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Topic: favorite headphone (Read 18189 times) previous topic - next topic
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favorite headphone

whats your favorite portable headphone? under $150 USD

portable = you use for school, working out..etc.

mine are:
school: senn. mx500
running: koss ksc-35

favorite headphone

Reply #1
Home: Sony MDR-V600 ($99)

Looking forward to trying the MDR-V700's.


--happiness is a great pair of headphones.

favorite headphone

Reply #2
My old Sony MDR-A30 headphones.  I actually use my Ety ER-4Ps for everything (especially when working noisy machines at work), but you listed a money limit well below the Etys $270 price. 
Kimberly aka
Baroness Sylvia von Zurich (the only Goldwater Conservative) endorses the Meadow Party's Bill and Opus for the 2004 Presidential election!  A sometimes dead cat and an overweight penguin who looks like a puffin couldn't possibly do any worse than a Shrub.

favorite headphone

Reply #3
I have the SONY MDR-V9000. they're wonderful.

I had some run of the mill Sennheisers and I could not stand them, they were horrible. The sound was very clean (I admit that), but it seemed to boost up the middle frequencies at the expense of bass and highs, really weird sound.

When I finally moved on to the SONY ones it was like heaven, clean, pristing sound, with nice warm bass...investing a bit more $$$ into high-class headphones makes all the difference...

favorite headphone

Reply #4
Interesting, I see a bunch of Sony recommendations here, yet when I read audiophile headphone sites I rarely see Sonys even reviewed, much less recommended; instead Sennheiser and Grado seem to be the two favourites.  Odd.

favorite headphone

Reply #5
Sennheiser makes cheap bad sounding headphones as well as audiophile quality ones. Excellent quality Sennheiser phones (e.g. HD580, HD600) are not well suited for portable listening, as they require an amplifier to drive them properly.

favorite headphone

Reply #6
Quote
Originally posted by Delirium
Interesting, I see a bunch of Sony recommendations here, yet when I read audiophile headphone sites I rarely see Sonys even reviewed, much less recommended; instead Sennheiser and Grado seem to be the two favourites.  Odd.



Well, I have never had Grado or Sennheiser, so I can't make a direct comparison.

I can say that the "high" end Sony's are very good. Now this is obviously subjective. I'm not sure if the Sony's have a flat curve, or if they tend to boost the frequencies that I happen to like, such as bass and treble.

I think I can say IMHO, you can't gett a better headphone for under $150, but you can probably get a helluva better headphone for a lot more money.

I think Sony's tend to get overlooked in stereo reviews due to a stigma attached to the name. Sony's seem to be associated with consumer (Best Buy) type systems, and not the gold plated high end systems.

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I would definitely recommend the ones I have for the price.

Brett

favorite headphone

Reply #7
If you like Sony headphones the best quality for price is usually considered to be the Sony MDR-V6 (~$60), quite a few people prefer the sound of these over the V600.

Here is a good place to find out more about headphones: http://www.head-fi.org/

favorite headphone

Reply #8
I have the Sony CD3000s and I think they sounded better than any Grado and Seinheisser ones I listened to. Yes they run about $500 but they are the best sounding headphones and most comfortable I have ever heard..

-Grant

favorite headphone

Reply #9
Quote
they run about 0

-Grant


Wow. I didn't even know Sony made a $500 pair of headphones.



favorite headphone

Reply #12
Hi. I used to sell Sony headphones, and I think I can fairly say that they are hit and miss for quality. Some are superb, others are truly shit.

I bought a pair of KSC-35's sight unseen based on reccommendations I got over at headwise forums. Best portable headphones I have ever heard. They totally exceeded my expectations and were only 70$ Canadian.

 

favorite headphone

Reply #14
That's nothing compared to the Sennheiser Orpheus headphone system, MSRP $14,900, though to be fair they come with their own tube amp.

No comment on how it actually sounds...
A fearless audio explorer in search of Truth, Beauty, and the elusive MPC-busting sample!

favorite headphone

Reply #15
Quote
Originally posted by tubenut
That's nothing compared to the Sennheiser Orpheus headphone system, MSRP ,900, though to be fair they come with their own tube amp. 

No comment on how it actually sounds...
I'm going to buy one and plug it into my SoundBlaster Live.

favorite headphone

Reply #16
Quote
Originally posted by tubenut
That's nothing compared to the Sennheiser Orpheus headphone system, MSRP ,900, though to be fair they come with their own tube amp. 

