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OVER-PERFORMING, OVER-ACHIEVING Headphones/IEMs for their price range. Top cost effective cans/IEMS - Page 15

post #211 of 232
12/2/12 at 12:16am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc-holliday View Post

Just ordered the Monoprice DJ Headphone to test myself. We will see.
Anyone else try the HP700 I am going to add a few to the OP and this is one of the ones I am thinking of adding. For the price is it a real overperformer?

Yes on the HP700s. Easily besides the M50, but edges them out for electronic IMO. Build is insane as well. 

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post #212 of 232
12/4/12 at 10:12am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinster View Post

Regarding the pad size. I do not have any issue and my ears fit inside no problem. My coworker is a bigger dude with bigger head and he said that they were comfortable to him.
I'm not sure where you read the comparison with the D2000 but it was myself that previously owned them and the D5000 and sold them both because a didn't like the recess mid and the flabby bass. The HP700 fix all of that. They don't have the same level of sub-base of the bigger brothers but what's there is of good quality IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwinQY View Post

Yes on the HP700s. Easily besides the M50, but edges them out for electronic IMO. Build is insane as well. 

Thanks guys for the input. These have been added to the OP.

Also added Rockit R50 based on |joker|'s recent review.

The monoprice DJ headphone came in the mail today. Will compare with the S500 and Uptown in the coming days.
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post #213 of 232
12/8/12 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc-holliday View Post


Philips Citiscape Uptown -- These replaced my JVC HA S500 on the list. At a slightly lower price point ($65 shipped) they have much more textured bass and more realistic overall presentation to my ears. More laid back highs but more natural. They are a supremely comfortable set of Over Ear headphones meant for portable use. With mic and ipod controls in the cord they are great for use with idevices. The build quality/comfort alone for 60 bucks puts them ahead of most of the competition at this price.
-- Doc

 

700

 

 

We will see Doc, we will see. May the games begin!

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post #214 of 232
12/8/12 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WAYNENUMM View Post

 

700

 

 

We will see Doc, we will see. May the games begin!

 

First impressions of the uptowns: I'm not repulsed lol! One thing that has me worried though is that I have my Samsung Galaxy S2 cranked to maximum volume (so yes, I'm either hearing impaired, or in the process of hearing impairment!). Hopefully though I won't wish that I could drive them any louder. I think I'm at about as loud as I want/need to go, so we should be ok. I still have to try out the zip though...

 

Edit: D'oh! I forgot about the volume control on the cable. I stuck it at maximum (and I think I will tape it there like you suggested lol!) and that has solved the volume issue smile.gif. I gotta admit, they're sounding very nice...


Edited by waynes world - 12/8/12 at 5:52pm
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post #215 of 232
12/9/12 at 2:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by WAYNENUMM View Post

 

First impressions of the uptowns: I'm not repulsed lol! One thing that has me worried though is that I have my Samsung Galaxy S2 cranked to maximum volume (so yes, I'm either hearing impaired, or in the process of hearing impairment!). Hopefully though I won't wish that I could drive them any louder. I think I'm at about as loud as I want/need to go, so we should be ok. I still have to try out the zip though...

 

Edit: D'oh! I forgot about the volume control on the cable. I stuck it at maximum (and I think I will tape it there like you suggested lol!) and that has solved the volume issue smile.gif. I gotta admit, they're sounding very nice...

Hey buddy.... (that's hilarious about the volume control post.... :D  ya that is their biggest flaw I think)

 

Glad you got a pair and you are enjoying them.  You are right they are not as efficient as the S500 for sure and do need a little more umph.  They sound great from my clip and ipad.   Do let us know once you get to use them some more.

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post #216 of 232
12/9/12 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc-holliday View Post

Hey buddy.... (that's hilarious about the volume control post.... :D  ya that is their biggest flaw I think)

 

Glad you got a pair and you are enjoying them.  You are right they are not as efficient as the S500 for sure and do need a little more umph.  They sound great from my clip and ipad.   Do let us know once you get to use them some more.

 

Will do, thanks. They sound good right out of the box. Does extensive burn in have much of an impact?

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post #217 of 232
12/9/12 at 3:03pm

hello,

 

        not to get off yhe subject-but what kind of tips are you guys using on the r1 and mh1c? i love both of them.

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post #218 of 232
12/11/12 at 2:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by WAYNENUMM View Post

Will do, thanks. They sound good right out of the box. Does extensive burn in have much of an impact?

