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I'm the happy of a pair of two-decades-old Sennheiser HD500 mid-range open-ear headphones, but now I'd really like a headset as a combined solution for both music and video-conferencing at work. It seems that all the decent headsets are for gaming, but I'm having a real hard time finding any over-ear and open-ear ones.

I really like the open-ear properties in an office environment that isn't too loud, since it allows me to participate in discussions that are going on without constantly taking them on and off. Does anyone here have any recommendations for a decent over-ear and open-ear headset? I could go analog, digital, wireless, whatever.

The problem is that once you bolt on the microphone, the established "good sound" headphone mfgs just aren't interested.

Check out the ModMic 4 or another model from Antlion Audio:
https://antlionaudio.com/
Bolt that onto your existing pair of high-quality Sennheiser headphones and you've got the best of both worlds.

You don't have to go expensive. Get the SR850 and incredulously marvel at their price/performance ratio.

https://www.amazon.com/Samson-SR850-Sem ... B002LBSEQS

Igor_Kavinski wrote:

You don't have to go expensive. Get the SR850 and incredulously marvel at their price/performance ratio.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see a mic on those..

demolition wrote:

Igor_Kavinski wrote:

You don't have to go expensive. Get the SR850 and incredulously marvel at their price/performance ratio.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see a mic on those..

The OP did not ask for a mic. He just wants to be able to hear his surroundings while also enjoying whatever he is listening to on his headphones. SR850 fulfill those requirements, all the while providing great sound and stereo placement as well as better-than-average soundstage. Anyway, ModMic can be attached to these if desired.

Igor_Kavinski wrote:

demolition wrote:

Igor_Kavinski wrote:

You don't have to go expensive. Get the SR850 and incredulously marvel at their price/performance ratio.

Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see a mic on those..

The OP did not ask for a mic. He just wants to be able to hear his surroundings while also enjoying whatever he is listening to on his headphones. SR850 fulfill those requirements, all the while providing great sound and stereo placement as well as better-than-average soundstage. Anyway, ModMic can be attached to these if desired.

Headset (as opposed to headphone) implies a mic. He also says: "as a combined solution for both music and video-conferencing at work"; you can't participate in a video conference without a mic, and the word "combined" indicates he wants the mic built in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headset_(audio)

Wikipedia wrote:

A headset combines a headphone with a microphone.

^^^ very first line of the Wikipedia article ^^^

just brew it! wrote:

Wikipedia wrote:

A headset combines a headphone with a microphone.

^^^ very first line of the Wikipedia article ^^^

My bad. I stand corrected.

As, an audiophile, I feel an open-ear headset makes my music a lot more fun. I always prefer the open natural sound rather than the isolated sound of closed headsets. In general, the open-ear headset is more comfortable with lighter pressure on the ear area.

xlee11 wrote:

As, an audiophile, I feel an open-ear headset makes my music a lot more fun. I always prefer the open natural sound rather than the isolated sound of closed headsets. In general, the open-ear headset is more comfortable with lighter pressure on the ear area.

The isolation thingy takes it to other dimensions mb

I used to own the Sony MDR-7506 and while they sounded amazing they really hurt after a while. Found a variant consumer one Sony V6 or something where the exact same headphones but don’t know if they still sell those.