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$500 cans on, this is how you dream right - Official Headphone Thread

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Alucrid said:
Well, I'd take the Sennheiser HE60 any day over the M50s.
Can you elaborate? Aren't Senns all known to color the sound? It's not something I generally like. AT are supposed to be much more neutral and play the music the way it was mastered.
 

Totakeke

Member
For one, closed cans typically have narrower soundstage and heat can build up when you wear them for longer periods making them uncomfortable. Plus they tend to clamp harder than open headphones. Also consider the size, as many smaller to medium sized closed headphones are meant to be semi-portable.

It may be perfect for you, but it's not for everyone.
 
Wallach said:
Any of you guys tried foam supertips? I wear comply tips backwards because I find putting them on normally eats up my highs too much - I actually really like the SQ wearing them this way, but I'm curious if those foam supertips would create a similar effect with the silicon running the whole way up through the center.
I cut about half the foam off my complys.

solve the loss of sound problem.
 

Wallach

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
I cut about half the foam off my complys.

solve the loss of sound problem.

Yeah, I figure that would have the same effect on the sound. You find it more comfortable than just flipping them around?
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Totakeke said:
For one, closed cans typically have narrower soundstage and heat can build up when you wear them for longer periods making them uncomfortable. Plus they tend to clamp harder than open headphones. Also consider the size, as many smaller to medium sized closed headphones are meant to be semi-portable.

It may be perfect for you, but it's not for everyone.
Do open designs provide any kind of noise isolation from the outside? What about the sound leak to the outside? Since I do 99% of my music listening in the office, these things are of utmost importance to me.

Also, to Alucrid above, I've found out what HE60s are. An out of production very expensive, high quality electrostatic headphones. I have to admit I'm not familiar with any of those designs, but seeing how expensive they are ($700?) they must be really good.
 

Totakeke

Member
Lord Error said:
Do open designs provide any kind of noise isolation from the outside? What about the sound leak to the outside? Since I do 99% of my music listening in the office, these things are of utmost importance to me.

Nope, open headphones do not isolate sound at all.
 

Wallach

Member
Dreams-Visions said:
didn't think of flipping them. but the comfort hasn't changed.

Hm, yeah I think I like this a little bit better. They're kind of a pain to get off when put on backwards.
 

Enron

Banned
LCfiner said:
There are a couple headphones in this price range that aren't listed in the OP. If you're looking for a full sized pair like the 595s that go around the ear, but closed, you have a couple well known options in addition to the many choices listed in the OP:

Beyerdynamic DT770. be careful as there's multiple models of this headphone with different impedances. known for massive bass.

Audio Technica A700. the closed version of the popular AD700.

If you want good all-arounders go for the A700. The DT770 is for bassheads. I owned them for a bit, I wouldnt recommend them to anyone as a primary set of cans.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
I'm now confident, in saying those Turbines are fakes.

1. Here's the suspect eBay product:
Fake1.png


^Take note of the outer box's details.

2. So I hit Youtube, to find some unboxing video reviews. Here's #1:

Real1.png


^You can immediately see, that the stripe on the right side is a different color.

3. Another legit box, for second view:

Real2.png


4. Taken from this video, which shows the unboxing of a fake pair:
Fake2.png


^Look familiar? The details he provides seal the deal, especially about the box only opening with a single cheap flap.

One can even go as far as to notice that the fake version's bags have a red zipper stripe.
 

Wallach

Member
Looking at my packaging right now, I'm inclined to agree. The inner box is very hard and solid so the creases showing in the top of the inner box shouldn't really be possible.
 

LOZLINK

Member
Beautiful. Thanks a lot for saving me 60 bucks. They don't sell Monsters in Australia and my brother told me they're pretty damn good.
 

Ashhong

Member
LOZLINK said:
Well, they don't sell many of the brands in the op as well. Only one's I've seen so far are Senns, AKG, and Audio Techs.

Well judging by these early pages of the thread, Senns and Audio Techs are all you need haha. I'm sure it would be nice to have more brands though.
 

1stStrike

Banned
It depends on your preferences, but you can't really go wrong with those brands. A lot of us are quite vocal about Denon's too, which is another great brand.

I am still bummed out that the Fischer's didn't work out for me. I thought they looked really nice, and the white wood finished ear cups looked pretty bombtastic. I will just have to settle for my D7000's I guess :D
 
I really want the Fischer Audio FA-003. You can't find them anywhere though except Treoo which is overpriced. Ill end up having my Nuforce Icon HDP in a couple weeks to power my HD 650's. My Headstage Arrow 12HE portable amp hasn't shipped yet. I'm hoping it comes before the month is over.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Enron said:
If you want good all-arounders go for the A700.
Amazon sells A700s for $110 now, same as M50. Now that is tempting and I have no idea how to make a decision on this. A700 were originally much more expensive, but being labeled as "audiophile" headphones, they are probably coloring sound by design. I've heard too many good things about M50 and their nearly perfect flat response. A700 also seem *huge*, I think I may be running into a possibility of looking like an office clown wearing something of that size :\
 

Enron

Banned
Lord Error said:
Amazon sells A700s for $110 now, same as M50. Now that is tempting and I have no idea how to make a decision on this. A700 were originally much more expensive, but being labeled as "audiophile" headphones, they are probably coloring sound by design. I've heard too many good things about M50 and their nearly perfect flat response. A700 also seem *huge*, I think I may be running into a possibility of looking like an office clown wearing something of that size :\

Oh. well, yeah...if these are for the office go with IEMs or something. I wouldnt bring a fullsize headphone into the office either.
 
