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$500 cans on, this is how you dream right - Official Headphone Thread
- Thread starter HiResDes
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PflargBlarg
Member
dyna-soar said:
Any of the mainstream crap is going to be fairly unwelcome here (skullcandy, beats, bose). It comes with the territory I suppose.
Dreams-Visions
Member
No, that's Bose. And Monster Over Ear cans.dyna-soar said:
elrechazado
Banned
Don't sweat it. It's like the TV threads where if you don't have an 9000 dollar plasma, you get shat all over.dyna-soar said:
Dreams-Visions
Member
not remotely equivalent. that was a bullshit post, bro. there are excellent cans that are recommended here for any budget range.elrechazao said:
the fact of the matter is that in the majority of cases, if you bought Bose, Skullcandy or Beats, you overpaid for the quality of sound they provide. I know because I owned some Bose On-Ears and thought they were great. Then I heard something else and felt fucking ashamed.
I went on to sample dozens of cans to find the arguments to be true. Most Bose cans offer $70-$80 sound quality at $180-$300 price tags. Beats would be better closer to $90 (except the Turbines which are fairly priced). The Skullcandy's are usually 2x-3x their actual audio value.
We won't apologize for wanting people to get the best sonic value for whatever money they have to spend. And no, we don't like anyone getting fucked over by any brand name suckering people into paying more via clever marketing rather than audio quality.
elrechazao said:
I dont think this thread is like that, to be honest. very few people in this thread have equipment over a couple hundred bucks and most of the talk is about midrange equipment.
and the OP has links to lots of gear under 100 bucks.
there is a tendency to rag on people who come in and want to get Bose or Monster or skull candies because they could do a lot better with their money even if the other suggestions may not be as easy to find in stores.
Dreams-Visions
Member
the challenge, unfortunately, is that Skullcandy, Bose and Beats are the only "premium" brands offered in most big-box chain stores. So the natural presumption consumers make is that those cans are the "top tier" cans. They're paying for floor space that Sennheiser, Denon, Audio Technica, Stax, Shure and others refuse to pay for (because they want to keep their prices low). The consequence is that you have to buy cans (1) online where you can't sample them first or (2) hope that your local music store has a pair in to sample. It's a bad way to get your product out, but the only way those manufacturers can make a profit without paying the big box store tax (and passing it to the customers).Izayoi said:
So many people fall for the trap. Including myself before discovering all these other brands and being willing to risk ordering them to find out for myself.
I don't blame anyone for buying Bose/Beats/Skullcandy. I *do* blame them for buying them after seeing this thread or not returning them after coming here if they are within the return period.
The best thing a Bose/Beats/Skullcandy owner can do is sell their cans for some smallish hit (there are lots of other noobs who will take them off your hands for near the price you bought them for) and use whatever money is left to buy some really good cans.
I was very close to getting Skullcandy G.I. Stereo Headphones. But after reading this thread and other audio threads on Gaf I ended up getting Koss DJ100's and PortaPros along with an E5, E7 & Sansa clip+ 8gb(and Rockboxing it). I feel good man.
I feel the people here saved me from making a terrible mistake.
Thank you Audio-GAF.
I feel the people here saved me from making a terrible mistake.
Thank you Audio-GAF.
elrechazado
Banned
I never said that there weren't value posts in here, I was referring to those posters who replied to him.Dreams-Visions said:
To be honest, and this is an awful answer, but it is the truth. The sheer convenience of being able to find those headphones who shall not be named over trying to find one of the sets in the OP.Izayoi said:
Edit: And when I say find, I mean locally, I needed a new pair of headphones now and could not be bothered by shipping times and other things, so I just picked up something fairly inexpensive that I have found to be fairly reliable over the years.
Yeah, but you were still off...If he would have came in here, and posted that he just picked up some Koss KSC75's nobody would have been bummed. I don't care much what he gets, it wasn't a personal attack. It was just more of being bummed by Skullcandy, and wishing that he tried a different set, especially considering he had a pair previously. It's not about status in here, as much as it is about value and quality. However, by all means if he wants to just settle on some cheap Skullcandys that's perfectly fine, but don't expect me to reply, "dude that's awesome."elrechazao said:
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
Some Skullcandy earbuds are great. I like the Titan series myself. They do make some crap buds as well, but I find they are priced as so though. To crap on their entire product line wouldn't be accurate. One issue is that their best stuff is only available online. Like the Titans with the iPhone controls.
