Best Closed Unamped Headphones for ~300 and under

[Steggy]

Title basically bears all. My brother is looking for a pair of headphones for 300 or less. He would like them to be closed, and he doesn't want to use an amp with them.

He listens to a variety of music, but I would say mostly dominated by pop rock, and some rap. He doesn't really listen to rock other than classic rock, but some bands...

Coldplay
MGMT
Charlie Mars
Jason Mraz
Wu Tang
Dre
James Morrison
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Fray

etc. etc

The cans that automatically came to mind were Denon D2000's. But maybe there are some AKG's or other headphone models that surpass them.

 

[koven]

SRH840

 

[Palpatine]

HFI 780 or HD 25 II I

 

[driftingbunnies]

D2000

 

[Acix]

GMP 8.35 D Monitor

 

[Townyj]

x2 on HFI-780.

Price/performance is great.

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif SRH840

+1 ~ from what I've read these would likely do best unamped, the D2000s NEED an amp to sound somewhat-decent!

 

[Kommando]

+1 for HFI-780's

Great headphones, just need a bit of a burn in before they shine!

 

[boomana]

I seriously dislike the HFI-780s, and I've heard them a few times stock, modded, new and with a few hundred hours on them. They're boomy, grainy, and with an unnatural tone. The D2000s are slightly better, but also have a sloppy bass that improves a bit only when amped. I'm going to recommend the ATH-ESW9s (read up on them), but if you decide on that route, avoid buying from ebay as you'll find more fakes than not.

 

[ktsai1283]

AKG K 271. No differences, FWIR, between the 272 HD and 271 MK II, soundwise.

 

[jpelg]

Ultrasone PRO650's. Will scale with an amp later on, too.

Another possibility is the Beyerdynamic DT770/32-ohm 2005 version.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Shure SRH840s...a real steal at $150 new and sound like $400 headphones. They are low impedance and sound great un-amped and even better with a good amp.

 

[estreeter]

271 are 'semi-open' and OP asked for closed : small point but felt it needed to be mentioned. I like my Ultrasones, but I have never heard the HFI-780. Next buy will be the 242HD - again, not technically closed cans. ESW9 get good reviews, but still less comfortable than Ultrasone, IMO.

 

[wantmyf1]

x2 on the GMP 8.35D's. Then again it's the first quality headphone I've heard so you may want to take that with a grain of salt.

They also do very well unamped.

 

[ktsai1283]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter /img/forum/go_quote.gif 271 are 'semi-open' and OP asked for closed : small point but felt it needed to be mentioned. I like my Ultrasones, but I have never heard the HFI-780. Next buy will be the 242HD - again, not technically closed cans. ESW9 get good reviews, but still less comfortable than Ultrasone, IMO.

The 271 is very much a closed headphone... I owned one.

You're right, though--the 240 and 242 are semi-open (not technically closed).