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Best Headphones
- Thread starter Gadgetron
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adk said:
I have the SR80's and they're awesome, fantastic sound, highly recommended. They are kind of big though..
anyone have a suggestion for portable headphones. my mom wants me to get new headphones cause she thinks the apple ones are bad for you.... I like the ear bud style because i can just throw them in my pocket/bag. Any ideas
i have these sony ones...they're really tiny. they're like $40 at best buy, and they come with this uber-small plastic case to put the 'buds in. and the covers come off so you can wash 'em. i dont know the model number...they sound pretty good.puckhead193 said:
you should look into a pair of shure e2c IEM's...the isolation makes the highs and mids really sing and the bass response is fantastic. Most people have trouble finding the proper seal for IEM's, but if you test the sound with each earpiece, the bass will really come out. You can get a NEW set for 50 bucks off ebay. They are definitely worth it and as far as comfort goes...you can hardly tell when you're wearing them. If your source is an iPod Nano, you need to put the eq on flat...and if it's from an iPod video, you need to turn the eq off completely, or the bass will overwhelm your ears and you won't be able to appreciate the mids.
There are a couple of really good choices for all styles and uses:
If you use it for mostly studio work, where ample power can be delivered to the headphone, you can use a high impedance headphone, for this purpose, there is nothing for about 100$ that compares to the Sennheiser HD495/HD497's. The HD497's are updates to the HD495's and sonically similar. The HD495's have memory foam which really helps if you wear glasses because the pressure put onto your ears are spread out over a bigger surface (the entire surface is memory foam). Detachable cords are convenient if you tend to wear out your cables.
If you use it for more portable work, or computer output (you'll need a decent audio out solution to appreciate these can's) - nothing beats the Beyerdynamic DT231 or DT231 Galaxy's. These are sonically better than the Sennheiser's, but with less depth, but requires less power to drive. You can generally find these in music stores for guitar's or so. German build.
I never tried Grado's. For high end audio, or technology that trickles from the highend into consumer technologies, there are only a few good American based companies that are generally accepted and around, and I don't mean Bo$e. Grado Labs is considered excellent, but only gets raving reviews from American based HiFi magazines, and lesser glorious reviews from UK, FR, GR based magazines, that, and I never owned one, so I can't recommend them.
For ear-bud style listening, only Sennheiser has been able to get it right, I owned multiple pairs, MX400 and MX550's, all of them stellar in performance but doesn't look ostentatious if you prefer the simple looks.
For all-around listening, but mostly mobile, you can't go wrong with the foldable Sennheiser's, tried them once or twice before, quality is way above the Jap can's, and the cheap Magnavox stuff. Plus they are avaliable just about everywhere. Did I mention they are foldable ?
That's pretty much the cream of the crop last time I gathered my resources, market for headphones hasn't changed since then, and my personal recommendation, since the Sennheiser HD495's aren't around anymore (my fav's), I'd recommend the Beyerdynamic DT231's, quality sound directly from Germany.
EDIT. I forgot to mention that the Sennheiser's and Grado's by design are not "closed", they look like closed but actually use the back to completely ventilate sound for near zero reflection. Go with the Beyer's then, they are closed, and "old school" looking.
If you use it for mostly studio work, where ample power can be delivered to the headphone, you can use a high impedance headphone, for this purpose, there is nothing for about 100$ that compares to the Sennheiser HD495/HD497's. The HD497's are updates to the HD495's and sonically similar. The HD495's have memory foam which really helps if you wear glasses because the pressure put onto your ears are spread out over a bigger surface (the entire surface is memory foam). Detachable cords are convenient if you tend to wear out your cables.
If you use it for more portable work, or computer output (you'll need a decent audio out solution to appreciate these can's) - nothing beats the Beyerdynamic DT231 or DT231 Galaxy's. These are sonically better than the Sennheiser's, but with less depth, but requires less power to drive. You can generally find these in music stores for guitar's or so. German build.
I never tried Grado's. For high end audio, or technology that trickles from the highend into consumer technologies, there are only a few good American based companies that are generally accepted and around, and I don't mean Bo$e. Grado Labs is considered excellent, but only gets raving reviews from American based HiFi magazines, and lesser glorious reviews from UK, FR, GR based magazines, that, and I never owned one, so I can't recommend them.
For ear-bud style listening, only Sennheiser has been able to get it right, I owned multiple pairs, MX400 and MX550's, all of them stellar in performance but doesn't look ostentatious if you prefer the simple looks.
For all-around listening, but mostly mobile, you can't go wrong with the foldable Sennheiser's, tried them once or twice before, quality is way above the Jap can's, and the cheap Magnavox stuff. Plus they are avaliable just about everywhere. Did I mention they are foldable ?
That's pretty much the cream of the crop last time I gathered my resources, market for headphones hasn't changed since then, and my personal recommendation, since the Sennheiser HD495's aren't around anymore (my fav's), I'd recommend the Beyerdynamic DT231's, quality sound directly from Germany.
EDIT. I forgot to mention that the Sennheiser's and Grado's by design are not "closed", they look like closed but actually use the back to completely ventilate sound for near zero reflection. Go with the Beyer's then, they are closed, and "old school" looking.
onthat said:
You have to be careful with insulation types, I owned and tried many of them, you suffer inevitably from cord noise, meaning every time your cords touch your clothes the sound is directly transmitted to your ear, same effect as the Cups' N Strings phone we played with as a kid. Wouldn't recommend them for outdoors, insulation makes the environment more dangerous to bike, job, walk, drive, etc in. Also, did I mention the cord noise ?
I found that wind was pretty annoying through them at first, but if you run the cord down the back of your shirt, it appears to completely solve the issue.
Never tried the Sennheisers, but I do own a pair of SR80s. They sound really nice.
Make sure you try your gear before buying. What sounds good to you might not appeal to someone else, and vice-versa.
Make sure you try your gear before buying. What sounds good to you might not appeal to someone else, and vice-versa.
Grado SR-80's all the way. I'd make a long post about why, but just find a place that sells them, and give them a listen, you'll understand.
puckhead193 said:
There was some press about how listening to music with earbuds for extended periods of time in places where there's a lot of ambient sound (like on the subway), can damage your ear. The explanation is that with earbuds you have to turn the volume way up to drown out the outside sound. The best solution is to get noise cancelling headphones (expensive), after that you can look for headphones that do a better job of blocking out outside noise so you don't have the volume as loud. I've heard the 4shures do a good job of this.
I dig my Grado SR-80s, as well. You may want to go to headroom.com or goodcans.com for some reviews. Keep in mind, the SR-80s are not "closed," as some have mentioned. I'm intrigued by the Ultimate Ears super.fi 3. Good reviews and super-portable.
I had a pair of the Grados but didn't like them because mine had a solid piece of "ear foam" so it was like wearing earmuffs and they got quite warm.
Another good line of sealed headphones are the Sony Eggos from Japan - a benefit to them is they fold up quite nicely.
Another good line of sealed headphones are the Sony Eggos from Japan - a benefit to them is they fold up quite nicely.
I used to own the Grado SR-60's but switched to the Sennheiser HD280's.
The Grado's have cables to each side and can get twisted up. They also are not fully closed-ear (circumaural) like the Sennheiser's are.
The Grado's have cables to each side and can get twisted up. They also are not fully closed-ear (circumaural) like the Sennheiser's are.