Navigating the Headphone world

[Vince MacMahon]

Hi,

For such purposes, go el cheapo, i use JBL T110 and works perfectly and has a great built in mic. It's not wireless and it does the job exceptionally well.

I had the B&W PX headsets and found them to be heavy and too tight for my ears..

Good luck

These are also in-ear; seems they are popular. I didn’t like the “old” Apple wired in-ear earphones for long term use, for quick calls yes, for a day’s usage, no. Maybe I should try latest in-ear ranges.

I still think over-ears might be better (don’t know yet, never owned them yet).

These brands came out tops on forum members PMs and google searches: Sennheiser / BeyersDynamic. Honestly I never had interest in headsets; to buy time had bought the PX5 from a brand I know very well. A lot of people moan on being too tight, yes they can be if not adjusted.
The sound quality is absolutely amazing,
The App allows for ambient noise pass through which was what was bugging me yesterday, glad that was a User issue! And hoping all the issues I experienced are that....

These are wearing on me, so might keep if I like them as time goes......quality is far superior to my company provided Jabra Evolve set. I would have kept the Jabra but needed the wireless flexibility.

Fortunately I’m not into Headsets, after a days work, I put them aside and get on with my rig.



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[Hi-Phibian]

Off piste suggestion. 

Hifi cans with a Bluetooth dac amp
Like the XB10 BTR3 or BTR5. 

They are clip on to go your shirt and have a mic built in. 

I use mine with shorter customised cables.  Like 30-50 cm and the BTR on the shirt pocket or even on the head band with a Velcro strap.   


 

[Drifter]

https://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,90282.0.html

In the above link you would see that I went through the exact same process.
My main requirements were:
- To be used for work purposes i.e. long Skype/Teams/Zoom calls
- Must be wireless as I stand up and pace around during long sessions
- Long range so that I can grab some water while on a call
- Must be light and comfortable - main focus on low clamping force and large over ear pads
- Battery must last all day
- Microphone must be good
- I sometimes game, so I wanted something that will not lag (so I wasn't keen on bluetooth but rather a 2.4ghz connection)
- It would only be used with my PC so portability was not much of a concern
- I run hot so I did not want pleather or leather earcups as it gets sweaty
- My max budget was around R2500
- Outright musical ability was not the main concern, I have a set of Audeze LCD2 as my main headphone system for music listening and a set of B&W P3 to use with my phone when I'm mobile

I eventually opted for these - this a picture of my set


Here is the link to the Steelseries website
https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-1-wireless

I have been using them for 3 weeks and my findings are:

LIKES
- Medium clamping force. I can use them for 3 hours with no discomfort
- Large earpads that cover my entire ear
- Soft material pads that do not get sweaty
- Battery lasts two days easily
- Very light
- Below budget at R2000
- Great microphone that can be unplugged when not in use. Mic can also be switched on and off on the earcup should you want to disable it
- Can be used with an included standard 3.5mm cable as a wired headphone when the battery runs out
- Can still be used while it is charging via USB cable
- Sound pretty decent - I would say about on par with the B&W P3 just more comfortable
- No lag when gaming
- Over ear cups are pretty effective at blocking out sound
- Wireless range is a good 15m so I can go to the kitchen without the signal dropping

LESS GOOD
- Mostly plastic body and earcups - but that contributes to the light weight
- Listening to proper audiophile headphones like my Audeze's you realise how low these types of "gaming" headphones are on the sonic scale

I'm pretty happy with my purchase and I've grown quite fond of these over the past few weeks. I use them at least 4 hours every day.

[Vince MacMahon]

Exactly what I’m after!

Thanks will send you a PM.


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[Vince MacMahon]

https://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,90282.0.html

In the above link you would see that I went through the exact same process.
My main requirements were:
- To be used for work purposes i.e. long Skype/Teams/Zoom calls
- Must be wireless as I stand up and pace around during long sessions
- Long range so that I can grab some water while on a call
- Must be light and comfortable - main focus on low clamping force and large over ear pads
- Battery must last all day
- Microphone must be good
- I sometimes game, so I wanted something that will not lag (so I wasn't keen on bluetooth but rather a 2.4ghz connection)
- It would only be used with my PC so portability was not much of a concern
- I run hot so I did not want pleather or leather earcups as it gets sweaty
- My max budget was around R2500
- Outright musical ability was not the main concern, I have a set of Audeze LCD2 as my main headphone system for music listening and a set of B&W P3 to use with my phone when I'm mobile

