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headphones
 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 16:19 [#01891406]
Points: 7090 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



can someone reccomend me some good high end headphones? I
had some Bose Triport which are extremely comfortable but
the sound doesn't seem as clear as it should so i've sold
them on ebay.

Budget is about £80, most of my listening will be with an
ipod, do i need an amp to get the best sound?


 

offline earthleakage from tell the world you're winning on 2006-05-02 16:21 [#01891409]
Points: 27795 Status: Regular



in ear or big ones


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 16:28 [#01891412]
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not in ear, proper over the ear headphones... for serious
home listening, already have sennheiser px 100 for use
outside and at the gym.

looking at some of the high end sennheiser ones, look good
but have no idea if i need a mini amp for them


 

offline earthleakage from tell the world you're winning on 2006-05-02 16:30 [#01891414]
Points: 27795 Status: Regular



ceri's your man! :)


 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2006-05-02 16:34 [#01891415]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



Buy the most expensive ones in the shop.

I need an anal humidifier.


 

offline chambre noire from Iceland on 2006-05-02 16:34 [#01891416]
Points: 2515 Status: Lurker



sennheiser hd25


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 16:37 [#01891417]
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grado sr-80 seems to get excellent reviews,

would i need a mini amp for the ipod? does that increase
just the output volume or does it have an effect on sound
quality as well?


 

offline xceque on 2006-05-02 16:39 [#01891420]
Points: 5888 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Using an ipod will affect the quality.


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 16:42 [#01891421]
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its a 5th gen ipod, supposed to have the best sound quality
output so far...


 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2006-05-02 17:02 [#01891435]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular



grados are a practice in pain managment. No padding on the
head. Flimsy design. Sound nice, but crap build. Get
something else.


 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2006-05-02 17:08 [#01891436]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular




These seem great

Sennheiser HD590


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 17:25 [#01891442]
Points: 7090 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



damn headphone amps are more expensive than the headphones!!


 

offline mcbpete from Devon (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 18:13 [#01891477]
Points: 310 Status: Regular



I'm an AKG240s man myself. Those things rock like no-ones
bizznizz. I got them from here:
http://www.nusystems.co.uk/product/AKG.K240.Studio as they
were like £60 cheaper than the RRP, and about £20 less
than anywhere else I found on the net


 

offline mcbpete from Devon (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-02 18:13 [#01891478]
Points: 310 Status: Regular



(screwed up the link, try this instead )


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2006-05-02 19:45 [#01891546]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



Grado covers the instrument sound range with excellent
clarity but I don't think they have much for bass response.
I have listened to SR-80's and you won't be getting any
thumping bass out of those. They easier to drive and
therefore are good for portables. I was really impressed
with the transparency though, it was like sound out of thin
air. I'd like to try their best ones, RS-1 and see what
that's like, but they are into the 'too expensive range' for
me ($700).

Bose really are pieces of shit though. I saw them and
thought $150 for THAT? It's basically the cheapest plastic
headband (like you would find on the headphones that come
with your 1997 discman) with two plastic cups that pretty
much look like a mingy caricature of larger headphones.


 

offline earthleakage from tell the world you're winning on 2006-05-02 20:01 [#01891552]
Points: 27795 Status: Regular



i'm interested why aesthetics are important when purchasing
headphones


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2006-05-03 08:23 [#01891750]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to earthleakage: #01891552



I was referring to build quality when talking about how they
look. Also comfort.


 

offline Ceri JC from Jefferson City (United States) on 2006-05-03 08:32 [#01891757]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to earthleakage: #01891552 | Show recordbag



Because 99% of ipod-youth wear overhead headphones outside,
not because of the sound quality and in spite of the fact
that they make you oblivious to traffic etc. purely because
they look cool. Or so they think.

It's hilarious seeing someone with £100+ headphones plugged
into an mp3 player. Even if it's the best sound quality
they've ever done, it's still mp3s your playing. The
headphones are still utter overkill. And they invariably
sound rubbish with devices like that (I imagine there's not
the same drive of the current as an amp/hi-fi would have);
even worse than £20 in ear bud headphones.

That's not to say I've never done it. I've played a GBA with
HD25s on. It just sounded awful.


 

offline Chihiro from twins land on 2006-05-03 08:38 [#01891762]
Points: 4650 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01891757



couldn't agree more on that one... : )


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2006-05-03 08:48 [#01891771]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



Oh yeah that's another point I forgot when writing my post
last night. Getting better headphones, if you're just
listening to mp3's on a portable device, will probably just
make them sound more obviously mp3.

One way to tell if you need more amplification is by looking
at the headphones impedence I think. More ohms=more
resistance. Grado's are very low impedence (32 ohm), the
Sennheisers I have are 300ohm, they are not very loud at my
mp3 player's max volume.


 

offline Ceri JC from Jefferson City (United States) on 2006-05-03 08:50 [#01891774]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to mappatazee: #01891771 | Show recordbag



Yep. Better headphones sound worse as the clarity makes the
digital nature of the sound all the more clear. Cheaper
hedphones and the resultant "smoothing" of the sound doesn't
give as true a representation of the actual sound of the
mp3, but it certainly sounds better.


 

offline mimi on 2006-05-03 09:45 [#01891809]
Points: 5721 Status: Regular



Mine were $14 and they're ace compared to my blown out car
speakers


 

offline QRDL from Poland on 2006-05-03 10:05 [#01891812]
Points: 2838 Status: Lurker



Buy Sennheiser's HD 485. 32 Ohms and sound quality way over
what you would except for the price.


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-03 11:56 [#01891879]
Points: 7090 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #01891757 | Show recordbag



yeah but if those mp3's are 320 vrb aac files then 99% of
people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that
and the cd. But yeah in general mp3's are lob bitrate and
shit quality. I always rip at the highest quality i can,
next best to lossless files (wouldn't all fit on my ipod!)

as for the ipod built in amp, well thats why i'm looking for
a mini amp to power the Grado's, which should up the quality
as well.


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-03 11:57 [#01891880]
Points: 7090 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



lob=low


 

offline pantalaimon from Winterfell (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-03 12:05 [#01891889]
Points: 7090 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



nice amp :)


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2006-05-03 12:15 [#01891895]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01891774



i recently purchased the seinheiser mdx500 earphones on your
recommendation. i wanted to say, they sound damn good for a
$20 pair of earphones. damn fucking ass good ass good i'd
say.


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2006-05-03 12:16 [#01891897]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular | Followup to evolume: #01891895



sorry thats 'mx500'


 

offline mcbpete from Devon (United Kingdom) on 2006-05-03 12:56 [#01891928]
Points: 310 Status: Regular



"Yep. Better headphones sound worse as the clarity makes
the
digital nature of the sound all the more clear."

True 'dat. I never realised what a monstrosity my internal
sound card was until I picked up my AKG's. I also had to
re-encode my CD collection as I could pick up the
compression artifacts....


 


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