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I can see everyone has their favourite headphones. Thanks! And open ear is okay.
 
Koss KSC75

If you are looking for best bang for the buck when it comes to headphones, I don't think there's a headphone in the world that can hold a candle to Koss KSC75. They are absolutely tremendous and have quite the following. I always keep a set in my laptop bag, and my kids use these for their iPods. I give them out as gifts as well. They sound fantastic unamped and are light and comfortable. I've seen them go on sale for less than 13 bucks at times. I really love 'em and keep them in my headphone arsenal... YMMV. Happy listening!
 
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I'd probably will get some flame for this of all those boselcholics but here we go:
My recommendation is go for Sony Mdr-V150 (only $25 if you get it at bestbuy or $16 if you order it online in some site such as ebay or amazon, NEW.)
Before you tell me anything about quality let me tell you a little secret, I am a music student (been since I can remember, and not that crap of DJ or electronic/loops sh*t, the real deal, instruments, chorus, etc) and therefore my earing sense is quite sensible, and trust me you wont get any better than Mdr-V150 even if you pay $10,000 the only better than that is to bring the whole band to your room, and its not only me, my music teachers also agree (not that the Mdr-V150 is better but that all those extremely expensive headphones is just a better way to rip you off).
Now, im not saying that they got no better quality and fidelity dont get me wrong, they obviously do, its your ear (and for that matter your brain) the ones that cant keep up with the quality.
So save your money, get a good n' cheap one. Some people find its not extremely constable, if so then go for a different one, but my recommendation get a 15-30 one, also my bro uses it the whole day and he has never complained (I just use it 1h a day tops so no unconfort report from me either.)

Please again if you dont agree with me, dont make it personal, in fact dont reply my post at all, just go and spend some $300 and be happy. :D
 
I'd probably will get some flame for this of all those boselcholics but here we go:
My recommendation is go for Sony Mdr-V150 (only $25 if you get it at bestbuy or $16 if you order it online in some site such as ebay or amazon, NEW.)
Before you tell me anything about quality let me tell you a little secret, I am a music student (been since I can remember, and not that crap of DJ or electronic/loops sh*t, the real deal, instruments, chorus, etc) and therefore my earing sense is quite sensible, and trust me you wont get any better than Mdr-V150 even if you pay $10,000 the only better than that is to bring the whole band to your room, and its not only me, my music teachers also agree (not that the Mdr-V150 is better but that all those extremely expensive headphones is just a better way to rip you off).
Now, im not saying that they got no better quality and fidelity dont get me wrong, they obviously do, its your ear (and for that matter your brain) the ones that cant keep up with the quality.
So save your money, get a good n' cheap one. Some people find its not extremely constable, if so then go for a different one, but my recommendation get a 15-30 one, also my bro uses it the whole day and he has never complained (I just use it 1h a day tops so no unconfort report from me either.)

Please again if you dont agree with me, dont make it personal, in fact dont reply my post at all, just go and spend some $300 and be happy. :D

Flame Flame!! lol nah, everyone has their preferences- some people cant tell a big diff. between sound. But if you can hear every little detail, youll probably hear distortion and stuff you dont want. I had some $30 JVCs that i thought were great. Then they started crackling, i got some shures and il never go back now lol
 
What matters is the sound profile of your headphones' output--- your highs, mids, and lows --- and how suitable they are for the type of music you want to listen to.

I don't know how the V150s can be the best. They may be good enough for you to listen to your music without much objection, but surely there are particular headphones that will bring out the details better for some types of music (e.g. Jazz), while another set will provide the mid and low end stuff for other types of music (e.g. rap, most rock).

I really don't think there's a perfect set of headphones, but the MDR-V600 are a decent price, and probably a bit better overall than the V150s.

