[StoneFree]

I have never listened to a quality pair of headphones, only the ones with the various walkmans I have bought. I was listening to my CD walkman for the first time in ages and I thought the sound was a lot better than when I am listening at work. The headphones were the ones supplied with my Sony D-EJ725 player which I think are MDR-E805's which are apparently really bad, but sound so much better than the ones I am using at work from my 14 year old tape walkman.

I think the main sound difference is caused by the heads of the in-ear headphones being bigger and plugging my ears better causing better bass response.

I still want to replace the work headphones with some more in-ear ones, but not ear-canal ones as I have had problems with my right ear lately with some kind of blockage causing about 80% reduction that I had to take anti-biotics to clear, which started when I tried to remove some wax.

I both love and hate bass in music, I never ever turn the bass boost on. If a song has good bass in the original recording then I want that bass to come through. Most people I know seem to turn the bass boost on resulting in to my ears a muddy performance.

On the player in my car for example music never sounds bassy until you are playing tracks with good bass in. A good example of this is anything from "Stanley Road" by Paul Weller.

I am looking at either Sony phones or the Sennheiser MX Series at the moment. Are the MX series going to provide a better sound quality than the Sonys?

My main reason for going in-ear rather than closed such as the Sennheiser HD-497s that I can get for £30 is that I had at one point a long time back has some Sony closed headphones that although they still worked the headband snapped in two and they were therefore unusable. Are headphones now any better built/rugged?

Would I notice a large difference between the MXs against the 497s?

My music tastes are Thrash, Metal, Blues and Soul and I would like them to sound good with all of these music types.

Any experience playing music one the headphones by the following artists would be especially welcome. BB King, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age and Faith No More.

 

[Necros]

IMO ear buds are one of the worst sounding designs, they don't offer a good seal so you only get treble. I did have some Aiwa earbuds and they were good but they only lasted for a year.

I would go for on-ear or superaural phones. The larger around the ear are good also. Are you looking for closed or open phones?

Since you mention rock music, the Grado's are good for that. The new SR-40's are £40, only a little bit more.

Checkout the Sennheiser PX100 & PX200.

 

[StoneFree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros I would go for on-ear or superaural phones. The larger around the ear are good also. Are you looking for closed or open phones?

I am not sure, I don't really now the difference. I am not too bothered about isolation unless it is terrible.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros Since you mention rock music, the Grado's are good for that. The new SR-40's are £40, only a little bit more.

When I was looking at one of the headphone review sites it said that there are no official Grado dealers in the U.K. Is that correct and does it matter?

 

[Lisa]

I never heard of the HD497's headband breaking. I don't own them so I don't know for sure. Some Philips headphones and the bose triports are reported to break easily. I wouldn't write of full sized headphones just because one pair in your past broke.

How much $$ are £30?
The Alessandro MS-1s would suit you nice. They cost $99 shipped. Providing you don't need isolation and are not in a situation to bother others with your music. Because others can hear your music when you wear them.

Are you planning on using this tape walkman at work? What model is it? Maybe someone here knows it...

About the MX400/500s I have a pair of E801s and the MX500s beat them hands down!

The PX200 are not good IMO and the PX100 you might not like because they emphazise on the bass somewhat.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFree When I was looking at one of the headphone review sites it said that there are no official Grado dealers in the U.K. Is that correct and does it matter?

That is incorrect and it doesn't matter. Grado is heavily overpriced everywhere except in the US and retailers in the US are forbidden to ship abroad. Grado is therefore out of your pricerange. The SR-40s haven't been in production for a long time and are very hard to come by anyway.

The Alessandro MS-1s I mentioned are almost identical to the Grado sr125 but cheaper and they DO ship abroad. For all us non US citizens they are the answer to Grados no outside US shipping policy.

I'm sure there are a lot of good options for you. But I haven't heard all good headphones in your pricerange. Just wait for more people to chip in.

 

[Necros]

£30 is $55 USD.
I wouldn't say the PX200 "aren't good" they aren't bad either. For portable use they're worthwhile consideration. Collapsible too, although I think they're a bit fragile.

As for headphone types..

Earbuds
Canalphones
On ear phones, open and closed (PX 100 & PX 200)
On ear sueraural, open and closed (Grado RS-80, Beyerdynamic DT 241)
Around ear, open and closed (Sennheiser 650, can't think of closed model)
Exotic types like stax etc (electrostatic)

I would suggest having a listen to Sennheiser and Grado sound, as both different. Also checkout open and closed designs.

As for Grado dealers not too sure about that...I've got the RS-1 and there are spare parts available over here.