Alright guys here is a quick review of the Phiaton MS400 I ordered a couple of weeks ago.

I'll do it like other revierers and go through build quality, comfort, isolation, and sound.

First off I'd like to say that this is my first pair of headphones above 20 dollars so I don't have any good headphones to compare to. Also spending 200 dollars on headphones was a huge step for me so I will be reviewing them as a normal guy who doesn't know anything about headphones and doesn't have much money. I'll also use wierd words to describe things becase I don't know the correct terms for them.

Build Quality- The headphones feel OK. The inside of the headband is made of some sturdy metal but the surroundings of the cups and the "skeleton" of the headphones are made of plastic and it feels a bit cheap. The wire are also pretty thin. I honestly would be surprised if they lasted me a year. Or perhaps with my luck they will last a year and a day.

Comfort-The headband is wrapped in leather(probably fake) and feels soft and nice on your head. The cups also have the same material and are soft on your ears. If you listen to the headphones for a short period of time you won't have any comfort issues but at maybe 2-3 hours the headphones can make your ears hurt like a bitch!

Isolation- The headphones isolate pretty well. It's defietly not as good as noise cancelling heaphones but it quiets down a lot of outside noise. I rode in the car with these and was able to listen to my music comfortably. Although in the car I didn't hear or feel any bass, which made me sad. They don't leak out a lot of noise so that's a very good thing.

Sound- This one is really tricky since I don't know what is "good" or "bad". At first I thought I had wasted 200 bucks but now I feel satisfied with them. But I am a huge bass head and the headphones do dissapoint a little. The bass is pretty good sometimes and sometimes it's not. The bass is also not very punchy. It does what I like to call "surround" bass pretty well. An example of "surround" bass can be found in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2tZ0lWl1go, where the bass seems to surround you. The Beats can punch the hell out of you so I envy that :eek:. Everything else sounds good too me.

Overall: Maybe these aren't the best headphones for the price but at least they are a pair that I wouldn't be ashamed to wear walking around school with. I like the headphones and I'm decently happy with my purchase.

Honestly though as much as people aren't going to like this, if I could go back in time I would save up another 100 dollars and get the Beats. I'M SUCH A MAINSTREAM FOOL!
 

1stStrike

Banned
Enron said:
Oh. well, yeah...if these are for the office go with IEMs or something. I wouldnt bring a fullsize headphone into the office either.

Hah! It's funny you say that, because I was doing a tour of a datacenter back in October and one of the guys working at his desk was rocking a full sized set of headphones. I was like "Fuck yeah" :lol
 

Enron

Banned
1stStrike said:
Hah! It's funny you say that, because I was doing a tour of a datacenter back in October and one of the guys working at his desk was rocking a full sized set of headphones. I was like "Fuck yeah" :lol

There's a guy 4 cubes down from me that rocks grado sr60s at his desk. He looks like an idiot.
 

LOZLINK

Member
I had a pair of senn cx300-II and thought they were pretty mediocre. I'm not much of an audiophile, but I'd like something decent, nah mean?
 

1stStrike

Banned
Enron said:
There's a guy 4 cubes down from me that rocks grado sr60s at his desk. He looks like an idiot.

:lol


A lot of people don't look good in headphones. I haven't looked in the mirror with my Denon's on, but I imagine I probably don't look hot with them on either. I guess I don't really have to worry about it though, because I don't use them in an environment where others would see me with them on.

If I worked in an office, though, and I had the option to wear headphones, I'd totally bring in my amp and Denon's and go wild regardless of looks :D
 
i'm looking for some good cans for under 50, got any recommendations? the sound source will be a sucky iphone 3gs, cuz i had to sell my cowon d2 :( but what do you guys recommed? i was looking at the seinheisser px 100 but they are over expensive, and i was taking a look at the soundmagic p20's, do those need an amp? i'd be kinda bulky >.>

need all the help i can, cuz that's gonna be my xmas spending on my ears.



thanks
 

1stStrike

Banned
sonikokaruto said:
i'm looking for some good cans for under 50, got any recommendations? the sound source will be a sucky iphone 3gs, cuz i had to sell my cowon d2 :( but what do you guys recommed? i was looking at the seinheisser px 100 but they are over expensive, and i was taking a look at the soundmagic p20's, do those need an amp? i'd be kinda bulky >.>

need all the help i can, cuz that's gonna be my xmas spending on my ears.



thanks

I hate to state the obvious, but have you actually read the OP? There's a good number of suggestions in there.
 
