I like listening to music very much and often have to switch from the 2.1 to headphones when I have to be focused on the work. So far, I've been using cheaper Sven headphones (the latest I have is AP-540) - the sound they relay is far from perfect and clean, but in a minute I'm getting used to it enough not to notice the flaws.
I've been hearing and seeing Beats by Dre headphones around quite often but have never tried anything like it. How different is the experience with those? Are they worth their money? Are any expensive high-end headphones worth their money if I'm looking for above-decent quality of sound?
Nope, Beats by Dre are a stain on the music industry in regards to headphones. They are pawned off as high quality when in fact they are made with a very low quality. Quality headphone companies (as well as fairly priced) I recommend using are Sennheiser, Audio Technica, or even Sony. Now sound is a tough thing when you get a pair of quality headphones. There are a lot of different things that can affect it headphones is one, but the size/type of audio file used will also determine quality. I believe the player used can determine quality of sound, but I'm not sure. If you'd like you could post a budget, and I will do my best to see what I can find.
I have Senheiser, Ausio Technica and Sony. They all sound pretty good but the Senheiser seem to be the most durable. Though that is hardly a fair assessment as the Sony's, while beat up, are like 10 years old. I like Audio Technica products too. All this to say, I agree. Good suggestions imo.
I couldn't find the Audio Techinica's. I think I may have left them in Michigan earlier this year when I went to record some violin for an album I'm working on. The Sennheiser's are just the HD 280 Pro's. Nothing fancy, but they get the job done. The Sony's are just MDR 7506 -Also, nothing fancy but reliable and I saw them used a lot back when I was recording in other peoples studios so I got a pair. The odd ball in the group is the HFI 450 from Ultrasone. I loved these, but one of the cans went dead on me. I don't know a lot about headphones and my hearing is abysmal at this point.
Yes and just off camera I have about 200 more. Want one? Pm me your address and I'll gladly send one over tomorrow.
The bass response on a lot of the HD series has been a complaint from audiophiles for a while now actually, so you are definitely right about that. Even with my HD 598's I notice it. I'm not an audiophile so I'm not as concerned with all the technicalities of it.
Bass response an balance don't play together well on small speakers. The reason people like the way headphones like beats and such sound is because of a huge boost in the low range that is essentially faking lower frequencies on your headphone speakers. Your best best with headphone is a $50 pair of akgs unless you want to go up to the higher priced sennheisers, but it kind of depends on what you need/are using them for. I think beyerdynamic makes some pretty good headsets as well.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/K77?adpos=1o8&creative=55678058761&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CM2f4r-M1sYCFchffgodsHkOVw These are the nicer versions, we use them in the studio.
http://www.gabrians.com/product_p/AKG-K240STUDIO.htm?gclid=COqUkMSM1sYCFQenaQodhe4Dbg
Grado is also a lot of bang for your buck but they don't seem as durable as Sennheiser or Audio-Technica.
I've just checked the Audio Technica headphones tnec linked me to. I can't but appreciate the badass logo of the company. What bothers me, still, is the padding around the edges of the audiochannels. I've used a few headphones with those in the past, and every time they left my ears sweating; I've picked the Svens mostly to avoid this, for the models I've been using don't have padding. Do you have any experience with such?
No you will definitely get sweaty from those if you have before. They are leathery, and do have an uncomfortable fit around the ear because they are more circular in design. Sennheiser has THE most comfortable design that I have come across before. I own or owned: HD 518, HD 558, and my newest pair HD 598. The fabric used on the ear coverings seem to breathe because although it covers the ear it never gets warm in that enclosed space. Only real issue I have with Sennheiser is if you listen to really loud music others near you can probably hear it (of course there are probably models that handle that issue, but that is the thing I've come across with the pairs I've used).
HD 598 has the lovely beige color, and Audio Technica has badass logo. If I were to pick based solely on the visual design, I'd have to think very hard. :) I'm going to have to try them on before I make the purchase. It's a significant amount of money for me, and I have to make a better search than that to make it worth it. Thank you for letting me know about all of that.
