Technofreak: I've decided to get myself a better over the ear headset, mainly for use when playing my keyboard but also for use with my stereo system, laptop and very occasionally, travel.  What ever I choose it needs to be able to work well with a low power, low output impedance amp.

I'd set myself a budget of $400 to $500 after initially having a lower limit ($300 - $400). I raised the limit to allow the Bose Quiet Comfort 15 to be considered.

I've had a pretty good read of this thread though not end to end, and it's sent me off to other places to look at reviews as well. Now it's down to picking from a few headsets, but then as you look around the shops looking at them, other models come to light.

Models I like the look of are:

KEF M500, look nice and good reviews, fold away nicely, however not keen on-the-on the ear as I prefer over-the-ear.

Blackbox M10, I have the C20's noise cancelling ear buds for travel which are very good and expect the M10's to be the same.

NAD Viso HP 50, looks a well designed unit with good looks and reviews.

Sony MDR-1R. Good looking and good reviews.


I went looking around today here in Hamilton, though only had time to check out HN and JB HiFi.

There were none of any of these at HN that I could find. 

JBH had the Sony MDR-1R though I wasn't able to try them out. They also had the Sennheiser HD 380 pro which weren't on my list. Another one I hadn't considered but was able to try was the Bose Quiet Comfort 15.  While I wasn't able to really checkout the audio comprehensively, the noise cancellation was certainly very impressive.

I'm not sure about the availability of  the Blackbox M10s as they seem to be either out of stock or perhaps discontinued.

While the Bose sounded impressive with the noise cancellation I don't know that I need a noise cancelling headset for what I primarily need this headset for, and the need to have to change batteries. There's conflicting info as to whether they work without a charged battery.

At this stage the Sony MDR-1R and NAD Viso HP50 are probably my top two choices. They both appear to work well with a low power output and are in the right impedance range.  One feature they both have is the detachable cord, which I like. The Sony MDR-1R has one slight edge in that I can buy them locally. It looks like I'll have to go for a trip out of town to check out the NAD Viso HP50. Having said that I have no problem buying sight unseen via the internet if I'm convinced that's what I need/want.

I'd appreciate any comments in comparing any of the headsets I've mentioned above. As well as the audio qualities, How well are they made? How comfortable are they? Any known design deficiencies? etc etc

Is there anything that I should be thinking about or looking at?  Is the bluetooth version of the Sony worth it? I understand you can still operate them in the wired configuration.  Could be handy for moving around the house.

Thanks for any feedback.