Rant about LOW QUALITY HEADPHONES...

My senn 595's are still holding up pretty well after almost a year of constant use, so not too bad i suppose. :p
 
sideout said:
my pc 160's do this ever since they fell 2 feet off my chair =(
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If you guys can't RMA them for a replacement set, I'd just open them up, and re-attach the connections. I'd be willing to bet, if the wire didn't break inside the protective casing, the might have busted loose from it's connection from the hard jolt.
Either way I agree, they are just making sh*t nowadays too damn cheap. Trying to make a buck more here and there rather than caring more about the quality of the product and it's components.
I gotta say though, this pair of $30 Sony's I have, have never once had an issue, and this is the second pair I owned. First pair got fricken stolen. But neither this pair or the other ever once had a problem, and they actually put good thick cables on them and good pliable protective silicon casing on the wires so they rarely ever will tangle. Aside from Sennheiser's, I think the Sony's are the only ones I'd trust not to fall apart. Though, I'm sure Grado's are nice too, just haven't tried them yet.
I've even seen a few friends who are musicians and DJ's use different sets from other companys like Shure and Pioneer, and even they have had problems if they get dropped ar whacked good a couple times.
But either way you look at it, most company's now days are so hell bent on making the big bucks, they overlook small stuff like the quality of the wire and such. might seem like a small detail to them, but obviously for us end users, the wire, driver, or design quality can make all the difference in the world. With exception to a couple companys, most just seem like they have piss poor quality control. And I'd be willing ot bet, half the people who work at these company's and design these, probably don't know a hell of alot about audio and what we as end users see as a quality product. They probably never take the time to stop and think, "hey, if this gets dropped or if someone on thier PC happens to yank on the cable, will they be ok and still work right".
The fact is most of'm don't care, they just want to get what appears to be a solid good quality product out for us to waste money on, only to find out they may sound decent, but aren't designed worth a sh*t. Or vice versa, they may be a great design with a horrid piss poor driver in them. It's rare to actually find a good set, that sounds great, or even good, that are both comfortable & durable. Somewhere in the design, it's inevitable, they skimp on some component, whether it be a cheap driver, or crappy cheap wiring, they skimp on something. and there's very few company's who take everything into consideration with these designs. Heck, even my Sony's I use for music, they sound pretty dang good, but damn did they hurt the ears for the first few times I wore them for extended periods of time. Even now still, sometimes, if I wear them for several hours listening to music while playing poker or something, they can still make the ears sore.
Either way, unlees we all have the cash sitting around to drop a ton on a high end set, we are stuck with either paying an average price for either a set with nice drivers in it, but not so great of a design, or a set that's comfortable but don't have the greatest sound. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't exactly feel like spedning a ton of cash. Would I like to, heck ya, can I, not likely. So, we are basically stuck with limited options and have to find a happy medium between sound quality, durability, and comfort. Or, expect to spend a bit more cash than we'd like too.
But personally, I've had great experiences with the Sennheiser's & Sony sets, and have heard nothing but good things about Grado's SR-60's & 80's. So, if I were to get another pair of stereo cans anytime soon, those are the 3 companys I'd look too. All I know, is I've seen a lot of people rave about the Icemat Siberias, only to come back later and bi*ch about how they busted already. So, I'd avoid'm, even though they apparently sound pretty good. same thing with Altec Lansings, they make great home audio setups and speakers, especially thier subwoofers, and I've heard how they have really decent sounding headphones, but hear of alot of people complaining how heavy and uncomfortable they are on the ears.
What would be nice, is maybe if we'd see someone here do a review on some headphones/headsets like everyone does with RAM & CPU's, so more people are informed about what sets are good to go, and what ones a good for nothing. If I had the money, heck, I'd do it, but I don't, and it's a royal pain to get your hands on sets to test without somewhere to get them from, other than buying a bunch of them, which I don't have a ton of cash to go buy 15 pairs to test at the moment. If anything, I got an idea maybe we could all get going, I'll check on it later and see if it'll work.
Anyway, sorry for the long rant about things, just frustrating seeing everyone flippin' out cash for what they think are decent or good sets, only to find out they suck or are busted in a weeks time. I'd say this is my .02, but I think it's more like .25 lol. Time for me to shut my pie hole and go grab something to eat. And btw, I just got my 5.1 set today from NewEgg, so I'll come drop everyone a review here on them after I play around and test them out this weekend.
Have fun all. :)

Tony a.k.a. OCZSpeedJunky
 
lordroy said:
I really would like to avoid any headsets with inline volume control... especially ones without ANY sort of reinforcement

(here is a pic I found of the Senn 150PC linked above)

I believe that would break in a month.
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I own these headphones. It actually took about 2 and 1/2 months for the inline volume control to break, thank you very much.
 
