Best headphones?

C

colinstu

2[H]4U
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Oct 11, 2007
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I'd like some headphones what are:

- sturdy, no cheap plastic that will break. Nice good cable too, none of those wimpy ass cables that rip right out.

- Go around the ear and block out all other sound (noise canceling). I love these

- Goooood base, good middle. I don't listen to anything too high freq.

- No static/loose quality when really crank the volume.

- I don't want any headsets/mics on it, them being comfy is a plus!

$50-100, 100-200$, and 200-300$ price ranges. Idealy $80-180, but I will pay more if I have to.

- Kind of music: games - doesn't really matter, as long as I can hear the game, quality really comes to music, I listen to lots of stuff, but no metal/heavy rock/no jazz or classical. Kind of trance/dance/80-90's music, good beat music.

This is everything that comes off the top of my head right now.

I read the sticky but I don't like the idea of being told just one kind of headphone. There are thousands of headphones out there, I want something that fits the above, and that you guys like. Thanks!
 
You're asking for quite a bit. You ruled out any open headphones, but no biggie.

I'd go for the HFI-780's. Trust me, these things sound *nice*. Plenty of bass, but it doesn't drown out the other frequencies. Even if there is lots of bass, there's this superb separation that always keeps the mids and highs distinct. I love cranking the volume on these really, really high as well. The soundstage also either rivals or beats my open AD700's; I haven't really done a formal comparison yet. I was also surprised when I heard classical through these... very nice and articulate. Plenty of detail. I'm hearing lots of sounds I didn't hear through my AD700.

You can get these for $200 off RMCaudio.com
 
why not open? vs. closed. Open sound much better.

I'd recommend a pair of senns. HD-535 HD-580, HD-590, HD-600.


You'd not regret it. Stay far away from the HD-570...they are crappy in comparison to he ones I mentioned above, and in my opinion, don't go cheaper =(lower model numbers) If you must have closed, a lot of people say the HD-280's are good, but they are a cheaper model and I personally have never heard them....they were on sale at amazon for a while for only $60. If you like a lot of bass and a DJ style headphone, the Sony v-700's are completely different than the senns, yet I like them in their own merit. Way heavy on the bass and closed.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...51&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11038999

By the way, I've owned or had significant time with all these models in my ebay quest for perfection and LAN party overnights. I bought and sold all those sennheiser's I mentioned, but ended up staying with a pair of HD-535's. The HD535 sound as good as the HD-580 and are only about 50 or 60 bucks typically on ebay. The HD-590's use a lower ohm resistance than the other senns 32 ohm if I remember correctly which means you can drive them on portable better. The HD600's are 200 or 300ohm can't ,rember without looking it up, but you can't drive them off a portable without an amp. They are, however, fantastic and the best headphones I've ever owned when hooked up to my Denon AVR 5700.

I've compared and owned Grados up to the 225 line, and Denon's and Sonys. I wanted the Denon to win because I love Denon audio - but IMO it can't hold a candle to Senns, and Grados are just too darn uncomfortable to use for any length of time which rules them out from the start.

check out www.goodcans.com for a pretty decent review site. --- he's loves grados, but I wouldn't bother with them unless you've got a small head or your ears aren't sensative to pressure. Grado's sound good because it feels like your heads in a vice....it works in the same manner that your headphones always sound better when you smash them on your ears with your hands.
 
I have the Sony's and they have great isolation qualities. They're pretty easy to wear for a few hours as well.
 
Empty_Quarter said:
QFT

You will love the beyerdynamic DT770
Click to expand...

I'm closely watching this thread because OP has similar tastes of what I like too for headphones... thanks for suggesting this, this looks like a definite winner to me.

Was going to get the ALO 780s but IMO huuuge price difference, my price range is 100-260 USD (yay falling dollar) and I prefer closed too.

However, my musical tastes is a wideeee area: jazz, acoustical, hip-hop, alt rock, screamo, trance, house. Pretty sure I missed some sort of the musical spectrum lol, I know, I listen to a lot of different stuff. I'm pretty seasonal when it comes to music.
 
Well, I'm going to recommend the same thing I always do: The Audio Technia ATH series. I've never found a more comfortable headphone, and they sound great. I have the ATH-700s at work and really like them. Got enough bass to kick your head in. I have the ATH-AD900s at home (the AD are the open variety) and they are also great. Much less bass, as you'd expect from an open phone, but superb sound.

I just can't see getting anything else these days, given how comfortable they are. I used to be a Sennheiser guy, and I still like their sound quality, but they just don't have the comfort the Audio Technicas do. I can wear the ATs all day and not have any problems.
 
Being a dj, enclosed headphones come really important in very loud enviroments. I DONT recommend SONY MDR-V700 i've had 3, and each last 1 year then the plastic cracks on the headphones. PIONEER HDJ-1000 i've tried and liked them but found them lacking at times, although deffinitally fit the bill.

