Recommend a pair of headphones for me

These are pretty good, although I've had my pair for about ten years, so the model number is probably different. They don't stick into the ear like the 'earplug' type.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-MDR-E828LP-Fontopia-Earbuds-Winding/dp/B00008VF63

(the link is to a model that's been discontinued, but Sony make plenty of others that have the same basic teardrop shape)

I used to use something like that in highschool -- they don't look that different from the Sennheiser buds that I got.

maybe I'll just persist with the sennheiser buds for now and see if I get used to them.

I always hated earbuds because the regular circle type always pushed my ears out of shape. The teardrop shape of the Sonys makes a huge difference. Also I don't use the Sonys with the foam covers, they just feel earpluggy then.

i love skull cany titan earbuds. mostly because they are the only headphones that haven't broken at the transition to the TRS after 1 year.

i'm really souring on my skull-candy headphones. no dynamics; everything sounds flat. maybe that's from compression and the mp3 format, but when i briefly listened on some other headphones (e.g., beats), the music was much more vibrant.

yeah. they are very different from the etymotics I had previously. definitely seem to enhance the bass more. but i drove my car over the earbuds and they still worked, which is fun.

skullcandy noooooo go.

I got these about 6 months ago and love them

http://www.head-fi.org/t/632892/review-sony-mh1-the-best-kept-secret

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Livesound-Headphones-Earphones-Head-sets/product-reviews/B008CCSD7K

-Apple earbuds are good for me being able to hear ppl around me but I can't wear them for more than 20 min and my ears start hurting

Have you tried the current "EarPods" (to use Apple's vernacular)? They came standard with the iPhone 5 and surprisingly, I'm using them far more than any other mini earbuds.

No substitute for my Grados but NFW I'm going to walk around the neighborhood with those on.

i've used these klipsch in ear things for years. international flights, walkabouts and whatnot and they've served me MUCH better than some of the negative reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Image-S4--II-Black/dp/B008X9Q0JK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395103314&sr=8-2&keywords=klipsch+in+ear
i've had zero problems with the cord, they're comfortable to me for fair amounts of time and i think they sound pretty great. think i spent ~$80 on 'em but now they're half that and i highly recommend 'em. i have the same sennheisers as you and love those too but they're a little more fragile where wire meets plug.

i have the same sennheisers as you and love those too but they're a little more fragile where wire meets plug.

exactly. i still "have" them. but this happens every time.

No substitute for my Grados but NFW I'm going to walk around the neighborhood with those on.

iGrado, man. They're not earbuds but they're light and v portable/have round neck able and sound v heavenly

I've had FOUR pairs of Klipsch S4i's now - I bought a set a couple years ago and they've always shorted out on one side within 12 months, breaking at the plug somewhere. They have a two year warranty so I just email them and they send me a new pair.

I got my last set a month ago and this morning they stopped working in the right ear after I bent over with my phone in my pocket. I could probably get a new pair once again but fuck it, I'm done.

xxpost yah Elvis that's what I have. The shape is good & they feel ok for a short stretch, but they are a bit big for my wee ears & hurt after a while

Yup I had a couple of pairs of Klipsch S4's. Great sound but constantly let down by poor build quality.

Picked up a pair of these the other day: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MediaDevil-Artisanphonics-luxury-earphones-microphone/dp/B00GAIP5CO Haven't lived with them properly yet but sound quality seems very decent for the price. Microphonics aren't great which is an issue for me but wrapping the cable around the ears does help.

I think I found what I'm looking for!

except I have extreme chobani-level embarrassment about the brand-name etc

http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Yurbuds-Inspire-Sport-Earphones/dp/B00AAEUEQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395205676&sr=8-1&keywords=yurbuds

YurBuds. Could they seriously have not thought of a tackier stupider sounding name that you could never bring yourself to say out loud? Yeesh.

