How often is too often ...

[abmscopes]

... to visit the John Lewis headphone demo area..? I have never been good at making hasty decisions, but JL do have the widest range of premium headphones available to listen to, in my city. I have therefore been in about 6 or 7 times over the past 2 weeks, trying to narrow down my short-list playing a range of different tracks on each of my favourites. Thing is, the sales staff are starting to avoid me now and are giving me strange looks. I think i've become one of those regulars who shop staff tire of seeing. I should know; I encoutered plenty of them during my retail years.

Anyway, I've narrowed my choice down to Sony MDR-1a, which to me sound stunning and super-comfortable, Bowers and Wilikin P5 2nd series; really pleasant and comfortable to listen to, but not stunning, Bose QC-25 (amazing sound isolation but perhaps not detailed enough sound for me) and Sennheiser Momentum over-ear; does everything right, but Sony's have the edge on definition. OK, so I've just about made my mind up now then, but it has taken me many visits and hours plugging and unplugging my phone upteen times from upteen 'phones.

Is it just me? Do most folk make up their minds within one or two listens?

 

[BenLaw]

Just make sure you buy them in john lewis.

 

[abmscopes]

Oh I will. Quite apart from the fact most of the models are the same price everywhere and that JL offer a 2 year warranty, it is the fair thing to do.

 

[dalethorn]

The ear hears a 120 db range of detail. I can't say exactly what you can hear at home, late at night, when you're very relaxed in a quiet room - perhaps the noise floor could be as low as 20 db or less. But in the dealer shop, no matter how quiet they make it, the noise floor will be probably 20-30 db higher than home, and it will mask a lot of bad that those headphones emit. The Momentum "over ear" (a deliberately misleading term) doesn't really go around the ear completely, and it has a recessed upper treble, to mask its irregularities there. The Sony should be fairly good, although I gave up on them years ago due to the high failure rate. The P5 is a good smooth sound, but a little soft on treble and bass - not bad though - a good portable with good isolation. The Bose is the roughest sounding, and I suspect that Bose is using some kind of electronic EQ, because their earcups have essentially no physical sonic treatments for resonances like all good headphones do. That EQ doesn't result in a smooth sound.

 

[abmscopes]

That sounds about right dalethorn. I have actually been quite surprised at the consistancy of my results each time I darken the door of JL again with a wee listening session. The first couple of times I must admit that some hi-fi snobishness was apparent and I didn't listen to the Sony's or the Bose. I listened to a pair of Beats for a laugh (laugh achieved and 'phones put back switfly), but I was initially concentrating on the 'proper' headphone/hifi brands; Sennheiser, B+W and even the Monsters. However, none of these really set my world alight (a fact i put down to the iffy source of an HTC M8 smartphone, albeit with tracks ripped at a high rate).

I then, out of interest tried the Bose and was actually initially very impressed. The noise cancelling is so effective that you can listen at very low levels, even though this was in a very busy shop a couple of days before Christmas. However the more I listened the more I realised I wasn't hearing a great deal of fine detail, especially at the high-end. But nonetheless very listenable and better in my opinion than the Sennheisers and the Monsters.

Sony, in my mind produce some nice AV stuff and better than average all-in-one hifi's, but I didn't really expect much from their 'phones. However as soon as I put on the MDR-1r's (older model reduced), I was amazed by how much fine detail they retrieved. I could easily hear the master-tape/mic hiss appearing when the mic opened from the vocal track of Ellie Goulding's songs, a detail I knew was there from my home hifi, but was totally smoothed over by the Bose's and most of the other 'phones. Additionally I got nice bass registers from Vangelis stuff; the best of all the sets I had listened to.

A few visits later however, another customer came up to me and upon seeing me putting down the Sony's started waxing lyrical about the 'HD version over there'. He said they were the same price and 'blew the older Sony's out of the water'. So I listened to the MDR-1A's which have very few reviews online yet; I think they were just out October-ish. He was right. The 1a's have a similar sonic signature to the 1r's but everything is just 'turned up'. Not in a brash way though; the bass is tighter and deeper, with that low level studio equipment hiss being even more apparent, so it is obviously digging out more details from the noise floor, well they just sound better and more musical! So there you have it. I wavered a bit today when I listened again in another shop to the Sennheiser Momentum over-ear version (why two different designs with the same name?). They sounded better than I remembered. So back again to JL for another comparison with the B+W P5's and the Sony. Phew, no it's ok, the Sony's still on top

Pity they're out of stock across the city...

