Headphone tips Get over the ear design, light enough and loose enough for extended listening without fatigue. Try them on at the store (or buy from a store that will let you exchange them if they turn out to be uncomfortable). No headphone will filter out all outside noise except the noise cancellation designs which I have not tried but have read that they can alter the sound to a lesser or greater degree. Of the non- noise cancellation designs, there is a trade off between comfort and amount of outside noise that gets in.
I have found that one of the most common failures involves the failure of the connecting wire to the individual phones. Eventually you will accidentally pull on these wires and the cheaper ones will break the circuit at the point of connection. I have had particular bad luck with SONY headphones shorting out one or the other channels. One thing to look for is a design that connects the wires to the headphone with a plug as opposed to a permanent connection. The last headphones I bought were the Sennheiser HD560. I don't know if they are available still, but they have lasted longer than any headphones I ever owned (going on 8 years), they sound great, and I can listen for hours without my ears getting cramped. Friends have bought other Sennheiser models and agree that Sennheiser makes a quality product.
