headcoatman
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2015
- Posts
- 33
- Likes
- 10
The main consideration here is audio quality. Audiophile quality, if that can be obtained in this price range.
The convenience of bluetooth is necessary for my music listening at work, but I know it doesn't compare to wired cans.
I wear BT headphones at work 5 or 6 nights a week for 4-6 hours at a stretch. It's mindless work so I'm immersed in the music. I've gotten to the point where I sorely need a true upgrade from my lousy Rocketfish and Motorola S305 headphones, which are now years old and employing outdated bluetooth technology.
With both headphones, when listening to loud or intense songs or passages, it seems like the bass just cannot be handled at all. And with a lot of current music (even the stuff that isn't mainstream), there seems to be a trend with really pumping the bass. So I end up hearing a lot of distortion, fuzziness, pops and crackling. I've looked at some of these "notorious" tracks with Audacity and, man, all red. So I don't even know if a good set of headphones can combat this inherent issue in the music.
(BTW, why the heck are they doing that? Is there any scenario/gear where that actually sounds good?)
I will most likely be pairing these with my Samsung Galaxy S3 (new for me), which includes Apt-X technology. But I also have an iPhone 4S (no Apt-X with Apple products of course).
I assume that Bluetooth 4.0 and Apt-X are what I'm looking for. I certainly want to take advantage of the advancements in sound quality (if Apt-X truly is an advancement).
I've been researching headphones for about a month now and have come up with a rather short list of what I believe are the top contenders. However, I am COMPLETELY open to any and all recommendations. My primary source for searching has been Amazon, so I may be unaware of boutique companies offering something in my price range.
If it's at all helpful in choosing the right pair of headphones, the types of music I primarily listen to are classic jazz, modern jazz, indie rock/folk, film music. In other words, a lot of acoustic instruments recorded well (or remastered well). Stuff like John Zorn, Tom Waits, John Lurie, Yo La Tengo, classic Blue Note label, as well as some harder rock music like Pixies, Sleater-Kinney, Ramones, as well as lo-fi such as Billy Childish and Holly Golightly. OK, maybe that's not so helpful. Perhaps simpler to say rap, dance, electronica, etc are not really part of the equation.
Here's what I've considered so far:
Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless
MEElectronics Air-Fi® Matrix2 AF62 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless
Ausdom M05
Plantronics BackBeat PRO
Jabra REVO Wireless No apt-x?
Creative Aurvana Gold Wired/Wireless No apt-x?
JBL Synchros 400BT
This is just what I've come up with so far in the under $300 price range. But as I said, I'm open to all suggestions.
The music I listen to is either in FLAC format or lame-encoded mp3s at 320kbps, and maybe I'll get into AAC, as I see mention of Apt-X supporting it.
I think I'd be happiest with a pair that doesn't rely on equalization apps to get the true benefit. But I won't entirely rule that out. I just feel that equalization is sort of a rabbit hole. There never seems to be one general configuration that applies to all types of music, so you end up spending (to me) an inordinate amount of time tweaking everything you listen to.
I would greatly appreciate any insight and suggestions your forum members may offer.
Thank you for your time!
The convenience of bluetooth is necessary for my music listening at work, but I know it doesn't compare to wired cans.
- I don't necessarily mind if they're bulky; "stylish" is not a concern.
- Comfort over long periods of time would be a plus. Also of concern is that the headband and ear cups will not easily slip or move around a lot. I'm doing physical labor at work, moving around a lot, sweating, lifting, bending, etc, which is why I'd previously gone with behind-the-neck style headphones, as they really stay in place. But I haven't seen any high-end BT headphones in that style.
- **The more I think about it, being able to keep these headphones securely on my head while moving about at work is really a very important consideration. And whichever headphones I end up buying will be used almost exclusively at work.
- Strong battery life of at least 10 hours (if I want to charge them every day), though a longer battery life allowing two or three days between charges would be ideal.
- "In-ear" is not an option for me. I have an inner ear condition which prohibits use of that style headphone. So I'm looking for on-ear or over-ear. In fact, if anyone can tell me the pros/cons of on-ear vs over-ear, I'd love to know more. Perhaps it will help me make a more informed decision. And maybe someone can tell me if one or the other styles would be less likely to slip around.
- I'm not looking for ridiculously and unnaturally emphasized bass. I certainly want well-represented bass, but hopefully with a more natural, tight delivery. Not booming or muddy, but definitely present.
- Powerful volume would also be a plus as I have to combat a fairly noisy work environment at times. But I understand I can also employ EQs for that (though I do tend to get lost when trying to use equalizers), and my current, cheap headphones do get loud enough via the on-ear volume controls.
I wear BT headphones at work 5 or 6 nights a week for 4-6 hours at a stretch. It's mindless work so I'm immersed in the music. I've gotten to the point where I sorely need a true upgrade from my lousy Rocketfish and Motorola S305 headphones, which are now years old and employing outdated bluetooth technology.
With both headphones, when listening to loud or intense songs or passages, it seems like the bass just cannot be handled at all. And with a lot of current music (even the stuff that isn't mainstream), there seems to be a trend with really pumping the bass. So I end up hearing a lot of distortion, fuzziness, pops and crackling. I've looked at some of these "notorious" tracks with Audacity and, man, all red. So I don't even know if a good set of headphones can combat this inherent issue in the music.
(BTW, why the heck are they doing that? Is there any scenario/gear where that actually sounds good?)
I will most likely be pairing these with my Samsung Galaxy S3 (new for me), which includes Apt-X technology. But I also have an iPhone 4S (no Apt-X with Apple products of course).
I assume that Bluetooth 4.0 and Apt-X are what I'm looking for. I certainly want to take advantage of the advancements in sound quality (if Apt-X truly is an advancement).
I've been researching headphones for about a month now and have come up with a rather short list of what I believe are the top contenders. However, I am COMPLETELY open to any and all recommendations. My primary source for searching has been Amazon, so I may be unaware of boutique companies offering something in my price range.
If it's at all helpful in choosing the right pair of headphones, the types of music I primarily listen to are classic jazz, modern jazz, indie rock/folk, film music. In other words, a lot of acoustic instruments recorded well (or remastered well). Stuff like John Zorn, Tom Waits, John Lurie, Yo La Tengo, classic Blue Note label, as well as some harder rock music like Pixies, Sleater-Kinney, Ramones, as well as lo-fi such as Billy Childish and Holly Golightly. OK, maybe that's not so helpful. Perhaps simpler to say rap, dance, electronica, etc are not really part of the equation.
Here's what I've considered so far:
Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless
MEElectronics Air-Fi® Matrix2 AF62 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless
Ausdom M05
Plantronics BackBeat PRO
Jabra REVO Wireless No apt-x?
Creative Aurvana Gold Wired/Wireless No apt-x?
JBL Synchros 400BT
This is just what I've come up with so far in the under $300 price range. But as I said, I'm open to all suggestions.
The music I listen to is either in FLAC format or lame-encoded mp3s at 320kbps, and maybe I'll get into AAC, as I see mention of Apt-X supporting it.
I think I'd be happiest with a pair that doesn't rely on equalization apps to get the true benefit. But I won't entirely rule that out. I just feel that equalization is sort of a rabbit hole. There never seems to be one general configuration that applies to all types of music, so you end up spending (to me) an inordinate amount of time tweaking everything you listen to.
I would greatly appreciate any insight and suggestions your forum members may offer.
Thank you for your time!