"stylish" Headphones? - Page 3

I listened to the sony v6 immediately after listening to the alessandro ms1 and there was no comparison. Alessandro was way better than the v6, imo. I mention this because the akg 240s are often compared to the sr60,80,125, ms1. The OP is looking for closed head phones so I guess only the V6 will do.

The new AKG 702s are getting good press and reasonable at $349.

Unfortunately most stylish and decent headphones are uncomfortable and affordable, or comfortable and expensive. And you also have to reconcile stylish on it's own vs stylish when on the head. And furthermore like asking for non-gay-looking bags in the manbag thread, few seem to get it when you ask for stylish headphones on Head-Fi.org - because if you look around and (as I've done, because although I might care about style I'm still a dork) go to a few meets including their flagship 'canjams'... maaaan, you realise why no-one gets asking for style. To Head-Fi, if it has wood on it well that's it just right there, never mind that in reality it looks like you have two chocolate muffins strapped to your head. Hands down the most stylish full-sized headphone I've owned on or off the head is the Sony Qualia 010. It's almost a work of art, but it's also an object lesson in why Sony are the fail these days. It's now out of production and it has a few issues even if you were able to get hold of one: head size dependency and head location dependency to start with. Nevertheless it is definitely a statement. You could use it in the office - although it's nominally an open design the ear baffle has no actual holes in it making it semi-open and a little isolating, and although the driver is open-backed unless you're listening at obscene volumes it doesn't leak that bad (at least nowhere near as bad as a Grado). New price was $2,500ish. Dunno what it sells on Head-Fi if it goes up at all.

Seriously? They sound awful. I tried a pair before getting my beyers and I felt like I was listening through this: And IMO a truly over-the-ear phone would be better for the OP's purposes.

I have the denon d5000's, beautiful looking and sounding headphones. One thing with the higher end cans is a good amp to pair with them. Maybe just get a good pair of iem's?

I was addicted to head-fi long before I came to SF. I stopped going there when I found headphones that made me happy. I lost my upgraditis when I got my Audio Technica ATH-ESW10JPN. I highly recommend them but beware of fakes.

The funny thing is, a pair of Bose Triports sounds not hugely different - well at least, the gulf is less than the price difference between the ESW10, or indeed the 9. Yet the 'chocolate chip cookies on your head' has less isolation, and is much less comfortable. The Bose has less control of in-earcup sonic reflections due in part to the superior isolation, but sound quality is broadly the same. As I said, if it has wood on it it's considered the height of sound quality on head-fi.org

So utterly wrong.

I think I agree. I'm in the market for some sound isolating headphones because I'm getting a little tired of in-ear. I like the sound isolating for train rides and all, but I dislike that when I walk, I can feel/hear the bass of my footfalls and they sound like a giant is approaching. I also dislike that when the wind or my arm touches the wire, all the vibrations are nice and loud in my ear.

Are these things less noticeable in sound isolating, closed headphones? [Sorry, I'm not hip to the jargon. So I don't know if what I've said makes any sense.]

Mostly agree. Really depends on the model however.

Generally yes, although you'll still get some noise from friction against the cord (there's a term for that, but I forget...) but you shouldn't hear your footsteps. A coiled cord is much "quieter" in that regard.

Note that open phones don't suffer from that issue, but then they're vulnerable to ambient noise, which isn't any better.

The best closed cans I have heard are the new Denons and a couple of the AKG. Just avoid the K240 and K241 series...they are very veiled and lacking HF extension and quality.