a headphones recommendation thread

might be a lateral move tbh; but it's good to try different headphones

i got a pair of sennheisers for christmas and compared with my falling-apart iphone headphones its like a whole new world!!

a new, enchanted point of view!!!

ears are not responsible for seeing, and hence cannot have a point of view; I think you're using a mixed metaphor

Tried some Denon AH-D2000s in a shop and they did indeed sound lovely, but it's a shame the cable is not replaceable like it is on Sennheisers in a similar price range.

(The lead has died long before the rest of every pair of headphones I've ever had, so personally I'm reluctant to spend that much on a new pair without a replaceable lead. But apparently plenty of people happily use headphones for decades without ever having this happen, so I may be treating them too roughly or something.)

beware the cheapo grados. got 2 pair a year ago & 3 out of 4 cans are dead after very little use.
wtf, buy local?

they were mentioned before but i'll give another thumbs up for the koss ksc 75 (small on ear headphones you fit onto the ear lobes). they are easy too wear, don't hurt the ear and their sound is better than all "in ear" earplugs i have at home (sennheiser, philips, samsung, sony etc.). they beat for example the bose triport which are about five times more expensive and which do not fit 100% into my ear, no matter which rubber end i choose.

here they are, you can get them at around 21€ in germany:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/317Cc7-1f0L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

beware the cheapo grados. got 2 pair a year ago & 3 out of 4 cans are dead after very little use.

ahh this is good advice. i will still get them but be pretty bereft if they quit on me.

things i will miss about portapros: that exta four inches or so of lead.

My Grado SR-125s finally pegged out on me a few months back (it's just a dodgy connection, probably 10p of solder will fix it) but that was after 11 years of heavy use.

sennheiser hd485s for my ipod y?

for home use, sure - but if yr planning on wearing them out and about their being open will cause problems, both with sound leaking out and coming in.

10-foot cord, too. Try jamming that in your pocket!

I'm really tempted by the Sennheiser PXC310 BT - noise cancelling, bluetooth wireless mid-sized cans. They use the new apt-x codec which is supposed to be great. Anyone have any experience with these?

Just bought some in-ear AKG K 370. Sounds seems pretty outstanding but the fit is awkward. Not sure whether that'll improve with time.

"This page will show you how to turn a $199.95 (Canadian – retail) pair of Sennheiser HD 555 headphones into a pair of Sennheiser HD 595‘s that cost $349.95. And all you need is a screwdriver."
http://mikebeauchamp.com/misc/sennheiser-hd-555-to-hd-595-mod/

I got those bluetooth Senn's I mentioned above. They sound AMAZING coming out of my Droid phone, I'm shocked it's bluetooth! I got an apt-x dongle for my iPod, too, so I can be free of wires at all times. Woohoo!

Pretty awesome. I donated my old pair of well-worn HD 555s to my girlfriend, but will definitely pass the mod info along (or probably just end up doing it myself).

Pretty apt timing with this thread.

I have a full Rega set up and am looking to get more into headphone listening. I need to get a headphone amplifier as there is no output on my Rega mira amp.

Any ideas?

Meier audio cord a gear. Google it. I run a rega Apollo into one.

Specifically an older version of the Swing - http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/ - with a pair of aKG K601s.

Cheers. How much did you spend on one?

(Good work on the record club by the way, been enjoying looking at it. Gonna start up my own too!)

Cost me €200 about four years ago, the headphones were about £150 from a German website. Thoroughly recommend them.

(Thank you! Next meeting might be later this week depending on how quick I can get back from a conference.)

On the back of this I've ended up with a Rega Ear amp and a pair of Allesandro MS1s.

Hopefully they should arrive for tomorrow. I'm taking me Wednesday off.

i'm about to send my ms-1s off to get fixed. not because they're shitty, just because i schepped them around so much that they got messed up. don't use them as your portable phones, is the moral of this story.

Alessandro MS1s, $100 incl shipping. Better than either. Made by Grado.

Thinking about getting these, but curious how they'll sound from different sources. I often pop in CDs at home, but also play shitty 128kpbs AAC files in iTunes from my laptop, and from my iPod. (Lower quality = more storage room. I've been importing at 128kbps for years as I can't tell a different between 128, 160, 192 on earbuds or laptop speakers.)

Anyway, what are the Alessandro MS1s best suited for? Also, do they require a dedicated amp? I've read different things from various sources.

Could also go for the Koss Portapros from Amazon for $35 if the Alessandros won't make a big difference...

...as I can't tell a different difference...

I'll report back when I've tried them out properly tomorrow although I don'ta have any experience with the Portapros and I'll be listening to CD's and Vinyl through a decent enough all Rega set up. I bought a headphone amplifer due to my Amp having no headphone out although I'm sure I've read somewhere that the Allesandro's should be fine unamped.

