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Sealed Headphones

Sealed and noise-canceling headphones are designed to isolate you from the din of the outside world so that the escape to your music remains pure and undisturbed. There are three general categories of headphones that accomplish this 'isolation' feat with varying degrees of success: The 'active electronics' noise-canceling headsets are discussed in-depth here: Noise-Canceling. Traditional passive 'sealed' headphones and ear canal headphones (ECHs) are discussed below.

Sealed Headphones

A very broad array of traditional 'sealed' headphones are available. These have no noise-canceling electronics on-board and block ambient noises by virtue of their sealed (aka 'closed') earcup construction. The Sennheiser HD201 is marvelous sounding at an ultra-cheap price, but only provides a modest amount of isolation. The Sennheiser HD202 and Sennheiser EH150 are also good, but the Sennheiser EH250 is a sweet sounding and very solidly designed sealed headphone. Going up a bit in price, Sennheiser also offers one workhorse of a sealed headphone around the magic $100 mark: the Sennheiser HD280Pro. The HD280Pro is a decent closed-earcup can, and it collapses down for handy storage & schlepping. Around the $150-$200 pricepoint, we quite like the terrific tone and clear-resolution sound of Denon AH-D1001K which may deliver the best 'bang-for-the-buck' performance in this category. Also a nice contender but further down our list is the beyer 250-80 which is a slightly warm-sounding headphone, but respectable audio balance and nice fit ergonomics make it a favorite among location sound guys and some of our on-the-move office staff. The comfy full-size AKG K271 MKII is a terrifically musical & detailed sealed-category circumaural can although perhaps lean in the bottom-end for heavy bass lovers. Finally towards the top-end of the pricepoint ladder, the precise reference sound quality of the Denon AH-D2000 and the Denon AH-D5000 models are the high-end audiophile's sealed-earcup headphones of choice BUT they both definitely require a quality dedicated headphone amp in any application for maximized sound quality.

Ear Canal Headphones

The latest, greatest choice for maximum isolation is 'ear canal headphones'. ECHs are small micro headphones that seal within your ear canals; they are typically quite good-sounding products and can provide well over -20dB of isolation from external ambient noise. We believe ear canal headphones provide the best combination of a great listening experience AND the very best noise-blocking possible. You do have to get used to the idea of sticking something into your ear canal -- just like an earplug -- but having an entire headful of awesome-sounding tunes should help that ECH acclimation process along! This category is really heating up big-time recently with a variety of great tiny earphones available on the market nowadays. Towards the lower end of the price spectrum are the amazingly priced, well-performing Denon AH-C351 in-ear earphones which easily deliver superior sonics to earphones at nearly twice their price. Also priced around $100-$125 are J-Jays and D-Jays earphones, and the Shure SE210. The J-Jays and D-Jays products are killer-priced entry-level ECHs and offer strong audio & fit improvements over stock-issue iPod earbuds. The Shure SE210 model, is a smoothly punchy and fun-to-hear 'entry-level' ECH with great noise-blocking/isolation factor. The more spendy Shure SE310 beefs up the bass response and extends the treble range nicely with much slimmer-profile fit ergonomics versus the bulkier SE210 model. Finally, the ultra-clean treble response of the 'entry-level' Etymotic ER-6i ECH -- priced well under $100 -- and the venerable 'audiophile-grade' Etymotic ER4 models offer fantastic clarity & musical detail resolution and extension in the upper mids & highs but could potentially be a bit lean in the bottom-end for funk-loving basshead types ... Boy, choices, choices!

As hinted above, the much-ballyhooed superstars of the ear canal headphone world are Shure's current line of SE earphones which deliver clearly audible, solidly incremental performance gains at each step of the way; Once again, the entry-level SE210 is an excellent start to the line and a huge sonic upgrade to the craptastic earphones typically given away with portable player devices. The SE310 has better detail resolution, fuller bass presence, and an expanded dynamic range compared to the SE210. The dual-driver Shure SE420 is largely geared for head-amp users and brings audiophile-grade accuracy and superb sound quality for LossLess or uncompressed digital file listeners. Finally, the top-shelf triple-microdriver SE530 is available with or without the PTH device and is the best-sounding "universal-fit" ECH we've heard yet. Expect a musically expressive, precisely detailed tonal presentation and 'reference' sound quality across the entire frequency range. The SE530 are THE choice for demanding audiophiles listening to high-bitrate digital music files or uncompressed recordings on the fly. FYI: the newly-designed black foam eartip sleeves available with the Shure 'SE' models is a huge plus; they're probably the most comfy ECH eartips we've tried. Luckily, these coveted black foam Shure tips are sold separately and will retrofit back to the old Shure E-series too. In a word, these top-shelf earphones ALL sound truly amazing and will likely leave listeners agape at the realistic and blissfully immersive quality of the musical reproduction; which one of 'em is ultimately "The Best" is completely up to the ear of the beholder!

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