TV Headphones for films

[admin_exported]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to buy a pair of headphones for when I watch films at night. I live in a flat and can't have the sound on too loud. Since I don't have surround sound, I would like to recreate this, as far as possible, in headphone form - if this is even possible, and more so, given my limited budget.

I sit around 9-10ft away but would prefer a longer cable (5-6m), since I've heard wireless ones, unless very expensive, aren't quite as good quality in terms of sound.

Is there anything that is especially good for the sound on movies, ie so that explosions and gun fire don't sound flat, but that also do speech well.

I would need two pairs, is there someway of doing this ie a split?

My budget per pair is roughly £50. So far I'm considering the following:

Sennheiser HDR130 for £57.99

Sennheiser HD62 TV for £43.99

Any comments or advice would be appreciated, since I have no idea about headphones.

Thanks

 

[idc]

You cant recreate surround sound as such, but you do get a more involved and intimate sound with headphones compared to speakers. I think Sennheiser make/made a surround sound headphone set up, but I don't think it worked as such. There is also the AKG K1000, which are head speakers. But they are no longer made, are very expensive and still don't count as surround sound.

You are right going for wired and extension cables are easily available on ebay etc.

You want dynamics and Sennheiser should do it as they are good all-rounders. Why do you want two pairs? For £110 you can get the HD595 which do bass and you could try the Grado SR60is. Both leak sound, I take it that is OK. You do need to check the headphone out specification of the TV as it may not be powerful enough to drive larger headphones. The lower the ohms the easier the headphone is to drive. So the HD595s at 50 ohms and the Grados at 32 ohms should be fine.

Also, you should try your headphones for size as with extended listening comfort is as important than sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your post. I looked into the two models you suggested, and although I see they are very good - very positive reviews on amazon - they are more than double my budget. I need two headphones for when I watch a film with someone.

I've checked out the sennheiser hd215 closed back headphone, which at £35 is within budget, and its 32 ohms, which you suggest should be fine. I know that they won't come close to the above but I will try and demo some, if i can find a place that does this - maybe John Lewis.

what should I be looking for in technical specs, other than ohms? (response bandwith, sensitivity, - the higher the better?)

Thanks for your advice.

 

[ear]

Sorry for barging in.can these http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/home_en.nsf/root/private_headphones_wired-headphones_500155?Open&row=3 be any good? I've seen them very cheap.

 

[idc]

hmtb:

Thanks for your post. I looked into the two models you suggested, and although I see they are very good - very positive reviews on amazon - they are more than double my budget. I need two headphones for when I watch a film with someone.

I've checked out the sennheiser hd215 closed back headphone, which at £35 is within budget, and its 32 ohms, which you suggest should be fine. I know that they won't come close to the above but I will try and demo some, if i can find a place that does this - maybe John Lewis.

I see now re your budget. I have not heard the HD215s, but closed back to prevent sound leakage is a good idea and I do think Sennheiser is a good allrounder. John Lewis is an under-rated place for hifi, though the last time I was there looking at headphones they were all packaged and there did not appear to be any out to try.

hmtb:

what should I be looking for in technical specs, other than ohms? (response bandwith, sensitivity, - the higher the better?)

The only reason I mentioned ohms was because of the headphones being driven from the TV. As for tech specs, they are not a great indication of how they will sound, so it does not matter.

Out of interest, are there two headphone jacks on the TV?

 

[Anonymous]

No, only one headphone jack, but I was told that there are ways round this, like a split (cheap way) or heaphone amp (expensive way). I'll have a look in a shop, when I next have time. If JL don't hav any to test out then, I'll go and and ask at my local sevenoaks.

I was quite impressed with a set of bose headphones, when I was in the apple store, but they were...erm....not cheap at £275. Back to amazon I think for a cheaper pair. I think I will end up with sennheiser, grado or something similar at around, or slightly above the £50 mark.

 

[Anonymous]

I tested the sennheiser hd 515s and they sounded good. I'm thinking of getting either these, the 555s, 595s or the Sony mdr v500.

Does anyone know which are best? I will be using them for my iphone mainly and also for films.

idc,

would you still go for the 595s out of this bunch?