Anyway they are like tiny earbuds that come with these squishy silicon inserts you put over the top. and then the whole thing twists into your ear without going too far into the canal really at all (which I was afraid of with that weird pointy part of the insert)

so far so good! I will never say the name out loud ever but so far they don't hurt, they don't fall out, and they only cost me $20 at be$tbuy

yurtbuds

for ladies

lol

yurbuds are always there for you.

I have used a handful of headphones and as far as IEMs, I love Klipsch Image X10s. I prefer them to my Eymotics.

If anyone is interested: http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Noise-Isolating-Earphone-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B000WAHFBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395259123&sr=8-1&keywords=klipsch+x10

I've heard good things about those. Kind of unfortunate industrial design tho...

http://biggiesplace.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/prometheus-snake-o-hai.gif

^Haha. A lot of people say that. I recommended them to my friend who is not an audiophile and she was put off by them because they look like penises.

I think I've shilled for their lower end buds in the past, but these are the best-made and best-sounding buds I've ever owned

I have no affiliation with the company (except scottish jingoism), but I really do think they're great

I went through two Etys and a couple of those RHAs you mention over the course of a year before giving up and going back to $30 Sonys. Those things last years and they're so cheap I can just buy two or three at a time in case one of them gets trashed. For some reason all the high end buds I've owned have shredded wiring after just a month or so. Rather than getting into soldering I just give them to people who are more into that sort of thing ... I adored the RHAs while they worked.

I found the same with the 350s/450s and was getting pretty sick of constantly returning them under warranty, so sold the replacement pair for ^ those ones I linked to, and touch wood they've lasted the pace so far. The cable is muy thick and everything is pretty well built. I think I maybe treat my headphones badly because I'm one of those people who went through five pairs of klipsch s4s in a few months etc etc.

But I'm sounding a bit salesy/brainwashed here so anyway. I'm not an audiophile, and "best sounding I've ever owned" means nothing because etys are way out of my pricerange. The rhas sound nice and they're working ok for me ~so far~, but I wouldn't want to paint them as the second coming or anything!

(yours sincerely mrbacktrack)

For some reason all the high end buds I've owned have shredded wiring after just a month or so.

huh. my shure e4c buds are gettin' on ten years of service now. so far so good.

fwiw in the sub-$50 category i'm pretty impressed with the Sol Republic Jax model.

All I want now is something that sounds decent with a right-angle plug and the ability to control my iphone for less than $50 that won't blow out in 1 to 12 months.

All I want now is something that sounds decent with a right-angle plug and the ability to control my iphone for less than $50 that won't blow out in 1 to 12 months.

― joygoat, Wednesday, March 19, 2014

srsly

http://www.amazon.com/SOL-REPUBLIC-1111-31-Headphones-3-Button/dp/B00CAB5ZKC

Sony MDR-W08L, why are these going for $80 now?

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/sony-mdr-w08l

this is the best, basic in-ear i could find for $10. one side typically craps out after eight months, but for the price, it was worth it.

i've found stocking up on monoprice to be good both for earbuds and cheap, semi-durable over ear headphones, and also you can buy lots of cheap replacement smartphone connector cables too.

any nyc ilxors know of a place in town where a fella can buy monoprice earbuds? I wanna try em but I don't feel like ordering shit online at the moment

i don't know enough to read through this whole thread and figure it out but someone recommend me a pair of over-ear headphones, really really good ones (up to $300 or so) that are suitable for just plugging into an ipod? i'm looking for a pair for my dad, who listens to mostly classic rock, some blues, that kind of stuff.

is this going to be mostly home listening? if he doesn't need major portability, i can personally recommend the hell out of both of these. They're both super-comfortable, closed-back, low-impedance models designed to be driven by an iPhone/iPod with no additional amping required. Both in the $225 USD range.

AKG is a little more detailed with a gorgeous soundstage. Beyer is a little more "live" and bass response can be tuned on the fly.

