[widge34]

Looking to purchase a pair of On ear portable headphones. Source will be an ipod touch or HTC phone. Music ripped at 320. Ideally phones will be closed back. Looking at around £50.
Considering the AKG450. Any other recommendations?

 

[widge34]

Anyone?

 

[EddieE]

Haven't heard the AKG one, but best thing to do is go to a shop and try a few out.
 
You could consider the Creative Aurvana Live, it's pretty good for the price. Small ear cups though, so if you've got big ears they won't be comfortable.
 
Other than that I don't know much that fits the bill. If you open it up to open phones too, the Koss Portapro and KSC75 are both good.
 
Hope that helps, truth is not many people here know a lot about headphones under £100.

 

[widge34]

Thanks for the reply. Now consideing uping the price to £100. Any suggestions?

 

[EddieE]

For just over £100 you can get the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which is probably one of the most recommended heapdhone in history, not because it is super-amazing, just because there is very little else that performs solidly in that price bracket.
 
For around the same price you can also get the Sennheiser HD 25 SP II, which as far as I know uses the HD 25-1 II drivers with a cheaper headband and cups. The 25-1 II is a great sounding headphone so they might be worth considering. It's supra-aural (pads on ears) though while the M50 is circum aural (pads go around the ears).
 
The Aurvana Live is still worth considering. It doesn't feel as solidly built as either of the above headphones, and doesn't fit big eared people like me, but it did sound kind of nice when I tried it out.
 
There are probably others but I don't want to recommend anything I haven't personally tried (I haven't tried the 25 SP II but know the 25-1 II well so...). Hope someone else can chime in with other ideas, and good luck with the search.

 

[controlmajortom]

Quote:

For just over £100 you can get the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which is probably one of the most recommended heapdhone in history, not because it is super-amazing, just because there is very little else that performs solidly in that price bracket.
 
For around the same price you can also get the Sennheiser HD 25 SP II, which as far as I know uses the HD 25-1 II drivers with a cheaper headband and cups. The 25-1 II is a great sounding headphone so they might be worth considering. It's supra-aural (pads on ears) though while the M50 is circum aural (pads go around the ears).
 
The Aurvana Live is still worth considering. It doesn't feel as solidly built as either of the above headphones, and doesn't fit big eared people like me, but it did sound kind of nice when I tried it out.
 
There are probably others but I don't want to recommend anything I haven't personally tried (I haven't tried the 25 SP II but know the 25-1 II well so...). Hope someone else can chime in with other ideas, and good luck with the search.

HD25 SP does not use the same drivers as the HD25 II and sounds significantly worse.
 

 

[Clockmaker]

The Fostex T50 are making a wave of excitement. not sure how 'portable' you could consider them, but they are cheap and closed back. Other headphones to consider would be the SRH440 or 840.
 
if you're willing to go open back, grado sr80i is a good choice for that price.
 

 

[EddieE]

Quote:

HD25 SP does not use the same drivers as the HD25 II and sounds significantly worse.
 

 ^ I'd read it had, but different cups. Regardless, the HD25-1-II are out of his budget.

Re. the Fostex T50RP - not very portable and not completely closed either (vented) and use a 6.3mm plug. They are pretty efficient for orthos but still really need a bit more amplification to show what they can do.

 

[widge34]

What about the Audio-Technica ATH-WS55i? They seem to get good reviews and designed for ipod. Just found them for £55

 

[EddieE]

Havn't heard that one mate, but if you're going for Audio Technica the ATH-M50 is a pretty good bet. It ticks a lot of boxes for the money - sounds really good, circum-aural so good comfort, good isolation, can be powered from an iPod, folds up to cram into a coat pocket or bag. Not much else offers the same quality within your budget.