Crazy world of headphones

OMG! I think I have just stumbled upon a whole culture of technology that I didnt even know existed!

I started off just wanting some over ear headphones, but after doing a bit of research I'm now even more confused about all this than when I began, its BAFFLING!

Ok, so I want some over ears for use with my Sony HD5 MP3 player, I listen to all types of music, mostly Indie kinda stuff though.

I have 2 needs: 1. Style 2. None of this 'amp' lark

The grado sr60s look horrible IMO, and the sennheiser 515s (which look orgasmic) need an amp so im pretty stuck! Probably want to spend between £40 and £60....

Any ideas????

[Karma]

Hmmmmm.

I come to this as an audio purist.

Your main criteria is style. No mention of sound quality.

And you listen to MP3's - Ok - So it isn't surprising you didn't mention sound quality.

Frankly, just buy a pair you like the look of.

You don't appear to care about the quality, and frankly with MP3, wouldn't be able to hear it anyway.

Save yourself a bundle of cash.

K

no, i mean, i dont want them to sound aweful, at the moment my mp3s are all encoded in 132kbps ATRAC 3 PLUS, and I have Sennheiser MX500s to get the best out of the music.

So then, any ideas? sennheisers?

[BenW]

I have a pair of shure e2c used with my Sony HD1. Honestly i think these earphones are too good for indie music. In general the recording quality is poor and they just show up the imperfections in each recording. Same on my hifi so i rarely listen to indie stuff anymore. Sounded as good as anything else on my old stereo/cheap earphones

So, get some cheap ones you like the look of

Excellent, cheers guys, will have a browse and hit you back with some options! (oh ben btw, im after some over ears)

Think I am gonna go for the Sennheiser 485's, they seem to have good reviews, especially for using with a portable music player as they only have 32Ohms impedimence, plus the cable is replaceable with a shorter one, sound quality supposedly very balanced, and finally, they look cool!

If any other newbies out there want some over ear headphones for their portable devices start by looking at the 485's, I trawled through a lot of audiophile crap before I found these! Will let you know what they sound like!

[extremelydodgy]

Originally Posted by Karma

Hmmmmm.

I come to this as an audio purist.

Your main criteria is style. No mention of sound quality.

And you listen to MP3's - Ok - So it isn't surprising you didn't mention sound quality.

Frankly, just buy a pair you like the look of.

You don't appear to care about the quality, and frankly with MP3, wouldn't be able to hear it anyway.

Save yourself a bundle of cash.

K

Oooh, get a load of him! Nose so high up in the air I'm surprised he can breathe


An MP3 at high bitrates is capable of giving any audio system a decent workout - even though yes it's not quite as good as the original. Those who say otherwise don't own the decent stuff and have little experience with computer-based audio.


That aside, take a look at the Sennheiser miniphones like the PX100 and the PX200. 200 keeps out outside noise (more useful), costs more than 100 but sounds worse (the penalty of keeping noise out). Both of these have quite a 'docile' sound in line with many other Sennheiser phones, which don't shout out the effects of badly encoded MP3 files, if you own any. Yet they provide decent enough performance to tell the difference between good and bad encodes.

[pbirkett]

Agree with the PX100 or 200. Also consider the Koss KSC75.

Originally Posted by extremelydodgy

Oooh, get a load of him! Nose so high up in the air I'm surprised he can breathe

ha ha, yeah, i thought that as well, but he was trying to help me out so I let it go!

I have looked at the PX100/200's and their fidelity is supposedly fantastic but im really after some over the ear style phones

[pbirkett]

PX100 / 200 are over the ear headphones

Do you mean full sized circumaural headphones?

If you want some full sized circumaural phones that can be driven by an ipod, then I will sell you my Goldring DR150's if you like. They are a new design, and sound pretty nice with an ipod. They are comfortable and look decent.

If you want any more info, PM me.

[extremelydodgy]

The Goldrings are unsuitable for two major reasons: 3m cable, borderline efficiency for use with the HD5's 5mw output in anywhere but indoor situations.


HD215 is an option. It is fully circumaural (around the ear) and is isolated, so although it has about the same effective efficiency as the Goldrings it's a lot more usable. It may be a little on the over-polite side but it does have a pronounced ability to do very low bass. Lookswise, who knows, it might look good on you. The 3m cable is curly, meaning effectively about a 1.5m cable... so long but usable.
http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.nsf/root/500156
http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?cal...404&topcatid=2


The other option is the similar looking HD485. This is open and over the ear like the Grados. Can't tell you too much about it but it's well rated.
http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.nsf/root/500266
http://www.askdirect.co.uk/uview?cal...404&topcatid=2


There are more options in terms of supra-aural (sits on the ear) phones for the sub-£100 area. As pbirkett said, it might be best if you defined 'on the head' to us better.


If you want something seriously good looking I'm considering getting rid of my Qualia 010. I might be inviting offers, however new they're £1500

ha ha, ta matey, I have been looking closely at the 485s, they look like the ones to go for and have seen them on the net for under £40, plus it has a detachable cable (so i can get rid of those bastard long ones entirely)

In regards to the qualia, I open the bidding at £40!!!

(seriously, who here has £1500 to spend on headphones!?)


Edit: actually I have decided the 485s gold kinda colour might make me look like a pimp so I might go with the 215's instead!

[extremelydodgy]

Originally Posted by parge

ha ha, ta matey, I have been looking closely at the 485s, they look like the ones to go for and have seen them on the net for under £40, plus it has a detachable cable (so i can get rid of those bastard long ones entirely)

In regards to the qualia, I open the bidding at £40!!!

(seriously, who here has £1500 to spend on headphones!?)


Edit: actually I have decided the 485s gold kinda colour might make me look like a pimp so I might go with the 215's instead!

The detachable cable socket is recessed and you can't just use any old 3.5mm jack at the headphone end with these phones. Worth bearing in mind. The 215's were the phones in the Nokia ads they run recently for the N91 with the big black phones on the blokes head, I don't know if you caught those. If you're in London there are places (I know the shop I linked to have them on display, but not always available to hear) that you can check out how both look 'in the flesh'.


40 quid? Well that gets you a pack of 8 plugs that I still have left for the Qualia's cable connectors


Talking about MP3's through headphones actually, I've done stuff that will probably make Karma have a coronary. The rather unassuming phone in the pic hooked up to the Nano playing a 256K MP3 is the Sennheiser Orpheus (for me at least it definitely didn't end at £1500). Sounds not far off the CD to me I have to say. There is a difference of course which is very clear at times, but if you're listening casually it's not worth worrying about over. And if you have played back decent rips on a truly high-end system, you'll be aware that the systematic improvements even carry across to compressed audio played back on it. Obviously you're not maxing out the system's capability, but the level of improvement over a lesser system can still be heard with high-bitrate compressed audio.

recessed? oh ***! there is no way im walking around with a 3m cable trailing along like some sort of tail

there are no good circumaural (be impressed with my jargon use!) headphones out there for people listening on portables!

[extremelydodgy]

The HD215's effective length is about 1.5m as it has a curly cable. The 485 claims 'adjustable length' for the cable.


There's the Sony MDR-D66SL headphone, which is import only from places like audiocubes.com and bluetin.com. This is circumaural and super-compact for such a type, isn't that isolated but is usable, folds up, works well with Sony portables (well duh ). Look it up.