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Gonna bump this one instead of starting another thread, dunno if it's the right thing to do but anyway...
I'm looking for some new headphones, been reading a lot of different tests (and many of the previous pages of this thread too), so many I don't know what to do anymore.
Here's my criterias
-Around 100 euros/100 dollars - can't afford more than that
-I got a really big head (no, I won't post any picture)
-I don't need "gamer's gear", I'll get a separate mike if needed, I'd rather spend the money on sound quality than on a fancy built-in mike.
-But I'm obviously a gamer, play all kind of games (but mostly SCII these days) so gonna use them for playing.
-and also a lot for music : britpop/70's to today's rock/some metal/bit of hip-hop/a bit of opera/"voices" (cohen, cave, sinead,etc)/ occasionally some electro stuff is what I listen to ; mostly never listen to classic, country, rap, world music
-movies : sometimes
-I plan to use them in my comp room so "sound leakage" doesn't matter, it won't bother anyone but the cat.
-If they can suppress the sound of my pc ventilation, it's a plus (in my dreams, the damn thing is watercooled but until those come true, the thing is a rather noisy beast)
-I sit in front of the pc most of the time so they gotta be comfortable for the ears (pain + weight + "sweat factor" is an issue)
So far the 2 models in my price range that seem to be a good compromise vs those criterias seem to be the sony VR-6 and the Sennheiser 555 but I read that the Sony might be a bit painful for long-sessions usage.
Heard mostly good things about Sennheiser but some people seem to be disappointed by them for the kind of music I'm going + the comfort is sometimes an issue too...
Oh yeah, I'm using right now some Logitech headset that came "free" with Unreal Tournament 2004 deluxe-box-whatever, with the left side that's going on and off based on its mood so whatever I go for, I'm sure it's gonna change my life, at least from an acoustic p.o.v. (only positive thing about logitech is that they're light and allow for ventilation).
I have to order the new gear through amazon (gift voucher) so I can't test any of them before ordering (and btw I can't order grado, some delivery issues with Amazon so the sr60i which seemed appealing is a no-go)....therefore if you got any recommendations based on that, I'm all ears.
Thanks in advance.
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The Roccat Kave
![[image loading]](http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/images/product_images/large/INT-ROC-KAVE-HEADSET-2.jpg)
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1019 Posts
I use sennheiser.
and skullcandy is like the justin bieber of headphones
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United States9452 Posts
Where do you live? Which amazon site would you be ordering through?
In general, open headphones are not going to block the sound of the PC, but they're often better price/performance for sound quality and creating the impression of sound stage. Since you have a big head, the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 would fit your comfort criteria and do well with most music. It's a bit light on bass, so it may not work for all your music though.
A Beyerdynamic DT-770 is closed, comfortable, and would be great, but it seems out of the price range. You'd probably want a 32 ohms version, or maybe the Pro/80 version, as the others are probably too quiet out of most low-end sources (integrated computer audio). Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is pretty popular and would work (small sound stage though, if you care about that), but it's maybe out of the price range too.
AKG K240 Studio (K242 HD and K240 MKII are the same, but with different accessories) are semi-open and are maybe in the price range. They should be pretty good and comfortable, but they're borderline too quiet out of low-end sources. If you like listening to music very loud, they might not work.
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On January 11 2011 00:48 decafchicken wrote:
My headphones double as a pair of really expensive ear muffs on the way to class in the winter <3
Would that somehow damage the headphones? What if it's open/closed, etc. Anyone have a good answer?
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@Eureakastreet
i use skullcandy skullcrushers, decent price for the sound quality, they have a sick bass amplifier for music and movies, especially war movies, every single gunshot has bass haha... I find them extremely comfortable and the durability is nice too, they fell in the snow and are fine, and i mean were completely covered in snow, heres a link for a picture
http://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-SCS-SCBP3-5-Skullcrushers-Subwoofer-Headphones/dp/B000OYFOVM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295726485&sr=8-1
not going to lie, 8+ hours of wearing them does have some uncomfortability, but that is the longest ive worn them haha, if these dont work good luck finding a pair man!
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Tons of posts, but I have to wonder that for everyone that has respectable/audiophile-type headphones with their computer, does anyone even have an appropriate sound card to take advantage of the better hardware?
I'd venture to guess that not everyone can be that dumb and just say, "I have these headphones and they're awesome," yet only have on-board sound in their computer. Your headphones (even outside your computer) will only be as good as the source they're coming from.
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On January 23 2011 03:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Where do you live? Which amazon site would you be ordering through?
In general, open headphones are not going to block the sound of the PC, but they're often better price/performance for sound quality and creating the impression of sound stage. Since you have a big head, the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 would fit your comfort criteria and do well with most music. It's a bit light on bass, so it may not work for all your music though.
A Beyerdynamic DT-770 is closed, comfortable, and would be great, but it seems out of the price range. You'd probably want a 32 ohms version, or maybe the Pro/80 version, as the others are probably too quiet out of most low-end sources (integrated computer audio). Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is pretty popular and would work (small sound stage though, if you care about that), but it's maybe out of the price range too.
