Headphones for Travel
HeadRoom was born on the road. (Our illustrious CEO used to fly around the world fixing scanning electron microscopes.) We know that being amongst the “Jet Set” is far from glamorous -- traveling is mostly a real grind. At HeadRoom, we've been working very hard for the past seventeen years to make the routine more bearable by innovating superb portable audio solutions to take high-end sound anywhere your head chooses to roam!
Noise Cancelling Headphones
The first and most crucial step for great portable audio is to get rid of all the ambient noise in the environment around you. Almost everybody these days is aware of "noise-canceling" headphones. We think these type of headphones have their limited uses, principally for non-audiophile applications in noisy transit/commuting enviroments. We sell only a few "active" noise-canceling headsets, most made by Germany's Sennheiser Corporation: the PXC300 and PXC150 and the excellent audiophile-oriented PXC450 with 'Talk-Through' feature and maximized noise-canceling ability. These are nicely ergonomic, lightweight noise-canceling headphones and are somewhat better-sounding than the big-name noise-canceling [NC] headsets you see advertised on TV & magazines, but there's frankly no big pressing reason to throw them out just to pick up a mildly better-sounding noise-canceler. The REAL reason to throw out any NC headset you might own is to get much more thorough noise-blocking / isolation and WAY better sound quality performance from a standard portable 'sealed/closed' headphone or, especially, from a high-end ear canal headphone (ECH).
In brief, these "active" type of noise-canceling headphones typically provide only about minus -10dB of ambient noise attenuation, principally in the constant lower frequencies between 100Hz and 2000Hz. Therefore, they don't get rid of as much higher-pitched, inconsistent external noises as standard full-sized "passive" sealed/closed headphones, which usually provide an equal minus -10dB of attenuation BUT across a much broader frequency spectrum than the "active" battery-powered NC design. Further, noise-canceling or even 'sealed' headphones can't approach the nearly-total ambient isolation possible with ear canal headphones/ECHs (not to be confused with lowly 'earbud' designs!) which typically attenuate outside noise by at least minus 20-30dB or more! Additionally, with both these sealed and ECH types, it is possible to add dedicated portable headphone amplification to dramatically improve the quality and clarity of the sound getting into your headspace.
Affordable Sealed and Ear Canal Headphone Solutions
Like we said, sealing yourself away from the noisy environment is job one when on the road, and keeping costs down means headphones that work well without requiring an amp. The little AKG K414P, is not only inexpensive and a solidly sealed design, but it sounds strong straight out of just about any player device. If you're looking for a satisfying listen on a budget that will keep the noisy world at bay, these are they! Moving up in cost the Beyerdynamic DT 235, Sennheiser HD 212 Pro, AKG K81DJ, and HD 280 Pro are all terrific sealed/closed headphones under that magic $100 mark.
As previously mentioned, the other way to get a nearly TOTAL ambient noise seal is with a pair of ear canal headphones. ECHs provide a tremendous seal against external noise; you will have absolutely no idea what the stewardess is talking about or even that there's a crazy banshee-ing kid two rows back. A lot of people distrust the idea of sticking something into their ear canal, and we understand the apprehension, but for most people ear canal headphones are actually reasonably comfortable to wear. Its a very similar sensation to wearing actual earplugs. Luckily, there exist varying sizes & materials for ECH eartip sleeves, and when you're getting this much awesomely clean sound inside your head, you're probably not going to mind that acclimation curve too much! The lowest cost quality ECH is the uber-clear Etymotic ER-6i which is great in the mids/highs but rather lean in the bass frequencies. We prefer the slightly more expensive Shure SE210 for listeners seeking more bass in an entry-level, non-audiophile portable listening application.
Portable Headphone Amps
To step up into higher-fidelity traveling audio, you'll definitely have to buy a portable headphone amp. Some of the more expensive headphones mentioned here are well worth the investment in an amp, and once you spend over $100-$150 you likely won't get your full money's worth out of your headphones without a headphone amplifier. The first step in HeadRoom headphone amplification is our Mobile Line. Think about these little amps when spending $200 or less on your cans. Remember that a Total BitHead, with good headphones and WinDVD with Dolby Headphone player software, will turn your laptop computer into a personal home theater in the sky. And the Total AirHead will give your iPod or other hard-drive player device the tight bass and ultra-clean highs you're missing without a headphone amp.
Full-sized sealed headphones in this mid-priced category include the HD 280 Pro mentioned above (a headphone that belongs in this category because it performs well in several applications) and the smooth-sounding, fully-extended Sennheiser HD 25-II which is a terrifically punchy-sounding little headphone, sized just about right for travel featuring a lightweight, ultra-stable 'split' headband and built to withstand serious road-trip action. Perhaps the best of the lot here is the impressively well-engineered Audio Technica M-50 sealed-back headphone which collapses neatly for travel while delivering superior sound quality and strong isolation, all under $150; its an amazing can for the price!
Once again, ECHs are really the best way to go for frequent travelers, and the mid-price range has now become filled with some great choices. ECHs in this price range are amongst the best audio transducers you can buy for the money given their price-to-performance ratio. They are typically the equal of the best of the full-sized cans at similar pricepoints. Amongst the hottest in-ear monitor products on the scene are the Shure SE310 and the Etymotic ER-4P. A Total AirHead or the laptop/PC computer-oriented Total BitHead will drive any ECH effortlessly -- even on the amp's 'low-gain' setting -- but the additional investment in one of our higher-end, more dynamic and precise-sounding portable amplifiers (like the HeadRoom Portable Micro Amp) will give you upscale sound quality equal to an average audiophile's home rig. We know that's a little hard to believe; if we don't deliver, PLEASE exercise your HeadRoom 30-day satisfaction guarantee. But we are truly not kidding: Quality ECHs and a digital audio source fed through the D-A processor found on our Micro or Desktop Amp units sound so darn good you'll be looking for excuses to hop a detoured connector flight to Butte just for the extra tune time.