I've got a pair of PortaPro's and use them pretty regularly. A little conscious of the tacky 80s design at first but that's really the only fault I can find w/ them. Bass is amazingly crisp, tho there was one instance in listening to Massive Attack that I found that they sorta over-rode the vocals... then again, maybe it's just b/c I had been listening to the band for years on Sony MD180's (cheapies).

they def can get loud tho, love that about them

Also, along w/ the headphones question-- can anyone recommend a pretty good, dedicated, home-use CD player that pairs well with nice headphones like the Alessandro, Grado, etc.? Figure I could probably use one...

I can't tell the difference between CDs and 192 VBR but I sure as heck can hear a 128 MP3 - just listen for splashy cymbals! I bet the higher-end headphones will reveal the differences to you immediately.

I've had Portapros since that 80s decide was current - great headphones for the money but I was always snagging a chord and ripping it out so I switched to Koss KSC-35 which is the same as the Portapros but they're clip-ons. I like them more than my Grado SR60s.

I can't tell the difference between CDs and 192 VBR but I sure as heck can hear a 128 MP3 - just listen for splashy cymbals!

I've heard something about 128 AAC being similar quality to 160/192 mp3 but that may be BS -- anyone know?

Alessandro MS1s get a lot of praise on head-fi

MS1s seemed too bright for my taste but a lot of people swear by them.
Got the B&W P5s last week - satisfied so far

they're okay, but like all grados they have a v. narrow soundstage

Sick Mouthy, I forget if yr an Apple guy: if so, curious how the Alessandro MS-1 performs when plugged straight into a Mac headphone jack. Figure it should work fine with a dedicated CD player... curious about a laptop.

If anyone else can testify to this (or something similar, maybe the Grado SR-80), please chime in!

I have a pair of SR-60s and if comfort is a big deal for you, you shouldn't buy them. I'm happy with the sound but they are not the most comfortable headphones in the world, especially when used for long periods of time.

rather, I have the SR-80.

no dice, laptops have the shittiest soundcards ever (even macs)

Right, but that'll be the case regardless of which headphones I use. So, really, I'm just looking for something decent to pair with the stock (shitty?) soundcard in my laptop, among other uses.

does not compute, any headphone is gonna sound shitty with your laptop soundcard

your best bet is to save 1-200 dollars and buy a nice usb dac + amp, if you want nice sound from your laptop (but that means you'd probably have to rerip everything you own into a better, higher quality format)

Not gonna happen with 3,000+ discs right now, unfortunately. But I have the CDs as well, so can play those for HQ format -- no need to re-rip for right now, at least.

this is why you do it right the first time

mr. dayo, what's the threshold at which it makes sense to go to outboard DAC? like if i listen to mostly v0 mp3s does it matter.

it makes sense regardless of your mp3 quality level imo. the soundcard in your laptop is 1. some 5 cent onboard chosen for cost savings x scales of production, it's not designed to output quality sound. plus, the internals of a laptop are just about the noisiest electronic environments possible. try plugging in a low impedance headphone in to your jack, and just listen to the hiss.

an outboard DAC moves the entire processing out of the computer, into a (hopefully) well-designed and well shielded circuit. bonus if your outboard DAC feeds the signal straight into an amp. I use an ibasso d4, it has two DACs, one for each stereo channel, also runs completely off USB power. I love it.

thanks

over here in HK I see a lot of cheap usb DACs now - I think that that market is 'opening up'. really, just about anything will be an improvement - you don't need to spend big bucks (unless you're a gearhead)

this is why you do it right the first time

i started in 1999 or something :( didn't know shit, stuck w/ it

Ok so I had a chance to immerse myself in my new Allesandro headphones coupled with the Rega Ear yesterday. As some folks have mentioned the Allesandro's so seem to have a fairly limited soundstage but they do have a good punch to them. I listened to Mines by Menomena first which sounded great but didn't really blow me away. I kept spinning random tunes to get a feel of the sound til I eventually ended up listening to Future Day's by Can which sounded immense.

I didn't dig the bowls that came with the headphones at all and ended up making some DIY cups out of an old pair of long dead headphones I had kicking about which I found much more comfortable.

Will give a more detailed listen and the weekend and report back again.

I've had my AKG K701s for over 6 years now. Over time I've read reviews saying they're best suited for acoustic jazz and classical, with not a lot of bass. I really like them for movies, actually, great soundstage. So I'm keeping them in the living room, and got a used pair of Denon AH-D2000 to use in the office. I have a NAS server with my 8,000+ album collection in flac, with a Meier Audio Corda Cantate.2 amp. Lots of rave reviews of Denon's low-end capabilities, very suited for rock music, and I agree. I already have the AH-D1000 in the bedroom, which are super comfortable and smaller so it's easier to wear while lying against a pillow. Highly recommend both.

I ended up ordering Audio Technica ATH-M50 Professional Closed-Back Studio Headphones

hope they're alright ;_;