Hi all, I’m into hospital for a week soon and I suspect I’m going to need music! I’m looking for recommendations for a pair of over-ear headphones to use with Qobuz through my iPhone. Don’t want to tear the arse out of it price wise but not bargain basement either. Thoughts please…
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Focal Elegia, discontinued but available at a bargain price. I use them with a dragonfly cobalt dac/amp.
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I don’t know anything about Focal headphones, but I do agree with the suggestion of the Audioquest Dragonfly DAC/amplifier. You need a lightning to USB socket adaptor (Audioquest recommend Apple’s camera adapter rather than the straight lightning to USB adaptor. It’s more expensive but sounds better apparently. I think I paid about £35 for the adaptor. And the Dragonfly Cobalt is the best of the range but it’s pretty pricy and personally I prefer the sound of the Red which is about half the price of the Cobalt (I have both, so I know they don’t sound the same).
If you don’t use hearing aids, then the Apple AirPod Pro 2 is an excellent in earphone. It connects to your iPhone by Bluetooth and has a noise cancelling mode that might be ideal in a hospital and also a transparency mode so you can hear when the nice lady with the tea trolley is coming round!
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I use the Apple AirPod Pro and, they are very good.
Plus you don’t need a portable DAC or Apple USB Adapter, so less things to cart around.
DG…
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WH- 1000XM5 Sony wireless headphones have won a few awards. I have used them for a while and they better others I have in most areas.
No problems connecting and has a great long life battery between charges.
I got a great deal on mine a couple of years ago. You should be able to pick up a pair for peanuts.
BTW this is not me…
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Best regards for your hospital stay.
To answer your specific question for over-ear, without thread drift, I have two pairs of Sennheiser over-ear ‘phones, which I use with iPhone. The latter needs an adaptor - lightning or usb-c to 3.5 mm adaptor for headphone lead.
Both models are noise cancelling, which you can use or not as you wish. The more expensive pair are PXC480 and the cheaper pair, which I use outdoors are HD450BT - both wired and if using noise cancelling, you would need a usb charger. One does perform better than the other, but price will no doubt be your driver.
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Another vote here for the Sennheiser and especially for the noise cancellation in the context of a hospital stay. Great for listening to all sorts but also great for a decent night of sleep in what can by necessity be an unpleasantly noisy environment.
Unfortunately things do go missing is hospitals, so perhaps look for something good quality but cheapish on eBay, then you can always then sell on at the end for little cost difference.
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I recently bought a pair of Meze 99 Classics for use with my phone. Lovely sounding (and looking) things. Around £250
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Can’t add to the suggestions above, but best wishes for the stay Neil.
I’d recommend Focal Bathys. Noise cancelling (maybe helpful in the hospital) and can also be used wired as they have an onboard DAC.
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I’ve got a lot of enjoyment out of my Grado SR80e on my iPhone - I think the latest model is the SR80x, but I would expect them to be very similar. Cheaper than many of the suggestions above, too.
They are very open-back, though, so will neither noise-cancel nor isolate you much from background noise. That said, I’ve used them in all sorts of places, including on long plane journeys, and didn’t find this a problem. Different people probably have different thresholds for this sort of annoyance, though!
I would recommend a few pairs of cheap spongy earplugs for a hospital stay. If you sleep on your side, as I do, noise-cancelling headphones aren’t very convenient, to say the least.
The very best of good fortune with your visit. Since it’s for a week, I’m assuming it’s not entirely trivial.
Mark
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Grados on a plane!? I imagine a large number of your fellow passengers would have passed this threshold.
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Thanks… Full hip replacement… my second!
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I was in a simalar position some 6 years ago booked for bowel surgery and thought about getting some headphones for the time in hospital.
As I never use headphones/earbuds when traveling or out and about my dealer suggested not to spend to much money as it would probably wasted long term. Taking his advise I purchased a lightning to headphones adapter and borrowed some cheap headphones from my sister just as well as I hardly used during my stay in hospital.
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I use Anker Soundcore headphones. They are Bluetooth, noise cancelling, quite good quality and not too expensive.
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Ah, so the chances of anything being nicked are much reduced, not that they are especially high nowadays (let’s not overstate that risk) and the chances of you spending the night on 1 side much reduced also. Noise cancelling phones will get you a decent night sleep on your back.
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I don’t like things in my ears or covering them; I recently decided to listen to more podcasts on my regular walks. To do this I use induction headphones that sit just in front of the ear canal. They are not great with music, adequate at best, but they allow the natural sounds of the world to be heard as I listen to podcasts.
These headphones, Shokz, are blue tooth enabled and contain a microphone should you wish to use your phone as it was originally intended. For me they are a compromise; but an audiophile friend has now bought a set and is impressed as goes pottering about in his garden.
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The Sony MV1 are slightly better for definishion than the Bose QC35. Both are over the ear and comfortable. The Sony come with an adapter.
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I love them, but they are on the expensive side. In the U.S. $700 new.
If I were in the hospital overnight, I wouldn’t worry about over-ear and go for the iPod Pro 2. Very comfortable, amazing noise cancellation, and tolerable/pleasant sound.
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