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What kind of headphones do you use?

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fart

Savant
no, there are options!!

get ear molds (and the ear mold adapter, natch), and pick up a pocket-style amp
 
border said:
Why does everyone own such gigantic headphones? Are you all podcasters or something?

I use them as much as a signal not to bother me as I do to listen to music. It's much easier getting work done when I don't have to hear my co-workers go on endlessly about their lives... (I know they post/lurk here, so I'm just messing with em :p)
 

Jak140

Member
B0006B486K.01._PE30_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg


Cheap and awesome.
 

ghibli99

Member
fart said:
get ear molds (and the ear mold adapter, natch), and pick up a pocket-style amp
Alright, you got me... you can chalk it up to laziness on my part. :lol

border said:
Why does everyone own such gigantic headphones? Are you all podcasters or something?
Open-air designs that fully surround your ears tend to sound the most natural and accurate, as the Sennheiser and Grado designs illustrate. They also don't fire the audio signals directly into your completely sealed ear canal, so I'd like to think that I was helping to preserve my long-term hearing... that all goes out the window with the Etymotics. :)
 

hellfire

Member
ghibli99 said:
=
Open-air designs that fully surround your ears tend to sound the most natural and accurate, as the Sennheiser and Grado designs illustrate. They also don't fire the audio signals directly into your completely sealed ear canal, so I'd like to think that I was helping to preserve my long-term hearing... that all goes out the window with the Etymotics. :)

part of the point of the ety's is that due to their isolation, you don't need to crank up the volume to drown out the ambient noise. i'd say i do in fact listen with lower volumes when i use the ety's, while getting a more revealing aural experience.
 

Hooker

Member
IMO, sound needs to breathe. Only then, you get the best possible waves possible.




Thus, open air design headphones it is :) (closed for my PC headset though, too much noise at LAN-parties)
 
Etymotic ER6. Uncomfortable at first, but after a week it didn't bother me at all. What works for me is putting a very small amount of vaseline after I clean it. Lubes it up a bit. :D Does need a bit more power for good bass. Then again once you have a SVS sub, headphone bass would become an after thought.
 

cvxfreak

Member
The Shadow said:
What I don't get is how people keep using their Ipod earbuds when they obviously need to be replaced. There's been more than a couple people using them that have some major stripping going on. Like half a foot or more of exposed cord where the plastic coating came off.

By a new pair you cheap bastards.

Or you can have them replaced just by going on the Apple website for free. :lol
 

FightyF

Banned
Senn HD 500.

I don't like them because the sound isn't flat, and my bro already broke em by doing something to the wire, the damage isn't visible at all, and I don't want to open them to fix them because they are under warrenty.

Looking at getting some suitable for monitoring, but I'm undecided on what amp to get with the headphones.
 

Hooker

Member
Aren't the wires exchangable with all Sennheisers, especially the ones in the upper segment - You can just buy a new wire for what, $10/$15?
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Triumph said:
DON'T DO THAT TO YOUR EARS!!!!

why not? I find them comfortable, and perfect for flights as they cut out a lot of the noise.


To the guy who modded his ipod headphones - how do you do that? I'm willing to accept the ipod phones have better sound quality than my 71s, but I'd like to keep the comfort/noise cancelling nature.
 
I would just like to say that Etymotic has the absolute best customer service of any company I've ever bought anything from.

They're class acts over at etymotic and that in itself should make them worthy of, if nothing else, a glance at the products they have to offer.
 
mrklaw said:
why not? I find them comfortable, and perfect for flights as they cut out a lot of the noise.


To the guy who modded his ipod headphones - how do you do that? I'm willing to accept the ipod phones have better sound quality than my 71s, but I'd like to keep the comfort/noise cancelling nature.

No stock headphones have better sound quality than anything. The 71's deliver an artificial bass that literally is rather damaging to your ears.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Lemurnator said:
No stock headphones have better sound quality than anything. The 71's deliver an artificial bass that literally is rather damaging to your ears.

yeah, but that combines quite well with the ipod then.


But if thats the case, is there an option that gives me noticably better sound quality, with the same/similar plug style fit, that don't cost crazy money? (<£80 / $120)
 
mrklaw said:
yeah, but that combines quite well with the ipod then.


