The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.I've tried using studio monitors as day-to-day headphones a couple of times but it didn't work. Until now.The problem has always been that this style ofheadphone, by itsvery design, isbig and bulky.They're meant to be used sitting down in front of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) instead of being plugged into a phone.Even Status Audio's other studio monitors, which I like quite a bit, suffer from this.But these headphones are different, they're still not as portable-device friendly as Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, but they're closer.Thebig reason is that unlike other studio monitors,these headphonesdon't have a long, bulky cable. It's still longerand bulkier than a standard headphone cable, but most of it iscontained in a tight coil. This makes these headphones way easier to use when walking around.With its biggest detractor gone, these end up being a really nice pair of over-ear headphones. They're closed, unlike the other Status Audio monitors I tried, which means they won't leak sound. That's ideal if you like to listen to music loudly in enclosed spaces, like an office or a bus or a subway. These headphones did a good job ofblocking out the noise of my commute, but that's because of how loud I listened to my music, not because of noise cancelling.Something I wish carried over from the Status Audio's other headphones are the foam earpads. The leather pads on these headphones are incredibly comfortable and fit over my ear perfectly, but I liked the foam. It was a little firmer, but more importantly, it wasn't as prone to sweatiness as leather is. It's a minor complaint, and not something I'd have ever thought about had I not tried those other headphones recently.Because they're meant to be used when creating music, studio monitors tend to be pretty good-sounding and fairly neutral headphones. That's true here, although I noticed a little bit of treble bias on a few tracks. While listening to music, I always felt like I was getting an accurate representation of the song. Instruments sounded correct and not overblown, and I could pick out certain different elements of a song if I focused on them.Sony still owns the crown in the studio monitor category in terms of absolute sound quality with theMDR-7506(they've been on the market for 21 years for a reason). But Status Audio's CB-1'sbest them in both comfort and portability, especially portability.If you really care about sound quality and don't mind carrying around slightly bulky headphones, the CB-1's are the best headphones I've tried at this price in this category.There are better options if you spend more, and better values if you're looking to spend less, but these headphones are in a sweet spot between quality and price.Status Audio CB-1,$79This article was originally published on 10/12/2016.DON'T MISS:These are one of the best pairs of Bluetooth headphones you can buy for under $100 right nowSEE ALSO:The 15 headphones under $100 actually worth your timeJoin the conversation about this story
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