HEADPHONE Guru's - What headphones should I buy for:

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

--I originally posted this on yahoo answers, then a poster led me here, looking forward for some great advice. Anyways below is the question I posted--



I basically need a headphone guru to steer me in the optimal direction, because whatever headphones I purchase I will be using them alot, and I mean alot~

I'll take anythign you got, 1 pair, top 3 pairs, 5 pairs, etc.. different price levels, different brands, different focused goal types, whatever you wanna give me I will take it~

Background: Music is incredibly important to me, alot of my life experiences and situations are incredibly connected to my love and listening of music. Regarding this I will also be on the go a ton, and I don't mean like me traveling in planes and cars, I mean backpacking, traveling on foot a lot.

Having said this:
To keep things simple, I'll say what I need considered in bullet form:

First, Type/General Direction: I don't want buds or pieces. Also I'm pretty sure I want closed headphones as opposed to open ones, but not positive! Stuff like cordless or wireless are answered stated below. *Also I just realized some require headphone Amps, Umm should I really be wanting this extra component with the way I'll be moving, could you tell me what I would expect with having to require an amp, I'm thinking not good for my needs, yes?

Sound Quality, headphones of high high sound quality are paramount to me, for me to feel the emotion of the music the way I treasure.

Durability, as stated I will be rougin' it to an extent, so I need very durable headphones.

Comfortability, I will be using them alot and I want to have comfortable headphones, headphones that I won't be hurting me after hours and hours of listening.

Health, I want these headphones to do as little long-term damage to my hearing as possible, if any of course.

Battery Life, not gonna lie with my lifestyles the longer battery life the better off I am.

Noise Canceling, it's weird to actually describe my "criteria" for NC, although I do consider it a bonus to my phones, I consider it an important bonus that will definitely be worth the extra bucks, and the shed for the other factors, but not to an extent that I want to shed tons of sound quality for tons of noise canceling, I hope you get what I'm saying. I mean when I’m on a train and I wanna chill out I would love my headphones to cancel out my surroundings as much as possible, but not to the extent that on that train all I hear is semi-good sound quality.



Price, I'm not gonna lie I'm not for spending money when I can save, but seeing how important this is to me I will be willing to shed the bucks, I'm just saying I'm not the kind of person will go miles and miles for that extra inch. (In case your like what is his range, it's really more about the quality of product, I wound't mind if you showed me one at this price level and one at this price level, but I'm not gonna front I expect it to easily exceed $100 most likely, prob going easily over the $200 mark, my point is, the price, I can handle it~ Cutoff Price is $575, no more than that.)

Finally design/look, I care about this as little as possible compared to the others, but hey if one is cooler than the other and their the same basically, yeah I’d prefer that one.



Extending Variables and accessories: What do I mean? Is it corded, is it wireless? Those kind of things, I don't really care, as long as the aforementioned points are met to their best then I don't care about accessories and if it's corded or wireless, etc...
However obviously, if there are corded options I’d rather had a 6.5 ft cord over 3.3 ft cord, but once again not at the sacrifice of more significant criteria.
Or brand, I don’t care about the brand, I care about the product, so please don’t be biased.

Smart abilities, I read like some headphones have capabilities where for example on a NC headphone you can say if you want Noise Canceling or not, stuff like that would be great but not necessary.

Like I said I need a headphone guru to really help me out here and give me the perfect headphones for my future ventures.

-If you actually read everything, thank you. And if you actually considered everything thank you even more.
-This is really important to me and this is not my field of expertise so I am really asking for your guys help, I appreciate it so much.

 

[acidbasement]

See the 'newbies read this' link in my signature - it covers a lot of what you ask, and you should find it most helpful.

Welcome to head-fi!

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

I really really need your guys help, there are so many options, so many brands, so many types, I don't know where to begin...

I honestly don't know how to convey through words over a forum how badly I'm in need of your assisstance without being poetic and using a very long script of words, and the problem is you won't read that. ^^

Honestly, I just need someone to give me a direction, some particular cans, or even just one~ please someone.


Thanks

 

[tvrboy]

OK, since you asked so desperately, I will try to give you some helpful advice. Sounds like you want soething that:

-Can be driven without a big amp
-Offers noise reduction
-Good sound quality
-Durability

First off, forget about active noise cancelling. You will pay lots of money for a headphone with poor sound quality. John from Sennheiser UK says between 1/2 and 2/3 of the price of a noise-cancelling headphone is due to the noise-cancelling technology. And you will run out of batteries really fast with nowhere to recharge them.

What kind of source are you using? an mp3 player?

 

[koven]

ESW9

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

Umm...

