The Headphone Thread

I realized the other day that I keep buying portable headphones, yet 90% of my music listening is in my computer chair, stationary, so I want to get a nice pair of over-ear headphones. My Auzentech Forte card has a built in headphone amp, so I'd like to take advantage of it.

What is the difference between studio headphones versus other types?

Any suggestions? I'm not a crazy audiophile, so I can't see myself spending over $150. I'm just looking to improve over the cheap steelseries 4H headset I've been using for music as well as gaming. They are not good for music, though my amp helps to cover that up a little bit.

 

I'm looking for some decent in ear head phones since mine broke a while back, something in the region of £100 would do well.

 

You should invest in some nice coby headphones.

 

over 100 bucks (how much is a GBP now??) on in ear headphones?? I can understand maybe spending that much on Studio type things, but... I'm assuming you'd use your in ear phones outdoors like most ppl not indoors when you can really enjoy your music. Who the heck spends 150+ on earbuds?? Really? You should be enjoying your walk/ jog not listening to the nuances of your music. put your 'tenner' on a pair of apple ibud knockoffs and donate the rest to green peace maybe you can learn to enjoy your walk/ jog more :x

Perhapsyou travel alot and prefer sleek in-ear deallies for airplane?? still do they even MAKE such expensive in-ear headphones?? most I'd seen them for was 80 bucks. In GBP I'd think that'd be less than 60 for sure!

 

Audio Technica AD701. Open headphone

It's big and ugly but very light and comfortable. Good detail, large and acurate sound stage, great forward mids, under emphasis bass. The bass is there but you wont feel it. It's the little brother to the AD900 which I use every day. Great headphone for vocals and 3D gaming. Look elsewhere if you need lots of bass.

This is often considered one of the best gaming headphones for the price. Some people like to attach a mic to it.



http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-AD700-Open-air-Audiophile-Headphones/dp/B000CMS0XU/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312754551&sr=1-2

Denon D1100 Closed Headphone

Had a chance to listen to the predicesor D1001 a few years ago and I thought it was pretty good for entry level headphone. This one should be similar. Buy.com has it for $135. It's warm and well rounded but not particularly detailed or special in any area. Bass is ample but not clean. If you want bass or need a closed headphone this might be a good choice.

http://www.buy.com/prod/denon-ah-d1100-headphone-stereo-mini-phone-wired-32-ohm-5-hz-37-khz/q/sellerid/29460652/loc/111/219030176.html

Grado SR80 Open headphone

If you've never heard hi-end headphones before these will probably make you poop yourself. Masters of rock and guitar. Mids are very forward with emphasized mid bass. Bottom end is weak and highs might be bright. A very confused sound stage with no rear makes these horrible for gaming. Huge fun factor. These will fill a room with music so not great in shared spaces. Of course most open headphones will leak but these are the loudest.


http://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige-SR80i-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B000G3LCQC

Alesandro MS1 Open headphone

Almost identical to the SR80 but more neutral. I own a pair and am amazed at how good they sound for the price. The newer version of this and the SR80 have an extra thick cable which can be annoying.

http://www.alessandro-products.com/main.php?p=headphones

 

Those are top on my list of options.

Is there much difference between the HD555s and the HD595s? The price difference isn't much if there is an advantage. I may even spend more than my budget and treat myself if the HD598s are worth it, I like the way they look and apparently they are more comfortable and have better mids than the other two. My only issue with Sennheisers (its NOT a deal breaker though its annoying) is the inconvenient 3.5mm adapter. It really should be the other way around.

Others I've been looking at are Audio-Technica ATH-M50 or Grado SR225i. I've also been looking at AKG K702s, though they are out of my price range, they'd have to fall below $200 to even be a consideration.

Music type makes a difference, correct? I listen to a lot of indie electronic, synth-pop and dance music, so bass is important, though I'm definitely not a basshead. I've got time to figure out which pair I want, its not a purchase I'll be making until next month.

 

According to this very little.

http://mikebeauchamp.com/misc/sennheiser-hd-555-to-hd-595-mod/

I'd skip the K702s. Great headphone, hard to amp.

I would assume the term studio headphones is similar to the term studio studio speakers. Studio speakers are supposed to be flat and extremely neutral.

