really is no such 'rule' although with what I would call 'fairly
expensive' headphones, I'd be going for a similar amp. It really does
depend on how much hi-fi you want and and how much you want to spend.

I'd be considering that internet radio is probably only 256 bps at the
best, and if you are listening while surfing, they your attention is not
focussed on the music, so a high-end amp may be overkill. The other
issues are whether you want a portable with battery power, and do you
want to use a dedicated DAC or just the headphone out socket on the
computer?

I have an old version of one of the cheapest Headroom amps and the
crossfeed circuit makes this one of my favourites. I use mid-range Grado
'phones.

Greg

I can plug in an amp, although I'd rathe not have to use a power
converter, too; I travel a lot—just an adapter. Can go either way on
sockets? Best buy for $250 or so?

[Greg Wormald]

In article ,
" wrote:


I can plug in an amp, although I'd rathe not have to use a power
converter, too; I travel a lot—just an adapter. Can go either way on
sockets? Best buy for $250 or so?

I'd be tempted to try the 'phones directly from the laptop. If that
isn't good enough, then the cheapest, battery-powered Headroom amp
should do.
I could also be tempted to go one step up on the amp and use the USB
port if quality is important.
Greg

[Norman M. Schwartz]

Greg Wormald wrote:
In article ,
" wrote:


I can plug in an amp, although I'd rathe not have to use a power
converter, too; I travel a lot-just an adapter. Can go either way on
sockets? Best buy for $250 or so?

I'd be tempted to try the 'phones directly from the laptop. If that
isn't good enough, then the cheapest, battery-powered Headroom amp
should do.

The Radio Shack Cat # 33-1109, 2AA battery powered, Headphone Volume Booster
($20) meets all my travel needs. In fact it's nearly good enough to
seriously challenege the Creek OBH-11SE headphone amplifier I have for home
use.

I could also be tempted to go one step up on the amp and use the USB
port if quality is important.
Greg