I will be buying a new 120 GB Ipod which is the biggest they carry I believe so I can hold all my songs. Is that good, do you recommend something? Cause I'm buying a new "player". So suggestions would be great

Also I read that files are important... Well my music files range from 128-640, I would say most are in the 256-320 range leaning towards the lesser 128 opposed to the 640+.

Plus I was reading different threads and it seems it's really important what music you listen too? Well I don't listen to almost any rap or hip-hop, but I wouldn't say Bass isn't important to me, because one of my favorite bands is the Red Hot Chili Peppers who constantly emphasise their bass. I mostly listen to rock and alternative type rock, big on the 90s bands.

You mentioned forget about Noise Caneling, that's fine as sound quality is much more important for me, but so then I should go for closed phones, yes?

Your points were right on I would say, the amp, I never knew phones needed an amp, when I heard it at first I said no way, but if it's small and compact and could be mobile I suppose it might be worth it?

Umm you mentioned "Sounds like you want something that:" then named the points, is there any other points I should be concerned about when it comes to this?

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

@ Koven


Do the ESW9 require an amp?

 

[koven]

FWIR they do not. The SRH840 is another option.

 

[K_19]

Yeah, on the first look, it seems like SRH840 checks a lot of boxes.

 

[charliex]

Get rid of all 128 kbits/s mp3's (sound is garbage), and stick to at least 320 or better - or preferably go lossless flac's or wav.

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

@ Charlie

Even 256 isn't good enough?

Also what if I can't find all my songs in 320+ or FLAC? (I'm lookign for a suggestion? ^^)

 

[Uncle Erik]

I don't know how helpful this will be, but my travel headphones are the Sony MDR-7509HD. They check a lot of the boxes you want, however, I wonder about the bass.

If you browse around, there's a bit of a divide here about what constitutes good bass and what doesn't. People fall into either the camp that needs a good thump and those who want clean, tuneful bass where you can really hear the texture. People will go back and forth on whether a headphone "has bass" or not. The "no bass" headphones usually produce all the notes, all the way down and this can be verified with frequency charts. However, they lack "impact," if that makes sense. Headphones with impact, however, usually blur the bass notes and make it difficult to pick out the pitch and texture of low notes.

Again, this is contentious and you'll see slugfests over the issue.

Personally, I'll take precision over impact any day. I've played tuba and bass clarinet for many years and when you play with a band or orchestra, you have to carefully listen to your pitch and intonation to blend with the group. If a headphone obscures that information just to make a bigger thump, it drives me crazy. Others, however, disagree.

You won't find much disagreement about mids or highs. Treble emphasis draws some fire, but bass is a big debate.

Anyhow, the MDR-7509HD gives you clean, precise bass all the way down. They run about $200 street, fold up for easy carry and storage, are built well, and sound good right out of an iPod. They really work well for me; maybe they're something you'd like, too.

Oh, and welcome to Head-Fi! Have you heard the saying about your wallet? Even if you manage to escape that, you ought to stick around and contribute. This is one of the best communities on the Internet, we get together and have a lot of fun at meets, and you'll get to know some very interesting people.

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

Mainly from these forums I've done my own research and I've really taking a liking to the ESW9A's (no I'm far from making a decision). They just seem great, and I keep hearing how they have a lovely warm lush sound, which seems right up my alley for what I like to hear in music.

My questions are:

Amp? Do you guys think for these phones it will need an amp, and if it doesn't and I don't get one will affect it that much where it's not worth it?

I keep hearing about modding your phones in one way or another, will I prob have to do some modding with the ESW9As if I choose to get them?

Will something like 128 or 256 make these phones simply completely obselete in their potential and ****ty $30 ones just as good?


Finally on a more curious note, I keep hearing how they have this warm and/or lush sound. Could someone who has heard them and agrees or disagrees on this sound that these phonest deliver tell me more about this sound "signature/type". What kind of music do you listen to where that sound really rings home? or just describe the sound as best you can? I am very interested to understand it, because if it's anything like I think, it may be exactly what I'm looking for.


By the way, thank all of you for the help so far, I finnally feel like this task is going to be a walk in the park~

 

[Scriptor Carpe Diem]

@ Uncle Erik

Erik what do you think of the ESW9A's as opposed to the MDR-7509HDs? As portable backpacker headphones for the points you already know... why would you choose one over the other?

Because I have a feeling with the ESWs rather sleek looks maybe it won't be as dependable as I they appear on the dusty roads and un-kempt streets of the lesser fortunate world?

Your thoughts?

 

[mrarroyo]

Scriptor Carpe Diem regardless of what you get make sure you protect your ears, do not play the music too loud or "gone they will be". Also if you buy a close can or an IEM please be aware of your surroundings, I have seen people so into the music walk into walls or in front of cars. I wish you well and that you enjoy the music. Cheers.