But if thats the case, is there an option that gives me noticably better sound quality, with the same/similar plug style fit, that don't cost crazy money? (<£80 / $120)


There are places you can get Shure E2's for around $50. The most expensive you find them at is their MSRP which is $100 USD.
 
05179_pro2.jpg

Sennheiser HD 497. I use them at home for my computer (games, music, dvds, etc) and TV. Very good cans at a reasonable price.

Hooker said:
Aren't the wires exchangable with all Sennheisers, especially the ones in the upper segment - You can just buy a new wire for what, $10/$15?

Yep. I replaced my 497 wires for ~$12 shipped direct from Sennheiser.
 
mrklaw said:
yeah, but that combines quite well with the ipod then.


But if thats the case, is there an option that gives me noticably better sound quality, with the same/similar plug style fit, that don't cost crazy money? (<£80 / $120)


Don't worry, Lemurs has no idea what shes talking about and just wants to look important. Lets just stand here and stare into her sexy little chest and nod. =)
 

Triumph

Banned
Lemurs may be young, but she does know about some stuff and higher end headphones happens to be one of them.

And I'm going to refer to her chest as "youthfully endearing" rather than sexy until she is of a certain age. Legal reasons, etc etc.
 

Nick

Junior Member
Can anyone tell me a little bit more about this model?

hdj1000-b.jpg


I really want to pick them up, but I want to hear a few good opinions first...
 
I need some recommendations for a good set of headphones. Currently I have a pair of KossUR40 cans that I picked up that are fairly decent, but they are not very portable.

I cannot wear anything that goes into my ear canal (such as the average ear bud) as they are extremely painful. Even the smaller headphones that wrap over your ear (and have no headband) cause quite a bit of discomfort if not outright pain.

So is there anything that has a traditional "full headphone" shape but has good sound (the Koss aren't that great to be honest, but I got them for cheap) and are portable? I don't carry a purse or a bag or anything so something to stick in a pocket would be best. Noise cancelling would be nice (I've been eyeing the Sennheiser HD-280 closed cans) but I've heard that they can be painful or uncomfortable to wear, and with my knowledge of how much pain some earbuds have caused me , I'm a little ambivalent (along with them being just a LEETLE out of my price range at the moment).
 

fart

Savant
Hooker said:
Aren't the wires exchangable with all Sennheisers, especially the ones in the upper segment - You can just buy a new wire for what, $10/$15?
the connectors for the 580/600/650 are all the same, so those are interchangeable. the sennheiser cable is 30$. jan meier used to sell a very nice, OEM quality german cable custom-made by oehlback for 60$ (i have one of these. it's quite nice). the boutique cables are between 150-300$.
 
Im using the sennheiser HD 280 pro and my Alessandro MS-1's are on the way, there made by grado but sound better then the the SR-80 and are about the same price.
 

fart

Savant
word lyfe

i'm a huge fan of the MS-1s. sr-125 impact with refinement due to however the hell alessandro voiced them. really great, and great for practicing on those little cigarette box guitar amps.
 
pj325is said:
0020090125_253.jpg


Grado sr-125

They're very good, but they're uncomfortable and you can hear almost as much sound from the back as the front..

Same. I love em to death but I think my room mate probably doesn't feel the same.
 

Jesus Carbomb

From Water into Guinness
Congrats on the purchase -jinx. The a900's were on my shortlist of possible buys when I was in the market for my first set of real headphones. I ended up skipping on them only because I couldn't get ahold of one to audition... I thought the design looked way too strange to be purchasing them blind. Glad it worked out for you though, they sound super comfy from your description.


00200910002478ce.jpg


Been using these for a while now, great for the most part, REALLY GOOD shit with female vocals and well recorded rock. The only thing they don't excel at is probably classical, which I knew of going in before buying... I rarely if ever listen to classical music. Its listenable, but the upfront and forward Grado house sound just doesn't lend itself to this type of recording, the soundstage just isn't there. Hot recordings can also sound overly bright on these, but that's more of the studios fault than the headphones.

