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comment by rthomas6
rthomas6  ·  3187 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: April 27, 2016

So durability of the headphones, specifically the wire connection, is one of your main concerns, and the other one is the lack of comfort with a long, unbendly wire. That makes sense. I think you might like the Audio Technica ATHM50x headphones. They are wired, but the wire detaches and can be replaced. Also one of the wires is curly so it's short when you're nearby what they're plugged into. I have an older version of these same headphones, and I can tell you that they sound fucking amazing. If you've never had a quality pair of headphones before, the depth and richness it can bring out of music is out of this world.

Given equal price points, the sound quality on a pair of wired headphones is likely to be MUCH better if you buy the right pair.





user-inactivated  ·  3187 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The ATHM50x looks badass. What bothers me about it, however, - and what you generally don't find in the lower-tier wireless headphones - is the earpillows, the padded circles around the sound sources. How do they fare? The only ones of this kind I had did not fare well: the pillows just kept pressing against the ears and made them sweat (which I didn't even know ears can do beforehand).

rthomas6  ·  3187 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hmmm. With mine, my ears do sweat when it's hot or when I wear them for several hours at a time. But they're breathable enough to not make them sweat 95% of the time. You might be different, though. I'm reading on Amazon that this newer version has upgraded padding material. I don't know if one could say for sure how comfortable they would be without trying them on for several hours. I will say that these headphones are designed for long periods of use, since they're really designed for studio monitoring.

Another caveat that goes along with them being for studio use is that they're very accurate, and some people actually don't like the way that sounds. They don't boost any particular frequency to make the music sound more "dynamic", the music sounds like however it was recorded. And the sound is so much clearer than cheap consumer headphones that you may find unpleasant surprises in music, like if a song is poorly mastered and has some clipping when it gets loud, you can hear it. On the other hand, it makes well-mastered albums sound better than anything I've heard before. For instance, I was never a huge Björk fan before I bought nice headphones, but I am now.

user-inactivated  ·  3181 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Do you think cheaper (read: budget) padded headphones have the same quality of production regarding the pads? If so, I might be able to get some cheap ones and try those on to see how they affect me.

rthomas6  ·  3180 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I wouldn't count on it. I noticed that Guitar Center has them in some stores. At least, they have them in stock near where I live. It also looks like their return policy will let you return them after trying them on. Or maybe they'll let you try them on in the store. Maybe you could go there, or if they're not nearby, maybe there is another store that has a return policy that will let you try them on.

user-inactivated  ·  3180 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Right. Thanks for the help. I'll look into it.