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$500 cans on, this is how you dream right - Official Headphone Thread
- Thread starter HiResDes
- Start date
I thought the specs would be enough to make a comparison? I don't know a thing about determining headphone quality.
Wag
Member
These Sony MDR-DS7500 are my $500 pair of wireless lossless cans. The transmitter has HDMI connectivity w/PCM, DTS-HD, TrueHD and 7.1 support (among others). Nice investment. It can be had for approx $200 less than what I paid for it on Amazon now (I had to import it directly from Japan last year).
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
AKG K240 MKIIs > ?
Where do I go from here?, I want to jump onto the 'high end' headphone wagon, looking to spend around £300 max, I'm thinking to just jump in and go for the HD650's, I know I know, but they just seem like a safe jumping pad into the high end market (?), I just feel I need to jump in somewhere and gain a higher end reference point, does this make sense?
Are the 650's a good (safe) place to start in the high(er) end market?, I've also been looking at the HiFiman HE-400's but the only place I can get them within my budget is here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Head-...483&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=4&sd=221193534273& but I'm worried about getting a fake?
Also any cans I buy will be amped via a mains powered mixer.
Favorite types for music,
Lounge/jazz/house fusion, (think Om Lounge series), Trance, Classical.
Where do I go from here?, I want to jump onto the 'high end' headphone wagon, looking to spend around £300 max, I'm thinking to just jump in and go for the HD650's, I know I know, but they just seem like a safe jumping pad into the high end market (?), I just feel I need to jump in somewhere and gain a higher end reference point, does this make sense?
Are the 650's a good (safe) place to start in the high(er) end market?, I've also been looking at the HiFiman HE-400's but the only place I can get them within my budget is here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Head-...483&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=4&sd=221193534273& but I'm worried about getting a fake?
Also any cans I buy will be amped via a mains powered mixer.
Favorite types for music,
Lounge/jazz/house fusion, (think Om Lounge series), Trance, Classical.
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
Specs and frequency response charts don't tell the whole story unfortunately
Visualante2
Member
Remarkably similar to the BRAINWAVZ, is it just a branded generic headphone or sold under a different name?
edit. Oh I see in the review, generic shell but different insides.
I'm looking for something dependable in the $30 range. I'm not super particular about sound quality. Average really is good enough for me since most of what I listen to is podcasts or live records of songs while on hikes or exercising. My issue is that I go through headphones pretty quickly due to dropping/tripping/iPod falling out of pocket etc. My average is probably 3 months at a time. I'm kind of rough on headphones I guess.
Earbuds hurt my ears and I prefer over the ear styled, but it's hard to find decent ones that block out sound without being too nice that you sweat will ruin the padding.
This are what I've been using for the past two years or so. They don't hurt my hears and last longer, but they also aren't very good at blocking out sound. They sound excellent if I very lightly push them in while listening, but that isn't very good for hiking or biking. Anything that actually goes into my ears hurts terribly after just a few minutes. I'm not at all interested in super high quality professional stuff. Just a set of headphones that aren't buds that block sounds out and will be able to handle getting pulled on from time to time. Thanks.
Earbuds hurt my ears and I prefer over the ear styled, but it's hard to find decent ones that block out sound without being too nice that you sweat will ruin the padding.
This are what I've been using for the past two years or so. They don't hurt my hears and last longer, but they also aren't very good at blocking out sound. They sound excellent if I very lightly push them in while listening, but that isn't very good for hiking or biking. Anything that actually goes into my ears hurts terribly after just a few minutes. I'm not at all interested in super high quality professional stuff. Just a set of headphones that aren't buds that block sounds out and will be able to handle getting pulled on from time to time. Thanks.
They're the same inside and out, except the Brainwavz models come with more accessories.
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
What if I step that up to say $150 tops?
There's so many options...What genres do you favor? Should I assume you want closed headphones?
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Either/or... music-wise I'm all over the place.. Pink Floyd to Tool.. with some random trance, dubstep, hip-hop when in the mood. Want some good bass pop, but not overwhelming.
When not listening to music on walks they'll be used for gaming on my PC.
Durability is important, as my 7yr old uses them when we don't want to hear him playing Minecraft or Garry's Mod.
V-Moda M80 would be excellent if you can handle on-ears rather than over-the ears
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
I think Radio Shack has those.. I'll go give them a look. Searching online they had them for 130.. but you can't check price online since they sold out. Store nearby has them though.
I want to test if my headphones and DAC have been damaged, for the most part they sound great.. but I imagine myself hearing some irregular noises when guitars are playing.
