Headphones suggestions? Options

[tonderai]

Does anyone have suggestions for headphones at around UK£50/US$75? I've listened to several sets: Sennheiser HD500s (thought bass was too loose and muddled), BeyerDynamic DT231 Galactic (best balance sofar) and the Grado SR60s (excellent but too expensive [& very retro!]). Obviously its pretty subjective at this price, but any recommendations?

cheers, tonderai.

[mehrtash]

Originally posted by tonderai
... and the Grado SR60s (excellent but too expensive [& very retro!]). Obviously its pretty subjective at this price, but any recommendations?

Anyways, Grado SR-60s gives you the best sound quality when you have
a limited budget to buy a headphone (like me!) Why do you care about
its retro design? its comfortable enough! I got mine 100 US $'s...
why don't you spend 25 more bucks and buy from a well-known brand?!

Mehrtash

[ChS]

Headwize often suggest Sony MDR- V6s when people want something in your price range.

[Continuum]

Originally posted by mehrtash


  Anyways, Grado SR-60s gives you the best sound quality when you have
  a limited budget to buy a headphone (like me!) Why do you care about
  its retro design? its comfortable enough! I got mine 100 US $'s... 
  why don't you spend 25 more bucks and buy from a well-known brand?!

  Mehrtash

??? So you are saying that Sennheiser and Beyerdynamics are not "well-known" brands?

tonderai: You might consider browsing to http://www.audioreview.com/ , they have many reviews about the named headphones. I'd recommend Sennheiser, but you should choose what you think is the best for you.

[britannica]

Who sells Grado 60s in UK by mail order ? Couldn't find any last time I looked.

£50 is a good price and who cares what they look like - er...you don't wear your cans down the pub do you ?

ß

[paranoos]

I'm quite picky when it comes to quality, but i wouldn't consider myself a true audiophile in the least...

but i recently purchased a pair of Sony MDR-CD380 for about $80 Canadian... that's a bit cheaper than what you're looking for.

I am quite satisfied with these headphones, as i used to use a pair of Koss TD60 that are now discontinued i think.

I'm pretty sure these probably aren't as good as the ones you've mentioned, but maybe worth looking at if you want to save some cash and buy an album or two instead

[tonderai]

you don't wear your cans down the pub do you ?

well actually .... no, no seriously i like retro anyways so that isn't a downer. i probably would even wear them in the pub

why don't you spend 25 more bucks and buy from a well-known brand?!

i don't set much store by brand names - especially since i went for a listen expecting sennheisers to wipe the floor, but was disappointed. grado sr60s seem to be around £90 (around $140?) in the uk so that's quite out of my budget. i agree they sound excellent though.

thanks for all the pointers so far, tonderai.

[atherean]

Audition Sony MDR-V6 and Sennheiser HD280. They're good closed headphones, although both may not be very comfortable, depending on the shape of your head, ears, etc

[arman68]

I recently purchased some headphones too from in the UK with a budget of £50-£80.

Before that, I spent lots of time in the headwise forum and others to get some knowledge and advice. In the end I have decided on the Koss Porta Pro. They are great and I have no hesitation in recommending them:

* superb well defined and balanced sound
* deep bass but not overpowering
* very comfortable
* light
* easy to bring everywhere your go (they are foldable)

I bought them from http://www.beststuff.co.uk/portable_headphones.htm for £37 everything included. That was much less than my budget, but after getting informed I made my mind that if I wanted anything significantely better than the Porta Pro I would have to increase my budget to £120-£150.

Note: the Sporta Pro is not as well rated, do not confuse them.

[fewtch]

Forgive me (just my opinion) but the Koss Porta Pro is one UGLY set of headphones. makes the Grado SR series look gorgeous .

Edit -- also, from my experience with Koss headphones, they tend to break too easily.

[JonPike]

Originally posted by ChS
Headwize often suggest Sony MDR- V6s when people want something in your price range.

Besides Headwize's forums, also check out forums at www.head-fi.com, and the Headroom site has a buyer's guide, reviews, and sales.. so take their advice with a tiny grain of salt.

Lots of good info to educate yourself on buying your next set of 'phones.

There's more to consider than you at first would think.. like how some higher end phones have high impedence drivers, and you can't get very good sound out of them without an amp capable of driving them properly.. your CD portable for instance, won't cut it.. Possibly what was going on with those Senheisers..

Hope it helps..

Jon

[mehrtash]

Originally posted by Continuum
??? So you are saying that Sennheiser and Beyerdynamics are not "well-known" brands?

Sorry, but I meant to say Grado is a well-known brand for the best
ballance between its quality and its price.

Mehrtash

[arman68]

I must admit I was quite shocked when I saw a picture of the Koss Porta Pro for the first time :eek: However they grow on you and now I like this retro/geeky look

Plus what gives them their unique look is those fantastic soft pads on your head that are there to relieve the pressure on the head. I must be one of the fussiest persons regarding headphones comfort, and until the Porta Pro, I had not been able to find any headphone which I could stand for more than 10 mins.

I can keep the Porta Pro on my ears for hours (literally) and not feel any discomfort.

As for their flimsiness, I think they are quite robust. Maybe they feel slightly flimsy due to their foldable design that make it easy to bring them everywhere you go. In any case, in the US they have a life warranty: Koss will replace them in case of problem. It does not apply in the UK, but it tells you something about Koss confidence in their product.

[fewtch]

Agreed about headphone comfort... although I can stand uncomfortable ones for a lot longer than 10 minutes, it's really not easy to find comfortable headphones! (except maybe the in-ear type). Most are uncomfortable in one way or another.

The only real encounter with Koss I've had are those ones Radio Shack sell (made by Koss) as "their best lightweight headphones" that periodically go on sale for $19.95 every once in awhile (usually $39.95). Nice sound (if somewhat bass-heavy), but they are really fragile. The earpieces come off, the head-guards breaks... I've never had a pair that lasted more than a few months, even in light usage. Maybe the Porta Pro is better made, but that experience didn't give me a good feeling about Koss durability in general.

Anyway, I just ordered a pair of Grado SR-60's (my Denon AH-D550's are too big & uncomfortable, my Denon AH-D210's headband is slipping constantly & I'm not satisfied with the sound quality). Plus I'm really curious to see if the SR-60 is all it's cracked up to be, with only a 20-20 freq. response.