Best Commuter Headphone?

I agree with this entirely. On an inter city train yesterday for 4 and a half hours with QC25 streaming Tidal from the trains WiFi. The SQ may is not perfect but entirely enjoyable, and the isolation and comfort are fantastic.

 

I am in the middle of shopping for a closed headphone that I can take around with me. Here is a list of what I am considering.

Sennheiser HD 25
Oppo PM3
Noontex Zoro II HD
V-Moda M-100
Sennheiser Urbanite

I believe the Philips Fidelio S1 or S2 is an open type IEM

 

I'm tempted by the Momentum 2 AEBTs (since I found a good deal on them). That way I could get some noise canceling action while still maintaining my Sennheiser fanboy status.

I left the Amperiors at home and took my Momentum 1's out for a trip on the subway today, and they sounded much better than I remembered.

 

I just recently picked up the urbanite xl from Amazon used in great condition for $55. The are built well, isolate ok and they sound better than their smaller brother, the urbanite. I also prefer them to 1st gen. Momentum almost for comfort alone. I carry the urbanite xl and iems 99% of the time. The $55 dollar investment didn't hurt either.

 

Ended up getting a pair of Momentum 2 AEBT's in today, and while I don't think they deserve a golden schlong based on SQ, the added features are super convenient and I'm happy with the sound. The added noise canceling was a big improvement on the subway, and got the ambient noise down to the point that I could just barely hear the subway stops being called out. The noise canceling also seems to help give the impression that they're a lot more resolving than they actually are. Much more comfortable than their predecessors, the folding mechanism is effective and seems sturdy, and the wireless functionality paired quickly and works great with the three devices I tried with it.

For sonic impressions, Tyll's review was spot on based on the 5-6 hours I've been listening to them. I think I actually prefer the tonality in wireless mode, but I haven't tried it passive with any amps yet. Probably wouldn't pay full price, but they'll fit their role quite well.

Edit: After testing more between passive & active mode, I can clearly hear the "telephone" sound from active mode that Tyll refers to in his review, but it's really tough to fault it when listening in noisy environments.

 

A couple nights ago I did a quick write up summarizing my recent experiences with 7 different closed, portable full size headphones. It was just something during a late night of work, and I threw it up on reddit as it's relevant to that community's interest, but figured it should be here in some form too. None of it is too in depth, but figured it may be help to someone browsing one day. This seems to be the most appropriate thread, copy/paste below:
(https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/47mn76/and_then_there_were_two_seven_closed_portables/)

I’ve torn through 7 portable, full sized, closed backs in the last year or so, as I use them at work and during the commute in conjunction with IEMs. Usually by owning two at a time and keeping them for various lengths of time before moving on.

The MSR7 and PM3 remain as my ideal two pairs.

Snippets in acquisition order, then overgeneralization comparisons

Audio technica M50- What else is there to say, V-shaped and very exciting. Leaves much to be desired in comfort, soundstage, and any sort of refined signature.

Sennheiser Momentum 1.0- Fit and finish is incredible, real leather earcups feel great. Unfortunately much too small. Punchy midbass but treble is super rolled off. Both my stock cables had problems.

AKG K545- Surprisingly good bass, not too much but fairly even and quite present. Nothing else really shines in the signature. Circular ear cups are shallow and don’t sit/seal well. First pair had common channel imbalance problem, but Harmon was very helpful. Not bad if looking for a bassier signature and get a good deal.

Audio Technica MSR7- Bright, with a subtle V-shape is how I hear this one. Very unique in this market. The upper mids and highs emphasis really brings out female vocalists, guitars, strongs and drums. I really like these for rock or primarily instrumental genres. Great detail for a closed back portable, although it can become fatiguing after a while. Bass extends low, and there’s just enough of it before it becomes a “bassy” headphone. Isolation is sub par, but it will still work for most closed use cases (subway or airplane need not apply). Comes with 3 cables, but the bulky right angled plugs drive me insane in my pocket. Build is good enough, has held up for many months, clamp is stiff out of the box, could be more comfortable but is very lightweight.