What i eventually settled on were the TECHNICS RP-DH1200, they fit well, isolate sound better than the others, also they're lowend reproduction is very nice (i mix drum and bass so this helps), if you wear them for more than 3 hours your ears start to hurt, but you shouldnt wear headphones longer than that no matter what if you value your hearing.

The best are the SENNHEISER's when it comes to sound reproduction, but the latter 3 are not far off. The technics are also modular like the sennheiser's so if a part breaks on it you can just order that part. Also the sennheiser's dont block out external sound very much so i never liked them much for dj'ing but for in studio you cant beat them.

Hope that helps
 
Slightly offtopic, dj LiTh, do you know of any other popular djs out there use the DH1200s? I've noticed Armin van Buuren (yah trance LOL) is an advid user of those headphones, or at least the higher price version (but I'm sure it's the 1200s).
 
I'm only aware of drum and bass dj's that use them (never pay attention to house/trance ect) a few i've caught wearing them (even if they're paid to wear some others are:

andy c
infiltrata
lee
grooverider (free gr!)
ect there are many more but this would be a really long tread. Basically any dj that's sponsored by technics (this is the turntable of not only preference but necessity) will wear these. Choose them on they're own merit though (although they do look cool :)
 
I haven't responded because I liked keep seeing headphones.

With two people saying "Get the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO's" right away, and then looking at them, they look awesome. Price seems to be High 100's to mid 200's. Is this an okay site to buy from? This place looks a little better.

Next step, sound card :rolleyes:

And how important are those headphone amplifiers? I'd naturally just skip on that but...
 
CountChoculaBot said:
You're asking for quite a bit. You ruled out any open headphones, but no biggie.

I'd go for the HFI-780's. Trust me, these things sound *nice*. Plenty of bass, but it doesn't drown out the other frequencies. Even if there is lots of bass, there's this superb separation that always keeps the mids and highs distinct. I love cranking the volume on these really, really high as well. The soundstage also either rivals or beats my open AD700's; I haven't really done a formal comparison yet. I was also surprised when I heard classical through these... very nice and articulate. Plenty of detail. I'm hearing lots of sounds I didn't hear through my AD700.

You can get these for $200 off RMCaudio.com
Click to expand...

Shouldn't you tell him the manufacturer too? Not everyone knows who makes HFI - 780. I do though, Ultrasone. Don't have a pair but am thinking of getting them soon.
 
colinstu said:
I haven't responded because I liked keep seeing headphones.

With two people saying "Get the Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO's" right away, and then looking at them, they look awesome. Price seems to be High 100's to mid 200's. Is this an okay site to buy from? This place looks a little better.

Next step, sound card :rolleyes:

And how important are those headphone amplifiers? I'd naturally just skip on that but...
Click to expand...


I'm going to chime in with a little different suggestion to mix things up since you mentioned you need a new sound card. Unless you don't already have a set of headphones, I would suggest improving your source first. This is the best thing you can do to improve your sound quality as it has the most influence on what you hear. Think of it this way, if you have a lackluster source, all a quality set of speakers is going to do is intensify its short comings. Further more, a low quality source will have a much harder time driving a higher quality speaker because of higher impedances, which seeing as you don't have an amp will be a problem. This will result in an under driven speaker which can actually sound worse than a properly driven lower quality speaker. I went from my onboard sound to an X-FI extrememusic with my beyer DT880's, and WOW the difference left me with my jaw wide open. The clairity, the punchiness, the bass improvment, everything was like night and day. I still have yet to try it with my amp, which I will finally have access to it next weekend.
 
I'm using the Plantronics gamecom pro 1 right now because it was cheap and I wanted to try headsets and a mic out. These suck big time :), can't even use onboard.

What to headphone amps do that the Volume control on XP can't? Get it even louder? If you have a crappy sound card that sounds like crap if you turn it up?

I'd much rather just hook my phones to a card vs. having another little box. What's the best sound card on this list? HT Omega/azuntech any good? I don't need x-fi.
 
Garfing Sharks said:
I'm going to chime in with a little different suggestion to mix things up since you mentioned you need a new sound card. Unless you don't already have a set of headphones, I would suggest improving your source first. This is the best thing you can do to improve your sound quality as it has the most influence on what you hear. Think of it this way, if you have a lackluster source, all a quality set of speakers is going to do is intensify its short comings. Further more, a low quality source will have a much harder time driving a higher quality speaker because of higher impedances, which seeing as you don't have an amp will be a problem. This will result in an under driven speaker which can actually sound worse than a properly driven lower quality speaker. I went from my onboard sound to an X-FI extrememusic with my beyer DT880's, and WOW the difference left me with my jaw wide open. The clairity, the punchiness, the bass improvment, everything was like night and day. I still have yet to try it with my amp, which I will finally have access to it next weekend.
Click to expand...

