Juzzie Wuzzie said:Just purchased some AKG450s (impulse purchase at RS and must say that I'm enjoying them greatly. A little Pig Radio on the iPad and away I go. Great deal for £50 - as you get two cords, two adaptors, and a carry case included. The carry case for my Grado SR60s was £22 on its own! Will see if the sound changes over time (they are only two hours in).
Juzzie Wuzzie said:Haven't done a side by side comparison yet of listening quality (can't say the "environment" I live in would be conducive to such experimentation) but will see if I get the chance in coming weeks. The driver for the AKG's was mainly for a) in-bed listening as the SR60s being open backed would disturb the little lady and b) interim, for travel - as again the SR60s are open backed; and both my sets of in-ears get uncomfortable after a while (although have just put Comply tips on the CX300IIs, so will see what that difference makes). I will eventually purchase some modern noise cancelling headphones (to replace my late-90s Sony NCs) as I travel long distances on planes too often.
For £50, I don't see how you can go wrong - that is 1/3rd of the price at which they got a five-star review. At the moment, I can't fault the AKG's, and the Grados have been boxed up in anticipation of a move to a bigger house, where I might be able to have the space for a headphone set up. One advantage the AKGs have over the Grados is the inclusion of two lengths of cord - as opposed to the fixed, and very long, cord of the Grados. As such, the AKGs plugged via short cord into the Fiio, and then into the iDevice is very managable. I doubt I will ever use the longer cord.
In retrospect, even though I only paid US$60 for the Grados, if I was currently having to choose, I'd probably take the AKGs as they are more functional and possibly "better bang for the buck" if you take sound quality to be about even.
Realise that isn't much of an A/B comparison, and I'm lucky that the £50 for the AKGs is an "affordable luxury". That said, if you push me to start again, I'd be buying the AKGs first. However, if you set me up with a dedicated study, and some personal time, I'm also going to buy a set of the Grados.
Hope that helps, and apologies for what is a bit of a ramble.
psurquhart said:Juzzie Wuzzie said:Haven't done a side by side comparison yet of listening quality (can't say the "environment" I live in would be conducive to such experimentation) but will see if I get the chance in coming weeks. The driver for the AKG's was mainly for a) in-bed listening as the SR60s being open backed would disturb the little lady and b) interim, for travel - as again the SR60s are open backed; and both my sets of in-ears get uncomfortable after a while (although have just put Comply tips on the CX300IIs, so will see what that difference makes). I will eventually purchase some modern noise cancelling headphones (to replace my late-90s Sony NCs) as I travel long distances on planes too often.
For £50, I don't see how you can go wrong - that is 1/3rd of the price at which they got a five-star review. At the moment, I can't fault the AKG's, and the Grados have been boxed up in anticipation of a move to a bigger house, where I might be able to have the space for a headphone set up. One advantage the AKGs have over the Grados is the inclusion of two lengths of cord - as opposed to the fixed, and very long, cord of the Grados. As such, the AKGs plugged via short cord into the Fiio, and then into the iDevice is very managable. I doubt I will ever use the longer cord.
In retrospect, even though I only paid US$60 for the Grados, if I was currently having to choose, I'd probably take the AKGs as they are more functional and possibly "better bang for the buck" if you take sound quality to be about even.
Realise that isn't much of an A/B comparison, and I'm lucky that the £50 for the AKGs is an "affordable luxury". That said, if you push me to start again, I'd be buying the AKGs first. However, if you set me up with a dedicated study, and some personal time, I'm also going to buy a set of the Grados.
Hope that helps, and apologies for what is a bit of a ramble.
Thanks for this - really helpful and not a ramble at all.
It really is a bit of a no brainer now - for 50 squid - I cant really go wrong.
The Grados are my mates - on a loan, which I think he has forgotten about, hence the question. Plus they irrate my wife so these tick all the boxes.
I did also notice that Richer Sounds are also doing the noise cancelling http://www.richersounds.com/product/headphones/akg/k480-nc/akg-k480 480's for the best part of £90. Taking into account Big Aura's comments above - could these be the better option / bargain ? And does anyone know if they are essentially the same headphones as the 450's please ?
Juzzie Wuzzie said:Is NC worth £40 to you? Is spending £40 "irrelevant" or a "bank breaker"? Do you need NC for your intended use?
abookcase said:OUT OF STOCK ON RS,
However, just found another place doing them:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2870-akg-k450-headphones.aspx?gclid=CK-GtbbK0K0CFUwMtAodmggjmQ
Juzzie Wuzzie said:Be careful what you wish for - you don't want certain other laws of supply and demand to come into force here!
piper1st said:I see Richer Sounds are still "out of stock", but up to £59.95 now. :wall:
piper1st said:I see Richer Sounds are still "out of stock", but up to £59.95 now. :wall:
bigboss said:piper1st said:I see Richer Sounds are still "out of stock", but up to £59.95 now. :wall:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2870-akg-k450-headphones.aspx?gclid=CLGCxaWFkq4CFUoifAodUAz0Ig