best headphones question

[Melanchthon]

The V600 looks nice, but I can't find anywhere that ships to the UK. Considering that the pound price is similar to the dollar price, this is rather an inconvenience. Etronics.com claims to have international shipping, but it won't give me any options other than USA and Canada for my billing address.

[Phoenix_X]

My dad's been a sound engineer for 29 yerars and he says that sennheiser and Grado labs are industry standard in studio's and have been for a long time.

My pair is the the Grado labs SR-225 and is the only set of headphones I can recomend, they sound so much better than most, but pading is a bit rough on the ears.

Sennheiser’s HD580s are also very good, I have some audiophile friends who swear by them.

But if you want some thing normal people can afford get a pair of
Grado labs SR 80's there a great value..

stay way from brand names like Sony and Panasonic
(due to there mass production in china the quality and reliablety is generaly bad with these brands)
stores like wallmart are also not a good idea.

[Otohiko]

Yea, my brother's an audiophile these days, and he owns two pairs of Sennheisers and a pair of Shure in-ear monitors, and needless to say both options are wonderful in terms of quality and sound isolation, but they're WAY out of the $40 price range

I'm looking at this thread myself, as I'd like to see if there's something like that available as well.

[cless]

Hi brother.
Indeed, the The Shure E5Cs have reference-quality reproduction (at least to my ears, and assuming you've got a reference-quality source to begin with O_o), and they isolate like no tomorrow - I take them off and am stunned to discover that the freaking bus I am riding has louder 'ambience' than my actual music at listening volume.

Some people complain that the low end (bass) is too exaggerated, but I actually feel it's less powerful than a simple pair of 70$ Sennheiser PX100s (Which in some ways are so much more enjoyable for a non-portable setup where outside noise isn't an issue).

I guess the only downside is that they cost around $600 USD, though better prices are found on EBay.

If you're looking to not-bother-other-people with your sound leaking out of the cans, I'd go for a closed pair, though some open sets leak way less...
Hmm, even if people said "Don't go for sony's" - if your budget is limited, something like that is an option.

My absolute top recommendation for anyone on a budget is the Sennheiser PX100s (which recieved 5/5 stars on headphone.com and are the 3rd highest rated overall pair of cans in that entire website). They're just wicked, hear the smoothed-over and warm bass, you'll be hooked. The highs don't disappoint either.

Did I mention they're ergonomic? You barely feel these things sitting on your head. For more info read This Article

[Dr. Derpface, J.D.]

stay way from brand names like Sony and Panasonic
(due to there mass production in china the quality and reliablety is generaly bad with these brands)
stores like wallmart are also not a good idea.

I must be lucky as hell then. My brother and I both own a set of Sony MDR-V600's, which were purchased at Best Buy. Both sets are several years old and show no signs of failure. Also, they sound wonderful. On the other hand, I will never again touch another product from Plantronics. I've had two pairs of headsets die for no apparent reason whatsoever.

What I'd really like to get are a set of those Etymotic in-ear jobbies, but I don't have $350 to spend on headphones just this minute. Would be nice, though...

[Dr. Derpface, J.D.]

Side note: In addition to personal use on my PC, I use my Sony's constantly whenever I'm on the air, plugged directly into the board (Harris-Pacific AirWave).

[xnamkcor]

I guess the only downside is that they cost around $600 USD, though better prices are found on EBay

Earbuds or a PS3...hard choice.
He needs something for private listening, not some stupid studio headphones or noise cancelling things.

[Otohiko]

Yea, but believe it or not, this madman bought them for private listening too.


I agree, though, for most people nothing of the sort is needed, but... you get what you pay for.

Myself, I admit that I have terrible hearing anyway and absolutely loathe in-ear phones. I use a couple of sony earclips, but they're not good for noisy environments; for my PC, I use what's officially the most ghetto Koss headset one can get and enjoy it immensely due to their unexpectedly great bass response.

The MDR-V600s are actually kind of decent, I believe. May want to check those out, too.

[Willen]

As an alternative to the MDR-V600, you can also look for the MDR-V6 or the pro version: the MDR-7506. They are essentially the same model, with less padding and a flatter bass response, iirc. The V600 replaced the V6 in retail but is still sold and manufactured.

Many of the recording studios I've visited use Sony headphones for monitoring. I'm sure they'd like to use Sennhiesers or Grados but the Sony's are more readily available and much more affordable than the others. Audiophile headphones (Senns and Grados) are not commonly used in studios, unlike Shure and Sony. And a common complaint with Grados are the poor comfort compared to others because of their design puts the earpieces onto your ears. I'm not knocking on their sound quality, Grados and Senns are consistently top ranked in many audiophile publications. I'd suggest trying them out if possible before purchasing since sound preferences do vary and some models work better with certain types of music.

Where the headphones are made or how many are produced has very little to do with the sound quality or the build quality as long as the manufacturer is a reputable company.

[forgottenhero1]

i found the perfect headphones for under $20. they are the Philips HS820, i personally haven't tried them but they have gotten nothing less than 4 stars in all the reviews. They fold and deliver great sound quality. So i guess i answered my own question but thank you for all of your suggestions.