Advice on sound isolating phones

[Sergio]

Hello,

I would like the opinion of you regarding which earphones to buy.
The main characteristics I'm looking for are good sound isolation (I would like to block all or most of the noise in my office or others places), decent sound quality (classical music, some pop, but most hard rock and metal) and if possible, not too expensive.
It would be interesting too, but not required, that it had a microphone and controls for answering calls, because I'm probably be using it with my cellphone too (Nokia N95) during transit in the city.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

P.S.: Please excuse me for any mistakes in English, as it is not my native language.

[UndefinedMemory]

What do class as 'not too expensive'? £50? £100? £150?

And do you prefer in ear like these: Etymotic mc3 In-Ear Isolating Earphones for iPhone in Red

Or on ear like these: Sennheiser HD 25-SP II Headphones (HD 25-SP II DJ Monitoring) - no mic but very good isolation

Or over ear like these: Denon AH-D1100 Closed Back Stereo Headphones (AHD1100) - also no mic

There are really so many options. I know the people here can really help out, but the more you know about what you want the better the advice!

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by UndefinedMemory

What do class as 'not too expensive'? £50? £100? £150?

I think £50 would be a good value for start. But I really want to know what my options are because until recently I did not know much about the variety of models of headphones available (beyond the obvious ones), and also that there were many differences between models of the same type. But now that it became necessary to buy another one since my old broke down, I looked at several sites and could not limit my choices to two or three models, so I came here to seek advice. =)

Originally Posted by UndefinedMemory

And do you prefer in ear like these: Etymotic mc3 In-Ear Isolating Earphones for iPhone in Red

Or on ear like these: Sennheiser HD 25-SP II Headphones (HD 25-SP II DJ Monitoring) - no mic but very good isolation

Or over ear like these: Denon AH-D1100 Closed Back Stereo Headphones (AHD1100) - also no mic

There are really so many options. I know the people here can really help out, but the more you know about what you want the better the advice!

Well, if I could buy two headphones, I would certainly buy an over ear model and a in-ear model, since the first one I could use comfortably at home and the other one in the office and on the street. But since I buying just one, I think that a in-ear model would be more practical.

[RobinHiFi]

Hi Sergio

Because you have quite diverse tastes you are likely to find that whatever earphones you buy they will sound better with some music than others.

I am not sure how your phone is wired up. Have you ever tried iPod compatible headphones with it? Let me know if these worked.

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by RobinHiFi

Hi Sergio

Because you have quite diverse tastes you are likely to find that whatever earphones you buy they will sound better with some music than others.

I am not sure how your phone is wired up. Have you ever tried iPod compatible headphones with it? Let me know if these worked.

Yes, I understand that there should be differences between the various earphones according to the type of music, but mentioned the types I usually hear only for reference.

Never tried the iPod headphones. As soon as I find ones to try I'll post the results.