NAD VISO HP50- Great soundstage and isolation for a closed back. Leans warm with a nice amount of bass that fills in nicely. Sortof like Momentum, but less exaggerated down low and actually has nice smooth treble detail. Closed HD650 perhaps? Build is fine if not weird, comfort and aesthetics are very hit and miss. Cables have a great, very low profile right angle connector.

Sony MDR-1A- Incredibly comfortable, disappear on your head. Lots of midbass but doesn’t extend real low well. Lower midrange scooped out, setting many vocals and instruments far back. Treble isn’t smooth, sounds uneven, but also not fatiguingly hot. Solid for typical bass heavy genres, but does not do well for vocal and instrumental stuff (Rock, classical…etc). Seems overpriced in the US but not so much elsewhere.

Oppo PM-3- Screams high end build quality throughout, this could be $1k on build alone and no one would question it. Unfortunately this makes it quite heavy for a portable, but compared to many other planar headphones it’s still light. Tyll said this is the most neutral headphone he’s ever heard and I’d probably agree. Maybe it leans just slightly warm, but I don’t hear these as rolled off in the treble as some do. Very easy to listen to, an incredible all-rounder. May not be exciting enough for some, so know what you’re getting into, but it sounds very enjoyable to me, and comes alive at higher (but still safe) volumes. Needs a couple more notches of volume than the others, but can still be driven off a phone/DAP…etc.

Overgeneralized Comparisons

Perceived Build Quality PM3 > MDR-1A >> m50 MSR7 Momentum HP50 > K545
Comfort MDR-1A >> PM3 > HP50 MSR7 K545 > m50 Momentum
Isolation PM3 HP50 >> m50 MDR-1A Momentum > k545 MSR7
Subjective Overall Sound Quality PM3 > MSR7 HP50 > MDR-1A > K545 > m50 Momentum
Subjective Value (MSRP) MSR7 > PM3 HP50 > K545 m50 > Momentum MDR-1A

 

Do you have the original m50 or m50x?

 

Had, and it was an original. This was all over a span of about 10-12 months, so the eariler ones were from memory. The MSR7 and PM3 I still have and plan to indefinitely, and just recently sold the MDR1A and VISO HP50

 

Have to say that my Senn HD25-1 II's are a great commuter headphone. Been travelling and commuting alot and I just put them in the bag or head/neck and they haven't failed me yet. Very decent passive noise blocking and good sound overall sound. They are a bit warm sounding and can have a splashy treble sometimes. I switched the cable with a cheap oyide cable I found on ebay to make it more portable (the other cable is 3m long).

I am often running it straight from mobile phone, but the sound tighten's up when I use Leckerton uha-6. Gotta remember that they are over-ear so if you are planning on travelling more than 5-6 hours each day, they might hurt your ears. Anyways, great overall commuter headphones imo.

 

Another vote for IEMs.

I like the Shure models since they have sound isolating foam tips.

 

Yep - I use an Amperior as my one of my daily driver swap in's (PM-3, M-80, Amperior) and it's a really solid commuter phone. I recabled the Amperior with a standard 1.5m steel HD25-II replacement cable and I have zero worries about just tossing them into a bag. They're durable as hell and pretty simple to drive. They can be a bit peaky, but fishing for a tamer pair (there is a little bit of product variance) and/or using some EQ fixes that easily.

Really, the key with the last part - if you plan on running the PM-3's off a smartphone - is make sure that the phone has a reasonably high output power/output voltage. HTC M8/M9, iPhone 5/5S, iPhone 6/6S/plus models, and the LG V10 are all solid picks in that regard. Note 2 with root and a custom kernel with supercurio-derived direct amp control also works well. IME Note 4, Galaxy S5, the Nexus 6P (dear god, no), and the Note 5 all didn't the PM-3 nearly as well.