So I've had these headphones now for about 2 - 3 years. After so long of abuse in my backpack (silly me for not using the case that comes with them), the left earcup went and died on me today. It produces absolutely no sound except for the tiny piece of metal or something I can jiggly around in there when I shake it. Right earcup works fine though.

I'm trying to find someone who can, maybe, fix it, but in the case that I cannot I'm considering buying a new pair of noise-canceling headphones. However, I don't think I want to buy from Bose again on account of I've heard some bad rep about them.

So what do you guys think? Fix it or buy new? And if so, could you suggest some quality and sturdy noise-canceling headphones (something below <$200, I'm not really an audiophile)?

www.headfi.org/forums

there ya go, don't fix or buy bose, get alot of bad press at least from snobs like on that site.

go info though.

Sennheiser does good stuff. The active noise cancelling is expensive, but these are quite good if you can go for $225.

Actually, I had these in mind. I figure they offer nice quality sound and all the noise cancelation of my old ones, maybe even better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6826106328

Those are nice, but they aren't noise cancelling. They will block out the sound quite well, but the ones I linked to are active noise cancelling, so will actually almost completely eliminate all background noise. If you want great sound quality though, the ones you linked are very nice, and much cheaper than a comparable sounding noise cancelling pair.

Well isn't 'noise attentuation' and 'noise cancelling' basically the same thing?

Also the previous headphones I had, the Bose Quietcomfort 3, while it did block out a lot of noise, it could never block out everything completely. So in a way, there is no true, complete noise cancellation. At least not yet. So I don't think I'd really notice a difference.

Or am I missing something?

Edit - I think I get it. The 'noise attenuation' comes from just the way the headphones are made so that the construction of the earphones reduces outside sound. But the 'noise canceling' uses electronics that are actively on and producing the anti-sound to completely eliminate most outside sound. Is this right?

Because if that's the case, then I might get these instead.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 35&Tpk=PXC

I've looked at Sennheiser's line of noise canceling stuff and I'm not too sure there's really much point to spending more than $150 on those kind of headphones. I mean, I like my music and all, and I like having the quiet environment from the noise canceling, but I'm not what you'd call an audiophile. I don't obsess over whether my mp3's are 128kbps or 192kbps and I can't tell the difference between then (at least I don't think I can). So would this be a good buy for me?

perhaps you should look at IEM's. if you don't mind shoving smoething into your ear they offer good noise reduction and are portable.

I've used earphones before, I don't like them much. Granted I've never had real quality ones, but even so I don't like having them directly in my ear because they're usually uncomfortable or don't stay in my ear very long. Plus they're a slight hassle because they're so small.

That's exactly it. Noise attenuation = foam + good seal against your head, while noise canceling = active elimination of sound. Looking at the specs, the HD280Pros have up to 32dB of passive noise attenuation, while the PXC350 have 32dB passive plus an additional 18dB active noise attenuation, so could drop noise by 50dB. An extra 18dB is definitely significant. The smaller sized PXC250 though (that you linked to) probably wouldn't drop the sound as much. They have the noise cancelling, but some of the reason why the bigger ones work so well is because they also have the noise attenuation. I wouldn't get those - the HD280s are probably just as quiet, so unless size matters a lot to you, there's no point in getting the PXC250.

Well the Bose Quietcomfort 3 cups were on top of my ears, not enclosing them and they still blocked out a lot of outside noise. The PXC250's look to be about the same in concept, though with a slightly less bulky frame overall. Still, the PRO 280 one does look pretty sturdy and reviews seem to indicate that even without the active noise canceling that the attenuation from its construction is phenomenal. I suppose if I'm not satisfied with one of the other, I could maybe return it for some store credit or something and get the other one. Well, whatever, I'll pick one soon and just go with it. Probably the PRO 280s since they're a great deal right now.

Thanks for all your help guys.