….so you did The Cloud on Saturday then I take it?
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Ian,
It’s a choice of personal preference, weight, bulk, etc. FWIW For my CW activations, I typically use the SONY MDR-ZX110 headphones. Their impedance seems to match the rig well and I find it easy enough to slip off and on as necessary.
Stay well & 73!
Mike, WB2FUV
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But do remember whether you are wearing headphones under your wooly hat or over it. I once did an activation with the earphones over my hat - I didn’t notice till I got up. That explained why no one was 599 !!! ` 
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I’ve tried numerous in-ear headphones, ranging from free ones provided by airlines to those that come with iPhones and Samsung phones. None of them were comfortable for me to use. The issues were usually either excessive hissing or poor noise protection (e.g., against wind). However, I recently tried the Sennheiser MX375 and found them to be perfect. They’re comfortable, have almost no hiss, and offer decent noise protection. They’re so good that I used them for over 20 hours yesterday during the CQ WW contest.
73,
Victor
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Actually on a busy and noisy band when receiving SSB a good set of headphones (not necessarily an expensive set) can help pick out callers. I have used headphones with switchable noise reduction - mine were from Aldi, but BHI also produce some good ones. The MOST important point however is that the headphones must be comfortable.
NCH | Active Noise Cancelling Headphones | Over The Ear | bhi
73 Ed.
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I guess everyone has their favourites!
I use Koss The Plug with my MTRs, the sensitivity is quite high, which helps with the low audio output from the MTR. My most recent set of Koss earphones have an inline volume control (analog, not a mobile mic etc), which works nicely for the normal/strong signals but allows you to up the volume a bit for really weak signals.
For my QCXs and RockMites I use any old cheap earphones as long as they’re 32 ohms. I’ve found that a number of the novelty CW rigs can’t provide enough current to adequately drive lower impedance earphones.
Colin
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Koss. What a brand.
I have owned the Koss Portapro headphones for absolute DONKS and they are stellar for general audio listening. How they achieve the sound they do is just mind-boggling. Chuck a little in-line amp, like a Dragonfly or something, in to the chain and those things absolutely sing.
They appear to honour their lifetime guarantee too. I wore mine so much (less often recently) that the earpads started to crumble.
A quick email and photo of proof of purchase and they sent me two complete sets of replacement pads free of charge. No questions asked. Shipped from the USA and they paid for everything.
I’m not up on the rest of the Koss range other than everyone’s grandad owned a pair of their heavyweight headphones back in the 1970’s.
Are those Comply tips on your earbuds?
Very true. Some IEM’s make my ear canals itchy after a while. Imagine doing CW wearing a pair of Etymotic’s. They wedge so far in to your ears they are almost tickling your brain!
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Anything that folds, covers the ear and costs under 30 USD. Mine are Sony
Elliott, K6EL
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I have a kx2 and kh1, so using the speaker outside is not an option for me unless it’s very quiet. I’ve had good luck with cheap earbuds: Panasonic ErgoFit Wired Earbuds for $15 on amazon. I’ve been using them for 5 years now and they have never failed. And they stay in my ear pretty well and I can wear them under a stocking cap. They do block out a lot of ambient noise. Some people don’t like that. 90% of the time, I never see another human or animal on the peaks in Idaho and Wyoming. And so far, I have not been eaten by a bear. Once, in Teton National park, I got up quickly to put my mast back up and saw a black bear run off about 50 feet away. Neither one of us knew the other was there. I probably wouldn’t have heard it without headphones: bears don’t make a lot of noise 
Also, these earbuds have a mic built into the cord. For the few SSB contacts I make, they work fine, but I have to hit the transmit button on kx2 first.
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