I have a Audioengine D1 and a pair of AKG K550s. What is the best way to test stuff like this?
I have tried the following:
http://www.eminent-tech.com/music/multimediatest.html and they all worked fine.
Maybe it's just me not being used to higher quality sound?
I have a Audioengine D1 and a pair of AKG K550s. What is the best way to test stuff like this?
I have tried the following:
http://www.eminent-tech.com/music/multimediatest.html and they all worked fine.
Maybe it's just me not being used to higher quality sound?
BolognaSoup
Member
I'm looking for something dependable in the $30 range. I'm not super particular about sound quality. Average really is good enough for me since most of what I listen to is podcasts or live records of songs while on hikes or exercising. My issue is that I go through headphones pretty quickly due to dropping/tripping/iPod falling out of pocket etc. My average is probably 3 months at a time. I'm kind of rough on headphones I guess.
Earbuds hurt my ears and I prefer over the ear styled, but it's hard to find decent ones that block out sound without being too nice that you sweat will ruin the padding.
This are what I've been using for the past two years or so. They don't hurt my hears and last longer, but they also aren't very good at blocking out sound. They sound excellent if I very lightly push them in while listening, but that isn't very good for hiking or biking. Anything that actually goes into my ears hurts terribly after just a few minutes. I'm not at all interested in super high quality professional stuff. Just a set of headphones that aren't buds that block sounds out and will be able to handle getting pulled on from time to time. Thanks.
The Koss KSC75 don't block out sound but are without a doubt the best value in headphones. For about $15 on Amazon you get sound that rivals and even exceeds most headphones under probably $80. I use them for running and working around the house. You should really try them out. Do you really need blocking out of sound that bad anyway?
Or you could try the Koss Porta Pro in the $30 range. Slightly improved sound in a more traditional headband style.
I just wanted to say thanks again to HiResDes and everyone else who made suggestions for new phones. I've had the Mad Dogs for about 1.5 weeks. Running them on a Magni/Modi stack on both my Nexus 7 and Laptop. They sound absolutely fantastic. I can't really compare them to anything as they are my first decent pair of headphones, but they are definitely satisfying my need for great sounding audio without waking up the family. They certainly seem rather power hungry though. I'm kinda wishing I had gone with the Asgard 2 or Lyr in hindsight, but they still sound great on the little Magni as well. I noticed that cnet also posted a very positive review of them a few days ago (although not very in depth).
Mad Dog review-a-new-high-in-$300-audiophile-headphones/
Thanks again for the great info guys. Really enjoying my first foray into the headphone world.
Mad Dog review-a-new-high-in-$300-audiophile-headphones/
Thanks again for the great info guys. Really enjoying my first foray into the headphone world.
Valleyjoe, trust me, you won't get major, eye-opening improvements over the Mad Dogs until you get into mad money territory for Stax setups around 2K or more (or an HD800 and a massive tube amp).
A lot of the stuff around 500 bucks to 1K isn't much more technically proficient (some would be less so) and offer just different sonic flavours and similar overall resolution. more bass but worse imaging. or bigger soundstage but shriller highs, etc.
The Mad Dogs are really awesome. They just need more power than typical headphones but you're well taken care of for the immediate future with the Schiit stack.
A lot of the stuff around 500 bucks to 1K isn't much more technically proficient (some would be less so) and offer just different sonic flavours and similar overall resolution. more bass but worse imaging. or bigger soundstage but shriller highs, etc.
The Mad Dogs are really awesome. They just need more power than typical headphones but you're well taken care of for the immediate future with the Schiit stack.
Well I suppose it's somewhat reassuring to know that I'm not missing out on too much by not dropping an extra $200-300 on a better amp, but I think I'm the type of person who will always be wishing that I could drive them to their full potential.
I still haven't even tried them on my Anthem MRX receiver yet. I need to get a cable extension or longer cable so I can lay on my couch comfortably for a long listening session on the receiver. Anyone have any recommendations for an extra long headphone cable that won't break the bank? 12-15 feet would be desirable. I know I can grab something fairly cheap off monoprice or bluejeans cable, but is it worth spending more for headphone cables? I usually go fairly cheap for digital cables, but maybe analogs are another matter. Thanks as always for all the great info LCfiner and Des.
Ordered the Koss KSC75. Hopefully they'll be here sometime next week. By then, the trails out here should be dried and solid again.
Try to find a place with the best return policy?
BolognaSoup
Member
You mean the HE-400?
