Comfortable, quality headphones for a long airplane flight

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Gaber November 19, 2012

Comfortable, quality headphones for a long airplane flight

I will be taking a 16 hour flight to Asia a few weeks from now, and I realize that the only headphones I have are in-ear, low quality types. I am looking for some recommendations on the best VALUE for a pair of headphones that I can wear for a long flight, that sound pretty good (will use for movies mostly), and won't break the bank. Since I don't travel that often, I don't want to spend $300 for a pair of superb headphones that I will use a handful of times, but I don't mind spending more than your standard $25 for a pair of inexpensive but crappy sounding ones.

So to summarize:

relatively inexpensive
decent quality
good for a long flight (both comfort and noise canceling)

Thanks in advance!

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ArmpitOfDeath 5 months ago

I would go for a pair of highly isolating in-ear phone such as the Etymotic mc5's. Sub-$100, highly isolating, handy.

A lot of passive-isolating closed phones - especially those more comfortable ones which have larger earcups - can actually become resonance chambers on a plane, amplifying your perception of certain bands of engine noise. Active cancellation does the best job bar none against engine noise specifically, but they're ineffective against crying babies, etc and you've specifically stated you don't want to spend $300, which is the going rate for a decent pair of actives.

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frankspin 2012-11-20 13:26:21

I forgot about how closed backs can be counter intuitive with noise.

Gaber 2012-11-20 15:13:49

Thanks. So you are saying that if I want on-ear style headphones that have active cancellation, I am looking at $300? The thing about the in-ear is that I don't think they would be that comfortable for a long movie or set of movies. I did own a pair of Etymotics before, and they were excellent, but I never used them for more than an hour at a time.

frankspin 2012-11-20 17:51:14

IEM can be comfortable and it really comes down to the tips. I have a pair of Comply foam tips that dramatic improve the comfort level.

Gaber 2012-11-20 18:23:37

Cool Thanks! I do remember that my Etymotics did come with more comfortable tips than your standard earbuds, but I just wonder if I can stand to wear them for the entire Lord of the Rings Extended Edition trilogy :) We shall find out! I think I will look at those mc5s!

Gaber 2012-11-20 21:23:47

So if I go up to $100 is there anything a lot better than the mc5s?

ArmpitOfDeath 2012-11-21 14:49:52

I doubt it. Even Etymotic - one of the pioneers of the use of balanced-armature drivers in in-ears - acknowledges that at $100, moving-coil drivers are a better compromise than balanced-armature drivers. And for $100, the MC5 will beat out most entry-level balanced armatures and will be among the top performers for moving coils.

Gaber 2012-11-21 14:55:58

Per my note below, do the new Klipsch S4 II line of in-ears use the moving coils? How do they compare to the etymotics?

Gaber's pick

frankspin 5 months ago

Comfort is really subjective but I'd look into anything that is over-ear as opposed to on-ear. On-ear headphones will put a little more pressure on your ears which may become uncomfortable over time. These aren't a bad option gdgt.com/shure/srh440/ . Keep in mind though anything like what I mentioned will be less portable that others. Sony makes a few that are sub $60 and they tend to do pretty well with people as budget buys.

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