What are some decent pairs of small portable headphones that can be used
with a notebook computer.

p.s., I favor the Sennheiser line, like my SD580s, but open to (good
sounding) suggestions.

"Randy Given" wrote in message
newsSSmd.77$D26.13@lakeread03
What are some decent pairs of small portable headphones that can be
used with a notebook computer.


Koss "The Plug" $19.95 US$ I got a pair from Circuit City on a whim, and
they turned out to be easily worth twice the price. IMO an unbelievable
value. I notice that there are UK sources pricing them at like £12. The
sound is more like 580s than 7506s.
www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/files/graphics/$file/THEPLUG_lg.jpg

Sony MDR EX-70 or MDR EX-71 $33-40. More bass and treble than "The Plug" but
that might mean that "The Plug" is smoother. A little less efficient. I
notice that there are UK sources pricing them at like £25-£35. The sound is
more like 7506s than 580s. http://www.hogwildstore.com/sonmdrex71sl.html

Shure E-2 used to be about $80, now selling for more like $100. The E2c
differs from the E2 in terms of packaging. More highly robust than Hi-Fi.
Very smooth but rolled off at both ends. With a little equalization they can
sound very nice. Did I say that they are very mechanically and electrically
robust? I notice that there are UK sources pricing them at £77.00 and up.
The sound is more laid back than 580s.
http://www.shure.com/earphones/eseries_e2c.asp

Etymotic ER-6 about $120. Originally, I thought the ER-6s were horrible,
but I played around with my collection of earpieces until I got them to
be tolerable.
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.asp

Sennheiser IE3 IEMs turn out to be FutureSonics' EM3 EARS about $150. IMO
the best sound of the group discussed here. They are reasonably effiicent
and have excellent bass and treble response as well as smooth midrange.
http://futuresonics.umsebiz.com/stor...75&item=370255

Arny, excellent stuff and I was hoping you would reply!

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

Thanks!

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.

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Randy Given" wrote in message
newsSSmd.77$D26.13@lakeread03

What are some decent pairs of small portable headphones that can be
used with a notebook computer.

The best portable ones are the Porta-Pro. Other than that,
you have to go to full-sized ones, which may not be great
for travelling.

"Randy Given" wrote in message
news:a14nd.3$HE2.1@lakeread05
Arny, excellent stuff and I was hoping you would reply!

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

I have no experience with any of them. Oh, I guess I've heard the MDR-V600
which are reputed to be the current version of the MDR-V6 of which I had
two pairs and wore them out, and they are therefore cousins of the MDR 7506
which I still have and use all the time. The MDR EX-70 and 71 (The 71 has a
different cord) have a similar but nothing like identical sound quality to
the MDR 7506, to my ears.

In-Ear-Monitors, which is the formal name for what you seem to call
Plug-ins, have considerable inherent reduction of external noise. My
experience with actual noise-canceling earphones is not good.

BTW, there are some noise-rejecting versions of the 7506s
http://www.trewaudio.com/hn7506.htm .

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Randy Given" wrote in message
news:a14nd.3$HE2.1@lakeread05

Arny, excellent stuff and I was hoping you would reply!

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

http://www.google.com/froogle?hl=en&...-pro&scoring=p
From there, the next berst are the Grados.

Sennheiser IE3 IEMs turn out to be FutureSonics' EM3 EARS about $150.
IMO
the best sound of the group discussed here. They are reasonably effiicent
and have excellent bass and treble response as well as smooth midrange.
http://futuresonics.umsebiz.com/stor...75&item=370255

I might give these a try. I contacted them for dealers in the area, but none
of them have them in their stores. I might order them online. My concern is
with the fit. With the problems that people have had with other IEMs, I
don't want to waste the money. Are these pretty wearable, in that I can
expect them to be comfortable out of the box and so forth?