cloud_sleep
Member
Just bought a pair of Superlux HD681 phones for £20. They are not the most stylish looking headphones but they sound fantastic. In fact they give my Sennheiser HD595s, which cost me nearly 6 times as much, a real run for their money. The HD681s are easily as detailed as the 595s. They have a much better bass kick than the 595s, sweet mids and slightly harsh highs. I have been able to take some of the edge off the highs with some careful eq settings. They are said to benefit substantially from a long burn in but first impressions are that these are fantastic value headphones. I will be using them mostly for gaming and movies, where their extra bass response will most appreciated.
cloud_sleep
Member
Ravenn17 said:
Does your TV have a headphone socket that you could use? Or do the Denons need a substantial amp to properly drive them?
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Ravenn17 said:
Get a headphone amp or else you could just get a cable that takes the left and right into 1 that you could plug your headphones into. I'd recommend either the fii0 E7 or else get the gaming geared Astro which even has optical inputs and can do stereo and dolby digital headphone (if you want to try that for gaming).
Anyone have any experience with Sennheiser warranty and repair? My PC 350's just broke while I was playing Halo. (Mic stopped working but sound is fine) I have a tournament on the 25th and I need them before I leave. Any info and help is greatly appreciated.
Got my Superlux HD 681, general impression so far is that I need an amp for this thing. I have to crank my iPhone to max volume and half volume on my MBP. Otherwise, it's completely changed the way I've listen to music. My friends all have the $300 Beats by Dre and I disliked them because all I heard was punchy bass. These are well balanced and crystal clear.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
ChanHuk said:
Awesome! What amp are you thinking about getting?
Brettison said:
I have no clue really, I don't want to spend too much as I'm no audiophile. Gonna look through this thread and see what people have to say.
And upon future review, I absolutely love these cans, they are a little snug around the crown of my head, we'll see if the leather loosens up a bit with use. As the whole closed vs open aspect. I've only had little experience and whenever I wore closed headphones they hurt my ears. These seem like a good compromise, I still can't hear ambient noise with them on.
ravien56 said:
The 325s dont offer much more than what you get with the 225s. The next step up within the grado line from sr225s are the $500+ RS-2s or RS-1s. The SR225 is without a doubt the sweetest spot price/performance in the grado line.
I am a former sr225 owner and my next step was over to Beyer DT880s. But if you dont have an amp, I think your only choices really are Grado and Audio-Technica.
LCfiner said:
After a few more hours of listening, I've become spoiled. The SR60 have become much more unlistenable than I expected. Feel kind of bad since they were always so good before, but that's just how it goes.
No idea how they might compare to anything else, but I'm quite happy with this pickup so far. I kind of owe TheExodu5 for nudging me toward Ultrasone in a thread on the gaming side a while back.
I gave up on trying to give my real life friends advice about things like this. For a lot of people it's more about image than anything else (see: everyone who owns iPods), and as such they're willing to pay more and get less just to have the status symbol item.Nelo Ice said:
hockeypuck
Member
I use an ipod because it's way more convenient for me. I'd easily purchase a Cowon player if there were a program that is as seamless and easy to use as iTunes on OS X. With iTunes, I insert a CD that automatically gets ripped into lossless files and added to my library, which then can update my ipod classic with a lossy file format to save space. No drag-n-drop, no micromanaging to convert lossless to lossy music files or even having a separate lossy library for portable players.Izayoi said:
dr3upmushroom
Banned
What's the consensus on the Senn 598s? I have Grado SR 80s that I love, but I decided to upgrade. I was planning on just stepping up to the 225s, but I remembered thinking the 598s looked really classy and they're priced very similar to the Grados. I really like the Grado sound but I heard that Sennheiser was trying to appease Grado fans with the 598, and I'd be interested in trying something a little different.
Also, both pairs don't require an amp, right?
Just looked again, and apparently the 558 are only like $30 cheaper than the 598. This doesn't seem right, I remember the 555 were a lot closer to $100 less than the 595. Does this mean that either the 558 are amazing or the 598 were a disappointment.
Also, both pairs don't require an amp, right?
Just looked again, and apparently the 558 are only like $30 cheaper than the 598. This doesn't seem right, I remember the 555 were a lot closer to $100 less than the 595. Does this mean that either the 558 are amazing or the 598 were a disappointment.
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