Karen Lewellen <klewellen(a)shellworld.net> writes: Well, Elega196C are not a fashion statement as the earpads (originally a flat soft layer of black open-cell foam) will have disintegrated long ago and been replaced by some more or less questionable alternative by their previous owner. I stocked up on my original one from 40+ years ago a few years ago and equipped either with some cheap round earpad, making for even less of a useful fashion statement. Back in the days when there were still brick-and-mortar HiFi stores, I went through the whole rack of headphones in my affordable price range. I find them ok to wear over longer amounts of time (though they might have been nicer with the original pads) and of reasonable accuracy. Like with any comparatively personal preference, there is no guarantee that you'd come to the same conclusion. They are sometimes on Ebay et al for comparatively cheap. If nothing else, a conversation piece. -- David Kastrup

On Sat, Aug 28, 2021 at 3:48 PM Karen Lewellen <klewellen(a)shellworld.net> wrote: Just avoid those brands (e.g. Beats) I don't know anyone can go wrong with Sony MDR-7506 headphones, though I will admit that there are Sennheisers that are more comfortable for extended wearing. The Sony's tend to be very warm around the ears in my experience. But they have phenomenal low end response, are reasonably priced, seen in studios around the world and fold down to nice small package when necessary. Having said that, I think I might actually prefer my Sony noise-cancelling phones, but they cost a lot more and my recommendation is still the 7506's