How much to spend on headphones primarily for an iPod/iPhone?

[bay24]

I am sure this has been done before but at what point is the extra money wasted on expensive headphones connected tO an iPod. I see people regularly spending £100-£300 on in ear phones (i am presuming for mp3 players) but when it comes to over ear phones when you get to that kind of money it seems people talk about headphone amps, dacs and iPods not getting the best from them.
The main reason I ask is I currently have some klipsch x10s for listening on the move. Previously I had some Grado sr60 and some Goldring ns1000. The reason for the change was that the goldrings kept getting interference from the noise cancelling with my phone and the grados just leaked too much sound to work on the move commuting so I went for something compact. I do like the x10s but I don't enjoy the sound as much as with either of the over ear phones I have had. I have been looking at options for over ear closed backed phones which would give me the Grado sound without the leaking and I seem to be finding quite expensive options like the audio Technica closed backed ones.
How much should you spend on over ear closed back headphones for listenIng on the move and do people have any recommendations? I am not adverse to using a portable headphone amp (as long as it's not too big..) and my budget could be quite flexible for the right phones but if lots of money is wasted because of the playback ability of the iPod I wouldn't want to spend Alot if that makes sense.

Sorry for the rambling post, hopefully it makes a bit of sense, (its been a long day) any help would be great.

 

[Olli1324]

It may have been asked before but it is a good question. A lot of listening is done on the move so having a good portable set up can be a very worthwhile investment.

With no budget it is difficult to offer recomendations but based on the fact that your current buds are quite high end, perhaps it would be worth considering Sennheiser IE8s or perhaps something from Ultimate Ears? If you want to try some on ear headphones then maybe Sennheiser PXC300 or Bose QuietComfort 15s? Good headphones which don't leak sound can be quite difficult to find. In ear monitors tend to have a good foothold in the high end portable market.

As for headphone amplifiers, maybe try working your way up the Fiio range; they often get good reviews. Or an iBasso?

Hopefully that will get you on track a bit.

 

[bay24]

Thanks for your response. I think I want to move away from in ear phones as I spent a fair bit On the x10 and don't think it was that good value for the sound quality they produce especially when the grados and goldrings were better for less money. I was thnking closed back over ear headphones. I used to have some pxc200 (think that was the model) which qt the time I realy liked but they broke in the end. I hadn't really thought about the quiet comfort may take a look. While looking around I came accross this: http://www.accessoryjack.com/Detail.bok?no=1690 Sounds like a good price considering they won a what hifi award for the £500-£800 price range but i have not seen the site before so not sure if it is reliable. These are a step up from what we have been talking about but I could be tempted if people's experience says I would be able to use their potential when on the move with a compact headphone amp which I suppose was what prompted the question in the title of the thread. It's funny you should mention the fiio amps, I have an e5 on loan from a friend at the moment and it has made a difference but still feel I could do better with over ear phones.

 

[Lee H]

I use an E5 too. Make sure you also have the LOD cable so you bypass the internal DAC on the iPhone/iPod. I've got QC3s for use in the office and I really like them. I've just ordered some X10i's for using on holiday or anywhere I want to be more discreet.

The biggest impact comes from the quality of the recording though. The better the 'fones, the more revealing they'll be of compressed sound. If possible, use a lossless format or as high a bit rate as you can.

As you move up the range, it becomes a case of how easy they are to drive too.

 

[John Duncan]

No reason not to spend a good chunk on headphones to use wi an iPod - my Grado SR80is sound magnificent with all my iThings. I wouldn't go higher than the 80s in the Grado range, though primarily because that's the highest model in the range with a 3.5mm plug, as opposed to a quarter inch one, and adapters are a faff.

That said, if I used my grados on a coo mute, I'd probably get my head kicked in by my fellow passengers who object to my choice of listening material (since they'd hear it almost as well as I would) a in which case my first stop would be sennheizers, though I don't know which model would be the equivalent of my Grados. Have a feeling Clare recommended HD380s recently, but could be wrong...

 

[bay24]

I use an E5 too. Make sure you also have the LOD cable so you bypass the internal DAC on the iPhone/iPod. I've got QC3s for use in the office and I really like them. I've just ordered some X10i's for using on holiday or anywhere I want to be more discreet.

The biggest impact comes from the quality of the recording though. The better the 'fones, the more revealing they'll be of compressed sound. If possible, use a lossless format or as high a bit rate as you can.

As you move up the range, it becomes a case of how easy they are to drive too.

I thought a LOD just bypassed the iPods volume control. Isn't it just things like wadia and Onkyo docks that bypass the internal dac or have I got it wrong?
I am now ripping things to lossless and much of the rest is 256 or 320 so hoping that will be okay. I hadn't really seriously considered bose phones, think I should try to get a listen! I hope you get on with the x10!

 

[Lee H]

Apologies, you're right, it bypasses the internal amp, not DAC. I shouldn't type when distracted!

As I said, I like my QC's but brand new, they couldn't be considered good value. Have a look for a used pair. I also demoed the B&W P5 and liked them A LOT.

As John said, whenever I've tried Grado cans, everyone has been subjected to my tastes. I work in an open plan office, so I reven returned the NS1000's - which is a real shame as they sounded great. Good luck on your quest. I found it hard to demo headphones as not all that many places carry a range.

 

[bay24]

That said, if I used my grados on a coo mute, I'd probably get my head kicked in by my fellow passengers who object to my choice of listening material (since they'd hear it almost as well as I would) a in which case my first stop would be sennheizers, though I don't know which model would be the equivalent of my Grados. Have a feeling Clare recommended HD380s recently, but could be wrong...

I think this is my problem, I want Grado sound without the potential punches from commuters! From what I have read it sounds like to get a comparable sound without leakage I would have to spend more on a closed back design. Will have a look at the senheisers you mention, are there any other options which would be like the grados but not so noisy to everyone else?

On another point;
Has anyone dealt with accessoryjack.com (ie for the link in my post a while back)It looks like an australian company working through hong kong, I am weary of things sold from hong kong as was duped when i was a little more trusting on eBay (fake headphones in fact!).

 

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[caesar44]

I think this is my problem, I want Grado sound without the potential punches from commuters! From what I have read it sounds like to get a comparable sound without leakage I would have to spend more on a closed back design. Will have a look at the senheisers you mention, are there any other options which would be like the grados but not so noisy to everyone else?

Try the ATH-ES7's.