Headphones%20without%20volume%20control%20250.jpg


check out these bad boys.

http://www.commercialheadphones.com/commercial_headphone_durable.htm

they probably dont have the best sound. lol.
 
Ive got a nice set of Sennheiser PC150s, great for CSS and BF2.

Had a pair of Panasonics with a logitech mic for years until both gave out within a week of each other.
 
People this thread is almost a YEAR OLD the op has already bought a pair IF YOU WOULD READ you would know that...

As to all the others posting here for more reccomendations go start a new thread...
 
SPARAT1K said:
i honestly think there are no "tough" headsets.
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My DT770's are tough as hell, and one of the best purchases I've made. Truly German wall hacks.

And I bought them based mainly on reviews and comments here at [H]. Thanks :p
 
Well, considering most people ask the same questions every other day, it doesn't really matter where they get their answers from imho as long as they get one that's to their satifaction... :p
 
SPARAT1K said:
Headphones%20without%20volume%20control%20250.jpg


check out these bad boys.

http://www.commercialheadphones.com/commercial_headphone_durable.htm

they probably dont have the best sound. lol.
Click to expand...


Yea, they look durable as hell, but probably sound like a set of $4.99 Koss from Wal-Mart. lol. I like the "security lock" feature too, to "help prevent theft". lol It has double sided tape on the back of it to attach it to whatever surface, how the heck is that going to prevent theft?? lol. Anyway, yea, they look cool and solid, but wonder how they do actually sound. What's the price tag on'm, and do you know of anywhere else to get them other than from the manufacturer?? Would be interesting to see what they're like. That's a seriously heavy duty cable protecting the wiring lol. Wonder how flexible it is?? Questions questions. :)

And pfunkman, we realize that the original poster has already purchased a new setup, cool. But why the hell go start a new thread when we can just fully discuss things here?? Did you read the thread title?? "Rant about LOW QUALITY HEADPHONES....", it doesn't say "until I get a new set", so plain and simple, if ya don't like the thread, don't read it, go read something else. But otherwise, if some of us wish to continue discussing things here, we will. Simple as that. :D

OCZ
 
i really wish an american company (or british or german or hell anything non-asian) would come out and make a TOUGH quality headset. I wouldn't mind spending $200 for some rock solid headphones.

Sennheisers are german right? But they're probably not made in germany. correct?
 
Apparently that Fatal1ty headset that Creative is releasing is supposed to be pretty rugged along with having very good sound. Yeah, I know it has that twerps name on it but it might be a good product.


Ok, who threw the head of lettuce at me?
 
well i've had my hd280's for nearly a week so far and i can already tell its a good product. it seems to be built a bit better than what i'm accustomed too. i still wouldn't call it rugged but its an improvement over the $40-50 headsets i'm accustomed. the sound quality is very good so is comfort and noise cancelation.

the zalman mic picks up more outside noise than headsets mics do. oh well $7. not bad.
 
I love the fact that everyone kept talking about this.

As of this time BOTH pairs of my Icemat Siberia headsets are still working, however...

They look ghetto as hell because of all of the repair jobs I have had to do where the headband/plastic meets the actual speaker/can area. Even that one I sent back has broken again in that area but all of the actual wires/driver still work.

They are comfortable, I wear them 8+ hours a day, just about every day, and I barely ever notice them even being on.

If it were not for the fact that the plastic was so brittle and broke so easily, I would recommend them over and over again.

I love that industrial grade headphone link. I may get one to see how they sound, just to see if there is any hope for them.

I still would love to see someone make something durable, affordable, and with quality.

Never let this thread die, everyone needs to get good headphones.

-=R=-
 
Just wanted to add, you dismissed the koss ksc-75's so quickly, they are very durable headphones and will sound better than some headphones that are $100+

Koss also has a no questons asked lifetime warranty policy which I've heard is good.

IMO the tip of the iceberg in durability is the Sony mdr-v6 aka 7506 which has been around for ages, they are around $90 IIRC; they don't sound too bad either.
 
lordroy said:
I love the fact that everyone kept talking about this.

As of this time BOTH pairs of my Icemat Siberia headsets are still working, however...

They look ghetto as hell because of all of the repair jobs I have had to do where the headband/plastic meets the actual speaker/can area. Even that one I sent back has broken again in that area but all of the actual wires/driver still work.