 

[Andrea]

It may look like quite a leap, but from good in-ears like MX450 (& MX500) I'd go directly to headphones like the HD555 and the Alessandro MS-1.
HD497 is not that great a headphone.

 

[StoneFree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa Are you planning on using this tape walkman at work? What model is it? Maybe someone here knows it...

No I am not using the tape walkman anymore. I am just using the supplied headphones at work through the headphone socket of the computer and listening to all my favourite tracks shuffled from MP3 rips.



P.S Sorry for not getting back to my own thread earlier, hotmail is currently down so I did not get any email notification of replies, and I have only just refreshed the page.

 

[Necros]

Using a computer soundcard as a source will invalidate any reason to get higher end phones. Since this is for work though you'll probably want sealed phones.

Do checkout the PX-200, they're not that bad
Also heard the Beyerdynamic DT 241 (closed super aural) very very comfy and available for £30-£40. Only had a quick listen but seemed nice sound.

http://www.beyerdynamic.com/com/prod...eets/d742.php3

 

[StoneFree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necros Using a computer soundcard as a source will invalidate any reason to get higher end phones. Since this is for work though you'll probably want sealed phones.

All though work is the main reason for buying these, I have being having trouble that the walls are to thin and music has being annoying the neighbours. So would probably use them after 11pm at home as well. The headphones from my Sony D-EJ725 walkman wont plug into my hifi because of the volume control, and the other end that plugs into the volume control is not long enough, at about only 10mm long.

 

[starfarer]

well my computer soundcard (TB Santa Cruz) sounds much better than my 5.1 amp,CD player, portable CD player, RioRiot, Intel Pocket Player, Sharp MD player,Iriver IHP120(now sold) ,Iriver IMP-350 and Marantz universal DVD player with same songs. I tried with every heaphones i've and difference was with all of them and actually i can very well differentiate the sound.Another thing is My most expensive headphone is Grado SR60

.

I'd owned MX500 and Sony MDR-E888 before and MX500 got crushed and E888 "fell off".Between two i'd preffered E888 for sound as MX500 sounded too "dull" for me. I got E888 for the price of MX500 on auction.And both are too fragile for my liking.But if i got another E888 on cheap i'll definitely buy it.

With earbuds i didnot knew "isolation" as most block some reasonable outside noise but after using SR60 on road i'm longing for one earbud

. So past 2 days i was using some sony earbud and instantly realised i'll be Grado all my life

.Listening from computer with SR60 i really really enjoy music. NOW THATS WHAT I CALL MUSIC!!!

Save some,wait and buy SR60 if it's for home use.

 

[drminky]

Stonefree, really do check out the px100 and px200. The px100 sound better IMO, and are cheaper, but with perhaps less isolation. Whether you need this isolation depends on how loud you play music (if you've got co-workers sitting next to you), and whether you wanna use them on the tube to work as well.

I work in a facility where pretty much EVERYONE works with headphones, and to be honest, there are few problems with open-backed headphones annoying anyone. You CAN use open backed on the tube, but you gotta crank them up a bit, so everyone else will know what your listening to!

The px-100s go for £30 or so on Tottenham Court road (I got mine from 'Ask'), but no doubt you can talk em down a bit on that

If you're listening directly from a cheap'n'nasty soundcard like the ones in my office computer, I don't recommend the grados - they are incredibly unforgiving to harsh and grainy sources!...and they leak sound more than just about any other!!

 

[StoneFree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drminky Stonefree, really do check out the px100 and px200. The px100 sound better IMO, and are cheaper, but with perhaps less isolation. Whether you need this isolation depends on how loud you play music (if you've got co-workers sitting next to you), and whether you wanna use them on the tube to work as well. .. .. .. The px-100s go for £30 or so on Tottenham Court road (I got mine from 'Ask'), but no doubt you can talk em down a bit on that

My collegue at work bought the PX200s from Tottenham Court road. I don't think that the isolation should be too bad as 90 percent of the time I don't hear his music. Yet whenever he takes them off to answer the phone and doesn't turn the sound down, I can't believe that he listens to music at such a high level. Its not fair people listen to music far louder than I do and yet I've got Tinnitus

 

[Necros]

I've just bought the Beyerdynamic DT 241, running them in now. I'll let you know what I think of them. Also got Sennheiser PX200 and Grado RS-1's.

 

[drminky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFree Its not fair people listen to music far louder than I do and yet I've got Tinnitus

Tell me about it!

At least we're aware of the risks so hopefully our hearing (or what's left of it) will stand the test of time...