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

Audio Technica ATH-M50X Headphones £84.54. Use code "AT10" at the checkout to get them for £84.54 with free delivery.

http://www.inta-audio.com/monitoring-c109/headphones-c110/audio-technica-ath-m50x-headphones-p6406

Pretty often you still need it. In recent experience almost all virgin flights and about 50% of BA flights still need them.

I tend to just load up a tablet with stuff I want to watch though. Unless you're on a new plane or recently refurbished the screens are crap quality anyway.

I will order one. Sat in a cafe having a coffee at the moment- cafe is on a main road, I have headphones in but no music- ANC on and the traffic noise is the odd woosh- the Diesel engine noise of the bus just outside is gone

I did exactly this with my last trip back to HK, little did I know I was flying on a Boing 777 with pretty amazig movies and even USB ports... I was like... oops... must pretend I am not excited and keep a deadpan face on...

Bit late for @Dammit but looks like the hive mind came up with the right recommendation

http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/01/the-best-in-ear-noise-cancelling-headphones/

New headphone time! Last month I killed my fav. Klipsch x10 in ears - spent ages reading about what to replace with etc. agonising over some anonymous reviewers opinion ... anyway I figured that this time rather than spend a lot of money I'd be more considerate. So i took a punt on some Sony XBA-H1 in ears. Mostly based on a wirecutter review. Found at Advanced MP3 site for £50.
Was either these or Soundmagic PL50's.

Hmm, first up, they are quite large for things that go in your ear. I don't have large ears and always need to use the smallest tip included with headphones. These work OK with the XS silicone tips and even better with comply foam tips. The main body still protrudes a fair way out of the ear. Also the black and red cable is gash.

Sound is surprising though. For a sony product they are not that harsh. The treble is detailed and clear, just not painful. A nice surprise. Vocals are good, bordering on great depending on the source.

Low to mids are really impressive - very precise but still very punchy. No mud at all.
Re-discovered some of the basslines I'd missed with my other IEMs (westone, klipsch, beyerdynamics...)

Overall, they are very lively and detailed with good clean bass when needed. Might turn out to be fatiguing, only time will tell. A touch of sibilance here and there. Maybe over time they'll relax a little but I'm quite impressed - apart from the design and ergonomics.

Those don't sound too bad! For tiny size and good sound though, I'd definitely recommend getting a set of PL50s from aliexpress or something. You can usually pick them up for about £25/30ish, if you can bear waiting a couple of weeks. They're really tiny little headphones, with thinner nozzles as well (they take the Comply T100 tips, rather than the usual T400s).

I should add, I've had 3 sets of PL50s now. Lost the first set and have had the second set a year or so, always kept in the little soft pouch they come with. They go in my Carradice every day to and from work and in my jeans pocket if I'm heading out. I took them with me on last day of work last year and one of them broke.

Now onto my third set, will see how long these'll last. Might stick them in a little rigid case this time...

Are the Ali express ones legit?

Yep. I've had my last two sets from there (including the one that died after a year) but they're genuine Soundmagic. They've got the little scratch off code on side of the box. You can type it into the soundmagic site to check they're genuine. Actually, the first set I got was from eBay from a Chinese seller as well.

cool, may give it a go. I'm liking the sonys but if I can get a pair of PL50 for £30 then I will try that. I tend to like any earphone with the tiny t100 sized nozzle.

I've had a pair of qc20s for just over 2 years. Typically just as they have gone over the 2 year warranty the cable has frayed where it meets the battery (on the earphone side) and the noise cancelling now doesn't work.

I'd consider putting some sugru on the junctions if I were you.

I've just contracted Bose to see if they can do anything about it.

used them on my 10 hour flight yesterday, the amount of noise they cancel actually borders on the magical, I tested them back to back with some ear plugs and they were so far ahead it was simply impossible to compare. Impressed.

Good to hear (or not). Were they comfortable and were you able to sleep?

Unless of course there was an excellent movie selection and the new found silence made watching them too addictive?

They were comfortable, I could not sleep.

I will use some air miles to upgrade to Business on the way back (redeye) and see if the flat bed and noise cancelling mean sleep is possible.

Very impressed with Bose. They offered to replace the out of warranty QC20s with no prompting.

..not sure if there's a more suitable thread for this; thought I'd ask in here:

Looking for a speaker one can connect a phone to via bluetooth or just standard 3,5 phone connector.
Good ("rich") sound wanted, £100 max.
Any recommendations?
Ta.

For the best quality I'd suggest a Minirig but it's slightly out of your price range.

I'm selling a Bose Soundlink Colour http://www.cnet.com/uk/products/bose-soundlink-color/ if you're interested. Good, not amazing, sound but good for the price

Cheers for the feedback.
Will check out the soundlink in a store and get back to you if I like it.

I have a pair of Sony on-ear headphones (they were recommended in this thread), which whilst they sound good I find uncomfortable, what would people recommend in terms of over-ear headphones? I had a look at the Bose SoundTrue, as my QC's are impressive, but should I be looking outside of the Bose range?

Is there anywhere in london to try the Shure IEM range (specifically SE425s?)
Been thinking about getting some for an age but would like to try

I have some sennheiser momentum (the over ear kind). Very comfortable.

AKG 550. I picked some up for £100 or so, they fluctuate a bit in price I think.

Good sound quality but not the prettiest and can be a little fussy in how they need to be positioned.

Had the SE425s for a little over a week and have very much enjoyed it. Great sound isolation, that I much prefer to any 'noise cancelling' i've tried in the past (including the Bose QC25s)

DJ folk

I asked in the audiophile thread opinions re Sennheiser HD25 ii-SP and have heard good tings. Now, can you confuse my little brain a bit and perhaps recommend something better in similar price range (£100)?

I mentioned in that thread that I had a good pair of AKG over ears that I was impressed with. How do the AKG K451 (on page 38) compare? For the price they seem an absolute steal...

Many tanks

Since you're asking about DJ headphones those AKG are not the right thing IMO. They're small and designed to be used on-ear, rather than over it so the sound isolation is not the best and they can be uncomfortable if you don't like stuff clamping your ears.