 

[dalethorn]

Good observations on the Sonys - I'd say talk to the dealer and ask if the first Sony (or the HD version) doesn't work out, can you exchange it for the other one, and give it a shake. It would also be nice if they had a direct exchange available for 6 months or more (especially if no detachable cable), in case of failure -- or a very fast repair service. All these are good for any purchase of course, but it depends on how much you spend.

 

[JoelSim]

Visit as often as necessary. I've had people visit my site in excess of 30 times before buying. If you look like a tyr kicker so be it, do it at your own speed.

 

[abmscopes]

I kinda, um, ended up buying both of the final 2 in my shortlist

I went with the Sony MDR-1A from John Lewis because everytime I listened to them they just made me smile and I kept hearing things I couldn't hear on other 'phones.

But I just couldn't get the B+W P5 series 2 out of my mind and even went back to listen a few more times and also in a proper hifi shop where they weren't attached to a gawd-knows-how-many-way splitter (JL have all the B+W range wired up to play what you plug in simultaniously

Now a couple of weeks after buying the Sony's my impressions have matured slightly. Yes they are very comfortable to keep on for ages, and the sound quality also assists me in doing this. But a few niggles have arrised which I didn't really pick up on throughout my upteen demos. Firstly these are big headphones and my head is small. I feel that my use is restriced to home-use because I frankly look a little silly with these huge things on. I wanted headphones I could use indoor and out. Secondly that bass... it's certainly fullsome and seems satisfying until I compare with the B+W's whereby I realise that the Sony's may have traded some quality for quantity. The B+W's bass is lighter, but also better defined and accurate/hihi sounding. I'm not surprised to hear that the Sony's were designed in-part by musicians rather than hifi types

Lastly I'm starting to think that the over-ear design is not really for me. My ears get quite hot when they're on and I do get a pressurised vacuum effect sometimes. In comparison the B+W's sitting on my ears seems to suit me better. I say 'seem' because I haven't got my hands on my purchase yet.

Having said all of that I do still like the Sony's; they do more right than wrong sound-wise in my opinion. So I decided to keep them and also buy the B+W's for more portable use and critical listening or for more bassy tracks which can get a bit wearing on the Sony's after a while.

I had not budgeted for buying 2 sets of headphones and the B+W's were going to have to wait quite a few months, but I was naughty and did a search on ebay to see if I could soften the £250 blow somehow. I was about to resign myself to the fact that this is just what they cost, even on ebay (so I might as well buy from JL or the hifi shop), when way down the listings I spotted an typo; 'bowsers and Wilkin'... for £150 listed as 'new other' claiming that they had just been opened to check contents but were unused. I await their arival to see if I've made a mistake; newsflash- poeple sometimes lie on ebay! I do feel bad about not buying them from a dealer, but I did at least buy the Sony's 'properly' and that sort of price cut was too hard for me to resist!

 

[JoelSim]

The Bowsers & Wilkin will also be good when you play Mario Kart.

 

[abmscopes]

OK, they really were brand new; cables still wrapped and not a single finger print. Impressive for the money.

After a few weeks living with both these headphones I don't feel so bad about not being able to choose between them over the space of a few shop visits; because I still can't choose between them; they sound/feel different and each pair suits different moods and types of music differently! Also the B+W are good for taking out and about; the Sony's are a bit too big for this, but are uber-comfy for keeping on for ages in the house.

Admitadly the industrial strength head-clamping force of the B+W takes getting used to, but I perceive that this is lessening slightly now with use.

So it's mr 2-'phones here... though the wife thinks I've only bought one pair, but that's a story for another thread..

 

[ID.]

Nothin wrong with owning multiple headphones. It seems that most dedicated headphone listeners have a few different sets. It's relatively cheap and easy to do compared to a full setup with speakers, etc. A good way to enjoy a few different sounds. Different cans for different music and different moods. Why stop at 2?

 

[JoelSim]

Nothin wrong with owning multiple headphones. It seems that most dedicated headphone listeners have a few different sets. It's relatively cheap and easy to do compared to a full setup with speakers, etc. A good way to enjoy a few different sounds. Different cans for different music and different moods. Why stop at 2?

Yay!

 

[Green Bow]

What, no mention of Grado?

 

[abmscopes]

Grado appear to do mainly open-backed designs and I prefer closed-back to keep the sounds to myself. Also I feel that they are maybe just a little too good, in terms of transparency, for portable use. Thirdly I couldn't find any dealers locally where I could listen to Grado's.. but in the spirit of aiming to own multiple sets, I will endeavour to seek them out in the future!