High End Headphones? Help

On September 07 2010 05:00 Myrmidon wrote:
What sound card or integrated motherboard sound chip do you have? Do you care about open (non-sound-isolating) vs. closed (sound isolating)?

You definitely want to stay away from high-impedance, low-sensitivity headphones if you're using it out of an ipod, as you might not get enough volume on music that is soft or has large dynamic range. Harder-to-drive headphones also would drain battery life slightly more. Most of the popular choices in the few hundred dollar range would therefore not be appropriate for you. This includes the Sennheiser HD 600, HD 650, etc.

A good open headphone for a little over $220 would be the Ultrasone PROLine 2500. Closed would be maybe the Denon D2000 for a little more--it's also supposed to be very comfortable.

edit: whoops, didn't see that you wanted huge circumaural. Check the size of the above. The Audio Technica a900 (or any axxxx) for closed, any high-end Audio Technica ad900 (or higher number), maybe. The AKG 601 is a good open headphone that I have, but it's borderline for driving it out of an ipod. It's the same size as the headphone picture shown earlier in the thread (that one is a AKG 701, which is a little better but is more unpleasant and bright with bad sources). Sony MDR-SA5000 is also a good open headphone, for more like $300. The Beyerdynamic DT880 (32 ohms version) would be great for open too.

After a certain point, better headphones are going to be really limited by the relatively low-fi sources you're using, so there's not much point to going higher.

On September 07 2010 05:02 jtype wrote:
Well, what will sound 'amazing' to your ears will sound mediocre or bad to someone else's and vice versa.

For example, personally, I steer clear of Bose as a brand because they tend to over-hype the sound quite a bit, making people say wow at the listening post, but not really giving an accurate representation of the original sound. I put much more value on accuracy and a flat frequency response, but maybe that's because I'm an audio producer and that's what I look out for as a hallmark of good quality audio gear.

What I mean is, you should just try out a bunch of different models and not worry too much about the reviews.

However, for us to recommend some models to you, it's sorta essential that we know your budget, otherwise I might suggest a pair like these as high-end headphones, when really you mean at the high-end of your budget, whatever that may be.


It's also worth noting that expensive (>£200 generally) headphones often require a headphone amp to sound their best and to power them efficiently, but they don't all need them, and will still sound much better than cheaper/worse models even without a headphone amp.

On top of that, there's little point in spending all your money (not suggesting that you are, but just making a point) on a pair of top-notch headphones if all you ever do is listen to 128kbps MP3s. If you really want to have good quality music, you'll need to make sure every link in the chain is good quality.

On September 07 2010 05:15 Zeller wrote:


I'm also wondering how do amplifiers work with headphones? Can i somehow use an amplifier with my computer or ipod? Sorry if this is dumbest question of the day I have no clue.

On September 07 2010 05:19 Jayme wrote:


You plug the amp into the jack and the headphone into the amp...drains more power but it does sound better.

On September 07 2010 05:14 Zeller wrote:


Ok cool, so basically for your standard power sources like a computer or ipod, these are the best possible? Any higher requires some sort of amplifier or studio equipment correct? Sorry I'm new.



Also price is not an issue.

On September 07 2010 05:23 Myrmidon wrote:


"Requires" is kind of the wrong word, since any headphones will produce sounds out of any source.

Amplifiers in this context are used not really to provide more power (though they do provide more power than your standard sources, and this power is necessary for high-impedance, low-sensitivity headphones), but to improve the sound quality over the ipod or computer stock amplifier chip. Worse amplifiers produce more distortions and have problems that wouldn't be noticed with worse headphones. With better headphones, you can start to hear inaccuracies of any of the parts along the signal chain, notably the music file (if lower-rate mp3) and amplifier.

Just to clarify, that's around the quality level of headphones I'd recommend and that I've seen recommended before it's kind of a waste without a better source.

Jayme: well, if the amplifier has its own power source (battery, or own power from the wall), then using an amplifier will actually draw less power from the computer or the ipod. Also, you'd want to avoid taking the audio signal from a normal headphone jack to send it to the amplifier. It's better to use a line-out to avoid going through the stock amplifier headphone driver chip on the device.

On September 07 2010 05:20 Zeller wrote:


So I'm guessing there is probably a whole world of kickass amps I would have to research if I went that route?

On September 07 2010 05:15 Zeller wrote:


I'm also wondering how do amplifiers work with headphones? Can i somehow use an amplifier with my computer or ipod? Sorry if this is dumbest question of the day I have no clue.