 

The in ear headphones I had before the shitty headphones I have now were amazing, they not only locked the sound in but blocked out damn near all outside noise too. The had bass too which was awesome. I've had ipod headphones but they're shit. The in ear ones I had were my Mum's old ones and they cost about a hundred pounds, that's why I'm after some more that are around that price range. They're not just for when I'm out and about either, sometimes I'll use them when I'm playing my games at night and want the immersive/loud experience.

Just like using a HD tv makes seeing people easier on games like black ops, a good pair of headphones makes hearing them easier too, it helps.

 

any in ear headphones I'd had had a short cord that made them uncomfortable to use anywhere but on my mp3 player... I'd like to know what your mom has -_- ($200 for a pair of in-freakin-ear earphones!! they better be made of solid gold lol)

 

$200 isn't that much anymore. There are some that go for $1200 now.

http://www.jhaudio.com/collection.php

 

I use a headphone extension cord. It goes from the tv to my chair, then my headphones do the rest.

 

Anybody use bluetooth based headphones for their iPod/iPhone/Android?

I'm looking for an all around wireless headphone with mic solution, but I think I'll have to make it myself to suit my laziness. I want something that maybe acts like a hearing aid when I pause my music so I don't have to take the earbuds out hear conversations around me.

 

Wait.. you want your headphones to turn into a hearing aid when you pause your music just so you can hear well enough without taking your headphones off? That is lazy. Unless of course you actually make something like that yourself, then the laziness is well deserved!

I just ordered some HifiMan RE0's and a FiiO 5 portable headphone amp. Both are a few years old now but seem like really great value for the money. This should be much better than the crap I've been putting up with for the last few years. I was thinking about forking out more for something like the RE-262's or Vsonic GR07 but I kind of like fairly agressive treble (not distorted or shrill) and most higher end IEM offerings sound like they are all a bit flat for my tastes (from reviewers impressions, anyway). RE0 should give me that slightly more edgy treble without sacrificing sound stage or overall balance too much, and they're pretty well priced to boot.

 

I hate in ear headphones simply because I can't hear anything else when I wear them I guess it also limits how much others can hear of what I'm listening too as well... but I really wouldn't care about that. I use over ear headphones and it solves both problems! Hakuna Matata!

 

It depends on your needs and preferences, but blocking out background noise is usually a good thing when listening to music for most people. Some IEM's can be of a semi-open design for a greater soundstage but are still designed to isolate from outside noise. I usually still find that I can hear what I need to hear outside my music with the few cheap sets I've used.

Thing is I've had some HD 555's years ago when they were new and I just didn't find them that great compared to some IEM headphones I bought cheap a few years after. Maybe I just needed to amp them, but reviews said they weren't that bad un-amped and I had a good sound card at the time. I'm not saying all over ear headphones aren't good, just that supposed decent ones didn't impress me compared to average (and cheap) IEM's which are also much, much more portable. Maybe it also had a bit to do with the source, I was still using winamp and some average bitrate mp3's at the time (around half were decent 225kb/s VBR though and still didn't impress). But now I listen to quite a bit of my music in FLAC format.

Anyone here using HD 555's or similar amped and can tell me if there is much of a difference? The only other headphones of that style I've used were closed monitors so they definitely didn't impress me for sound as they are designed to be super flat and require a half decent amp.

 

I actually like in ear headphone for those exact reasons. If I'm sitting on a bus or standing in a queue and I can hear the tinny static coming from someone's headphones it pisses me off. I don't want to hear other people's music, I thought that was the point of headphones, so other people don't have to hear it. I also like the fact that they block out noise. When my in ear headphones broke and I was reduced to using my shitty regular bud ones I couldn't stand listening to all the damn traffic over my music, they also had no bass, which in ear ones do, or at least seem to.

 

Yeah, definitely earphones for when I'm out, blocks out enough noise and ups the bass. And if you are trying to hear stuff, take your headphones off! Leaving them in is just rude.

 

nah I'm just SUPER curious IE I wanna be the first (well maybe the second) to know when the zombie appocalypse hits. I could never concentrate all my attention on one thing, too much can go wrong. You could walk headlong into a propeller without the proper warning!!

 

You'll never know there are zombies about if you're listening to music! If you wan to be prepared, listen to music by holding your phone up to your ear and blast it out of the speaker. That way, if you do come across a zombie, you're already ready to whack it in the head.