[funnyguy123]

At what price range do you get the best price/performance headphones? And when does diminishing returns start kicking in?

 

[joseph69]

What kind type of headphones are you looking for ?

 

[GaryPham]

I thought about this long and hard (and as you can see from my profile, I've owned over 30 pairs of headphones ranging from the 20 dollars to the 300 dollars range), and honestly, for your average everyday music listener, I think the best price point would be in the 30-100 dollar range.  If you want to spend the bare minimum, something like the Koss Portapros will sound fantastic all around for around 30-35 dollar range.  If you're looking to spend a bit more, the Creative Aurvana Lives are my personal favorite for about 70 dollars, and the Audio Technica M50's are also great for around 100 bucks. 
 
Of course sound quality is highly subjective, so many people can argue that a 200 dollar headphone is a worlds of difference, but realistically, the law of diminishing returns becomes apparent rather quikcly.  Purely talking from a sound quality perspective, I feel that the Portapros are about 80-90% that of the CAL, and the CAL is about 90% of the M50's, even though the price increases rather quickly. 
 
If you want the best bang for your buck, its probably best to stay with lower impedance, easily driven headphones, because most higher end headphones will require amps (which also drastically increases the price).  Home audio is a hobby though, and part of the fun is upgrading, but like any hobby, everything will start to become very expensive with minimal improvements.
 
If you're not afraid on spending more money and venturing into more expensive territories, many people consider the HD650s/Hifiman HE400's as another good stopping point for bang for your buck, as any improvements from that point on which probably double in price.  The HD650's and HE400s will run around 300-400 dollars, with probably around another 300-400 for a good dac/amp combo, so you're looking at around 600-800 dollars worth for that setup.
 

 

[joseph69]

Grado SR80i 95$U.S.- I own SR325is's 300$U.S.- and I used to own the 80i's before the 325's, and just went out and purchased another pair of 80's because of their distinct raw life like sound signature, which I love.

 

[stacker45]

I believe $500 to $600 to be the breaking point, where the laws of diminishing returns relly star to take it's toll.
 
If someone told me that they preferred a pair of $100 headphones to a $500 pair, i'd be surprised, and yet, if they told me that they preferred some $500 to some $1000, it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

 

[joseph69]

Hi, I wasn't saying that I was comparing the two Grado's that I mentioned, they are IMO two totally different headphone. The OP does mention price/performance, and for that matter I mentioned the 80's. Also why would it surprise you from 100-500, but not 500-1000, I think what you are saying can be applied to either price ranges depending on the prefference of the individuals sound likings. Your one of the few Head-fiers who's posts are very interesting to me (in a very good way) , so I'm surprised you would say this. I not sure, but don't you own the 80's also?

 

[Tsujigiri]

It depends on how long you've been in the hobby, and how much you appreciate the nuances that separate different headphones. A year ago I would have told you a price much lower than I would say now. As you become more immersed in the hobby, little things make a much bigger difference, and minor improvements for the price start to become well worth it.

 

[asdfghjkzxcvbnm]

well for price/performance, obviously the lowest range you can get

 

[barid]

I think the senn 600/650 or hifiman 400 range is the current sweet spot.

Though u coukd always make an argument for the range directly above/below.

 

[streetdragon]

Generally the lower the better. 
Also the price to performance ratios are the best for the fullsize home listening category.
Portables that cost a lot more don't sound as good as their fullsize counterparts at the same price.

I feel that the performance increases steadily till the $300 mark. Then it starts to really drop from there.

 

[jaycee1]

Quote:

At what price range do you get the best price/performance headphones? And when does diminishing returns start kicking in?

 
$15 to $50. Welcome to the world of open design superstars:
 
1. Koss ksc75
2. Koss Sportapro
3. Koss Portapro
4. Igrado
 
----
 
5. The "semi-open/closed" jvc 700's are a pretty solid choice in this price range as well. 

 

[jaycee1]

Quote:

I thought about this long and hard (and as you can see from my profile, I've owned over 30 pairs of headphones ranging from the 20 dollars to the 300 dollars range), and honestly, for your average everyday music listener, I think the best price point would be in the 30-100 dollar range.  If you want to spend the bare minimum, something like the Koss Portapros will sound fantastic all around for around 30-35 dollar range.  If you're looking to spend a bit more, the Creative Aurvana Lives are my personal favorite for about 70 dollars, and the Audio Technica M50's are also great for around 100 bucks. 
 
Of course sound quality is highly subjective, so many people can argue that a 200 dollar headphone is a worlds of difference, but realistically, the law of diminishing returns becomes apparent rather quikcly.  Purely talking from a sound quality perspective, I feel that the Portapros are about 80-90% that of the CAL, and the CAL is about 90% of the M50's, even though the price increases rather quickly. 
 
If you want the best bang for your buck, its probably best to stay with lower impedance, easily driven headphones, because most higher end headphones will require amps (which also drastically increases the price).  Home audio is a hobby though, and part of the fun is upgrading, but like any hobby, everything will start to become very expensive with minimal improvements.
 
If you're not afraid on spending more money and venturing into more expensive territories, many people consider the HD650s/Hifiman HE400's as another good stopping point for bang for your buck, as any improvements from that point on which probably double in price.  The HD650's and HE400s will run around 300-400 dollars, with probably around another 300-400 for a good dac/amp combo, so you're looking at around 600-800 dollars worth for that setup.
 

 
Interesting. I am very skeptical about how good closed headphones can sound. I would love to demo a pair of CAL's at some point. 
 
Koss has some absolutely phenomenal open designs which cost next to nothing. 
 
It just seems self evident that headphones require maximum air flow to sound their best. Otherwise, you invite the possibility of unwelcome resonance. I just don't see how closed headphones can completely overcome this very basic and fundamental design flaw. 

 

[GaryPham]

I agree with you that generally open headphones sound better than closed, but typically closed headphones have a much stronger felt bass impact at the sacrifice of sound stage. I don't doubt that quality open headphones such as the hd650 have great bass, but typically cheaper open headphones don't have this quality. A good example of a great pair of closed headphones are the Denon d2000s. The subbass on those headphones cam give me goosebumps and watching action movies on those are quite the experience. Granted I still prefer my dt880s as an overall headphone, and the d2ks will always win out whenever sound stage isn't as important and impact is more needed such as with edm or hip hop.

Because this is a bang for your buck thread, I will agree with you on the Koss headphones as they are open/semi open and actually have pretty decent bass on them.

 

[jaycee1]

I don't own any closed headphones, but I do own a pair of jvc "semi-open" headphones which have smell vents instead of an open back. And yes, the soundstage is a major weakness of these headphones (unmodded). 
 
I'm just wondering if there are any truly excellent sounding closed headphones, or whether every closed headphone which is supposedly excellent comes with the caveat of "excellent (for a closed headphone)."

 

[GaryPham]

There are definitely some excellent sounding closed headphones. At the upper end of the price range, majority of the top headphones are open, but there's also the Denon d7000 and some wood audio technicas. In the midfi range, there's been lots of praises on the mad dogs, akg k550s, Beyer dt770s, and Vmoda m80s/m100s.

While it's true what you say about the inherent design of open vs closed, it shouldn't really deter you from trying closed headphones. I've owned plenty of both and for the most part, in would say that in the 100 dollar range and under, closed headphones tend to be better. I enjoyed my pair of creative aurvana lives more than I did my grado 60is, audio technicas ad700s, and portapros.