1stStrike said:
I hate to state the obvious, but have you actually read the OP? There's a good number of suggestions in there.

yes i did, but maybe some of you have known or used them, so, i'd like a little bit more of a personal recommendation, cuz if i have a lousy sound source, they'll only sound as good as they can.

i mean, i suck at this stuff :(
 

1stStrike

Banned
sonikokaruto said:
yes i did, but maybe some of you have known or used them, so, i'd like a little bit more of a personal recommendation, cuz if i have a lousy sound source, they'll only sound as good as they can.

i mean, i suck at this stuff :(

Well, there's a few things we really need to know to give you an idea. The usual stuff:

1. Earbuds or over the head phones?

2. What kind of music do you listen to?

3. Closed or Open?
 
1stStrike said:
Well, there's a few things we really need to know to give you an idea. The usual stuff:

1. Earbuds or over the head phones?

2. What kind of music do you listen to?

3. Closed or Open?

over the head, really tired of earbuds or iem's

normally orchestra, then rock, podcasts and alternative

closed, i'd be wearing them on an office.

if you got some all around suggestion and is under the 100 mark, i'll have to save, but sure as hell that i'll try
 

1stStrike

Banned
sonikokaruto said:
over the head, really tired of earbuds or iem's

normally orchestra, then rock, podcasts and alternative

closed, i'd be wearing them on an office.

if you got some all around suggestion and is under the 100 mark, i'll have to save, but sure as hell that i'll try

I'd lean on two sides of the spectrum. Either the Audio Technica ATH-FC700A or the Sony MDR7506. The AT's are $29.91 on Amazon right now and the Sony's are $83.00.

Both have really good all around reviews, and will satisfy your need for closed phones. However, you would get the benefit of being able to purchase a small amp such as the E5 to go with the AT's and still be below your budget of $50.00.

The route you go is up to you, though. If you gravitate towards $100.00 then there's some other, better options available, but they would likely cost you just a bit more then $100.00 - they're around $110 - $150 usually.

If you can, I'd recommend trying to find a place with some headphones in stock and check them out first hand. The lower end headphones should be in stock and will give you the best idea of what you'd want to wear on your head.
 
1stStrike said:
I'd lean on two sides of the spectrum. Either the Audio Technica ATH-FC700A or the Sony MDR7506. The AT's are $29.91 on Amazon right now and the Sony's are $83.00.

Both have really good all around reviews, and will satisfy your need for closed phones. However, you would get the benefit of being able to purchase a small amp such as the E5 to go with the AT's and still be below your budget of $50.00.

The route you go is up to you, though. If you gravitate towards $100.00 then there's some other, better options available, but they would likely cost you just a bit more then $100.00 - they're around $110 - $150 usually.

If you can, I'd recommend trying to find a place with some headphones in stock and check them out first hand. The lower end headphones should be in stock and will give you the best idea of what you'd want to wear on your head.

:O wow, that does seem really cool, and with the amp it's gonna be around 52 actually, both from amazon lol

i'll get those mate, they seem awesome.

and the only close places i have are best buy ... and they'll try to shit me over however they can

thanks!
 

Wallach

Member
I'd second the MDR-7506/MDR-V6 suggestion. They're pretty much the same monitors from what I understand, though I think you'd save 10 bucks on Amazon going with the V6s if budget is real important right now. Very minor differences, the packaging is probably the biggest difference between them.
 

1stStrike

Banned
HiResDes said:
The Sonys are also great because they are built like fucking tanks

Yeah, the JVC's tend to be the same way too. They actually look like tanks though and are not something I would ever be caught wearing on my head :lol
 

Wallach

Member
HiResDes said:
The Sonys are also great because they are built like fucking tanks

Fuck yeah they are. My brother has a set that is like 15 years old and works like a boss (though the cord is more accurately described as "interesting" rather than "coiled").
 

Alucrid

Banned
Lord Error said:
Can you elaborate? Aren't Senns all known to color the sound? It's not something I generally like. AT are supposed to be much more neutral and play the music the way it was mastered.

It was a joke. The HE60s are a somewhat rare electrostatic pair of headphones highly regarded. I was just saying that I'd rather have the HE60s or their big brother the HE90s than the M50s. As for what they sound like...I mainly go by whatever sounds good, whether it be completely neutral headphones to hear it exactly as intended, or, 'coloring' headphones that add warmth, etc., etc. That said, the HE60s have been said to add some warm, but hardly anything you could consider coloration. Of course the end product relies on the headphones as well as the chain of instruments that come before them as well.
 

HiResDes

Member
Blakero said:
Looking for some affordable (~$30) buds or phones for working out (running and lifting).

If you're worried about the build quality of the M6's you could always opt for the M9, although the aforementioned set of IEMs are slightly superior in sound quality and in some ways in fit...If you're going to wear them over the ear.
 

Pilgor

Member
Pilgor said:
I have the AKG K702's and I love them, but I have been thinking of picking up Senn HD 650's.

Is this a step up or to the side, and is it worth spending the extra dough for another set?

.

Is the sound signature different enough to warrant this? I like the AKG's, but even when amped, they can be on the brighter side.
 
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