Recommended Headphones?

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

Just after recommendation for the best balance of cheap and rugged headphones? Like all schools I'm sure, we work our way through plenty!

 

Thanks

[Sonic007]

We ended up buying all our students cheap small earphones. Less than £2 each.

They get to keep them but it's their responsibility to look after them. This seems to have worked for us so far.

Too many were coming back broken when we had bigger ones and they would always end up completely tangled up.

[synaesthesia]

As much as we'd like to do the above for various reasons including cleanliness and management, we're in the process of buying a load from CPC; https://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/ch850-blk/childrens-educational-headphones/dp/AV27887

Haven't arrived yet so can't judge quality but hopefully not too far from the good old HCL ones.

[mikeprice]

I used to recommend that the kids buy their own to guarantee they had some - the pound shops always have some in

 

However, where I last worked we used these from TTS

https://www.tts-group.co.uk/easi-headphones/1004947.html?cgid=Primary-Computing_--_ICT-Headphones

 

Main advantage of them was that they have seperate cables so you can just replace the cables when required - which cables of the length you want

 

seemed to be fairly kid proof - partly because when (not if) a kid walks/runs/wheels away from a computer at speed and forgets they have headphone on - then the cable suffers rather than the whole unit - and the cables can be replaced

 

still unsureof the health of shared headphones - which is why I would prefer kids to bring their own

[Joanne]

I buy the same ones as @synaesthesia and they are decent. Haven't had any problems with them yet (aside from kids chewing through the wires - ew)

[jonathon28]

Thanks to @gomalley and @Arthur

 

 

http://www.crusaderav.co.uk/robust-headphone-and-microphone-with-2-x-3-5-mm/p-10015

http://www.crusaderav.co.uk/robust-headphone-microphone-for-tablet-4-pole-plug/p-10016

[timbo343]

I have just been asked this question about headphones and whilst i would like to recommend a product, in the end they are always going to get damaged.

 

I have the CrusaderAV flyer on my desk, i see they have the stock from Hills, however the issue we found with the "unbreakable headphones" was students loved to pull the red ear pad off along with the plastic ring that secures it to the headset making them uncomfortable to use.

 

Looking at https://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/ch850-blk/childrens-educational-headphones/dp/AV27887 these seem the next best option though having something with USB rather than 3.5mm possibly would be better.

 

How kid proof are the headphones from CPC?

 

Do the Ear pads come off or are they fixed?

 

What's the strength of the "over the head" band? is it as tough as the Unbreakable Ones?

[TechMonkey]

We previously got the Hills Components ones and were ecstatic when Crusader (https://www.crusaderav.co.uk/robust-headphone-and-microphone-with-2-x-3-5-mm/p-10015#product-detail) started getting them after HC closed. We bought a batch of the replacement ear pieces and just fit them if they get taken off and nudge the teachers to take better care. Our first batch was bought about 5 years ago and this is the first replacements I remember ordering. We have also ordered the mono pole versions for a batch of Chromebooks.

[TomHD]

We use the same ones @mikeprice has sturdy, flexible so they don't snap and modular so cables are detachable for storing and you can get spare ear pads for when they wear out. A bit steep at £19.99 a pair but they get cheaper if you go for a bundle.

[timbo343]

We bought 1 pair of these https://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/ch850-blk/childrens-educational-headphones/dp/AV27887 and very impressed with them, just wondering how long they will hold up in lessons.

 

The sound quality from them is great and for the price, they are certainly worth it, small design and powerful. The headband has what feels like a cushion material and the inner metal seems strong enough, not pushed it or bent it too far though so im not sure how it will hold up to been student proof.

 

The ear pads aren't removable but also not easily removed too and they have an inline microphone.

 

The 3.5mm is a 4 pole and in the box comes a splitter to split the audio and microphone if devices don't support the 4 pole.

 

We got a price for the unbreakable headphones from CrusaderAv and they were around the £8.29 mark and seeing as we have had them in the past we decided not to buy them as students like to pull the red ear pads off, pull the black foam off from inside the headphones and also lose the bring O ring inside the headphones.

[witch]

Saw the Crusader indestructible (well, almost) headphones at EDIT and was favourably impressed. Have bought a set for the IT suite

[hallb15]

After years of leaving headphones glued into the PCs in the ICT Suite, we've gone the other way and now have no headphones by default. If the teacher wants the headphones they have to get them from the office. This seems to be going OK so far.

We bought two class sets from Crusader and so far they are doing well. https://www.crusaderav.co.uk/classroom-headphone-set-32-x-stereo-headphones/p-12187

Having individual drawstring bags keeps them from getting in a tangled mess in the box.

[k-strider]

Music and Exams have headphones... but dont you find that almost all the students have their own?

[ConverseKing]

Just buy cheapest you can get. They will be destroyed no matter how much you spend anyway.

[fiza]

Resurrecting this thread as I have a requirement to buy a pair of headphones per student for Y7 to Y9. No more sharing so need to give them a pair each. Any recommendations of ones you have used around the £5 per unit mark?

[Boredguy]

I got some basic ones from CPC for about £3 odd. No microphone included but for listening to stuff they seem fine

[timbo343]

We bought 1 pair of these https://cpc.farnell.com/av-link/ch850-blk/childrens-educational-headphones/dp/AV27887 and very impressed with them, just wondering how long they will hold up in lessons.

 

The sound quality from them is great and for the price, they are certainly worth it, small design and powerful. The headband has what feels like a cushion material and the inner metal seems strong enough, not pushed it or bent it too far though so im not sure how it will hold up to been student proof.

 

The ear pads aren't removable but also not easily removed too and they have an inline microphone.

 

The 3.5mm is a 4 pole and in the box comes a splitter to split the audio and microphone if devices don't support the 4 pole.

 

We got a price for the unbreakable headphones from CrusaderAv and they were around the £8.29 mark and seeing as we have had them in the past we decided not to buy them as students like to pull the red ear pads off, pull the black foam off from inside the headphones and also lose the bring O ring inside the headphones.

 

These from CPC seem to have stood up to the kids however the inline mic isn't as robust, it's actually quite flimsy.

 

Staff have started to use these ones when doing video parents evenings but have had reports that the mic is a bit quiet even when the mic levels on the teacher's devices are turned up. The mics could do with been a bit closer to the headphones or i have advised that teachers should be using headsets with a boom mic.

[fiza]

I got some basic ones from CPC for about £3 odd. No microphone included but for listening to stuff they seem fine

Do you have a link please? I cant seem to see any for that price on CPC. You have the cheap flimsy ones for £1.45 and then it jumps to over £6 for more robust over the head ones.

[Boredguy]

These are the ones we got @fiza https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg02988/headphones-stereo/dp/AV17625?ost=av17625