Good Headphones

Pacifico

Hey, was looking to get deacent headphones.

large ones. was looking at the bose triport. And also some steinheizer ones. Can anyone recomend a set and a place to get 'em??

TIA,

Kali

What type of music do you listen to?
Whats your source (and whats it connected to)?
Closed or open? (where will you be listening to them)?
Do you want them to be portable?

I'll list off a fair few decent to high-quality phones that you won't be disappointed with (budget EUR80-250), but answer the above and I'll refine it further for you as they're a very mixed bunch.

AKG 270S
AKG 271S
AKG K501
Beyerdynamic DT250-80/250-250
Beyerdynamic DT770 (or Pro)
Beyerdynamic DT880
Beyerdynamic DT990 (or Pro)
Sennheiser HD580/600
Sennheiser HD590
Sennheiser HD280 Pro
Sennheiser HD497
Philips HP890
Philips HP910
Sony V6 (or the replacement model 7506)
Sony CD780
Sony CD2000

Pacifico

music: mixed really, Rock, country, Singer songwriter.

Source: Mid priced sony portable CD player.

Closed.

No not portable. Can be very large. Budget bout 100e

Kali

ahh ok closed and a portable source narrow it down a lot (portable cd players tend to have rather ****ty headphone sockets, meaning its harder to drive higher-end cans)...

Beyer DT250-80..
http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=G579AEA
(they used to sell AKG cans as well, but dont anymore by the looks of it).

The Sony 7506 is meant to be one of the best sub-100 closed phones available (and bass goes really low), unfortunaly not available in Europe (you'll have to look to US sites)... usually retails around 80 dollars.

The Sennheiser 280 Pro should be available in Tower and places like that, sound-wise its excellent, on a par with the Beyer.. tis comfortable enough but is hella ugly..
Dunno how much it is in Tower but its available here:
http://www.veronica.co.uk/sennheiserp2.htm for 87 sterling shipped... not bad at all.

Avoid the Senn 212 Pros and those Triports.

robbie1876

Tip: ring Richer Sounds in Belfast and ask them have they any old pairs of Sennheiser HD600 headphones lying around. Rumour has it that a little while ago they were selling several pairs off really cheap, you might get lucky still!

Personally, I'm happy enough with my HD580s. I listen to all sorts of stuff through them and I suppose I've just got used to them!

Henry, do you mind me asking why they have to be closed if they don't have to be portable? You are really limiting yourself there, I think, but Kali has picked out the best of what's available, good job!

Korg

Not wanting to steal Henry_14's thunder here, i'm on the lookout for a good pair of quality headphones as well. Sound quality is paramount (especially in the base, i'm not looking for tons of base but when it's there i don't want it overwhelming everything else, as per previous headphones).

If anyone knows of a good _but light_ pair of headphones could ye let me know? The sony's i have squash the head like the vice in the film "casino" & is tiresome after some time. I'd love a pair of good quality cans that you'd hardly notice on the head, cheers.

Kali

Korg try the Sennheiser PX100 or 200s (100s are open, 200s are closed)... cheap, portable, comfortable, decent sound and lots of bass... I use the 100s in work (have a pair of HD580s myself at home)... (order from veronica.co.uk is the best bet).

For pricier but much better cans try the DT770s or 990s, both have absolutely loads of bass... but don't sacrifice much else, really need to be connected to a decent amplifier though (no cd-rom/pc/portable headphone outs will power them adequately. The 770s are closed and would have more bass, 990s are open.

robbie.. by far the cheapest for HD600s is http://www.askdirect.co.uk

Korg

Cheers Kali

Korg

Had a listen to a few headphones, the Sennheiser HD600 through a Pro-ject head box is fabulous (as are a bunch of other cans). Where's the credit card...

sci0x

The Sennheiser RS 65 is €199.95. Very handy, but wondering how far can u move away from the base station and transmitter before they stop picking up the signal?

Kali

The Sennheiser RS 65 is €199.95. Very handy, but wondering how far can u move away from the base station and transmitter before they stop picking up the signal?

the RS65/85s have a very good transmission distance.. after around 5/8m quality deteriorates slightly (depending on what sort of intereference there may be in the way).. and in my experience stays at that level upto about 20m.. then i hit the wall in the back garden (do a search for sennheiser and youll probably find more of my opinions on them)

oh and thats a pretty poor price for them... should be able to pick up the RS85s for that online including shipping.

JackKelly

as korg said, dont want to steal henry's thunder but im ALSO looking for good headphones! I don't want to make another topic. Im using an iPod and im looking for some lower priced,closed headphones. I'm not that fussy about perfect sound, but im just sick of earphones. Any idea's for any €50-€60 headphones? i was looking at the Sennheiser HD 212's which looked fairly good though a bit more expensive.Can anyone help?