AKG K240 Studio (K242 HD and K240 MKII are the same, but with different accessories) are semi-open and are maybe in the price range. They should be pretty good and comfortable, but they're borderline too quiet out of low-end sources. If you like listening to music very loud, they might not work.
Thanks for the tip.
I live in Belgium and the amazon voucher I got was for the french amazon store...which only sells Grado products through external resellers...which do not ship to Belgium. I'm "stuck" with Amazon-shipped items, still a decent range of products but no Grado  I hope I can test those someday somewhere...
The ATH-AD700 and AKG are a bit above my budget, Beyer is even higher Too bad the voucher only works for the french store....it would actually be cheaper to order them through the US store and have them shipped overseas. Gotta love that fact despite AKG, Beyer and Sennheisen being produced in our neighbour country...sometimes I hate the guy who invented VAT.
Gotta ask something though : I'm tech ignorant but my pc is also connected to a Kenwood amplifier (and some Bose loudspeakers)...if I connect the headphone through the amplifier instead of going through the pc, would that change the "low-end" source issue (I know nothing about these things)? And if so, would you suggest other models (10-20% cheaper would be nice and closer to my budget)
Thanks for the help.
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United States9452 Posts
On January 23 2011 05:06 divito wrote:
Tons of posts, but I have to wonder that for everyone that has respectable/audiophile-type headphones with their computer, does anyone even have an appropriate sound card to take advantage of the better hardware?
I'd venture to guess that not everyone can be that dumb and just say, "I have these headphones and they're awesome," yet only have on-board sound in their computer. Your headphones (even outside your computer) will only be as good as the source they're coming from.
Onboard sound is a lot better these days than it used to be, but that's still an important point. On the other extreme, you get people with $200 headphones and sources that cost more than that.
I dunno if anyone would call my source good, but it gets +-0.3 dB from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, 88.7 dB SNR, 0.019% THD+N, 0.028% IMD+N while loaded with my AKG K601. I wonder how the transients are. At one point I tested it at a lower volume (closer to listening levels) in RMAA, and it got similar distortion measurements.
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On January 23 2011 05:06 divito wrote:
Tons of posts, but I have to wonder that for everyone that has respectable/audiophile-type headphones with their computer, does anyone even have an appropriate sound card to take advantage of the better hardware?
I'd venture to guess that not everyone can be that dumb and just say, "I have these headphones and they're awesome," yet only have on-board sound in their computer. Your headphones (even outside your computer) will only be as good as the source they're coming from.
I think you're right asking the question but -at least for me - soundcard issues will be discussed in another thread and when I have extra money to spend. As for now I could use the headphones in different environments (stereo, pc, ipod), whereas if I spend the money on a decent soundcard, I am stuck with a useless piece of gear until I spend some extra $$ on headphones.....aaaaah life's choices.
@Frozen : subwoofer ain't for me, I'm getting too old for that ;D
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United States9452 Posts
On January 23 2011 05:16 Eurekastreet wrote:Show nested quote +On January 23 2011 03:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Where do you live? Which amazon site would you be ordering through?
In general, open headphones are not going to block the sound of the PC, but they're often better price/performance for sound quality and creating the impression of sound stage. Since you have a big head, the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 would fit your comfort criteria and do well with most music. It's a bit light on bass, so it may not work for all your music though.
A Beyerdynamic DT-770 is closed, comfortable, and would be great, but it seems out of the price range. You'd probably want a 32 ohms version, or maybe the Pro/80 version, as the others are probably too quiet out of most low-end sources (integrated computer audio). Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is pretty popular and would work (small sound stage though, if you care about that), but it's maybe out of the price range too.
AKG K240 Studio (K242 HD and K240 MKII are the same, but with different accessories) are semi-open and are maybe in the price range. They should be pretty good and comfortable, but they're borderline too quiet out of low-end sources. If you like listening to music very loud, they might not work. + Show Spoiler [text] +Thanks for the tip. I live in Belgium and the amazon voucher I got was for the french amazon store...which only sells Grado products through external resellers...which do not ship to Belgium. I'm "stuck" with Amazon-shipped items, still a decent range of products but no Grado I hope I can test those someday somewhere... The ATH-AD700 and AKG are a bit above my budget, Beyer is even higher Too bad the voucher only works for the french store....it would actually be cheaper to order them through the US store and have them shipped overseas. Gotta love that fact despite AKG, Beyer and Sennheisen being produced in our neighbour country...sometimes I hate the guy who invented VAT. Gotta ask something though : I'm tech ignorant but my pc is also connected to a Kenwood amplifier (and some Bose loudspeakers)...if I connect the headphone through the amplifier instead of going through the pc, would that change the "low-end" source issue (I know nothing about these things)? And if so, would you suggest other models (10-20% cheaper would be nice and closer to my budget) Thanks for the help.
With an external amp like that, you'd probably be fine on any headphones then, at least in terms of volume. Unfortunately, most lower-cost headphones aren't that difficult to drive anyway. Too bad you can't find some vintage stuff that may be decent but difficult to drive, since you have to buy from amazon.fr. I don't know as much about the following, but upon a quick look, I've at least heard of these. I'll leave links anyway:
Sennhesier HD 25 SP II (not as good as the other HD 25 versions)
JVC HA-RX900
Shure SRH440
Shure SRH750DJ
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On January 23 2011 05:43 Myrmidon wrote:Show nested quote +On January 23 2011 05:16 Eurekastreet wrote:On January 23 2011 03:27 Myrmidon wrote:
Where do you live? Which amazon site would you be ordering through?