I ha a pair of at 550s? With the bungee chord cable and the connectors broke in around 3 months. I have really ba experience with a of audio technicas gear, I think it mostly overpriced crap.
Yeah, I don't know what it is with me and AT stuff, but just all bad...:(
Yeah that is definitely true, some companies more often than others. Like berringher(I don't know if thats spelled correctly), I've never had any problems with any of their gear. Granted, I don't expect anything of theirs to perform like any of my manley or tubetech stuff, but never any of the issues I have heard so many people complain about. AKG and Sennheiser just make really solid headphones, and they aren't all out there expensive. Balance is what's important to me with headphones, because the only time I really ever use them is to check how my mixes/masters are going to sound on headphones. I'm a little spoiled as far as always listening on fairly high resolution monitors.
My dad was big into DJ/mixing business for awhile, but that was a while ago. I never really caught onto all the technical stuff I just liked good sound, and noticed there were inexpensive ways to accomplish that goal. I can respect the technical side of things though. I sometimes wish I had pursued music in that manner sometimes.
I love making music, but I realized that wasn't exactly a good idea to rely on career-wise. So I got into the engineering side of music, and now do recording/mixing/editing/mastering stuff for audio. We'll see where it goes, lol.
I have the M50x and it is by far the best headphones I've ever owned. Amazing build quality and sound quality. I don't have a big problem with sweat as they are pretty light on my head. The padding goes completely around my ears instead of on my ears, does that make a difference for you?
I am to a certain degree an audiophile, I'm not super picky and I don't have to have the bet, but I can tell what is the best and what is missing from low quality stuff. With that out of the way - GOOD HEADPHONES MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. having listened to hundreds of headphones from $20-$600+ with pre-amps, eqs, and all sorts of systems behind them and also stand alone. Here is a list of different good quality headphones at different price ranges There is also one pair of headphones, the name of which is escaping me right now, but they are from alibaba and are chinese no name headphones but they are actually REALLY nice headphones for the $25 or whatever the cost. They put up a fight again most $75 pairs.
Without a doubt in that price range Takstar Hi2050. They are the best! Oh yea, order them from Aliexpress - not Amazon they are $34 on ali shipped, and $60 on amazon, they will take like 8 weeks or so to get here so if you don't need them in a hurry do that.
I'd like to ask a question about headphones, also. I have a pair of V-Moda Crossfade LP2 headphones and they sound pretty good to me, but I'm not an experienced headphone listener. My question for you is, have you had experience with these? Am I missing out on good sound quality or are these headphones a decent pair?
Three years ago I got interested in headphones. I wanted to buy one that would last long and provide really great sound quality. After searching for a while, I bought the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II. It's been three years and I'm still using it everyday. Whether it's for listening to music or podcast during commuting or at home while watching movies/series or listening to music while surfing the net. The sound quality is really great and provides real value compared to some cheap headphones. There are other great brands, but Beats by Dre aren't one of them. If you want to go in-depth, you will have more info on this forum : http://www.head-fi.org/a/buying-guide-headphones-by-price-range
To check the Sennheiser HD 25-1 II reviews : http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-25-1-ii-professional-headphone If you are buying a high price headphone, don't download your music on Youtube or download some cheap 128 kbps songs. Try to buy/downoad 320 kbps mp3 or FLAC files.
Maybe it's the cheap audio hardware that I'm using, but so far, I haven't seen much difference between those. How different is the experience?If you are buying a high price headphone, don't download your music on Youtube or download some cheap 128 kbps songs. Try to buy/downoad 320 kbps mp3 or FLAC files.
It feels like the difference between a DVD and a Blu-Ray, but instead of it being images, it's sounds.
So I have some pretty decent headphones. I am no audiophile, but I can describe the experience. With a pair of quality headphones, you get a new sense of location that you wouldn't get otherwise. Not just right or left, but how far right or left. You will hear things in songs you didn't notice before because they were too compressed by cheap headphones. You will actually hear the bass player. You will get a new appreciation for proper production. I really recommend getting a pair of good headphones if you like music.