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
Damn. Thought this was the a161 for a second there.
Nah the RE400 is a new IEM.
Anyway some dude gave me the runaround on HF. Was this close to scoring the TG334 before he sold it to some other guy in AU. Thinking of picking up a pair of SM64s from soundearphones instead since they've got a trial period. Supposed to be able to hang with phones twice its price according some people I've been talking to. Might tide me over til the ASG-2 launches (which is taking its sweet fuckin time)
Please recommend good IEMs or earbuds with an inline mic for about $50. My old ones just broke and I need to purchase soon. I listen to all kinds of stuff but mainly bass heavy EDM and classic rock. I have a set of CAL!s that I absolutely love. All recommendations are appreciated.
Rand0m TAG
Member
Apple Earpods if you can stand buds or M6P
Thinking about pulling the trigger on these. I had asked last month about noise isolating IEMs for studying and you recommended the A161. The A151 would be 60% cheaper - better value?
A161 are incredible sounding so I don't know about that.
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
So in a strange twist of fate I just scored a great deal on the little known, and very strange Ocharaku Flat-4. Supposed to be able to hang with the K3003 and Fi-BASS in some respects. Just wish the build quality on it was better, but from a price/performance ratio, I guess one can't complain.
BolognaSoup
Member
Hope you like them. I like them for running because since they are NOT closed, you can still hear the sounds around you well.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DA4D2U/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Price: $206.98
You Save: $42.97 (17%)
Just saw this. I wanted to buy this for the longest time because every gaming headset I tried were only comfortable for...2 hours max.
Price: $206.98
You Save: $42.97 (17%)
Just saw this. I wanted to buy this for the longest time because every gaming headset I tried were only comfortable for...2 hours max.
Hello,
I just wanna say that I LOVE my Senn HD650. Love 'em to bits. I only use them for movie watching and gaming, but man, I popped popped in the Killzone collection the other day and decided to sit back and listen to the menu music for a little. In-cre-di-ble. It made me appreciate the hell out of videogame music. Right after that I scrolled down to Journey. Same thing. My ears cried a little. I could isolate every instrument and really take in all the subtleties of the music. Beautiful. :')
I just wanna say that I LOVE my Senn HD650. Love 'em to bits. I only use them for movie watching and gaming, but man, I popped popped in the Killzone collection the other day and decided to sit back and listen to the menu music for a little. In-cre-di-ble. It made me appreciate the hell out of videogame music. Right after that I scrolled down to Journey. Same thing. My ears cried a little. I could isolate every instrument and really take in all the subtleties of the music. Beautiful. :')
My pair of AKG k55 just died.
I've bought them several years ago, and since i'm not a hi fidelity enthusiast or anything (i just use them with my PC, for everything from music to youtube to gaming) they served me well.
I don't remember how much i paid them though, what price range should i be look into? Because my brother bought some super cheap Sony MDRZX100W, for like 15, but i hate them, they're too small to begin with and don't isolate as well.
I remember paying the k55 fairly little (25-30?), but i could be wrong.
I've bought them several years ago, and since i'm not a hi fidelity enthusiast or anything (i just use them with my PC, for everything from music to youtube to gaming) they served me well.
I don't remember how much i paid them though, what price range should i be look into? Because my brother bought some super cheap Sony MDRZX100W, for like 15, but i hate them, they're too small to begin with and don't isolate as well.
I remember paying the k55 fairly little (25-30?), but i could be wrong.
Visualante2
Member
ATH-M50s are perhaps a little bassier than I expected, rather heavy too. Very clear sound from first impression.
Can't wait to try 'em out with a variety of songs tonight!
Can't wait to try 'em out with a variety of songs tonight!
Get these...They are pretty much the best headphones in the price range, the clamping force might be a little strong at first but you can stretch them by putting them around a volleyball or basketball.
Hi Experts,
I gave the OP a read over and it seems to have a lot of good suggestions but I wanted to ask the masses for the specific case I'm looking for. My father is thinking about buying some headphones for travelling. These would primarily be used while on planes/trains/buses while travelling for vacation or business. He's interested in noise cancellation but I don't know how practical the tech is, especially when trying to dampen noise for jet engines. He's open on price, probably up to 200-250$, and it would have to be a closed headphone as not to disturb others. I'm assuming as far as noise isolation/cancellation that a closed headphone would be far superior to an IEM. Does any other frequent fliers have a set of quality headphones that they consider 'must have' for their travels? Thanks. Oh, and his primary playback device would be an iPhone (4s?)
