My beloved UEs decided to perish ;(

[TheLittleNinja]

Hi, I've spent last 2 months looking for perfect headphones for use at home with a budget of up to about £250 and finally made up my mind to get the AKG K712 (and an amp some time in the future). But today the cable on my Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 decided to break after 7 years of amusing me. I really loved these earphones and compared the sound of much more expensive phones to the UEs (although with my very small head and tiny ears even smallest tips weren't exactly comfortable). Now they don't do them any more, cheapest UEs are about £300 and my old ones were about £70 which I think was absolute bargain. Now I'm totally baffled, as I need to get either two pairs of phones within this budget or a set of over-ears closed back headphones that I can use both at home and outside (although they would be used at home for 95% of time). I listen mostly to classic rock, sometimes some heavier stuff, classical music (love especially sound of violin) and I would also use the phones for movies. My source is just a laptop at home and an iPod classic outdoors (both with lossless files). I'm after a clear, detailed and open sounding phones and I would like them to have a decent but not dominant lows - I'm by no means a bass head and I found my pre-UE Sennheiser CX-300 to be too much bass heavy. I tried the very praised Sennheiser Momentums over ears at my local store and to be honest I didn't much like them, sounded a bit artificial to me and not nearly as clear and detailed as my UEs. I don't really know what options I have and in which direction I should be looking, so please, help me out, I'm completely lost and distraught! Thanks,Pawel

 

[dalethorn]

B&W P7.

 

[JoelSim]

B&W P7.

Yes or the Beyerdynamic DT880. Old school but could be absolutely perfect for you. Open sound but closed back, comfortable and the 250 Ohm version will be more than sufficient for your 5% out and about use. Supremely comfortable too. They would suit your taste and listening to a tee.

 

[TheLittleNinja]

Thank you Dale and Joel very much for suggestions. I've just read a few reviews of both and they may indeed suit me very well. Will try to audition both at the weekend (if I can find them locally).

 

[saintsboy]

If you still love the sound, why not replace the cable? Im certain your model is replaceable as the cable should detach at the earpiece. Just replaced my UE Triple Fi 10 cable for 16 quid from Ebay.

 

[TheLittleNinja]

Indeed the cable detaches! All the time I was convinced detachable cable was only available from Super.fi 5 upwards.

Yes, I still love the sound and for moving around they're perfect. I can go back to plan A then and keep looking for home use only headphones, which is great news. However I'm still thankful for the above suggestions, as they may fit this purpose as well.