[milkweg]

Look at some of the other gear they recommend and you will see they are not known for recommending sub par products.

TAS Speaker Buyer’s Guide 2009: desktop to stand mounted | AV Guide

Skullcandy Titan
$50
skullcandy.com
More so than most other in-ear headphones anywhere near this price range, EHT Titans serve up a sweet combination of near-neutral tonal balance, good dynamic punch, and an unexpected big helping of sonic subtlety and detail—especially in the midrange, where most of the music happens. The bass is a bit overripe, but that’s a nitpick given how many things these do so well for so little money. Chris Martens, Playback, May 2008




Bose Quietcomfort 2
$299
bose.com
The overall octave-to-octave balance of the Quietcomfort ’phones is quite good, and transparency is fairly high. Tom Martin rates them on a par in pure musicality with some of the better Sennheisers. And they have noise cancellation, which TM considers a must when in transit. Reviewed by Tom Martin, Issue 166

 

[obobskivich]

first of all, I don't see why it matters that they suggest this

second of all, it looks like a compilation of various review sources

thirdly, notice how the skullcandy's are rated as good "in their price range", and even on head-fi its been posted that the cheapie skullcandy ECH's are decent for the money

 

[milkweg]

That's not my reason for posting. It is counter point to all the people that say Skullcandy and Bose are crap.

 

[Maxvla]

Under headphones: BEST

Grado SR60
Sony MDR-NC500D
AKG K501
Grado GS1000
Bose Quietcomfort 2

These are supposed to be the best headphones out there? The signatures of these 5 headphones couldn't be more different. Looks like a jumbled mess.

 

[obobskivich]

oh, I understand your point now

I thought you were making the point "oh wow look at this these guys really dropped the ball" not "see, not everyone hates them"

things like this happen all the time, the Grace m902 made it onto Stereophile's 2008 recommended list, right alongside the Benchmark, even though a lot of threads on head-fi list it as a mediocre component, and I'm sure theres a number of people who wouldn't agree with their speaker and transport picks

edit
@ maxvla
it might be best currently for sale, or some other budget consideration?
I see the GS-1000 is listed, so we know it isn't limited to something like $300 or less, or $250 or less, however most of the rest of those are fairly affordable for the average user (the Bose being the only other exception, at $299)

consider that most other flagship/reference 'phones are either out of production or nearly double the price of the GS1k (Edition 8's anyone?)

 

[vvanrij]

Nice, the SR60 and GS1000 in the same lineup.

 

[dcpoor]

the k501's have been discontinued for about 2 years. so i dunno why they're mentioning that.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

I heard these Quietcomfort 2 at home (a friend brought them with him), comparing them to my other cans.

The SR-60 blew them right away without a need for a second listen. After the first seconds listening to them, the first obvious thing that stood out, was the extremely muddy sound. The mids were a disaster. Treble wasn't detailed either but stood out and made the high hats too loud in comparison to guitars and stuff like that. Bass extension and detail wasn't good either, so while it wasn't a really deep bass, it was an overwhelming one. And as this isn't enough the bass distorts at really low notes.

I jumped directly to the GS-1000, plugged them in and put 'em onto my friends head. He lost the big grin he had, when he came in before... probably he did throw his Bose away or something afterwards

.

No, but they really were a mess... I don't get how you can put "QuietComfort 2" and "well balanced" into one senctence. The cake is a lie!

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkweg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Look at some of the other gear they recommend and you will see they are not known for recommending sub par products. TAS Speaker Buyer’s Guide 2009: desktop to stand mounted | AV Guide Skullcandy Titan $50 skullcandy.com More so than most other in-ear headphones anywhere near this price range, EHT Titans serve up a sweet combination of near-neutral tonal balance, good dynamic punch, and an unexpected big helping of sonic subtlety and detail—especially in the midrange, where most of the music happens. The bass is a bit overripe, but that’s a nitpick given how many things these do so well for so little money. Chris Martens, Playback, May 2008 Bose Quietcomfort 2 $299 bose.com The overall octave-to-octave balance of the Quietcomfort ’phones is quite good, and transparency is fairly high. Tom Martin rates them on a par in pure musicality with some of the better Sennheisers. And they have noise cancellation, which TM considers a must when in transit. Reviewed by Tom Martin, Issue 166

thats a Bono v/s David Gilmour as i wud like to put it.

 

[vvanrij]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MONVMENTVM /img/forum/go_quote.gif I heard these Quietcomfort 2 at home (a friend brought them with him), comparing them to my other cans. The SR-60 blew them right away without a need for a second listen. After the first seconds listening to them, the first obvious thing that stood out, was the extremely muddy sound. The mids were a disaster. Treble wasn't detailed either but stood out and made the high hats too loud in comparison to guitars and stuff like that. Bass extension and detail wasn't good either, so while it wasn't a really deep bass, it was an overwhelming one. And as this isn't enough the bass distorts at really low notes. I jumped directly to the GS-1000, plugged them in and put 'em onto my friends head. He lost the big grin he had, when he came in before... probably he did throw his Bose away or something afterwards . No, but they really were a mess... I don't get how you can put "QuietComfort 2" and "well balanced" into one senctence. The cake is a lie!

Do you now have a GS-1000 or a HF-1 with donuts?

 

[MONVMENTVM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you now have a GS-1000 or a HF-1 with donuts?

I have the jumbo pads of the GS-1000 and the bowls of the HF-1... or what do you mean?

 

[vvanrij]

I was just confused because you said you let your friend listen to the GS1000, so you also have a GS1000, or a HF-1, I'm confused haha

 

[MONVMENTVM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was just confused because you said you let your friend listen to the GS1000, so you also have a GS1000, or a HF-1, I'm confused haha

hmm... just take a look at the signature. Yes, I have both, headphiled GS-1000 and HF-1.

 

[vvanrij]

Ok, I just didn't know what a HGS-1000 was, sorry

 

[griffin]

TAS has been around for a similar amount of time as Stereophile. Both were "underground" magazines since before most on these forums were born, and if not in the US or Canada probably never read by any here.
TAS, Stereophile and the late Listener magazine do/did as many reviews as possible of equipment that fits within the context of their editorial policy. Headphones are not really a big portion of their testing...certainly not like here or at Head-wize.

So relax all, and take it with a grain of salt. Also note that in a complete context it is in regard to others they have heard or in context to a pair of loudspeakers and an amplifier to feed the speakers.

For CAD$50-70 I'd take a chance on Skullcandy, but I'd also take my chances with others too. such as similarly priced Senns, etc.

So comparing similarly priced IEM and phones is what we could consider first. Then compare the top ranked ones in a price class to those in the next price class, and so on.

I know this is all subjective as well, and if you read the complete reviews in either mag, they both have promoted the idea of listening in your own context to be a priority and to not assume you can take headphone "A" and amp "B", etc , all top ranked and well reviewed and create a system.The reader is warned not to buy (anything) on reviews alone