No comment on how it actually sounds...


I'd rather buy a car.

But, indeed - This one, I'd use to listen to my old vinyls.

favorite headphone

Reply #17
$14,900??? Sheeeesh that's what I paid for my first house. It was brick too!

favorite headphone

Reply #18
My ancient (1978 or something...) Stax SR-Xmk3 "electrostatic earspeakers" define the ultimate headphones for me.  Unfortunately, they're not portable by any means (they have to be plugged into a special transformer to boost the signal for the electrostatic drivers, then that gets hooked up to my Hafler SE240 power amp...), nor are they under $150... but i've never come across headphones that better reproduce the sound emitted from my Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers, without annoying everyone else in the house.

I do consider myself an audiophile, and i'm training to be a recording studio engineer.

I've heard the Sennheiser HD600's and I was quite quickly put off... like Zaraza said, they have a strange boost in the middle frequencies which gives the music an artificial "lush-ness".  They were a very "laid back" presentation, but not "dark" - my magneplanar speakers have a very "dark" midrange, which I really like - sort of the opposite of the shouty bright midrange of horns.  The Senns, while not near as bright in the midrange as horns, were still somehow unpleasant.

I tried the Grado SR-325 and prefered them over the HD600's by a long shot.  The bass was awesome, but sort of dry, not warm.

For your price range, I'd suggest you try the Grado SR-125.  I'll admit I've never heard them, but based on my experienc with the SR-325, I can't imagine they'd be very bad.

My first even remotely decent headphones were a pair of Sony MDR-CD570's.  EXTREMELY comfortable. but very rolled off high end (died at 16khz) bloaty bass, bright midrange.  They put way too much emphasis on vocals.

Anyway, good luck in your search for the perfect cans.  For good reviews, I'd suggest you try HeadRoom, it's a cool site.

--jeff

favorite headphone

Reply #19
I'm currently using Koss PortaPro's, and I really like the sound (I compared it to four or five different ones with a similar price, and I thought the PortaPro's were much better). Now, sometimes a pair of earbuds would be nice, so can anyone recommend a pair with a sound similar to the PortaPro's (what I'd describe as "full" and "well-balanced"), and not too expensive (say, not more than the PortaPro's)? A volume control on the cord is a plus, but not required (thanks to MP3Gain).

favorite headphone

Reply #20
I have Grado SR80s, and they sound sooo excellent.  Trust me, they will  probably sound better than anything else for the money, at $90 (Hifi.com).  They are very open headphones, meaning they don't block outside sound, and people can hear what you are listening to.  If this doesn't bother you, then seriously consider Grados...

Otherwise, in your price range, if you need closed headphones, most audiophiles would recommend the Sony V6 (NOT V600!) or the Denon AH-D750 or 950s...

Don't get any other Sony's below the $200 price mark other than the V6 or 7506 (same thing but with gold plug), they all suck compared to everything else.  Sony V600s have been compared to $20 Koss headphones, and cost over $100.  The V6/7506 has been around for over a decade, and is a great headphone.

If you want more expert opinions, be sure to check out http://www.headwize.com

favorite headphone

Reply #21
Depending on the budget, I would recomment the following headphones:

Koss Porta Pro   $48   £37 (www.beststuff.co.uk)
Grado SR60   $70   £69 (grado.co.uk)
Grado SR80   $95   £85 (grado.co.uk)
Koss A250   $130

The reason I wrote the price in £ and $ is because I have noticed a large discrepency between the 2 countries. It's even worse if you look for it on the continent... Also it is very difficult to find some retailers having those particular models in stock.

Anyone know of UK retailers for the Koss A250? I have been looking for it, but no luck so far.

- aRMaN RaSTaMaN -

favorite headphone

Reply #22
Hi All Audiophiles,
I Using low end portable KOSS Porta Pro 2000, this headphones more transparent from Koss Porta Pro.I Listening all sources plug into special home made single ended V-Mos Mini Amp like Pass Aleph....

favorite headphone

Reply #23
i ordered my koss portapro today. can't wait to try them out ;-). currently i'm using some poor/cheap sony portable headphones.

favorite headphone

Reply #24
anyone used 'airborne' headphones (taken from an airplane i mean) -> mine favorite are SAS