HD595 vs HD 555 vs SR60i vs Audio Technica ATH-AD700 vs Goldring NS1000

[admin_exported]

Hey all. First post, hopefully I got this in the right place etc.

I am after some ear cans, will be used for music (a bit of everything), movies and gaming. Budget wise £100 maximum (poor student budget), I don't mind open or closed back as they will only be used in my room. I have been reccomended the 5 different headphones in the title and wanted some input with peoples experiences.

I don't know much about them but this is the info I have:

HD595: Upgrade from HD555, some improvements. £120, but they are £100 on dixons.co.uk although out of stock, would Richer sounds price match this?

HD555: Nicer on the wallet, look similar/the same as HD595, some lower specs, can lack bass punch, £70 on amazon if I remember correctly.

SR60i: Been heavily recommended, £90, but they seem to sit on the ear rather than around it which puts me off. They look cheap and nasty (a minor niggle).

Audio Technica ATH-AD700: Very good sound stage, £90, very good for gaming.

Goldring NS1000: On offer at £50 on play.com, some reports of noise cancelling affecting quality of sound produced. Has its own proper box for storage which appeals. Some reviews state you need to tuck part of your ear into the phone so it doesn't sit on them.

My dad has had a coupe of pairs of high end Sennheiser's recently (no longer sold I think), which felt very comfortable (the Senn's above don't have the extra padding on the headband from pictures I have seen) and had great sound (powered by some very expensive CD player and headphone amp).

They need to have 3.5mm headphone plug or adaptor, a longish cable (3-4m), though would accept shorter if replacements aren't too expensive. They will be plugged into my Creative Gigaworks T20 series 2 speakers to use them as an amplifier (would this work? I used a mini hifi like this previously without problems), with ipod/PS3/PC fed into the speakers.

I aim to try some of them out before I buy if I can find a shop in Southampton that will do this, Richer Sounds is the only one I know of.

Sorry for the essay, thanks for the advice

 

[Anonymous]

I had the exact same dillema and was on the verge of buying the 555 or the 595s. However, i ended up ordering the Senns pc350..got em from pixmania for 79 quid. They have the drivers from the HD595s and apparently one of the best boom mics..so excellent for gaming.

Theres 2 problems with these:

1) the mic is not detachable your gonna look silly wearing them out on ur ipod. But to be honest any cans look silly when worn out and about. So iv got myself some Senns cx300 II in ear ones for my ipod..cost 15 quid from amazon.

2) like the 555s and 595s they apparently lack a lil bass too, but if you google them theres a simple mod that produces masses of bass if your willing to do it.

Heres 2 youtube review for them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSFln9y0cU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt9U0CwTNDs

At £79 i believe the PC 350s are better value than all those you have mentioned. As for the grado's they lack sound stage so will not be good for gaming.

I cant wait for mine to arrive!

 

[Anonymous]

I won't be using them for online so no need for a mic. I don't have online anyway. Purely to have games on a decent volume at night when I should be keeping the volume down as the walls here are paper thin.

I won't be wearing the cans out, just in my room, I have some (albeit rubbish) earphones for use when out.

My speakers have treble and bass adjustments so shouldn't I be able to make up for any loss?

 

[Anonymous]

Yes that should work fine then. The thing with the mic is that the option is there if you ever need to use it. If pixmania still have em i honestly think the price is unbeatable for what essentially are a pair of HD595s with a mic.