help which headphones

[Blacksabbath25]

looking to buy some really good headphones

budget £400-500 must be good for this kind of money ... wife got me some cheap headphones for my birthday they are sony mdr-xb450ap they are ok but destort when i put the vol up high .... metal ,rock music *smile*

need to use them with my hifi which has a really good headphone input i also use them with my iphone and ipad .

 

[Deleted member 108165]

looking to buy some really good headphones

budget £400-500 must be good for this kind of money ... wife got me some cheap headphones for my birthday they are sony mdr-xb450ap they are ok but destort when i put the vol up high .... metal ,rock music *smile*

need to use them with my hifi which has a really good headphone input i also use them with my iphone and ipad .

I can only comment on what I actually own: HD650's are sublime but won't sound their best through portable iThings. Grado's get good reviews for rock, (I've got a pair of 225's), and are an easier load on iThings. Some say the 225/325 are the sweetspot in the range without spending silly money. Only problem with Grado's is that I find them damned uncomfortable. Sennheiser are supremely comfy... could wear them all day long.

 

[insider9]

That's a very good budget. I need to warn you thought as getting headphones of that caliber may want you to crave a speaker upgrade.

Can you also specify whether you're looking for open back or closed back design?

With that out of the way I'd wholeheartedly recommend AKG K712Pro (open back) which I got recently. Mostly neutral, natural sounding with a slight bump in bass. They don't favour any particular musical style but that extra bump in bass will definitely help with the music you like. I've recently posted a review if you have time to read it.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I read your review on the AKGs they sound good ...

i was going to richer sound this afternoon to look at some headphones but not to sure what to get to be honest but richer sounds only sell AKG 501s mk2 I think it is ? But basically I want a pair that will not distort have good soundstage and sound natural with the right bass response

In regards of open back and closed it's not an issue if I do end up with open backed ones as they will never end up outside or do I have an issue with bothering anyone with noise only the wife and she's not bothered .

 

[Blacksabbath25]

had a demo at richer sounds this afternoon i do not know if any of the headphones i had a demo with had been run-in or not ?

theses are the headphones i had a demo with ...AKG K550 MK2 which to me sounded lifeless and a small sound . next was AKG N60 NC i felt the same about this too dull sounding small sound . next was sennheiser momentum 2.0 i liked theses the sound was good with a good soundstage but what put me off was a short lead and thin lead plus the treble was a little bright . next was sennheiser HD700 not as good as the cheaper momentum 2.0 . next was the OPPO PM3 did not like them dull sounding and a small sound .

i had all headphones connected to a roskin capsain cdplayer hooked up to a K3 roskin amp was this setup to blame for the bad demo of theses headphones or is it that they were not run -in headphones ? i was disappointed to be honest i felt that a £400 set of headphones sounded like a £40 set of sony headphones and the sony sounded better and the sonys have a longer lead too . so out of the demo the sennheiser momentum 2.0 were the best and they cost £200

 

[insider9]

I can see thaty earlier comment from a couple of hours ago wasn't posted after all. It's either the spam filter or the issue forum went through yesterday.

As to K550 I was in a way expecting that they may be a wrong fit. They're neutral and most people complain about lack of bottom end. Not really rock oriented.

I'm surprised you've not tried Grado SR325e as at current £249 they're a very good value. I've actually been to RS not so long ago and was really disappointed with they're choice.

The thing that surprises me most is that you were overall underwhelmed with the whole experience. If I was to guess it was Roksan K3. I demoed it a while back, granted via speakers and couldn't believe anyone would pay £1,300 for it. Although you may be right that the headphones were not run in properly.

