Randy Given wrote:
I'll take another look at the plugins, but since this is to be a
pair
that three people share from time to time, I know they won't want to
share plugins. I haven't had a chance to go out and try these, I
hope
to this weekend, but compared to the Sennheiser 580s, how do these
stack up:
+ Sennheiser PXC250 (noise canceling)
+ Sony MDR-V150
+ Sony MDR-V250V
+ Sony MDR-V300
+ Sony MDR-V600

Over 10yrs ago, the Sony MDR-V6 (i think) were superb. After the pads
wore out, all I coud find were the MDR-V600. Thinking the V600's were
a newer version of the V6 I got 2pr - they were not the same, and were
lacking in the high end, so I returned them. Soon after that I
noticed that many movie and audio pro's were using Sondy MDR-7506 (in
the "pro" line). Could not find them in any of the local consumer
retail stores, but finally found them in a pro audio outlet. The 7506
sounded just like the older V6 - truly excellent - tight non-boomy
bass, crisp clean non-tiring highs.

After the pads wore out on the 7506 I thought I'd "move up" to "even
better" sound - so got Sennheiser 600 - wow, everything was great:
build quality, fit, but wait something was missing. Being an
(ex)drummer, cymbals did not sound right, they were missing some
sizzle and indeed after much investigation the freq response graph
published on headroom showed a dip right in the upper mids where,
apparently, I was noticing the cymbals sounding a bit muted. After
voicing my concerns with the headroom guys, they agreed that this has
been noted in the past and recommended 2 other brands they sell (sorry
i forget which, but I decided not to try any others at that time).

Some time after that, I thought that since the MDR-7506 were so good
to me maybe the MDR-7509 would be even better - but no, they had too
much bass, not realistic, hated them. So ultimately I decided to stay
with the 7506 and just get new pads every few years.

I tried the Koss Plug and could never ever get them to fit in my ears
even after whittling them down. Also tried the Sony in-ear
MDR-EX71SL - these were small, easy to pocket and fit IN my ear great
and closed out almost all outside sounds which is what I needed where
I work. They solved the ear-sweat problem I have during extended
listening sessions with the closed-design MDR-7506. BUT they suffered
from some minor distortion in the mids so I don't use them anymore and
cannot recommend them.

I have still been searching form small, easy-to-pocket in-ear
headphones - I am wanting in-ear to block out external sounds as much
as possible. While these are not really in-ear, I have found the
cheapo Panasonic RP-HX32 to sound very good and using the headband
helps hold them a bit closer to the ear canal rather than just sitting
in the ear cup. I did also try some Sony headband sports style
headphones that make the earpieces fit snugly into the canal, but they
sucked - not good freq response. I will probably try some Etymotic's
and/or Shure e2/e5 but have heard mixed reports on them - and good
grief why do they have to cost so much.