You said audiophile and then said $100-$200, those don't match. That said both my autistic son and I use Sony WH-1000xm4, they run $250 new but you can get them on ebay for under $200 and they are pretty great. When I'm able to sit still I have a set of open back planar ribbon cans run through a USB DAC or a desktop amp but when I'm on the move I use the Sonys. The noise canceling is good enough that I can use them on my lawnmower or tractor comfortably.
I also have the XM4s, they work great. Don't bother getting the more expensive XM5s...hardly any noticeable difference from what I could tell.
someone else recommended sony... i may just go with those
If you are going to use something that much I would say don't cheap out. I currently have a pair of Sony WH-xm3. I purchased them over 5 years ago and use them daily. They have travelled around the world twice with me and I replace the ear muffs every 2 years. I still get a good 30 hours out of them.
I would also recommend the XM series. I have both the xm3 (personal) and xm4 (work) and there's barely any difference, so you might want to see if you can find the older xm3's for cheaper.
I've worn my xm3s for thousands of hours over 5+years, but have never replaced the pads. What does it do? Does it make the NR of better? Or just a comfort thing?
Either you practically live in them, or you don't want to spend enough to get proper one. Chose.
I do both?? I mean, I'm willing to spend more if I have to; I just don't wanna go over 300... I thought someone knew about headphones that sound good but for a price lower than other audiophiles' headphones
If you don't want to spend a lot of money and are willing to put up with jank you can do what I do: get a pair of hearing protection headphones from the hardware store.
Just regular noise isolating cans for like mowing lawns or shooting guns. You can find a decent pair for less than $35. Look for a high NRR value (Noise Reduction Rating).
Then just wear earbuds underneath them. I use Samsung Galaxy Buds, but any wireless earbuds will do.
It's a bit janky but it didn't cost me $200
Janky howso? im curious
Mainly because if your ears get hot any sweat can cause the earbuds to fall out. They at least don't fall on the floor (just into the headphone can) but it's not as nice as having regular wireless headphones.
Pro-tip: if you plan to use them for more that about 3 hours at a time, get a second pair of earbuds. That way when the first one's battery dies you can just swap them out while it recharges
If you need to sleep in them as well Sennheiser HD450BT or similar are good as the ear pads do not touch the dried apricot parts of your ears.
Decent sound, but the SNR is not perfect.
got it!
An audiophile would likely go for open with a large driver rather than noise cancelling. If you want noise cancelling, I believe Sony would be the way to go, as mentioned in a sibling comment.
okey!
QC35 id you can find them, based entirely on the fact they have clickable buttons.
The Bluetooth on them is a mess though.
Noise cancelling and audiophile can be tough. Noise blocking... maybe Etymotic ER2XR. Easy to drive, block noise, very audiophile. I have owned a lot of headphones but these days I mostly use Airpod Pro 2. The NC is great, they are small, and sound ok. I like that the NC is easy to toggle on and off. The Etymotic headphones sound great and block lots of noise but they are hard to constantly be putting in and taking out. The cable can get annoying too.
I am waiting for Ety to make something more modern.
@thestereobus @Cock_Inspecting_Asexual AirPods Pro 2 really work for me personally
If you wanted to stick with the AirPods route the Maxes will do a better job of noise isolation due to size, but they’re bulky and super expensive
Though there are rumors going around that Apple will be updating the AirPods Max today at their release event so definitely keep a lookout for those if you’re interested
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