I eventually opted for these - this a picture of my set


Here is the link to the Steelseries website
https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-1-wireless

I have been using them for 3 weeks and my findings are:

LIKES
- Medium clamping force. I can use them for 3 hours with no discomfort
- Large earpads that cover my entire ear
- Soft material pads that do not get sweaty
- Battery lasts two days easily
- Very light
- Below budget at R2000
- Great microphone that can be unplugged when not in use. Mic can also be switched on and off on the earcup should you want to disable it
- Can be used with an included standard 3.5mm cable as a wired headphone when the battery runs out
- Can still be used while it is charging via USB cable
- Sound pretty decent - I would say about on par with the B&W P3 just more comfortable
- No lag when gaming
- Over ear cups are pretty effective at blocking out sound
- Wireless range is a good 15m so I can go to the kitchen without the signal dropping

LESS GOOD
- Mostly plastic body and earcups - but that contributes to the light weight
- Listening to proper audiophile headphones like my Audeze's you realise how low these types of "gaming" headphones are on the sonic scale

I'm pretty happy with my purchase and I've grown quite fond of these over the past few weeks. I use them at least 4 hours every day.

Meant this!


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[Vince MacMahon]

I must say the quality of the B&W far surpasses anything I have tried thus far, that being said, haven’t really tried a lot (I think B&O H9i would be on par if not better).

I have finally settled for this, Jabra Engage 75. I tried the entry level Steelseries and the quality was not so great  (a bit plasticky), does the job well though.

I find that the Jabra Engage 75 more geared towards my goals and objectives (MS Teams, Skype and  various other Conference calls)




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[johan.pretorius]

I find that the Jabra Engage 75 more geared towards my goals and objectives (MS Teams, Skype and  various other Conference calls)

Where did you buy the Jabra? And cost if we may ask?

[Vince MacMahon]

I was fortunate to do a swap (PX5) which I had advertised for R3400

The first owner bought it from https://www.kathea.co.za

He says he paid R6k....sounds too much, but I did see they retail for $449






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[Kgomotso Mabokela]

I must say the quality of the B&W far surpasses anything I have tried thus far, that being said, haven’t really tried a lot (I think B&O H9i would be on par if not better).

I have finally settled for this, Jabra Engage 75. I tried the entry level Steelseries and the quality was not so great  (a bit plasticky), does the job well though.

I find that the Jabra Engage 75 more geared towards my goals and objectives (MS Teams, Skype and  various other Conference calls)




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One thing that annoys me about the B&o, is that I have to manually  switch modes be it stereo or or handsfree mode. With the B&W Px they were smart enough to identify which mode you're in and active the suitable function automatically without manual intervention and had expected far too much from the B&o to be honest.. To some extent I'm slowly regretting selling the B&W's...

I don't think you will enjoy the B&o based on your intent...

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[naughty]

Off piste suggestion. 

Hifi cans with a Bluetooth dac amp
Like the XB10 BTR3 or BTR5. 

They are clip on to go your shirt and have a mic built in. 

I use mine with shorter customised cables.  Like 30-50 cm and the BTR on the shirt pocket or even on the head band with a Velcro strap.

this would be my suggestion too - because of the flexibility that this solution offers - plus items like the BTR5 offer far more codecs that are closer to wired solutions and you can get/use a much better set of headphones than the primarily bluetooth models would be 

the DAC unit strapped to the headband is an ingenious idea i never thought about - so yep when i get a more efficient set of headphones i will definitely be getting a BTR5 with them (because of the balanced outputs which will allow for more power hence more headroom)

could also use the BTR5 (or other bluetooth DAC) with a good pair of IEMs - will be a more unobtrusive and lighter solution but some people don't like IEMs

[Vince MacMahon]

I don't think you will enjoy the B&o based on your intent...

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I am not a Headset fan, was only looking for a work calls solution......you’re right B&O would have never worked, just referenced it for built quality vs B&W PX


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[Drifter]

Does the on-ear cups not drive you mad?

[Vince MacMahon]

These Jabra’s Engage 75  are feather-light, easily forget they are on my head.


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