I guess you don't really know what a perfect steak tastes like until you eat one. ;)


I've only used one pair of Grados, and they weren't the most comfortable things ever. However, supposedly you can't beat the quality you get for the price. :)
 
abstract i must say i agree with you in every aspect :)

anyway,
depends a lot on the shape of your pinna and head.
as i stated, ive tried HD650 vs K701 and quality was...
well, lets just say that quality of sound did not affect my choice! :)
its just that AKG's sat better on my head, as simple as that.

xoggyux:
its not comparable really, its a different class of headphones :)
im not say its worse, but depends on the application.

i needed a reference class headphones for monitoring because i must sometimes work in places with awful acoustics.. and they are more like portable speakers than headphones really. :D
they annoy people around, everything around annoys me, but they dont apply any pressure to the ear whatsoever because they breath so much, but if you need phones for ie TRACKING they will be the worst because they will have so much spill in the microphones and noise from the ambience.

btw, i also have a pair of AKG k450's for portability and closed applications.
but after wearing K702's for a while and then K450's they sound completely and utterly worthless. :D
 
I think I express myself badly.
By no means I am suggesting those are the best headphones, also if you compare them to some more expensive headphones (e.g. $100-400) using a computer there will be a definite difference between them. However my points prevails, human hear is not so sensitive that it notice difference between a good and an excellent headphone. By no means this means a subject cannot "think" he/she is hearing with better quality when using the expensive ones, there is a great deal of placebo though (if you know you are hearing music from a pair of $900 headphones, you will swear they perform better than a $20 one, though your hears might not be able to differentiate between then, your brain somehow does).
I recommended the MDR-V150 because its the one I know, it might not be particularly better than another in the same price range, my point was to suggest you to buy one of reasonable price, ultimately the most important after certain quality (which you can achieve after the first $15 dollars) would be conform, you can blow $500 in a pair of headphones but if you cannot resist them (maybe because they are too heavy or they clip your head too hard, or the headpieces my your hears sweat always, etc) then its useless.
Bottom line, get a good pair of cheap ones. even more. Also cheaper headphones will ensure maximum compatibility with your devices.
 
i've had a set of HD650's for a long time and have never had them hooked up to an amp :eek: i just got my MBP and when i plugged the headphones into the MBP is the best that i've ever heard them so to me they seem to power them pretty decent!

i really need to invest in an amp for these bad boys! :D
 
I use Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro and they're great currently. I previously used AT A500, which were nice as well. You really have to go out test them to pick the "right one."

A beautiful set of headphones .. no doubt about that. But these are rated at 270ohm from memory... unless you're running an Apogee Duet or another high power DAC/headphone amp fuggetaboutit you'll have your vol maxxed and they'll seem quiet (at least compared to the following)... designed for sound engineers who need an incredibly FLAT freq. response.

Have a look at the Sennheiser HD25ii - comfortable, awesome freq. response, really good attenuation and you can turn them up LOUD!!!

I use them for DJ'ing but they are are boarderline audiophile quality. The akg's are your next best bet but most, if not all, are open backed.. so they won't drown out your fan noise/wife calling quite as well. very light weight though

Oh.. the Sennies are going cheap at the moment.. might be end of life cycle or something but you won't find a better set of headphones for that price right now.
 
i've had a set of HD650's for a long time and have never had them hooked up to an amp :eek: i just got my MBP and when i plugged the headphones into the MBP is the best that i've ever heard them so to me they seem to power them pretty decent!

i really need to invest in an amp for these bad boys! :D

Same.
 
Denon AH-D2000. Sound excellent unamped, unlike a lot of other high-end headphones, due to their very good efficiency. Very comfortable.
 
I got a couple pairs of Koss KSC75s for about $11, they sound amazing for the price :D
 
I got a couple pairs of Koss KSC75s for about $11, they sound amazing for the price :D

Nice choice! Great headphones, and if they get lost or break, you really don't feel the pinch!

Get the new Sennheiser HD800; only $1300; then you just have spend around $2000 for a decent amp.

Anyways, I'm using the AKG K701 with a Headroom micro DAC and micro amp.

I also have a pair of Shure E500s and they're really nice too. No idea what you're budget is; kidneys are worth quite a bit.

I use the Headroom Microstack with my Senn HD650 as well. Other headphones out my set that I frequently enjoy are AKG 271S, Beyerdynamic DT770, and Shure SE530. I love the flexibility of the amp as it has 3 gain settings. One amplifier that I absolutely love is the HeadAmp Pico DAC/amp... just fabulous.
 
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