What are everyone's recommendations for headphones? The best headphones I have had were the Panasonic HTF-600 which were recommended me by someone on here. Sadly, they broke. When I sent to purchase the same one again they had been discontinued. I then purchased a JVC set which weren't great at all and now I am currently using Sony MDR-10RC which are much better than the JVC however not as good as the Panasonic. Does anyone know of any headphones atleast as good as the Panasonics at a reasonable price?
Mainly music, must be wired/jack. Panasonics cost around £40 but that was many years ago so I'm not expecting to get anything of similar quality for that price so budget is dynamic anywhere from £30/40 to £120-£150 would prefer to spend less ofcourse although still expecting to pay closer to the latter but first and foremost quality must match the Panasonics as a minimum
Last questions. Will you be using them on public transport or near other people (thinking about sound leakage here)? Over ear or are IEM's OK as well?
Just at home but still don't like/want sound leakage. I'm not a fan of the only in ear as they don't feel secure. I prefer traditional headphones with the headband.
It depends on your definition of bass, but for soundstage and vocals nothing beats even a cheap pair of Grado.
Closed-back headphones sound like a must (both for noise leakage but also bass response). Might be worth trying the budget range active noise cancelled cans that are coming around now, like the Sony WH-CH710N or Sennheiser HD450SE. I've had a pair of Sony MX-1000s for nearly 8 years now, using them every day, and they are by far and away the best sound quality you can get in a normal home thanks to noise cancelling.
Will check those out. Also at home I've a Creative Stage Soundbar & Subwoofer set which I am pleased with but obviously can't listen most times as family around. When I go to the headphones after that I just find the experience rather lacking. Also the headphones must be wired, for example my current headphones or my Creative Stage if I connect via AUX the sound quality is much improved over Bluetooth. I've tried it connected to my PC with has an Asus Xonar DG soundcard, Samsung A7 tablet as well as a Samsung S6 and Moto G8 phones and find that the S6 is the best if connected via AUX cable as connecting via the Bluetooth there is definitely a lack of sound quality and I notice the phone doesn't allow me to have upscaling selected via Bluetooth.
I bought a pair of the bose qc35s used from ebay. Was £100. if they broke i wouldn't hesitate to run out and buy another pair.
Consider my interest piqued. I have a set of QC35 II headphones, but I find the pads very close-fitting to my ears - it gets a little uncomfortable at times. Will check out some reviews of those, at those prices they might just be worth a punt.
If you've got some QC35s you'll probably find them sub-par, even if they're good value for the money. I'd try one of the Sonys - MX-1000s or WH-1000XMs (they're up to gen-4 by now). I find them quite roomy. I also note that some of the other brands like AKG and Sennheiser have some out now, the Sennheisers are very roomy. One of my workmates has an enormous head (and I say that as someone who needs a 2XL crash helmet) and they're the only ones that can fit him.
I've got the WH-1000XM3 (and the WF-1000XM3, the in-ear version, which is crap by comparison): it's aces. The Bluetooth audio quality sounds fine to me (but I've a cloth ear, so take that how you will) and supports the low-latency AptX HD standard. Then there's a 3.5mm jack at the bottom, which gives you full wired quality - and you can still use the active noise cancellation.
XM3s are probably my next port of call when these die, I'm on my second pair of MX1000s since 2016. The 3.5mm jack is very useful as I can then connect them to a USB DAC for PC listening.
Thanks all for all the replies so far, will be taking a look at all the headphones mentioned. Also just wanted to mention, actually the bass on my Sonys are adequate it's actually the other sounds which are no so good. Whereas the Panasonic as well as my Creative Stage in my opinion are well rounded.
I got XM3s to replace my QC25s initially I wasn't impressed TBH but after some tweaking in the app the Sony's sound great. Still not as comfy though IMHO.