In general, open headphones are not going to block the sound of the PC, but they're often better price/performance for sound quality and creating the impression of sound stage. Since you have a big head, the Audio-Technica ATH-AD700 would fit your comfort criteria and do well with most music. It's a bit light on bass, so it may not work for all your music though.
A Beyerdynamic DT-770 is closed, comfortable, and would be great, but it seems out of the price range. You'd probably want a 32 ohms version, or maybe the Pro/80 version, as the others are probably too quiet out of most low-end sources (integrated computer audio). Audio-Technica ATH-M50 is pretty popular and would work (small sound stage though, if you care about that), but it's maybe out of the price range too.
AKG K240 Studio (K242 HD and K240 MKII are the same, but with different accessories) are semi-open and are maybe in the price range. They should be pretty good and comfortable, but they're borderline too quiet out of low-end sources. If you like listening to music very loud, they might not work. + Show Spoiler [text] +Thanks for the tip. I live in Belgium and the amazon voucher I got was for the french amazon store...which only sells Grado products through external resellers...which do not ship to Belgium. I'm "stuck" with Amazon-shipped items, still a decent range of products but no Grado I hope I can test those someday somewhere... The ATH-AD700 and AKG are a bit above my budget, Beyer is even higher Too bad the voucher only works for the french store....it would actually be cheaper to order them through the US store and have them shipped overseas. Gotta love that fact despite AKG, Beyer and Sennheisen being produced in our neighbour country...sometimes I hate the guy who invented VAT. Gotta ask something though : I'm tech ignorant but my pc is also connected to a Kenwood amplifier (and some Bose loudspeakers)...if I connect the headphone through the amplifier instead of going through the pc, would that change the "low-end" source issue (I know nothing about these things)? And if so, would you suggest other models (10-20% cheaper would be nice and closer to my budget) Thanks for the help. With an external amp like that, you'd probably be fine on any headphones then, at least in terms of volume. Unfortunately, most lower-cost headphones aren't that difficult to drive anyway. Too bad you can't find some vintage stuff that may be decent but difficult to drive, since you have to buy from amazon.fr. I don't know as much about the following, but upon a quick look, I've at least heard of these. I'll leave links anyway: Sennhesier HD 25 SP II (not as good as the other HD 25 versions) JVC HA-RX900Shure SRH440Shure SRH750DJ
Well, took some time checking reviews for your recommendations (hadn't found any Shure recommendations before in my noobie googling) and I kind of fell for all the positive reviews i found for the Shure 440 and went for it. Being new to this I can't pretend I understood all the technical details but users seem mostly satisfied with those so that was enough for me. I guess the next step will be to test the beast, burn it, customize it and then -from what I read- spend huge amounts of money the rest of my life to search for the perfect sound (or I might give up in time ;D). Thanks a lot for the tip!
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ive got a pair of AD700's and some Vsonic R02Pro2 earphones when i dont want everyone within 10m hearing my music :O :D
![[image loading]](http://www.getprice.com.au/images/uploadimg/110/350_aTH-AD700_z.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.headphones.com.au/images/prods/vsonic/r02pro2.jpg)
but i want these! (bose quietcomfort 15)
![[image loading]](http://news.cnet.com/i/tim/2010/09/15/Bose-QuietComfort_15.jpg)
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Spent a week with my Head-Direct RE0s now (with my PC/galaxy tab), and they are so so gosu. I've honestly forgotten that I'm not wearing my £200 A40s now. And they're so light and comfortable. Best value 'thing' I've ever had.
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Music: ![[image loading]](http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/fit,400by400/quality,85/brand,zzounds/akg-k240-e6f86a357247da95829406b118f43943.jpg)
gaming (pcw's with mumble/skype): ![[image loading]](http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2007/05/gaming_headset_head_to_head/b2.jpg) but the piece of shit mic broke.
music when not at home: ![[image loading]](http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/images/sennheiser-cx300-II-black-500x500.JPG)
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Was thinking about buying some Skull Candy's or beats by Dre :D
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On January 23 2011 10:12 Alexson wrote:
Was thinking about buying some Skull Candy's or beats by Dre :D
both of them are complete trash.
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On January 23 2011 10:16 lindn wrote:Show nested quote +On January 23 2011 10:12 Alexson wrote:
Was thinking about buying some Skull Candy's or beats by Dre :D both of them are complete trash.
correct. if you want a lot of bass (like dre's) without sacrificing every other part of sound quality try the Beyerdynamic DT770 80/Pro.
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Woot... I got my Ety ER-4Ps back in the mail yesterday. Got nailed with $85 + shipping for transducer replacement service, but I'm still happy. 
These have to be my favourite audio purchase ever. I think I might actually rank them higher than my K701s, but part of that may have to do with my amp not being up to snuff.
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EPT