I'd demo again some other models at a different dealership. Surely with your budget you should be delighted with your purchase. I'd wait and see what Dalethorn has to say. I'm sure he'll point you in a right direction.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Yes I was very underwhelmed by the demo and disappointed

i tried headphones right up to my budget of £400 and just felt that the £40 Sony headphones that my wife got me for my birthday were better then a £400 pair of headphones .

surely this can not be right the leads on these headphones are so thin for hifi use ? And the use of a 35mm jack that Walkman territory .

build was very good for the cans I looked at apart form the leads and 35mm jacks , lead lengths

the sonys I've got they would be perfect if they did not distort when pushed as they are quite rich in sound for £40 not bad value at all and they are closed back type too but really after openbacked headphones with a quality lead like they used to make them .

i had not been into richer sounds for 6 months or so but did not see any salesman I knew

I picked the roskin caspain cdplayer thinking it had a headphone input but when I looked it does not and then the sales man got the K3 down which to be honest I am not a fan of as like you it's over priced for what it is and not the best sounding amp around but I know the caspain has a really good dac onboard but the K3 has know co- axe so we had to use phono leads for connection to the cdplayer .

but with my Yamaha A-S 2100 it has a top headphones input with input trims so I was kind of looking forward to see what this would sound like with a decent set of headphones

 

[insider9]

How far away from Sheffield are you? I can offer you a demo of K712 if you're near or passing by.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Most headphone cables are thin, you don't need Van Damme 6mm to drive hp's *biggrin*

This is gonna be really difficult as not many places have heaphones out for audition purposes. Amazon would be a good place - if you don't like them send them back. Or maybe invest in a pair of Beats *bomb*

I reckon you should get two pairs: HD650 and SR225 or 325 *biggrin* they all have full size jacks too! But the Grado's suffer from a short lead.

Be prepared headphones are an acquired taste and you will never get the visceral bass sensation that you get from speakers. I'm deffo a speaker man myself, but heaphones do have their uses.

What are you looking for? Clarity or pronounced bass?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I am Cambridgeshire mate

i think I will find a better place to demo some headphones ....

i am sure it must of been headphones not burned in yet or the equipment they used because I just felt they all lacked expect the 2.0 which I nearly got but the lead put me off .

anyway just looked on amazon and see that you can buy a longer leads with the bigger jack for hifi use which is what I was after but thought being proper hifi headphones the bigger jack and longer lead would be a standard thing . How things change ...

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Beats you can keep them *smile* I am old fashioned mate I like old school I just thought headphones were headphones it's takes the biscuit when a £40 pair of headphones kicks the ass of a for £400 pair *wacko*

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Joking a side here do you reckon that the roskin K3 headphone input was not that good so that's why a lot of the headphones I tried sound dull and small sounding like they had a little speakers inside pardon the pun but a £400 set of headphones should sound amazing I would of thought ?

 

[insider9]

There are models with replaceable cables, one of the reasons why I went with K712.

For music you like I'd say try Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic. I haven't heard any of them at that budget so base that solely on what I've read. Grados mentioned by DougK would be on my list definitely, so worth a listen.

 

[insider9]

Joking a side here do you reckon that the roskin K3 headphone input was not that good so that's why a lot of the headphones I tried sound dull and small sounding like they had a little speakers inside pardon the pun but a £400 set of headphones should sound amazing I would of thought ?

Quite right £400 headphones should sound like circa £2,000 speakers imho. That's why I said be careful. Buying too good of a headphone and your Opticons will be up for an upgrade.

Roksan probably didn't pay particular attention to headphone amp. Surprising as they do make decent equipment.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Even though the whole speaker/headphone comarison is like comparing apples to oranges it is still valid. I would put my little PMC's just a shade better than the HD650's. Heaphones will always succeed where intimacy reigns, speakers succeed where soundstage and scale are more important.

 

[Deleted member 108165]

In all honesty I doubt it was the fault of the Roksan, this is the headphone-out on the main amp so should have ample power to drive most heaphones. It all boils down to what you like, clarity, bass, openess, etc. I lent my pair of HD598's to a guy at work who wanted some headphones for his daily work-outs, he returned them saying that they were far too polite... he ended up buying a pair of Beats.

 

[insider9]

In all honesty I doubt it was the fault of the Roksan, this is the headphone-out on the main amp so should be ample to drive most heaphones. It all boils down to what you like, clarity, bass, openess, etc. I lent my pair of HD598's to a guy at work who wanted some headphones for his daily work-outs, he returned them saying that they were far too polite... he ended up buying a pair of Beats. 

