[suricactus]

Hello all.
 
I'm total newbie in the world of pretty good headphones, so I want to ask for advice someone with experience. As a total newcomer, my ears aren't very trained and won't recognize any minor professional things, so everything will sound better than my $15 Philips. 
 
I listen mostly to trance - progressive, vocal and uplifting, sometimes progressive and dirty house. That's all, I have some money and want to spend them the best way. The absolute maximum budget is $175. The main things I want is to produce good quality melodies and good bass. With good, I mean the best for that price, I'm sure some 1k headphones will be much better of course.
 
I'll use them at work, so they should be pretty quiet outside. Also is it possible to power them from my cell phone while going to the office? That means it will be better to be as strong as possible as well.
 
At last - what do you think about "almost new" second hand earphones on ebay/amazon?
 
Sorry for dummy questions, thanks in advance.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Head-fi has a very active buy/sell forum of used gear. I would trust head-fiers much more than the random ebay ad.

Would you prefer over your head 'phones or in-ear 'phones? Either will work - it's really up to you on the style and comfort you prefer.

If you are looking for over the head 'phones, then you want "closed" headphones that will provide some isolation and minimize sound leakage. There are two types available - over-ear (circumaural) or on-ear (supra-aural). Over-ear headphones completely surround your ear and provide more isolation, while the pads of on-ear headphones sit directly on your ears and and are normally smaller and more portable.

So - tell us what direction you think you would like to pursue and we can make some suggestions.

What specific phone will you be using? Will you also be using the phone when at your desk, or will you be using your computer as the source?

 

[suricactus]

Thanks for the quick reply.
 
 

Head-fi has a very active buy/sell forum of used gear. I would trust head-fiers much more than the random ebay ad.

Thank you, I'll check it later.
 

Would you prefer over your head 'phones or in-ear 'phones? Either will work - it's really up to you on the style and comfort you prefer.
 
If you are looking for over the head 'phones, then you want "closed" headphones that will provide some isolation and minimize sound leakage. There are two types available - over-ear (circumaural) or on-ear (supra-aural). Over-ear headphones completely surround your ear and provide more isolation, while the pads of on-ear headphones sit directly on your ears and and are normally smaller and more portable.
 
So - tell us what direction you think you would like to pursue and we can make some suggestions.

I'm not sure. In-ear phones are much lighter and portable, if they are really almost the same as headphones, then I'll go with them. Else, I think over-the-ear-phones will be much more comfortable for longer usage than on-the-year.
 

What specific phone will you be using? Will you also be using the phone when at your desk, or will you be using your computer as the source?

My Fairphone comes with Mediatek 6589M chipset. I'll use my PC as music source most of the time.
 
Thanks again, head-fi seems to be great community.

 

[billybob_jcv]

In-ear monitors (IEMs) are something that you will either have no issues with, or that you will hate. There's typically not much in-between, and you won't know unless you try them. As you said, the advantages of IEMs include the portability, very high isolation, as well as being unobtrusive so you don't look like a headphone nerd - and they are also usually very easy to drive from low-power mobile devices like a phone without requiring you to carry a portable amp. On the downside, some people find them uncomfortable and the soundstage ("spaciousness" of the sound) is usually less than on full-sized headphones. The sound quality is also much more dependent on the fit - you can significantly change the way they sound by how deeply you insert them into your ears and well you are able to achieve a seal between the tips and your ear canal. That sounds more complicated than it is, and good IEMs come with a variety of size and style of tips to make it easy for you to find the right ones for you.

If you go with IEMs, then you can probably spend the entire amount on the actual IEMs because you won't really *need* an amp. With full-size headphones, then we need to be a bit careful to either make sure they are easy to drive, or allocate a little of the budget for an amp or a DAC/amp, which might be a good investment that, depending on the headphones, can improve the sound from both your phone and your computer.

I guess it's time for me to actually make some suggestions...

For full-size, closed headphones, the standard suggestion for this price range and application would typically be the Audio-Technica ATH-M50. It's an old head-fi favorite - and it ticks all the boxes, and plenty of people like them, but it's never been one of my favorites. It might be perfect for you - I don't listen to trance and house. The other typical suggestion might be the Beyerdynamic DT770-250, but I think having a difficult to drive, 250 ohm headphone in this situation is not very smart. The Shure SRH440 and Audio-Technica ATH-A700X are probably not bassy enough. The Sennheiser HD380 is probably closer to what I would pick, but it might be a little to neutral for you - I do think it sounds better than the ATH-M50, but YMMV...

There are others both more and less expensive. but I like recommending the more well-known 'phones to new head-fiers, and I also only recommend headphones I have heard myself.

If you do decide you want to try IEMs, I'm afraid someone else will have to make the recommendation - I'm not familiar with bassy IEMs except for the Sure SE215.

 

[suricactus]

Quote:

In-ear monitors (IEMs) are something that you will either have no issues with, or that you will hate. There's typically not much in-between, and you won't know unless you try them. As you said, the advantages of IEMs include the portability, very high isolation, as well as being unobtrusive so you don't look like a headphone nerd - and they are also usually very easy to drive from low-power mobile devices like a phone without requiring you to carry a portable amp. On the downside, some people find them uncomfortable and the soundstage ("spaciousness" of the sound) is usually less than on full-sized headphones. The sound quality is also much more dependent on the fit - you can significantly change the way they sound by how deeply you insert them into your ears and well you are able to achieve a seal between the tips and your ear canal. That sounds more complicated than it is, and good IEMs come with a variety of size and style of tips to make it easy for you to find the right ones for you.

As you said, I'm afraid they'll be uncomfortable in my ear. At least the very cheap pairs are feel weird. Otherwise, I think spaciousness of the sound wouldn't be such a problem for trance.
If there are IEMs which hang on the outer ear rather than just inserting in the canal, it would be great.  
 

If you go with IEMs, then you can probably spend the entire amount on the actual IEMs because you won't really *need* an amp. With full-size headphones, then we need to be a bit careful to either make sure they are easy to drive, or allocate a little of the budget for an amp or a DAC/amp, which might be a good investment that, depending on the headphones, can improve the sound from both your phone and your computer.
 
I guess it's time for me to actually make some suggestions...

For full-size, closed headphones, the standard suggestion for this price range and application would typically be the Audio-Technica ATH-M50. It's an old head-fi favorite - and it ticks all the boxes, and plenty of people like them, but it's never been one of my favorites. It might be perfect for you - I don't listen to trance and house. The other typical suggestion might be the Beyerdynamic DT770-250, but I think having a difficult to drive, 250 ohm headphone in this situation is not very smart. The Shure SRH440 and Audio-Technica ATH-A700X are probably not bassy enough. The Sennheiser HD380 is probably closer to what I would pick, but it might be a little to neutral for you - I do think it sounds better than the ATH-M50, but YMMV...
 
There are others both more and less expensive. but I like recommending the more well-known 'phones to new head-fiers, and I also only recommend headphones I have heard myself.

I think IEM are better option for me. Anyway, thanks for advice.
 

If you do decide you want to try IEMs, I'm afraid someone else will have to make the recommendation - I'm not familiar with bassy IEMs except for the Sure SE215.

Thank you very much. And yes, Sure SE215 look very comfortable.
 
Does anybody else have suggestions for IEMs or Sure SE215 are the best option for this price range for this requirements?