Sennheiser PX 200 II Closed Mini Headphones with Integrated Vol Control (Black)

I must be in the minority but I never found the huge cans to be comfortable. The weight becomes annoying, and they cause my ears to get warm and sweaty after extended wear. Earbuds are alright, but they never fit in my ears properly and fall out too easily. I don't particularly fancy full-on in-ear headphones either.

I finally settled on using the Sennheiser PX-200 II headphones: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PX-200-II-Headphones/dp/B00...

They have good sound isolation, are extremely light, and very comfortable to wear for long periods. The volume dial on the cord is a nice added bonus as well.

Like many people, if I'm thinking and designing I prefer to have no music. If I'm doing these things in a noisy environment I may listen to some rain recordings such as [1].

When I'm coding I mainly listen to classical music. The problem is that I need to listen to things I know very well or I'll get distracted, so I end up listening to the same compositions over and over again, to the annoyment of my wife ;-)

These days the compositions I list the most while coding are:

- Beethoven String Quartets, for instance [2] (I really like the fugato at 5:00 ;-)

- Mahler Symphonies, for example [3]

- Ravel music

- Some Monteverdi madrigals [4]

I like to use headphones, either a Sennheiser PX 200 [5] or a Sennheiser HD-280 PRO [6].

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvRv-243Cmk

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55PIXCQgEfE

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkoeH5BtLyQ

[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkDyNzPUQbo

[5] http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PX-200-II-Headphones/dp/B00...

[6] http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B0...