AKG K550:
http://www.amazon.com/AKG-K550-Closed-Back-Reference-Headphones/dp/B005CNR7B0

Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro:
http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-Custom-One-Pro-Black/dp/B008XEYT48

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SR850/
$50, apparently made in the same factory and with some of the same components as $300 sennheisers.
I've used them, they're good.

my monoprice 8320s are on the way

yeah this would be pretty much only home listening. thanks for the recs, i'll look into them!

Sony 7506

any nyc ilxors know of a place in town where a fella can buy monoprice earbuds? I wanna try em but I don't feel like ordering shit online at the moment

maybe B&H?

I ended up ordering them on the web like everyone else. But B&H, while not selling monoprice buds, does sell the foam tips that are pretty much necessary to get great sound out of the monoprice.

My rec is the Denon D2000, which has been discontinued, but you can maybe grab them for under $300 on eBay

They're not the sturdiest headphone but they are by far the best headphones I've ever had that sounded great unamped

:(

i bought a pair of in-ear denons bases on recs from this thread last year, and it was the worst mistake - i don't know ANYTHING about this kind of stuff, i just wanted a great sound, and didn't realize that they were a more audiophile kind of earphone, so they were just totally flat-sounding to me and i hated them. my dad's the same - he's not gonna be fucking with the equalizer or whatever on his cheap stereo and for the most part will just be plugging them into an ipod, while he listens to Uriah Heep and tries to block the boring shit my mum is watching on tv.

those first ones rogermexico mentioned sound like they might be more like studio-reference sort of headphones? so not sure if they're the right fit.

the beyerdynamics might be better - but reading reviews is like reading a medical textbook, since i know nothing about this subject. they seem to have lots of sound adjustability but is that something a pretty simple dude like my dad is gonna be able to figure out and get the best use of?

i was just gonna get him some nice bose headphones but i'm still mad at them - i love the in-ears i have, but i'm on something like my 3rd pair because the cable is the most fragile piece of shit of all time and it seems like that's deliberate (the plastic coating is so thin and weak, it's laughable).

Aw man that was probably my rec - sorry!

Sounds like what you really need to do is to have place to go try 'em out, or a place with a good return policy so you can buy a bunch and figure out which ones you like

There's pretty much no way to figure out what a headphone is gonna sound like from just reading reviews

yeah - each headphone just kind of has its own voice (and measure of physical comfort) and what works depends on the listener's preferences, what they listen to, and the shape and size of their ears and head. we recently tested a bunch at my work, which is how i settled on the two i recommend.

the beyer tuning system actually helps to compensate for this a bit -- it's dead simple and gives the headphones a couple of different voices.

akg def not too sterile or "studio" -- just won't wallop you with the bass like e.g. Beats or ATH-M50. protip: the AKGs are also super-comfy.

another hot choice in your category (closed-back, over-ear, plays well with portables, sub-300) is the Sennheiser Momentum. Stylish as hell and great-sounding, just wasn't very comfortable for me. (note: if you go with these be careful to get the over-ear model -- there's a cheaper on-ear that's nearly identical in product pix)

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-505994-Momentum-Headphone-Ivory/dp/B00HHTD1Q2

my hdj-2000s have seen better days ... what's the final verdict on tma-1s?

TBH though if the Denon sound is already too flat then I think the AKGs will def sound 'sterile' or too 'studio' (as someone who prefers Denon / AKG to all others)

if beyer tuning system is pretty simple they might be the ones - thing is, my dad is in nz, i'm going back in 3 weeks, thought i'd try to get a pair here for him before i go. if i get them on amazon i think i can probs return them, so maybe i'll give them a try. if i like them, he'll def like them.

also: no worries, D, i just had no idea that sterile headphones were a thing! like i said, i'm clueless here.

i tried out the Bose AE2i Audio headphones (over ear), against my better judgment, and they sounded really flat and also really screechy. do not recommend.

The never-advertised, always coveted headphones built and sold in Brooklyn

the conventional wisdom on monoprice 8320s is otm: sound like $40-50 budz but the tips MUST be replaced which makes the whole endeavor maybe not worth it. plus they UGLY.