Maybe so but the amp is quite disappointing in my opinion (not detailed enough, unrefined in bass). I do agree with your point that headphones just as speakers are very personal especially if you're listening to one particular musical style.

 

[insider9]

Even though the whole speaker/headphone comarison is like comparing apples to oranges it is still valid. I would put my little PMC's just a shade better than the HD650's. Heaphones will always succeed where intimacy reigns, speakers succeed where soundstage and scale are more important.

Fortunately I like both apples and oranges

 

[Deleted member 108165]

The main difference is that with heaphones all the action happens inside your head, only speakers can provide that total physical immersion. I think that Sabbath is possibly having trouble getting his head around what clarity and closeness can actually sound like from a £400 headphone, it can come across as being a little thin and too polite. The hard job is finding something which suits your taste and sometimes with headphones this can mean that a cheap pair can sound better than a far more expensive pair... it's in the ear of the listener where this decision has to made... not necessarily in your wallet *smile* So maybe the Sony's suit his taste more. Everything in hi-fi is a very personal choice, if you like it then that's all that really matters.

 

[dalethorn]

Even though the whole speaker/headphone comarison is like comparing apples to oranges it is still valid. I would put my little PMC's just a shade better than the HD650's. Heaphones will always succeed where intimacy reigns, speakers succeed where soundstage and scale are more important.

Soundstage and scale serve as reasonable interpretations of the experiences, but the literal truth of the difference is that headphones deliver the recording directly to your hearing sans the room, whereas the speaker makes the room an integral part of the sound. And even then, it's not absolute - you get some large headphones that have enough space in the earcups and you start to move a little away from the purely in-head sound. You get smaller more close-up speakers and you diminish the room effects. The variety of choices we have today means most people will never be able to afford that range of variety, which should mean that we need places to go where we can listen and make comparisons based on the actual sound, not just "I have this much money and this much living room space, and that's the only equation."

 

[Blacksabbath25]

i am just about sold on the sennheiser momentum 2.0 over ear ones

the wired ones ... but with these you can not change the lead for a longer one as its fixed

i like the style of these headphones and the full sound they give but they are closed back and i wanted open back headphones

i might try pc world as they sale headphones as well i think its going to be a case of keep trying an till i find a pair i like but the sennheiser 2.0 are nice .

 

[Deleted member 108165]

Sabbath, don't settle on something that doesn't meet ALL your requirements. There are so many heaphones out there that I'm sure you will eventually find a set which ticks all your boxes.

If your heart is really set on the Momentum's you can always purchase an extension lead, they've got a short lead as they're designed to be used with portable iThings. Alternatively do try the Amazon route, if you don't like after 14 days just return for a refund.

 

[pauln]

I am Cambridgeshire mate

i think I will find a better place to demo some headphones ....

i am sure it must of been headphones not burned in yet or the equipment they used because I just felt they all lacked expect the 2.0 which I nearly got but the lead put me off .

anyway just looked on amazon and see that you can buy a longer leads with the bigger jack for hifi use which is what I was after but thought being proper hifi headphones the bigger jack and longer lead would be a standard thing . How things change ...

There's a place reasonably close to Cambridge (Biggleswade) that you should check out:

www.highendheadphones.co.uk

They should sound their best somewhere like that I should think.

Does sound like Grado's might suit you best. HiFiMan He400 might be worth a try too.

 

[insider9]

There's a place reasonably close to Cambridge (Biggleswade) that you should check out:

www.highendheadphones.co.uk

They should sound their best somewhere like that I should think.

Does sound like Grado's might suit you best. HiFiMan He400 might be worth a try too.

Great find! It looks brilliant, worth a visit for sure.

 

[jjbomber]

the sony sounded better and the sonys have a longer lead too .

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/headband-headphones/mdr-xb950n1

1. Sony

2. Extra bass

3. Noise Cancelling

4. Wireless, no lead.