They are comfortable, I wear them 8+ hours a day, just about every day, and I barely ever notice them even being on.

If it were not for the fact that the plastic was so brittle and broke so easily, I would recommend them over and over again.

I love that industrial grade headphone link. I may get one to see how they sound, just to see if there is any hope for them.

I still would love to see someone make something durable, affordable, and with quality.

Never let this thread die, everyone needs to get good headphones.

-=R=-
Click to expand...

Nobody kept talking about them and this thread died long ago.

I dont see why someone couldnt get a pair of the industrial grade cans and throw better stuff in them.
 
sideout said:
my pc 160's do this ever since they fell 2 feet off my chair =(
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That's weird, my Senn PC150s have fallen off my chair a few dozen times at 'least (I've had 'em for like 4 years now) and the in-line volume control or cable haven't suffered any... But whenever they've fallen it hasn't really tugged on the cable either (I'm careful about the way I route it around my desk area). I'm actually quite pleased with how durable they've turned out.
 
Archaea said:
http://www.buy.com/prod/creative-fa...eries-gaming-headset/q/loc/101/204035006.html

I bought these and they are VERY nice for the price. I'd strongly recommend them.


Creative Fatal1ty Professional Series Gaming Headset. Original MSRP = $149.99

Buy.com price = $40 shipped
Click to expand...

They get good reviews but let me say, everyone seems to be missing the issue.

I hate the fact that the wires and connections get weak over time. It happens mostly where the inline volume control is. Look at the following:

weakpoints.jpg


Most every pair of el-cheapo headsets have the same thing as creative has right there. The two points that weaken over time and end up losing connection, having shorts, or just pulling away is inevitable. The icemat siberia kind of figured out the issue and put the inline volume control as a connection with standard plug. If I could find a decent headset w/o volume control + have that same connector that icemat has, I would be set.

-=R=-
 
I've tripped HARD over the cord on my fatalities and yanked the headphones from my desk...I feared the worst - but no shorts. The cable is really thick on the creative professionals...and for $40? You can't beat the price.
Keep in mind they reviewed well at the $99-150 price point. At $40 they are unbeatable. $40 is cheap, buy a pair and see for yourself.

My sennheiser HD-535's however have gone through two sets of cables with shorts. I expect the fatalities eventually well, but not nearly as fast based on the wire thickness.
 
^ oh, and the picture you're showing above is for the cheaper set --- NOT the professional set. The mic is NOT detachable on the professional set and the wire is much thicker
 
Well you can always buy a bluetooth module with I think the A2DP profile and run a pair of Motorolla S9's.

No wires, great comfort, and since your soundcard really isn't doing much in gaming, you won't lose anything buy running software sound instead. (another plus is no microphone boom on the headset)

-=R=-
 
Met-AL said:
Well you can always buy a bluetooth module with I think the A2DP profile and run a pair of Motorolla S9's.

No wires, great comfort, and since your soundcard really isn't doing much in gaming, you won't lose anything buy running software sound instead. (another plus is no microphone boom on the headset)

-=R=-
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I dont think I will be going the bluetooth route. Not really comfortable with that.

I dont mind the wires and my soundcard does fine for games... not sure what you mean by that.

And why are you using my signature "-=R=-" ?


-=R=-
 
lordroy said:
I dont think I will be going the bluetooth route. Not really comfortable with that.

I dont mind the wires and my soundcard does fine for games... not sure what you mean by that.

And why are you using my signature "-=R=-" ?


-=R=-
Click to expand...

A side benefit of the S9's is they work with your cell phone as well. I have a pair, but haven't used them on my PC though.

Check out line #25: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=760666

-=R=-
 
lordroy said:
And why are you using my signature "-=R=-" ?
Click to expand...
He's trying to illustrate just how immensely annoying it is when you double-sign your posts, basically (you get one sig; not two or eleven or thirty-seven).

-=R=-

EDIT: If you're looking for a good volume controller, by the way, check out Griffin's PoweMate.
 
Met-AL said:
A side benefit of the S9's is they work with your cell phone as well. I have a pair, but haven't used them on my PC though.

Check out line #25: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=760666

-=R=-
Click to expand...

No, the S9s wont work with my cell phone... I dont have bluetooth, dont need it.

Arent you nitpicky about how I sign my posts.

I do it in every forum, in every pm, on everything I "digitally sign", so...

I will fix it from this point forward...

Hope this is better.
 
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