Thanks

p.s. i've increased my budget to a maximum of £100, and will just buy a cheap second pair.

 

[Anonymous]

May I also apologise for barging in here also.

Will you definitely be using the H/Phone out form your TV? I say this, because most TV's no matter how good will have pretty nasty headphone amp circuits driving the phone socket. For this reason, it seems silly to spend upwards of £40 on a pair of decent Sennheisers if the amp driving them is nasty.

If your TV has a stereo line out then I would suggest going for a half decent cheapish H/phone amp. (say, around £50) which will make your good Sennheisers sound a whole lot more like they were designed to. Obviously any amp. that you buy has to have 2 out's for yourself and someone else, but there are a few good ones to choose from. It will also bring your films to full dynamic life, instead of a dull flat 'empty' sound which is a possibility using the h/phone amp built into your TV, especially if you split the load with a splitter. It really will sound pretty naff, regardless how good your phones are.

If this is not possible, and you use a DVD Player with line outs then use those instead to drive your phone amp.

Another option, as long as you are not using the TV's auxiliary speaker outputs already, is to buy a line-level signal source equalizing headphone controller. Put simply, this just allows you to use your external speaker outputs as a signal source for your phone controller.

A very good one is the 'Art Head Tap' (about £38 inc. VAT, StudioSpares.com)

It's totally passive, so no extra power is needed, and should sound a tad better than the TV phone jack due to the better quality speaker amp's built into your TV. It has 2 stereo phone outs. It will never sound as good as a dedicated phone amp. but may help solve your problem.

Oh, and as for the choice of phone, you can't go wrong with a half decent pair of Sennheisers. I have personally used a high end pair of Senn's for studio work for many years, and currently use HD800's for mastering audio professionally, and swear by them.

But please, may I suggest something. Your budget of £100 is not a lot, so HD595's, or HD600's and upwards are WAY too good unless you get a very good phone amp. Good phone amp's can cost £150 upwards on their own, without the headphones.A budget phone amp. with multi-outs (such as Behringer's HA400 - around £25) is not really good enough to warrant spending more than £25-30 on a pair of phones.

I use a pair of 595's at home with my Cambridge Audio seperates amplifier, and are fantastic phones, with beautifully dynamic and detailed sound, but unless you are going to invest in a decent h/phone amp. it is simply not worth spending out on better quality Senn's such as the 595's or higher, as it really is a waste of money - and you won't feel the benefit. And I do mean, feel. I listen to my TV via my Cambridge amp. and 595's, and films such as The Matrix produce super wide sound fields and thumping low end. So, no arguments here as a choice of phone to watch TV - but the amp. is important! I can't stress this enough.

If you are using the TV out jack, and splitting the signal, or if you get a budget phone amp., then I would maybe just check out a cheaper pair of phones such as the HD465's (approx. £33) as they are cheap and fantastic to wear for very long periods without becoming uncomfortable, or perhaps check out Audio Technica ATHM30's (approx. £38) as they are also great sounding phones designed to wear for extended periods.

The best thing to do is to find a good auidiophile shop and try some out (ideally plugged into a TV if that's what you decide) or plugged into a good phone amp. if they have one, and see which ones suit you best.

Oh, and please, please try and up your budget just a little more if you can help it

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

TheEarthAngel,

Thanks for your advice. I will look into getting a headphone amp to connect to my tv to improve the performance of the headphones. I take your point that it's not worth buying a decent pair of headphones if the source isn't good enough to drive them.

Having said that, I don't want to spend more than £100 on a pair, especially if I'm going to have to buy an amp. It's just too much money for the rare ocasions when I'll be staying up so late that the sound of the tv will inconvenience my neighbours.

I wont be using the headphones for anything other than my ipod and my tv late at night, so for me, the combined cost of amp and phones, is just not worth it.

I may end up getting a £50 pair as I had intended and not worry too much about it - it'll depend on the price of the amp. The good h/phones i've seen have 3m long cables which are not practical for listening to my ipod on the go, and the fact that the 595s are open back is also making me think seriously about buying them.