I didnt "burn" them per se. But i have noticed no change from normal use.
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post #219 of 232
12/11/12 at 9:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc-holliday View Post


I didnt "burn" them per se. But i have noticed no change from normal use.

 

As much as I want to say that they suck, I just can't! beerchug.gif

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post #220 of 232
12/12/12 at 4:45am

The JVC FXD70 deserve to be on the list. To my ears it's better than the more expensive FXD80. It have better bass, better focus and slightly better clarity.

 

The fantastically cheap Superlux HD381F for sure. It has a thread here. Compared to in-ears 10 times it's price.

 

The Superlux HD-660 also deserve to be on the list.

 

 

 

However the most interesting thing is not a cheap in-ear or headphone. It's an advanced DSP software developed in Sweden made by Dirac.

They transform the pretty mediocre sounding t-Jays Four to something comparable to a Shure SRH1840. This is where the future of affordable audio and state of the art audiophile sound lies. If they only could develop this software to fit a really comfortable and isolating in-ear with better audio than t-Jays Four we might have the nirvana of cheap portable sound.

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post #221 of 232
12/12/12 at 9:53am

@Doc-holliday - thanks for recommending the philips uptowns. I'm thoroughly enjoying them. Did a quick A/B with panasonic HTF600 I own and these have nicer mids, nicer resolution and more sparkle (in a good way). Bass is definitely deeper as well, although the pannys sometimes have nicer control in bass reproduction (depends on the song) .... soundstage is suprisingly close to the pannys, but pannys are still larger. In general, much more musical and fun sound out of these philips (guitars strings just shine and sound blissful!!)

 

@ Waynenumm thanks for the heads up about winners. My local winners also had them for 50 bucks, such a steal!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc-holliday View Post


I didnt "burn" them per se. But i have noticed no change from normal use.

Initially I was getting a little bit of muddy bass sound. Specially bass guitars sounded bloated and just overwhelming. For about 10-20 hours of continuous playback I found them to have changed quite a bit, and it was much tighter. There was also no more bass bleed...  this affect could have also been all psychological and maybe I was just not used to their sound signature.... anyway, definitely doesn't require much burn in, but maybe overnight??

 

I do find they are harder to drive than my other phones, but I don't have an amp, so I dunno how much the sound would improve with an amp... any suggestions?

 

As for S500 - I'm pretty interested in those phones, other than them being more portable, would it be a benefit to own both (philips and s500)? That is, is the sound signature of the S500 that much different which would warrant their purchase to have along these philips? I'm thinking of buying the MH1C as my portable set, but I'm open to buying the MH1Cs and the s500s (sometimes I just find in ears to hurt my ear, my ear canal has a weird shape.. so having a portable headphones as well would be nice)

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post #222 of 232
12/12/12 at 10:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alkyne View Post

@ Waynenumm thanks for the heads up about winners. My local winners also had them for 50 bucks, such a steal!!!!

 

Yer welcome. Pretty amazing deal, that's for sure (especially considering they were $150 not so long ago).

 

Quote:
I do find they are harder to drive than my other phones, but I don't have an amp, so I dunno how much the sound would improve with an amp... any suggestions?

 

I don't have any amps either, and it's a good thing that they don't need to be driven any harder than they do. I can drive them fine on my SGS2 and my Clip Zip, but on my laptop, I often go to max volume and wish I could go a bit higher. I am looking forward to getting the Ele DAC though for my laptop. It is $20, and apparently it amps the sound a bit, and my guess is that it will make the Uptowns sound even better. Search for "ele dac" here:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/586909/the-discovery-thread-new-ericp10-take-tdk-dual-dynamic-ie800-pg-354-ele-hi-fi-usb-18-dac-pg-328

Anybody: how do you make text point to a link (instead of pasting the entire link, like I did above)?

 

Also, the Fiio E11 is a very popular mobile amp which I'll probably break down and get some day.

 

Quote:

As for S500 - I'm pretty interested in those phones, other than them being more portable, would it be a benefit to own both (philips and s500)? That is, is the sound signature of the S500 that much different which would warrant their purchase to have along these philips? I'm thinking of buying the MH1C as my portable set, but I'm open to buying the MH1Cs and the s500s (sometimes I just find in ears to hurt my ear, my ear canal has a weird shape.. so having a portable headphones as well would be nice)

 

Personally, I don't consider any of these headphones to be "portable" in that I won't be walking around the block with them. I do walk around my home with them a lot though :)  I never liked iem's before, but since getting the sony xba3's and the jvc fxd70's, I have really grown to love iem's. And for portability, nothing beats them imo.

