5 most under rated headphone brands?

[K2e2vin]

You guys are talking about completely different crowds.  Of course you won't see much people on the streets with Shure, it's mainly musicians/pro-sound/DJ's that see/use them.  If talking about the "streets", I've honestly only seen one person with Beats headphones and the rest usually have Apple iPod ones.  I'm pretty sure many people who've set foot in a music store(like Sam Ash, Guitar Center, etc.) have seen the name.
 
Even now, many people with high-end headphones don't really carry them around; but you never know what they have at home!

 

[ardgedee]

Among mass-production manufacturers of high-quality phones, I don't think you can top German Maestro for obscurity. Which is kind of like being the tallest dwarf, but it's a shame; they make some good phones on par with Beyerdynamics' and Sennheiser's midline and high-end products (short of flagships like the HD800, anyway).
 
There are also small manufacturers, arguably boutique-scale, that are still in business: Precide, TakeT, RudiStor.

 

[salannelson]

Anything that isn't Sony, Sennheiser, Bose, Monster, Skullcandy, Panasonic, or Coby.
 
Around here, I think Pioneer and Koss are somewhat underrated.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Yep, you're not the only one who think Sennheiser has a mediocre line. Far from crap, but mediocre. Except the HD800. That said, I haven't tried the T1 nor LCD-2 (but would love to!).
How didn't I mention JVC? Bah! yes, vastly underrated brand.
 
Grados are good, but the flimsy feel of it's build quality and it's 'one trick pony'-ness gets to me.

The HD800 is better than the T1 and LCD-2 IMO, well the T1 and HD800 is more of a coin flip. I prefer modest stax too the HD800 though

 

[sugarkang]

Maestro is MB Quart right?
I used to love those speakers in my car. 
Best sounding things ever.
 
Though, I don't think the headphones output that much bass?

 

[yifu]

Haha MrGreen is a know LCD2 hater around here but i'll have to agree T1=HD800 in most aspects.
 
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Yep, you're not the only one who think Sennheiser has a mediocre line. Far from crap, but mediocre. Except the HD800. That said, I haven't tried the T1 nor LCD-2 (but would love to!).
How didn't I mention JVC? Bah! yes, vastly underrated brand.
 
Grados are good, but the flimsy feel of it's build quality and it's 'one trick pony'-ness gets to me.

The HD800 is better than the T1 and LCD-2 IMO, well the T1 and HD800 is more of a coin flip. I prefer modest stax too the HD800 though

 

[K2e2vin]

If German Maestro is MB Quart, then I didn't know they even made headphones!  I actually have a MB Quart amp I've been trying to sell.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Haha MrGreen is a know LCD2 hater around here

Yep.

 

[3602]

MB-Quart

 

[estreeter]

Its funny, but German Maestro had a raging FOTM headphone when I first arrived at Head-Fi, and the hype was largely being kept alight by one or two very 'vocal' board members. Every new 'What headphone should I buy ?' thread was answered by one or the other with a resounding 'German Maestro - these cans are unbefreakinglievable !'.
 
I will give the GM crowd one thing - their headphones would have outlasted most of the FOTM cans that have come and gone since the heady days when this was posted:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/406658/the-german-maestro-gmp-8-35-d-monitor-in-the-studio-serious-about-audio-indeed
 
If Sennheiser and AKG could be accused of 'marketing over engineering' (I dont see Beyerdynamic in the same light, and AKG will always be hamstrung by Harmon's clueless corporate tools), I suspect that GM suffer from the inverse, but clearly they are still in business. You have to respect that. 

 

[ardgedee]

Quote:

Maestro is MB Quart right?
I used to love those speakers in my car. 
Best sounding things ever.
 
Though, I don't think the headphones output that much bass?

 
 
It's a complex timeline thanks in part to the nature of corporate acquisitions, but basically Peerless MB headphones became MB Quart headphones in 1985, then the MB Quart headphone company went under for good in 2007, its assets are acquired and (for our purposes) it picks up where it left off with everything but the MB Quart name; it's now GermanMAESTRO. The phones still look pretty nearly the same as they did since the late-80s.
 
MB Quart as a brand of speakers and electronics is now effectively an unrelated company and still a going concern. Just to confuse things, GermanMAESTRO also makes speakers.
 
There are a couple pages on Head-Fi and Wikiphonia about MB Quart and German Maestro, for a more detailed history.
 
My QP 95x and especially QP 70 have good enough for bass for me. The pair of QP805s I tried a month ago also had reasonable bass, probably more than the rest. The QP 70 is kind of wooly, but that might be because the pads are wearing out. I suspect the no-bass reputation is mostly because of the QP 85, which was their flagship for years. I'd love to try a pair someday anyway, bass optional, just to see why they were kept in their catalog for so many years. Similarly, I've never tried a pair of GMP headphones, but a couple of their models look like they'd be interesting additions to my modest rack of MB Quart products.

 

[olor1n]

I stand by my call of Alessandro as being underrated on this site. There's a thread where a generous member is giving away his MS-1 and he's only received 18 PMs for it. If it was a giveaway for an M50 that number would be astronomical.

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

I stand by my call of Alessandro as being underrated on this site. There's a thread where a generous member is giving away his MS-1 and he's only received 18 PMs for it. If it was a giveaway for an M50 that number would be astronomical.

I know which of those headphones I'd prefer to pay postage on. 
 
Lets face it - with only 3 models, each of which is based on something from the Grado line, is it really surprising that Alessandro  doesnt get a lot of keystrokes ? If it was a completely separate line, I might agree with you, but 3 headphones that are effectively 'modified Grados' ?
 
That said, the MS-Pro is exactly 200 dollars cheaper than the RS1 here in Oz - difficult to ignore that sort of price difference. 

 

[dxanex]

I would also add Fischer Audio to the list

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

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I stand by my call of Alessandro as being underrated on this site. There's a thread where a generous member is giving away his MS-1 and he's only received 18 PMs for it. If it was a giveaway for an M50 that number would be astronomical.

I know which of those headphones I'd prefer to pay postage on. 
 
Lets face it - with only 3 models, each of which is based on something from the Grado line, is it really surprising that Alessandro  doesnt get a lot of keystrokes ? If it was a completely separate line, I might agree with you, but 3 headphones that are effectively 'modified Grados' ?
 
That said, the MS-Pro is exactly 200 dollars cheaper than the RS1 here in Oz - difficult to ignore that sort of price difference. 

Fair point. I've read posts where member have expressed a particular Grado to be great but just too shrill. In most instances the Alessandro line never gets a look in. And I don't agree a "modified" or "refined" Grado line doesn't warrant attention because there are only 3 models. The fact that they're "tweaked" Grados should attract more attention, but that's not the case and is why I feel Alessandro underrated here.