That brings up the issue of audio sources for the airplane. The iPod has changed everything, of course... It and its brethren portable hard-drive Mp3 players from iRiver, Creative, Archos, Rio, HP, Dell, etc, etc., are wonderful ways to listen to music on a plane. They work well with their audio line-out (or the 'headphone-output' at near full volume) into our Airhead/Bithead and both player & amp will nicely fit into the Gigabag. The only slightly larger-sized but WAY better-performing HeadRoom Portable Micro Amp should be used with the stunningly slick HeadRoom MicroBag travel system containing the handy Micro Strap and Micro Bag.
If you're a serious audiophile looking for the best of the best in portable audio, be sure to read our Mobile Audiophile article, which concentrates on obtaining the best sound on the road!
Sources with a Digital Outputs: The Endangered Species
The real high-end of portable audio these days, however, is to somehow locate a player with digital-audio outputs (optical line-out preferably!) and pump it into the digital-to-analog converters (DAC) of our Portable Micro Amp with DAC option or Portable Desktop Amp. Many of the older-model DAT, minidisk, MP3 hard-drive, and high-end portable CD players had digital-outs in the past; do be careful though as many of these players de-activate the digital output while running on batteries. The hard-drive player with the optical-out most lusted after is likely the various iRiver IHP-140, IHP-120, and IHP-110 models -- which all have unfortunately been discontinued by the manufacturer some time ago. They can occasionally still be found on auction websites or online stores from time to time if you are lucky. We hope that eventually hard-drive audio player manufacturers will either put digital-outs back on their devices, but more likely (and just as good!) is if they'll use the USB-host capability to provide inter connectivity to an external sound device. Until then, the solution for getting a true digital output is with a laptop computer through the USB, or from the optical digital-out of a portable DVD/CD player.
Portable DVD players are everywhere these days and have become fairly inexpensive. We recommend a variety of products from Coby which can be had for under $200, but the killer view is had on the Panasonic players, which come in between $200 and $500. The great thing about portable DVD players is that you'll not only be able to watch movies but the majority of them play most flavors of encoded CDs from RedBook to ripped & burned MP3 discs. You simply can't imagine how eargasmically good music & movies on the road are when you feed a digital signal into a HeadRoom amp's DAC stage.
How to Carry it All?
All this yadda yadda about hardware is making me dizzy!.... How do you keep it all under control? Along with our lovely HeadRoom amps, we also make right here in Montana a bunch of snazzy (and highly useful!) HeadRoom travel bags perfect for all the various amps + Mp3/iPod combos; It's the perfect solution to tie up all your loose audio ends while on the road! We've already mentioned our GigaBag for the Total AirHead and Total BitHead amps, constituting our smallest portable audio system available... smaller than a paperback book and weighing in at less than two pounds.
The Micro Strap lets you put your hard-disk Mp3 player or iPod on a very handy tilting platform that is totally secure. Lay it flat and slip it into the MicroBag when you hit the road. When jamming, kick it up on its stand to read the happy music scrolling by on the player's display.
Sealed Headphones
Big 'sealed' headphones are only now approaching the sound quality performance offered by 'open-back' cans; they used to tend to be either a bit bright or too boomy and fall a little far to either side of perfectly right. However, nowadays there are some quite good full-size audiophile-oriented sealed/closed headphones available.
On the bright and 'airy' side of things, the AKG K271mkii is a solid performer. The 271-mkII is very well-detailed in the mids/highs, albeit slightly lean in the bottom-end for big bass lovers. The deal breaker for a few may be the non-foldable, rather bulky size or the deep-well leather earpads on the k271. Some sealed headphones tend to be warm (it's the nature of the beast) but listeners may heat up a bit less with the replacement fabric material earpads included free with the AKG-MKII series headphone packaging. On the sonically "warmer" side of neutral (where the groovy jammin' bassheads live!) you'll find the big Denon D-5000 headphones. These sweet-looking full-size cans sport real mahogany wood earcups and deliver focused audio detail resolution and tight-sounding musical textures along with a comfortably loose fit. Want a sealed can as close to right down the middle of sonic neutrality as you can get? Get yourself the Denon D-2000 headphones offering a lovely bright tonality and crystalline, silky highs. We'll also hazard to mention the amazingly inexpensive, broadly utilitarian Sennheiser HD205. Yes, Virginia, when used with a good headphone amp, these inexpensive little black & silver cans can be considered sonically ALMOST on par with others at this 'mid-to-entry-level' category.
Ear Canal Headphones: The Last Best Thing!
Of course, we've saved the VERY best for last. Ultra high-end reference ECHs are simply among the best audio transducers available at ANY price. The sonic detail resolution across the entire frequency range on these tiny multiple-microdriver in-ear earphones is truly amazing and provides superbly accurate, world-class music reproduction. The audiologist-customized Ultimate Ears UE10 and Ultimate Ears UE11 and also the 'universal-fit' [no audiologist needed] Shure SE530 ECHs are like connecting the speaker wires directly to the audio sensory wetware inside your head. The hectic world suddenly goes away and the music appears perfectly formed within your sound mind... Yeah, you'll cry when you pay the cash for them, but your tears will be dribbling over a big giant grin once you hear them!
