Headphone purchase advice

[Crill]

Hi, I've been contemplating purchasing some decent headphones for a while now and could do with a bit of help / advice. I'm not an audiophile as such, I just like music but I don't know too much about headphones.

My budget is approx £200 & the headphones are primarily for using at home but also for taking on holiday and will be played for the most part through my iPod so something that doesn't require a portable amp (extra cost) would be ideal. Also, I wear glasses so not sure if over ear would be comfy or not and anything that blocks out external noise and doesn't leak sound would be preferable as I'll probably use them at home mostly when the wife and kids are about. It's probably asking a lot on my budget but so far i've narrowed it down to the following:

AKG Q701 - these seem to get great reviews but I understand an external amp is required to get the most out of them.

Bower &Wilkins P5 or 7 - these look nice and I've read some great reviews of these but are you paying for the name here or are they actually any good ? Also I think the over ear ones P7s are out of my price range.

Sennheiser Mementom - either the on ear or over ear - again the reviews seem very positive for these and they look fantastic.

Any advice on any of these would be much appreciated plus any other recommendations. I understand it's personal preference for headphones and I'm trying some out this weekend but like I put at the start I know little to nothing about them !

thanks Luke

 

[Ryanr1987]

Heya,

The Q701 is excellent but I find it not to be ideal foe your needs. It's ever so slightly warm sounding with a smooth kind of effortless sound. The star is the imaging and soundstage.

The P7 was so boring. For the price asked you expect a hifi product and they just don't deliver for me. They look the part but lack that emotion and stunning sound I enjoy. Some like them but I find they are a rip off in terms of sound.

The Momentum is excellent but one issue I had was the lack of extention on the treble losing the detail. On the plus side it's relaxing, fatigue free with a warm and cosy type of sound. It can sound a bit claustrophobic at times.

I recommend under £200

Denon D600

They are

Warm

Detachable cables

Strong bass

Fairly clean and detailed

Nice soundstage

If you can save up I really recommend the Shure SRH1540. It's the best closed headphone I have heard under £600 along with the W1000x.

The shure are so spacious with the largest soundstage and. Tue best positional accuracy I've heard for a closed. They are stunning, warm, detailed, airy, comfy, efficient, organic, just an amazing phone. They are expensive but so worth it! Thesw also are strong and textured in the bass.

 

[dalethorn]

The P7 is a good value since it's very well balanced (albeit a slight 'V' shape signature) right out of the box with no further need for tweaking. It's very well made and efficient enough for portable music players. The K701 or Q701 I'm not personally familiar with, but I understand those are a more classic 'neutral' signature as compared to the P7, which has more bass and slightly more treble (just enough treble to balance the bass). The Momentum full size has a soft bass and treble ("relaxed" they call it, sort-of like relaxed jeans, for the older customers). The Momentum on-ear has a rather strong bass like the P7, but has significant colorations and much less fidelity than the P7.

"Personal preference" doesn't really operate here, because you're asking for advice and that suggests your preference isn't really set as yet. I had a set of preferences in 2011 that are much different today, so yours may change too, and if you're concerned about investing in an expensive headphone, don't stop here - check out some more sites and feel free to ask more questions.

 

[Crill]

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

 

[JoelSim]

The AIAIAI TMA-1 is an excellent headphone and the velour pads on the special edition Young Guru are some of the most comfortable I've ever used, so much so I got some myself. It's a good Danish brand not to be confused with stuff like Beats.