I did some research when I was in the market for headphones and landed on the ATH-AD900x. I went for open-ear because they were supposed to have better soundstage, and I like being able to hear my surroundings as well. Listening to music and playing 3d games was almost a whole new experience when I got them. I could pick out instruments and sounds that I couldn't differentiate before, everything sounds so much nicer and it was completely worth the money. I grabbed a cheaper Xonar sound card as well, since supposedly theyre good for pairing with headphones for 3d positioning in games, and have a built in amp. All in all, if I had to pick peripherals to spend the most money on, I'd probably put Headphones up top, then monitor, mouse, then keyboard. It made THAT much of a difference.
Sounds marvellous. What bothers me about many headphones is the padding they have around the soundchannels. From what I understand, they are to prevent outside audio from polluting the inside audio, but every time I tried headphones with them on, my ears sweat far more than they ever should. Considering I often listen to the music for hours on end, this is a very inconvienient circumstance. Do you have any experience with that, and/or with how to avoid it?
These headphones don't make my ears sweat in any significant way, but YMMV. I use these at work all day. I do need to take little breaks every now and then because the pressure/weight gets a little annoying after hours of use, but this hasn't bothered me either. I really love these, and I have friends who have the same model/the next model up and love them, but again, YMMV.
I've been buying stuff off wire cutter reviews lately and have been mostly pleased http://m.thewirecutter.com/leaderboard/headphones/
In my experience, there are certain price brackets within which quality is similar (excluding beats). Within each price bracket above low-end you will find headphones that you really like, and ones that aren't right for you. Sometimes there is a correlation to "quality" (beats = no) but a lot of the time it's simply preference. Of course, it is assumed that you properly listen to music - if music is something you like to "hear" and maybe like to use in order to isolate yourself when commuting, you may not notice much of a difference. Once you look above $600 you will find headphones that are simply superb. And there are differences in the way that they sound, although as I said not much difference in "quality"- i.e. the variations give a slightly different sound to each model, which will appeal to individual preferences rather than (generally) being better/worse than another model. Comfort is also a factor, although all in this price range will sit on your noggin well, and again personal preference is a major factor. The other important factor is your amp - if you're looking at mid-range headphones most decent amps will to be sufficient, but when you're looking higher up then you need to pair your headphones with the amp that best compliments their sound characteristics in a way that you like. But sometimes deliberate pairing can be quite worthwhile in the mid-range as well, especially if you are an intent listener.
This is, hands down, the best no-bullshit headphone review from a guy who has a confessed allergy to audiophiles (this is a good thing). http://www.marco.org/headphones-closed-portable I could go on about my AKGs, but why. This review will be far more illuminating than my single data point.
I had a nice pair of Sony headphones for a good ten years. I don't know what model they were, but they sounded excellent and served me well. My dad got them for me and spent around $100. Now, I'm rocking a $40 pair of JVC HA-S600 which do the trick just fine. Not nearly as full a sound as the Sony, but for the price I'm pretty happy. I recommend going to a best buy somewhere and checking out the Beats headphones. They are bass heavy and sound really muddy if you ask me. They are not good headphones.
I have two pairs of headphones, a pair of Harman Kardons and a pair of Grado headphones. I also use as pair of Sony studio monitors at work. The difference in each pair is incredibly different. Stepping up to a (much) nicer set of headphones is like going from 480p video to 4k video. The sound stage opens up and you can hear so much more that you didn't before. Once you get to the $500+ level of headphone though, as important as good headphones is a good headphone amplifier. The choices are numerous, but they all make a big difference in how music is presented.
I like the Sony MDR-V6. Full but neutral sound, comfortable, and should cost about £65. There's also a newer model which can be easier to find. From what I've heard, the guy who produced the music your listening to used the same headphones, so why spend more?