Headphones!

[Chuushajou]

Hi guys, I'm looking to spend roughly £60($92) or less on a good pair of quality headphones.. There isn't any specific I'm looking for but, I would like to be over the ear(like a headband) and wireless/bluetooth(This isn't a must, but it would be nice) a friend of mine has suggested the Sony X-Bass MDR-XB500 and Sennheiser RS 110 Wireless. Any other suggestions will be great

Many thanks, Chu

 

[miles01110]

Depending on what's important to you, the Sony set you linked to overblows the bass on pretty much anything. For a more balanced sound, try something like the MDR-V6. The only experiences I've had with wireless units have been poor in terms of quality, but I haven't seriously looked into wireless sets in at least 2 years. Maybe things have improved.

 

[EasyJW]

i like the sound from the new skullcandy range, however you have to put up with the rather extravagent colours

 

[gnasher729]

Hi guys, I'm looking to spend roughly £60($92) or less on a good pair of quality headphones..

To get the best music quality from an iPod or similar for any money, get the Grado SR60. You'll have to go to eBay because they are not sold in the UK. Price is likely a bit more than £60, probably around £80 or so. Nothing comes anywhere near in sound quality.

There are other things to consider. The Grados are open. That means people can hear what music you play, and you can hear the phone ringing or people talking. If you want to listen to music in your own little world and don't hear anything around you, they are the wrong headphones, get closed headphones in that case. Headphones with wireless receiver generally have poor sound.

 

[katy]

To get the best music quality from an iPod or similar for any money, get the Grado SR60. You'll have to go to eBay because they are not sold in the UK. Price is likely a bit more than £60, probably around £80 or so. Nothing comes anywhere near in sound quality.

There are other things to consider. The Grados are open. That means people can hear what music you play, and you can hear the phone ringing or people talking. If you want to listen to music in your own little world and don't hear anything around you, they are the wrong headphones, get closed headphones in that case. Headphones with wireless receiver generally have poor sound.

You can buy Grado headphones from Richer Sounds (they have quite a few stores dotted round the UK). I bought some SR80i's from there.

p.s. They also have a website you can order from.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

How much of a requirement is the wireless one?

 

[Xenophon]

To get the best music quality from an iPod or similar for any money, get the Grado SR60. You'll have to go to eBay because they are not sold in the UK. Price is likely a bit more than £60, probably around £80 or so. Nothing comes anywhere near in sound quality.

That's a bold statement but unless you want to spend a fortune (well over 1500 USD) on the headphones, amplifier, lossless music (very large files) I second the choice for the Grado SR60. Just one thing: I would NEVER buy these on eBay, the risk of receiving counterfeit goods is simply too high. And yes, they do make fake Grados in China. Look up the dealer closest to you and go there (there is a link to a UK distributor on their homepage).

Wireless earphones are generally not a good idea, you lose a lot in terms of sound quality.

 

[dumptruck]

If you wan´t something a little cheaper the AKG K518 DJs are really good sounding. It´s has a little bit more bottom end than the really neutral headphones, but you might wan´t that especilly if you listen to electronic music of any sort. I use mine together with expensive studio monitors when recordning and mixing, and prefer those to my studio headphones.

I don´t have any good experience with wireless headphones, but as someone else posted theu might have improved.

 

[koruki]

i like the sound from the new skullcandy range, however you have to put up with the rather extravagent colours

Please.. anything but skullcandy. thanks

 

[martin-a-51]

if you want in-ear, get the AKG K 370, if not the AKG K 450 (closed) or the K 420 (half) open. you won´t find anything that sounds better in that range.

greetings from vienna/austria,
martin

 

[Cricketman]

I personally have the Sony's you mentioned. They're great. Very comfortable, the cushy, pillow like 'poofs' feel great around the ears. Sound is great. Bass is NOT overpowering, IMO it is just right. You feel it when you want to feel it (or when it should be)

I say go for it.

 

[nick1516]

Sorry for the threadjack, but what is everyone's opinions on the klipsch image s4's, I'm thinking about getting a pair of those.

 

[CarlJ]

You may be interested to read the last thread on a similar topic; I'll repeat one paragraph from my post there:

I would recommend looking around both on the head-fi.org web forums (which fits in the "taking a drink from a firehose" category) and headphone.com (which sells headphones, but has some very nicely done reviews, and lists of "best headphones for use X, and why").

I'll second what others have said, avoid wireless unless that's really important to you -- regardless of whatever additional problems their added complexity may engender, it means that perhaps one third or fourth of your budget is going into radio gear instead of sound reproduction.

Over-the-ear headphones can be broadly categorized as either "open-back" (or "open-air" or "open") and "closed-back" (or "closed" or "sealed") designs; open-back headphones can sound fabulous (perhaps more easily than closed-back headphones), but they can also put a lot of sound out into your surroundings. If you're at home alone, that's fine; if you're in a cubicle surrounded by coworkers (or some similar situation), they may threaten violence.

The Grados do have a great reputation as astonishingly (for the price) good sounding open-air headphones. Me, I'm very happy with my Denon AH-D1001's. And, really, take a look at headphone.com -- they're a well-respected place to buy from (I've no association with them other than happy customer), but their lists and reviews are quite useful.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Sorry for the threadjack, but what is everyone's opinions on the klipsch image s4's, I'm thinking about getting a pair of those.

mroogle is your friend.

 

[Chuushajou]

Thanks guys for the replies, sorry I haven't been able to reply myself- Anyway, I managed to test a few sets of headphones whilst I was out today I played with the Sennheiser HD 228, Sennheiser 205 and Monster Beats by Dr. Dre. The latter were amazing! I really could feel the bass and instantly realized what quality headphones feels like(I've always used the supplied Apple ones) Anywho, I've been reading about the ones you'll have recommended and I'm slightly spoiled for choice. This may sound like a typical teenager here, but the next on my list is style.. and again, In my personal opinion the Sony X-Bass really look super stylish.

I'm extremely tempted to go with the X-Bass, but for some reason I'm reluctant to part with my cash and actually buy a pair, this isn't a cash flow problem, but the fear that I'll be disappointed when I receive them..

 

[whitefish2]

Re: Hedphones

The Sennheiser RS110 have tiny controls and are difficult to adjust. The bluetooth models typically don't have proper bass as they are tiny. You may want to avoid wireless if you are on a tight budget and still want high-quality phones. Amphony makes some decent wireless headphones that have decent bass. It really depends on your needs.