Last year I bought these comfy headsets for using with my Desktop PC at work – it was a Sony MDR-10RBT bluetooth headphone, it works great. For me wearing these fully closed headsets for listening to more than few songs at a stretch was becoming uncomfortable, due to these being noise cancelling headsets they cause a vacuum like feeling inside the ear, putting pressure on the ears.
Few weeks back in The Verge, I saw a review for a headphone titled Open-Air Dynamic Headphones, that’s when I knew there were these types of headsets called Open-Air which have the back of the earcups open. They produce more natural or speaker-like sound and are more spacious too; for me, the best advantage was they allow air into the ears for them to breathe reliving the pressure. The downside to Open-Air headphones is that they leak more sound out of headphone, for that reason they may not suit if you don’t want to disturb others sitting near you like in a cubicle office space.
Audio Technica ATH-AD700X
For me this sounded perfect, I set out to search for one that’s affordable (around $100) that I buy and try. After seeing reviews by Z-Review, WhatHifi and Soundguys.com I decided to buy Audio Technica ATH-AD700X. It doesn’t have a microphone, so you can’t make Skype calls using it, that’s fine with me as I am buying it to listen music. I found the product in Amazon India for Rs.8100 (USD 120) which is what I ordered. I got it delivered few days back. The headphone certainly feels comfortable and airy, I like it. I wish the audio cable were detachable, but it isn’t. It’s quite big in size, so it may not suit everyone, so check it out before you buy it.
Audio-Technica Open-Air ATH AD700X Headphones