Gyck

I've got some Sennheiser HD497s, sound is good with anything I've used them with and they're not too expensive. The main problem I have with them is the pads aren't removable (as far as I can see) so I can't wash or replace them.

sci0x

Originally posted by Gyck
I've got some Sennheiser HD497s, sound is good with anything I've used them with and they're not too expensive. The main problem I have with them is the pads aren't removable (as far as I can see) so I can't wash or replace them.

I thought that model had easily removable ear pads.

Are you talking bout these?

Kali

497s have removable pads alright.. and sennheiser do sell replacements if necessary.

Im using an iPod and im looking for some lower priced,closed headphones.

Try the PX200s... very portable and for their size sound is quite good... should be available in ireland for less than 60.. online for around 40.

mr_angry

For full-size headphones, I'd recommend Technics RP-FT30's. I've tried a lot of different headphone sets, including the aforementioned Sennheiser and Sony models, but nothing beats the Technics. I know they aren't thought of as a "top" brand, but speaking from experience, they are by far the best pair I have ever put on, and they only cost me €40 in a sale.



The ones on offer now don't seem to be quite the same model I have, but are available for £18 Stg.

[Edit] The UK model seems to differ a little from the standard ones. These are the ones I bought:

[/Edit]

Mutant_Fruit

Whats the difference between Open and Closed headphones?

I;m looking for something that'll block out external sound for when i'm travelling on planes/buses etc. I'll be using them with a Nomad Jukebox Zen mp3 player. Any advice will be appreciated. I don't want to spend more then EUR150

Kali

Originally posted by Mutant_Fruit
Whats the difference between Open and Closed headphones?

Open are just that.. your ears are not completly isolated.. they will leak sound and you will generally be able to hear external noise.
Closed offer much better isolation and you don't annoy anyone around you with your music either.

Soundwise (what follows is a VERY big generalization): closed phones can sometimes sound quite muffled in the highs and have a rather bloated (and more apparent) bass.. open phones will nearly always have a more dynamic and energetic (!=bass) sound.

I;m looking for something that'll block out external sound for when i'm travelling on planes/buses etc. I'll be using them with a Nomad Jukebox Zen mp3 player. Any advice will be appreciated. I don't want to spend more then EUR150

even the best closed cans will struggle to get rid of plane noise.. for something like that it might be advisable to look towards the Senn PXC250s (noise-cancelling phones)... but for sound quality as said above tho the PX200s, Sony 7506, DT250-80s are what I'd reccomend (in order of price)... I haven't heard the specifc Technics mr_angry mentions, but have a pair of a slightly lower model and they're decent if nothing spectacular... good isolation tho.

Mutant_Fruit

Yeah, i'm not looking for something that'd block out all the noise, just something a bit better than EUR7 earbuds, which block out nothing. I tried a pair of headphones while i was on holidays, but i found they blocked out practically no outside noise, while the sound quality was still pretty good.

Is there any shop that sells those models you talked about, so i can give em a quick test, before i go and buy em cheaply on the net?

Gunther_Gloop

How about '5.1 capable' headphones for best movie sound?

I have a pair of JVC HAD40 (standard stereo) headphones which work "well enough" but are no substitution for a proper surround effect whenever I'm forced to use them.

Anyone have any tips for movie headphones?

-Kevin.

Kali

Originally posted by Gunther_Gloop
How about '5.1 capable' headphones for best movie sound?

I have a pair of JVC HAD40 (standard stereo) headphones which work "well enough" but are no substitution for a proper surround effect whenever I'm forced to use them.

Anyone have any tips for movie headphones?

-Kevin.

WinDVD supports Dolby Headphone. I have yet to try it, but its supposed to be quite good at getting surround effects from a standard headphone.

Elsewhere Pioneers offering has got some great reviews:
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27532
but again its more the processor itself (turning the input signal into Dolby Headphone) thats the star there, rather than the supplied headphones..

sci0x

Originally posted by Kali
Elsewhere Pioneers offering has got some great reviews:

Another great place is here

_CreeD_

Don't bother buying surround headphones, as Kali mentioned get normal cans and a player that supports Dolby Headphone (which is pretty excellent if done well).

I know you mentioned large phones but after trying out numerous models (Closed, active noise cancelling etc.) for a few years the Etymotic Er4p's ended up the best choice. I used to do about 120,000 airmiles a year and with these I could be sitting by the wing/engine, where I very often got stuck for some reason, and barely know I was on a plane. Now open phones do sound a bit better, I love my Sennheisers, but that ends up being moot in a noisey environment.

Mutant_Fruit

**shudders** could you recommend something slightly less expensive? i suppose i could stretch to 150 eur tops. These earphones don't have to be fully soundproof, just soundproof enough that i don't have to have my player on max volume to hear the music over the plane engine noise.