I gave the OP a read over and it seems to have a lot of good suggestions but I wanted to ask the masses for the specific case I'm looking for. My father is thinking about buying some headphones for travelling. These would primarily be used while on planes/trains/buses while travelling for vacation or business. He's interested in noise cancellation but I don't know how practical the tech is, especially when trying to dampen noise for jet engines. He's open on price, probably up to 200-250$, and it would have to be a closed headphone as not to disturb others. I'm assuming as far as noise isolation/cancellation that a closed headphone would be far superior to an IEM. Does any other frequent fliers have a set of quality headphones that they consider 'must have' for their travels? Thanks. Oh, and his primary playback device would be an iPhone (4s?)
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
So I stopped by Radioshack earlier, and they had a pair of M80's to test. Was just using my iPhone 4.. but they sounded terrible compared even the Beats and Skullcandy Aviator's that were next to it.. they had a pair of AT active Noise Cancelling cans that weren't working.
I'm assuming something had to be wrong with them. I later stupid by Best Buy (they were just both on the street I was driving down) and tested out what they had.. of course they don't have them able to hook up to your own source anymore.. so just in their stupid test system.
The HK classics sounded good and they have some refurbs for $99 here
Think it was a bad pair of M80's.. they felt really well built compared to the other cans there.. and I can't seem to find a place to test some AKG K167's around Portland.
Are the Skullcandy Aviator's actually not crap, because they did actually sound pretty good.
Thoughts?
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
Not at all, actually. Triple flanges can suppress up to 32 decibels. I use custom iems when I fly and they block out all engine noise while music is playing. Had similar experiences back when I was using the Etymotic Er-6. However, tri flanges and complys aren't for everyone. If your dad can't stand having things in his ears, it's probably best to stick with noise canceling phones. I'm not sure whether the Bose QC15 are still the best in this regard. They certainly do negate engine noise and are quite comfy to boot but they don't function at all unless you've got a fresh set of batteries in them. Those go for $300 though. Taking a look at Tyll's recommendations...
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/comparative-review-high-end-noise-canceling-headphones-page-3
I guess the best option would be the Audio Technica ATH-ANC7B, which can go for as low as $100-150
Dunno how efficient the VModas are. iPhone 4 may just be a poor source for driving them. Aviators aren't bad, nothing stellar, but not bad for reproducing modern recordings in an inoffensive way, better than Beats by miles anyway
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
They just might have been a bad set of abused cans, dunno.. I'll have to find another place to test before I drop $100+ for them.. besides there's no deals I can find on them anyhow.
The Aviators were comfy too.. but still they are Skullcandy's and that's hard to get over them sounding pretty good.
Auron_Kale
Member
Looking to move up from my Fiio E6 amp for my portable needs and may need to update my cans too - I have an itch to get both...
Anyone use their Mad Dogs to listen to Daft Punk? Need a bit more bass than what my M50s are offering me.
Thanks.
Anyone use their Mad Dogs to listen to Daft Punk? Need a bit more bass than what my M50s are offering me.
Thanks.
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
So my ears weren't fuckin' with me then.
How do they sound compared to the House of Marley Exodus? I know I'm diggin' them on the looks alone, but the innerfidelity review makes them sound pretty good.
So I'm down to the AKG K167, Aviators or HoM Exodus from the sounds of it. Just not a lot of places to test before you buy these days.
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
Sounds like. By all accounts, the VModas are good cans. Yeah, I was expecting excruciatingly bad sound when I demoed the Aviators and was surprised to find them quite listenable
I can give that a listen later on. Haven't listened to my MDs in a long while now. They're not bass heavy phones by any means, but they handle bass adroitly, and have satisying impact and texture when called for.
Auron_Kale
Member
Sounds good. And yeah, not looking for super deep, booming bass but just a bit more punch than my M50s are offering at the moment. I like bass, but I don't want it to totally ruin what I'm listening to by overpowering everything.
Thanks again.
Dynamite Ringo Matsuri
Member
Clarity, imaging, timbre, mids and bass are all great on the MDs. Treble is rolled off, but it doesn't bother me since the majority of modern recordings are ass and I can't stand it when phones accentuate sibilance. I recall listening to the Tron Legacy Reconfigured OST and Ratatat's LP3 on the MDs and really enjoyed it at the time.
Auron_Kale
Member
Sounds awesome and thanks again. Any other MD owners, please feel free to chime in as well.
Also, still need advice for a portable amp to drive the MDs if I do get them. Upgrading from a Fiio E6.
Thanks all!
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