As for the comfort, lets just say that these are my second set of "Grato" headphones (upgraded from 225's) and that my ears have been battle tested. I'm not going to lie, the discomfort is there, especially if you're a first time Grado user. But if you bend the headband, which is suggested in the manual btw, this could releive most of the pressure on the ears. After a while, you won't even notice them on your head because they're so light weight. As allways ymmv.
 

FightyF

Banned
Hooker said:
Aren't the wires exchangable with all Sennheisers, especially the ones in the upper segment - You can just buy a new wire for what, $10/$15?

I don't know about the price, but yes, you can purchase them. I don't intend to as I got the extended warrenty from FutureShop and so they will cover it.

What kind of amps are you guys using for your headphones?
 

miyuru

Member
I use ER-6i's for portable use, GREAT for the bus, and Grado SR-80s for homeuse (just on my computer).

Does anyone know how to get MORE sound out of my PC? Upgrade soundcard? Headphone amp? Any specific product recommendations?
 

Mejilan

Running off of Custom Firmware
Sennheiser PX-200, indoor and (especially) outdoor. Strong, smooth, and isolating. Awesome.
 

hobart

Member
Been rolling with the E6i's for awhile now (and was a part of that famed headphone thread... I believe) and have been pretty happy with them. The ear wax is a problem... and sure... base would be a plus... but as far as clarity and nothing but sound goes... I love em.

And then I've been rolling with the Sony MDR-V600s for... get this... 10 years (the same pair!). I can't tell you how wonderful these headphones are... and to think picked them up at $60 10 years ago... amazing.

I've been teasing myself towards buying a new pair (I really like Bose's line) but I'm not sure. Gonna be hard to put the Sony's down.. that's for sure.

I also use Apple's buds when I need a quick pick me up and go. There is just something about having a pair of phones you don't care about... throw them around... tangle them... screw em. Always nice in the bottom of the bag... you know?
 

luxsol

Member
MDRXD400.jpg

This bastard's right cup snapped off and I'm looking to get more sturdy headphones.

I was thinking about getting Grado SR80s to replace my old ones but i saw that the Koss Pro4AAT have a lifetime warranty and that they require an amp.
Would this be any good for them? Danelectro E15 Headphone Amplifier
Obviously, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on one. Just want to know if it's good enough to power either the Grodos or the Koss (still up in the air on my choice).
 

DaCocoBrova

Finally bought a new PSP, but then pushed the demon onto someone else. Jesus.
Don't those big ass headphones drain your batteries faster?

Anyway, I use a modified pair of these:

B00008S22K.09.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 
I have those Bose headphones as well. I know a lot of audiophiles will tell me that they aren't worth the money, and that I spent to much for the sound I get out of them, but honestly, for me, they were theh best sounding, most comfortable headphones I could find. I love mine, and while I"m sure there are better sounding cans out there, I personally didn't find any that I liked more for all around sound and comfort.
 

cicero

Member
Sennheiser HD 590
sennheiserhd5900zy.jpg



Fight for Freeform said:
Senn HD 500.

I don't like them because the sound isn't flat, and my bro already broke em by doing something to the wire, the damage isn't visible at all, and I don't want to open them to fix them because they are under warrenty.

Looking at getting some suitable for monitoring, but I'm undecided on what amp to get with the headphones.
Go to the Sennheiser website for replacement cables. Unfortunately the small cables that they use tend to fail if too much pressure is put on them or if there is long-term repetitive use on specific areas. There is at least a one year warranty on the cables.
http://shop.sennheiserusa.com/retail2002/ProductDetails.aspx?direct_cat=Parts&direct_prod=091581
http://shop.sennheiserusa.com/retail2002/secpartsfinder.aspx

$7.23 for a replacement isn't so bad. I bought the 4 of the same replacement cable for my 590s.


fart said:
the connectors for the 580/600/650 are all the same, so those are interchangeable. the sennheiser cable is 30$. jan meier used to sell a very nice, OEM quality german cable custom-made by oehlback for 60$ (i have one of these. it's quite nice). the boutique cables are between 150-300$.
How is the Cardas Headphone cable replacement in comparison?
http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=products&content_id=15&pagestring=Headphone&product_id=43
 
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