What are the best headphones for audiobooks/spoken word?

[ggffhhgood]

Hi,

I was wondering what everybody´s opinion on what would be the best headphones for audiobooks/podcasts/spoken word? This is my top priority for my DAP, with music being secondary. As long as the music portion is decent, and I don´t have to crank it up too loud to hear it, I will be content. Idealy, of course, I would like to get something that was exellent at both music and audiobooks, with noise canceling and all that jazz. I was wondering what the current opinions were.

Right now, I have a pair of Creative´s EP-630´s. They are all right, but I am looking for something a little bit better.

40-100 price range -- MAX.

Thanks!

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

Earphones don't really matter that much for audiobook playback, in my opinion. But yes, the EP630 might be a bit too bassy and muddy for that.

I would say the Altec Lansing IM716 are good for your needs. They give you Etymotic-style clarity and noise isolation, for about $70.

[Jack4L]

The Altecs will most likly need an amp though as they are fairly demanding IEMs (I think I read there impedance was somewhere near 70ohm), the FiiO E3 mini headphone amp works almost perfectly, and only costs $8.5.

The Altecs would work great if you were listening to conversations or conferences, where hearing quiet noises can be important. However for very clearly recorded, lecturing videos or tapes I personaly would use a set of muddier, non isolating headphones. I tend to get hot ears (eardrums get annoyed) if I listen to instructional videos or similar for too long, especialy if the headphones are isolating and bright (couple that with a nasly sounding speaker and I wont be able to stand listening for more then 15 mins at a time).

To break the monotony I like to keep some kinda music playing in the background, can do this easily with a computer, but with an MP3 player its just not possible. So just being able to hear any kind of background noise (loud computers, people talking etc) helps to lessen the stress on my ears ;P Might be different for other people though.

[ggffhhgood]

I just picked up a pair of JVC marshmellows, as I accidentily ran over my EP-630´s with my car (long story). I needed a quick fix until I had more time to research the best ones. So I went to Wal-Mart to pick up these cheapies. Man oh man, these things aren´t bad. The isolation is great, even better than my Ep-630´s. I can´t really comment on the music or any of that technical stuff, but these things block everything out, and I don´t even have to turn the volume up at all. I am going to keep looking for something a little bit better, but these aren´t bad at all. Usually the cheapies I would buy from Wal-Mart always ended up being junk, but I think they did something right with these.

[Mantvis]

It has been a while since the last post about headphones for audio books. Does anyone have some new recommendations? What do you (you, abi formum reader) use for audio book listening? May be it would be a good idea to make a poll?

Me personally - I love my Phonaks, but after a very intensive year of use I had to have the cable replaced. Anyway, I love how comfortable they are and how they isolate outside noise. Especially foam ear-buds.

What I'm looking for?
Not for sound quality, though it would be nice. I'm looking for ergonomics, comfort, build quality for ear-buds as well as for cables.
I want to have my earphones around all the time. I want to use and abuse them. I don't want to carry a special pouch - I want to simply stuff them in my pocket. Therefore it isn't practical to use expensive earphones unless they are very durable. Yes, Phonaks lasted a year of my abuse without any modding, but it hurt my hart to be this cruel to them. Are there any more affordable options?

What would be recommendations for headphones (ear-bud style) given these criteria/priorities:
1. Comfort.
2. Sound isolation.
3. Durability. (If first two are satisfied and the price is very low this is not important).
4. Sound quality.

Prefered extra critera:
Over-ear cable

Thanks!
BTW, does anyone else likes to sometimes listen to audiobooks with only one headphone? Given good sound isolation it could be dangerous in some situations to walk around being "deaf".