 

Anyway, back to the S500's... they are awesome and they do sound sufficiently different from the Uptowns that you can't go wrong having both pairs. With the S500's, I would recommend spending an additional $13 for the ATH pleather pads to lessen  the base and the highs a bit and make them very nicely balanced. They have a very vibrant, detailed, kick-ass SQ, and I find the bass is more punchy with the S500's (but bigger and more enveloping with the Uptowns, if that makes any sense).

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post #223 of 232
12/12/12 at 9:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alkyne View Post

@Doc-holliday - thanks for recommending the philips uptowns. I'm thoroughly enjoying them.
Glad to hear that you are enjoying them!
Quote:
I do find they are harder to drive than my other phones, but I don't have an amp, so I dunno how much the sound would improve with an amp... any suggestions?
This is true. I don't like to use any ipod direct especially at high volumes. I am not a big fan of the amp circuit in the ipods I own. You do indeed need to turn the volume rather high direct from an ipod. I prefer the Uptown from the Zip Clip. It is a much more powerful device believe it or not and you have plenty of headroom. I enjoy the clip because I find it to be very transparent sounding compared to my ipods. It is also super light and easy to control which is a huge plus for me.
Quote:
As for S500 - I'm pretty interested in those phones, other than them being more portable, would it be a benefit to own both (philips and s500)? That is, is the sound signature of the S500 that much different which would warrant their purchase to have along these philips? I'm thinking of buying the MH1C as my portable set, but I'm open to buying the MH1Cs and the s500s (sometimes I just find in ears to hurt my ear, my ear canal has a weird shape.. so having a portable headphones as well would be nice)

Agreed with waynenumm. The S500 does sound sufficiently different to the uptown to own both. More V shaped sig not to mention the on ear completely foldable design makes them more ideal for toting around in a bag. As a note the S500 is also very efficient and you on an ipod out you barely hit half way to reach acceptable volume for listening.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WAYNENUMM View Post

Also, the Fiio E11 is a very popular mobile amp which I'll probably break down and get some day.

It is indeed a must have imo especially for use with a LOD cable for ipod owners. I really enjoy my ipod touch+E11 combo. Very powerful and transparrent and can power some of the heavy hitters when you are out and have an opportunity to audition some headphones.
Quote:
Personally, I don't consider any of these headphones to be "portable" in that I won't be walking around the block with them.
I understand what you mean that you don't like to wear them out as your preference but the Uptown is indeed a very portable headphone minus the fact it does not fold. The cup size is smaller and it has the ipod control, shorter cable, etc. It is not like my Beyers which are just too large for me to be taking out of the house and unless you recable them the cable is way too long on phones like those. So yes I would consider them very much a portable.
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post #224 of 232
12/12/12 at 10:23pm

+1 for the Monoprices! Decent pink noise burn-in and simple recable + foamies = AMAZING 

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post #225 of 232
12/14/12 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
Okay I spent a few moments yesterday comparing the Uptown and the S500 with my newly aquired Monoprice 8323 DJ headphone.

Sound: I would not agree with the moniker these headphones seem to have collected as the "poor man's M50" mainly because that implys they sound anywhere on the level of the M50 which they do not. The bass is very one-note'y and the headphone does have a general almost muffled sound to it. Both the S500, the Uptown, and from my recollection even the S400 pretty much wipe the floor with this headphone in the sound department. Each of which having better extension in both directions (the s400 being just a bit better in this department) and better detail overall.

I decided to not get into re-hashin each phone compared to the monoprice but I would not put it in my top 5 list for sound alone even though the price is lower than all of the above.

Build: The thing where the monoprice makes up the difference is build quality. For it's price is seems quite solid. It comes with the 2 cables (one thin portable and one long home use thicker guage cord). Plus the removable cable is a plus. The pads and shape and general build are similar, albeit cheaper, to the M50 but again not in the sound department.

I would definitely, as an overall package, recommend them as an inexpensive, half-way decent sounding HP for as low as $20. If it were not for the build quality and detachable cable feature I would not even have this on this thread however.
Edited by Doc-holliday - 12/14/12 at 5:21pm
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