My Best Option From This List? ($100-$200)
Sep 6, 2011 at 5:38 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17
NoahZ

NoahZ

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I'm looking to buy my first pair of high-ish end on-ear headphones. My budget is between $100 and $200, preferably under $200. I'm currently looking at 7 different sets. I primarily listen to rock (and its various sub-categories), but I also listen to essentially everything else besides country and classical. The headphones I'm looking at are:
 
 
-Grado SR80i ($100)
-Grado SR125i ($150)
-Audio-Technica ATH M50 ($160)
-Ultrasone HFI 780 ($149)
-Ultrasone HFI 580 ($128)
-Ultrasone PRO 550 ($140)
-Denon DN HP700 ($100)
 
I've heard different arguments for each of these. They all seem very nice, but I can't truly decide between them. I definitely want to avoid having to use an amp; I'd like to keep my costs down for the time being. 
 
So which of the above would be my best bet? Or, is there something else in the same price range that would be better for me? Please explain your recommendation, thanks so much! 
atsmile.gif

 
Sep 6, 2011 at 5:54 PM Post #4 of 17
If your main genre is rock, I'd go with the Grado SR80i. That said, I haven't been disappointed with any song through them, though I don't listen to electronic/techno/dubsteb or any similar genre so I can't comment there.
 
Sep 6, 2011 at 5:55 PM Post #5 of 17
Get the Grado SR125i's and dont look back. 
 
Sep 6, 2011 at 9:08 PM Post #6 of 17
If i were you i'd go for the Ath M50's or the Grado 125i, by the way you can find most of those headphones for cheaper than price listed, check this out, and yes these sites are legit.
 
M50's:http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/ATH-M50 (Click the lower price option, it will give you a 60$ Coupon) (Total:110$)
There also was a Grado Sr80i Promotion, I dont know if its still on for 15% of on www.headphones.com
 
I dont know if you are concerned about price, but ill just advise you to always look around for good deals :)
Happy buying
 
Sep 6, 2011 at 9:36 PM Post #8 of 17
Grado 125s or Ultrasone 580
 
Sep 6, 2011 at 9:42 PM Post #9 of 17
Heya,
 
It depends if you want to use it strictly as a home-desktop-type-headphone for listening, or if you want to wear it while you walk around. Ie, do you want a closed back headphone for isolation or do you want an open headphone. Based on that, here's your two headphones:
 
Open: Grado SR225i
Closed: Ultrasone HFI 780
 
Both give you great mids and highs with respectable bass, but not too much bass to make it all boomy assuming you don't want that.
 
Very best,
 
Sep 7, 2011 at 6:23 PM Post #10 of 17
 
-Grado SR80i ($100)

-Grado SR125i ($150)

-Audio-Technica ATH M50 ($160)

-Ultrasone HFI 780 ($149)

-Ultrasone HFI 580 ($128)

 

That's the list (I've gotten positive opinions on all of them). Which of those five? And yes, this is sort of a bump. 

 
Sep 7, 2011 at 7:33 PM Post #13 of 17


Quote:
noahz said:
An excellent, excellent summary. I think I can probably choose between the three given those criteria (leaning toward the HFI 780).
Thanks!
Click to expand...


Heya,
 
Excellent choice. It's a very nice refined HFI series headphone and capable of rendering all genres pretty well. Plus, it looks classy and sleek.
 
Very best,
 
 
Sep 9, 2011 at 7:52 AM Post #14 of 17
Get yourself a Grado good sir. I got an SR-125i to let go of if you're interested.
 
But small plug aside, how important is bass to you? Ultrasone gives you bass while being somewhat refined, thats why their headphones are expensive. They're also kind of tough compared to Grados. Then again, I have a beater pair of SR-60's I've been using since '07 that I toss into a backpack, same with my SR-225 from '08.
 
Also Grados are open, if you need to block out sounds and annoying people, Grados aren't the best. They're better for intimate listening sessions or if you don't really care and just are mindful of the volume in quiet public places.
 
The SQ is very good with them, they lack sub-bass rumble of a lot of other headphones, but you really have to peel back some of the distracting layers of the music to really hear it all sometimes right? The mids are very warm, the treble really articulate and bright, and the mids are warm if you're listening to the right music, otherwise they're still the highlight of the headphone to me. Bass if you can find the right song actually kicks a fair bit of butt, but once you get used to Grado sound, it's really hard to move on. Some people here including myself, own multiple pairs of Grados despite owning "better" ones.
 
Sorry for the fanboy post, I'm just easily excitable. I'm sure Malveaux understands :)
 
 
Example: I don't listen to mainstream rock, but these were the reason I got into Muse.
 
Sep 9, 2011 at 5:03 PM Post #15 of 17

 
Quote:
chris_himself said:
Get yourself a Grado good sir. I got an SR-125i to let go of if you're interested.
 
But small plug aside, how important is bass to you? Ultrasone gives you bass while being somewhat refined, thats why their headphones are expensive. They're also kind of tough compared to Grados. Then again, I have a beater pair of SR-60's I've been using since '07 that I toss into a backpack, same with my SR-225 from '08.
 
Also Grados are open, if you need to block out sounds and annoying people, Grados aren't the best. They're better for intimate listening sessions or if you don't really care and just are mindful of the volume in quiet public places.
 
The SQ is very good with them, they lack sub-bass rumble of a lot of other headphones, but you really have to peel back some of the distracting layers of the music to really hear it all sometimes right? The mids are very warm, the treble really articulate and bright, and the mids are warm if you're listening to the right music, otherwise they're still the highlight of the headphone to me. Bass if you can find the right song actually kicks a fair bit of butt, but once you get used to Grado sound, it's really hard to move on. Some people here including myself, own multiple pairs of Grados despite owning "better" ones.
 
Sorry for the fanboy post, I'm just easily excitable. I'm sure Malveaux understands :)
 
 
Example: I don't listen to mainstream rock, but these were the reason I got into Muse.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the enthusiastic input. As it turns out I've decided to go for a pair of closed rather than open (I have to return my IEMs because they're kind of ruining my ears, they cause me some physical pain) and I need something full-sized that'll block out sound/be able to be used portably. 
 
 
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