Indeed, you can take it a bit further back to the "source" than that and not use mp3's or cda (cd-audio) that way you'd acually get the full use of your 24bit 192k+ soundcard.

Also regarding amps ect, the best way is to go with a self powered speaker, it eliminates a lot of problems (especially if your into producing) and is the only way to go if you want to do it "right".

As far as entry level soundcards get something from emu or m-audio (even though creative owns emu now i still wouldnt touch a creative card to save my life!)
 
I think I narrowed the sound cards down to this and this.

Higher sample rate and higher SNR is the way to go right? A reviewer on the HT card said the front panel audio is great, that is a huge plus because my computer is on the ground. Does that shield help on the Asus card?

EDIT: decided on the HT omega card, reviews say it's great and it has front panel audio.
 
colinstu said:
I think I narrowed the sound cards down to this and this.

Higher sample rate and higher SNR is the way to go right? A reviewer on the HT card said the front panel audio is great, that is a huge plus because my computer is on the ground. Does that shield help on the Asus card?

EDIT: decided on the HT omega card, reviews say it's great and it has front panel audio.
Click to expand...

I was having the same decisions as you were too. I'd reccomend the Prelude or Xonar - I'm probably going to get the Prelude soon enough for the slightly better reviews (and I forgot what else turned me off from the Xonar other than the GAEMIN LEDZ).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829156005&Tpk=prelude
 
I'd get a Prelude.

Oh yeah... and uh I'm going to retract my suggestion for HFI-780's and instead recommend Milkweg's suggestion for D2000's.
 
CountChoculaBot said:
Oh yeah... and uh I'm going to retract my suggestion for HFI-780's and instead recommend Milkweg's suggestion for D2000's.
Click to expand...

Have you or Milkweg had any personal experiences with the D2000's? Not trying to instigate anything, but I've seen you recommend the 780s in just about every thread, and I'm just wondering what other cans you have listened to.

I'm going to recommend the AKG K240's. Smooth liquid midrange, lots of midbass thump, and slightly rolled off highs. It also has a detachable cable and is fairly comfortable (especially with velour pads). The only caveat: they need some good amplification. Otherwise, I think they fit your requirements fairly well.
 
strid3r said:
Have you or Milkweg had any personal experiences with the D2000's? Not trying to instigate anything, but I've seen you recommend the 780s in just about every thread, and I'm just wondering what other cans you have listened to.

I'm going to recommend the AKG K240's. Smooth liquid midrange, lots of midbass thump, and slightly rolled off highs. It also has a detachable cable and is fairly comfortable (especially with velour pads). The only caveat: they need some good amplification. Otherwise, I think they fit your requirements fairly well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you caught me =\

I personally haven't heard them, but IMO what I've read about them fits the OP's requirements well. I realize it's still pretty bad to have not heard them and yet still be recommending them, so I plan on getting a pair hopefully by next week :)
 
I'd get the Sennheiser HD555 on Newegg. They are on sale at a very good price.
I'd buy them if I were in the USA
 
strid3r said:
Have you or Milkweg had any personal experiences with the D2000's?
Click to expand...

I alreadfy said in my post that I suggested them because they are highly regarded at Headfi, so are the Ultrasone HFI-780. Neither headphone is everyone's cup of tea though. JUst as I know not everyone likes Beyer DT880 sound. Senn HD650 are very highly regarded and not everyone likes those either. I actually have Senn HD595 and based my recommendation going by what he was looking for in a headphone and my "educated" ;) opinion. If I was biased I would have said get HD595 just because that is what I have. That's why most people recommend gear, because they own it and are biased. I'm objective. :)
 
colinstu said:
I'd much rather just hook my phones to a card vs. having another little box.
Click to expand...

Having another "little box" is greatly beneficial when you use a computer as source. The EMU 0404 USB can be used as a soundcard, external DAC and headphone amp. I use it as an external DAC by connection digital I/O from my soundcards to its digital in and as a headphone amp. One of the great benefits of have an external box is that it isolates it from the PC's internal EMI. On-board soundcards are notoriously bad for EMI issues, even my X-Fi had some EMI issues that I could hear at louder volumes. I could here my mouse causing EMI when scrolling pages in my web browser. The EMU 0404 USB has superior sound quality compared to most internal soundcards too as it uses a high end DAC. The same DAC used on some standalone DAC's that cost $1,000.00 - $2,000.00. Because it is less than $200.00 and of good quality many people at Headfi consider it the best bang-for-buck device there is in computer audio.
 
HD555s are excellent in mid to low price range. They are circumaural, but they are open-air. They are also very very comfy.
They do muffle outside sounds somewhat, but not much. The sound quality is comparable to low range Grados like SR80 (good).
 
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