Upgrading my cans. Will I hear better sound with more expensive cans?

[admin_exported]

Hi.

Currently I am using Sennheiser HD202.

I am looking for an upgrade.

These are my most important contestants

Bowers and Wilkins P5

Bose QC 3

Beyerdynamic T50P

But I am wondering, can I hear the difference considering the premium price of these three over my current sennheisers?

Furthermore I read things about the beyerdynamic and the B&W that bass is not that good.. The bose would be chaeply made and for noise isolation it would be good, but the sound.. not worth the money...

And for the T50P, the earcups seem smaller then then the ones I have now.. Are the comfortable?

I read the review of whathifi.. But other opinions are very welcome

 

[datay]

Need to know if you are using an iPod/Pad or other portable device, and what kind of sound you're actually after. I'd recommend adding a FiiO E5 anyway, for £20 with the FiiO line out dock I don't understand why anyone wouldn't.

The B&Ws and the Beyerdynamics are so different there's no real comparison. The former are very warm, the latter very cold. The latter deliver taut bass, but you do need them to fit your ear. I have quite small ears and the pads weren't too big - but I think they need time to settle into shape.

If you're using them to commute, I would save some money and spend £100 less on any number of options - as so much will be lost to environmental noise anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

I will be using them to commute/ipod.

Mainly house music, but also a lot of pop and classical music

 

[Anonymous]

LC86, keep your money. Senn 202s are great headphones. For portable I use AKG K450 - also superb for £50. I personally don't think you will find much more for the money you're willing to spend...........

 

[quadpatch]

I think you will notice quite a lot going to this level.

Have you considered the Sennheiser HD25-1 II? They are a bit less than the two you mentioned (£160) and getting a little long in the tooth now but... They isolate very well, have some bass for your house music, are pretty detailed, nice and light but very strong / sturdy but have easily replaceable parts if anything does happen to them. I have these and I really like them! Ranked #7 on the Head-Fi forums for best headphones of all time, that's got to be worth something

If you'd prefer something a bit newer and more awesome consider the Beyerdynamic DT1350, I would ignore the T50p but the B+W P5 looks interesting too, I heard one of these in a department store and it sounded interesting for mids but from the limited time I spent with it I would say a bit lacking in bass.

If you want to look good while getting almost the audio quality upgrade mentioned above I would recommend looking at... no not that Dr Dre 'Beats' rubbish.... the V-Moda Crossfade M-80. IMO they look stunning and according to reviews they sound similar (both in audio quality and style) to the Sennheiser HD25-1 IIs.

If you are looking to squeeze the most quality from a portable device I would also recommend looking at Cowon audio players but I realise if you have a smart phone and/or an itunes account it's a pain in the bum. Looking for a free upgrade? Give lossless compression a try if you haven't already.

 

[Paul.]

I'm probably going to get shot for saying this, but I would recomend the Bose OE2i. I just picked up a pair in the states (after demoing a whole bunch of headphones from b&w, beats, klipsch and sennheiser) for relatively cheap, and I love them. Sound great for dance and hip hop, very nice mid to lows where the kick resides. Bit lacking in the low lows, only noticed this with classical and not with dance.

These headphones arnt as good as a proper set of sennheiser cans (in the pure hifi sence), but they are very good at real world use. They isolated very well on the plane on the way home, and because they are very low impedance you don't need to faff around with external headphone amps, plenty loud enough already. They also fold up very small and come with a case. If you buy the 'I' version like I did, it comes with volume and skip controlls as well as an iPhone microphone.

Just to reiterate, they will not beat a full size can from one of the reputable hifi brands, but for real world commuting with an iphone they are much better (in my oppinion).

 

[Anonymous]

I'm probably going to get shot for saying this, but I would recomend the Bose OE2i.

@ Paul Hobbs I appreciate your thinking but I had the previous version of these.. They broke after a couple of years and wasn't to excited in the end. Personally I like the sound of my sennheisers better the the oe that I had from bose.. And noise cancellation wasn't...

 

[bigboss]

I've got Bose QC15 & it's brilliant with clean vocals, and excellent bass & detail. I've heard the P5 but I didn't find it as exciting as the Bose. It was a little bright sounding to my taste, & as you said, not great with bass.

 

[Paul.]

I felt the same, my Bose Triports disintegrated and I never intended to buy another pair, but the build is significantly improved. They just happened to be lined up with everything else, so I gave them a punt in store and was pleasantly supprised. much nicer bass than my old HD280pros (to be fair, I bought those for video editing, I needed something alot more honest). My HD270 only lasted two years, so I guess it's all down to luck.

 

[bigboss]

I had a Bose QC2 before this, which lasted 6 years. Unfortunately, I left the battery in for too long which leaked and damaged the headphones. I contacted Bose, who offered me the QC15 as an exchange for £119

 

[v1c]

As you mentioned commute/ipod i would consider looking into Atomic Floyd Super Darts.... expensive for in ear however cheaper than your current list and built for life.

 

[dalethorn]

Currently I am using Sennheiser HD202.

I am looking for an upgrade.

These are my most important contestants

Bowers and Wilkins P5

Bose QC 3

Beyerdynamic T50P

Here's my summary of those three. The B&W P5 are close to neutral sounding, but soft in the low to mid bass and soft in the mid to upper treble. The QC3 is one of the worst sounding headphones I've heard, and unlike the QC15 which sounds fairly good with some EQ, I could not fix the QC3 at all. The T50p originally was not nearly as well received as the DT-1350 (its lookalike cousin, which I owned), but I have heard that Beyer changed to the 1350 pads for the T50p and also changed the headband and clamping, so the newer manufactured sets may be better than the originals. The DT-1350 would be nearly perfect and very neutral except for the large emphasis in the lower mids that impart a substantial hollow or "dry" sound, as some have put it. Personally, if I had another chance at a DT-1350 I would try some lower midrange EQ to see what that does - I didn't try that the first time around.

 

[Anonymous]

I have not tried the senhisers. or any others other than the B&W p5's which i own. i have treid other bose models. The way i decribe the P5's is like listening to a top notch stereo where as the Bose is more like listenig to a normal stereo. i by far prefer the P5's over many other headphones i have tried and would highly recommened them to anyone out there

 

[chelstondave]

Not sure where you live but I had a bit of spare time and popped into Covent Garden apple store and they have several headphones on demo. I preferred sound of B+W P5s as these were most neutral and detailed I thought - have grado 80is at home and am thinking of upgrade to B+W. Anyway it might give you an opportunity to directly compare several as it will come down to personal taste (though Beats by Dr Dre sounded very bassy and unfocussed to me and can't imagine why anyone would prefer them but I guess some must do).

 

[dalethorn]

I know the Grado PS-500 is nearly twice the price of the B&W P5, but I would consider it as a very good upgrade from other Grados or nearly anything else under £500-£600, including the P5. Technically the P5 is slightly more neutral, in the upper bass perhaps, but the PS-500 way outshines it in so many ways. Clarity, high frequency detail and extension, soundstage, deep bass, etc.