Earphones / Headphones: Where to try, what to buy?

If you are going down the Bose route, don't discount the QC20, which is an 'in ear' design, but not as you know it. You don't get the odd 'vacuum' sensation of the over ears QC25; they work just as well, can quieten plane noise pretty well, and are more comfortable to snooze in.

@TRA ahh will check out the Zuperdac as well. There's a local shop (walking distance) that's an offical Dragonfly supplier so will go take a look at it.

@Mr_Sworld ooo! That's really useful. I was amazed at the drastic difference. Given that website, explains why the ATH50x sound so much better on the MBP. Probably sound even better with a new DAC (although I dunno if I really need one at work)

Also found a chart which put the iPhone 5 at "1" for volume. The Nexus 6P was rated 0.2 on the same scale. There's quite a few threads around complaining about how quiet it is.

If you are going down the Bose route, don't discount the QC20, which is an 'in ear' design, but not as you know it. You don't get the odd 'vacuum' sensation of the over ears QC25; they work just as well, can quieten plane noise pretty well, and are more comfortable to snooze in.

That's interesting - I take it you've tried both? The in-ear ones would certainly be significantly easier to pack, also.

ATH50X still recommened for around the £90 mark?

Amazon has them for £89.99.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HVLUR86/ref=s9_simh_gw_g267_i3_r?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0G25VKYR4AQVCG4KC3QH&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop

I fucking love mine. Still debating a second pair for home. I use them daily at work... the 2015 MBP has a good DAC in it so they sound great.

Bargain, think I paid £130 for mine and am still happy!

Only the hot ears get annoying during summer...

do they work when the battery dies??

Yes, I tried the QC25 over ears ones from Amazon, but couldn't get on with them. Tried the QC20 in the store off Regent's Street, and the sound cancelling was as good if not better. Find them brilliant, and the in ear the best in terms of comfort by a mile. Not entirely sold on the industrial design, but they are for the ears not the eyes. And yes, much easier to pack (easily fit in a pocket).

yes, although don't sound as good, albeit more than adequate. You can charge them up with a micro-USB, so I've tended to do that via a small Anker battery charger on the odd occasion they've been out of juice.

Just tried both on in the Regents street store- noise cancelling is rather magical. Where's the best place to buy the 20's?

I got mine in the store; I think there was some sort of try it for 28 days deal. I don't think many places do discounts, but John Lewis give you a 2-year warranty on them

I like Audio Technica noise cancelling phones. They're over ear so already do a nice job of removing ambient noise before you enable the active cancelling. Take a AAA. Love them for flights. Can listen to stuff way lower than normal so less headache inducing movie volume levels.
Cheaper than the Bose.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Technica-AUD-ATH-ANC7B-Headphones-Wired/dp/B002HWJT1A/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1451474203&sr=8-6&keywords=AUDIO+TECHNICA+Active+Noise-Cancelling

Hmm.. I paid more like £100 for mine on ebay a few years ago. These ones on Amazon are spendy

Where's the best place to get the comply tips?
Need to replace the foam and silicon tips I got with my shures? Only thing is one ear canal is slightly bigger than the other and the smaller one is an in between size, so silicon tips rarely fit properly for any length of time... But don't like the idea of constantly buying foam tips..

anyone own Focal Spirit Pros? I'm seriously considering a pair for late night production - the reviews are all positive - twice as much as I was looking to spend though really

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Focal-H5007-Spirit-Professional-Headphones/dp/B00EXO8Y3Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451476576&sr=8-1&keywords=focal+spirit+professional

For a pair of the QC20's, let's hope they work!

Good choice, they're USB rechargeable right? Much more convenient and packable.

Buy them, no direct experience but from the reviews they're going to be a step above something like the Audio Technica ATH M50x, which would be the other choice of headphone.

I fucking love mine. Still debating a second pair for home. I use them daily at work... the 2015 MBP has a good DAC in it so they sound great.

Just been doing some reading on the MBP DAC - apparently yes, it is very good. I've got a late 2013 retina MBP and can set the onboard DAC to 96000Hz and 24 bit (using MIDI setup) and it does indeed sound good. Currently listening on some Senn momentum over ears or a pair of Westone UM3x in ears with TIDAL streaming at losless - makes for good listening whilst drawing!

Yep, lithium ion battery pack.

Do you need a plane adapter still these days?

generally no. My last flight on a Etihad 380 had a weird magnetic connector but still had the 2 standard 3.5mm plugs, just plug into one of those. The BOSE probably has one in the pack though. Dunno if the 2 prong adapters do anything?

it depends on the plane model, if it's the newer ones than they should have te 3.5 jack but the older ones don't. If you know what flight you are flying with you could google it or I could ask a friend for you as she works for BA.

It's a 747, London-Denver, no idea what vintage it is.

It's quite old, so I would probably buy one of those adaptors just in case. If it's Virgin, then my money is on you will need it. Their flights are old...

I got an adaptor with my qc15's and 25's, I would imagine one would come with the 20's

Nope, no adapter in the box.