[HeadLamp]

Hi,
I am a new member of this forum. Recently I have been looking out for some decent headphone for personal listening. I am not "headphile" as you term it, I am just an audio buff, I like clean and natural sound. I listen at high SPLs. I love bass (many of us do). I listen to all popular music genres except for Jazz/Blues/Classical stuffs. I am not planning to invest heavily on a head-fi setup. Just wanna use my portable stereo and my home audio setup with a decent headphone. My budget is around $50 can be stretched a bit. I am from India and we dont have many options here. After few rounds of auditioning, I am able to shortlist Sennheiser HD437 and Behringer HPX2000.
Among these two I liked Behringer for sheer clarity, clean and almost accurate mids. Bass was ok on both but again highs were much better in Behringer.
I am still looking out for Senn HD457/477, not yet got my hands on and also the Behringer HPX4000 is one of the options I have to check out.

Here are my question:
Whats the diiference between Studio Headphones and DJ Headphones, which one is more suitable for home listening on a Portable player ?

Have any of you checked out these headphones ?

Are there better options than these in this budget ?

I know Behringer is not popular for Headphones but still at the asking price do you think Senns beat the Behringer (in case you have heard both).

Here are the prices quoted to me here in India:
Senn HD437 : $40
Behringer HPX2000: $35

Kindly give your suggestions.

 

[Preshure0617]

Go with the Sennheisers. Get the EH150's if available in India...they have tight, strong bass and can be had for $50 USD or so. If you can't, the 437's are way better than the behringer's. the behringer's are cheap cheap cheap and will break within 2 mos.

 

[HeadLamp]

Thanks Preshure0617,
It was a long awaited reply. BTW have you heard the Behringer headphones ?? If yes which models ? Somehow I found it to be a very clean headphone with well defined mids and highs and decent bass. I dont know much since I have checked out only the Senn HD437 and it was good but I liked Behringer better than HD437. Now, I am trying to checkout the Senn HD477, have you checked it out, howz it ??
Also please tell me whether higher resistance is better or lower is better. How does it affect the sound overall. Here I have seen headphones with 24ohms, 32 ohms and 64 ohms but dont know whether they should be considered while selecting a headphone or not......

 

[lmilhan]

Grado SR-60 - Maybe a little over your budget, but the best sub $70 headphone available to my ears.

KOSS Sportapros - Great sounding little portables, well under $50. Lifetime Warranty.

KOSS Portapros - Great sounding 'street style' portables, well under $40. Pretty sure these have a lifetime Warranty as well, please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

KOSS KSC 75 - Great sounding portable clip on style, but $15 headphones in the world

Pretty sure these have a lifetime Warranty as well, please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Sennheiser 201 - Great sounding for their price tag of $20.00.

Good luck!

 

[lmilhan]

I'll take a stab at answering your question about studio vs DJ headphones. I'm sure someone will crrect me if I'm wrong with my description.

Studio headphones 'should' strive to be near-field. Meaning they should try to be as neutral as possible when reproducing music. The music should't be colored in any way.

DJ headphones probably have a better chance of not being neutral, meaning they could color the sound of the music (Bass is enhanced, etc). Also, the headphone cups usually swivel, so you can hold a cup on one ear, leave the other ear open, while you work the mixing board, scratch machine, neatbox, CD player, etc with the other.

As for which one is better for home use, there are many factors to consider, but probably the most important is if your source can easily drive them, and how they sound to your ears, and your ears alone.

P.S. Lower OHM headphones are generally easier to drive (get sound cranking out of them at respectable volumes). So if your source amp is just an MP3 player, or portable CD player, or home receiver, you probably want to stick with lower OHM models.

 

[HeadLamp]

Hi Imilhan,
Thanks for your detailed reply. As far as Grado SR60 is concerned, I am trying to get my hands on them. Apart from that I have Sennheiser HD457, HD477 and HD 497 in target. HD497 being over budget. Do you think any of these would beat the Grado SR60 ?? If yes then in what aspects ??
If at all I dont get a Grado, is it a good idea to settle down with a HD477 ??
Also have you tried Behringer headphones expecially HPX2000 and HPX4000??
If yes then what are your remarks ??

 

[Steve999]

Thanks for YOUR impressions of the new Behringer headphones. I believe these are the first impressions of these phones on head-fi.

The Senn HD477 is okay, but not nearly as good as the Senn HD497, which is pretty good, with a little extra bass to it, very clear mids, and extended, ever-so-slightly elevated highs, IMHO. (I own the HD497 and SR60 and have tried the HD477.) I'd put the Grado SR60 above the HD477 and in the same ballpark as the HD497. I prefer the SR60s due to HD497 comfort issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLamp Thanks Preshure0617, It was a long awaited reply. BTW have you heard the Behringer headphones ?? If yes which models ? Somehow I found it to be a very clean headphone with well defined mids and highs and decent bass. I dont know much since I have checked out only the Senn HD437 and it was good but I liked Behringer better than HD437.......

 

[HeadLamp]

Steve,
What kind of music you generally listen to ??
I listen to all popular genres viz Rock/Pop/Trance/Techno/Alternative/Metal etc but I am some what particular about the mids and the bass. I want proper mids and a good tight bass. I feel that its the mids which carries the magic. Bass is what gives you the thrill. For highs I am ok with decent performance (not looking for something extraordinary). Let me know, on these scales which would be better HD497 or Grado SR60 ?? Some people are of the opinion that Grado is bit on the brighter side, is it true??
Basically what are the strengths of Grado over the HD497 and vice-versa ??
Also are the HD477 really not worth considering (looking at my budget) ?
Your views are very essential

 

[bjackson]

I'd suggest the Audio Technica M30 or M40. I own the M30's and have heard the M40s and they are both much better than any headphones I've heard in that price range (SR-60, HD-280, etc). I actually perfer them to my Grado 325i's on some music (not classical however, they don't have a very deep soundstage for classical).

 

[HeadLamp]

Whats the rpice of M30 and M40 ??

 

[Veniogenesis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLamp Whats the rpice of M30 and M40 ??

The M30 is about $50 to $60 USD.
The M40fs is about $100 USD.

 

[Steve999]

I listen mostly to jazz, classical, rock, and country.

I use the SR60 a lot and not the HD497s so much, I think purely due to comfort issues I have with the HD497s -- they just are not that comfortable to me. I think I would in the end use both if both were comfortable. For sound quality, the HD497s sound more like your cup of tea -- really nice bass and mid performance and okay highs, but again, the comfort is not so good for me. In the end I use the SR60s a lot more simply because I find them a lot more comfortable, though I think the SR60 bass and mids are not as good as the HD497, but the highs on the SR60s are better.

If you like the Behringers, probably better to get those than the HD477s. The HD477s are a little dull in the highs and a little too bass heavy, IMHO. Don't necessarily rule out the Behringers... trust your ears a little. The HD497s and SR60s are as good as you'll get for sound quality at their price level, IMHO, but unless you compare with your own ears there's nothing to say for sure that the Behringers don't sound as good.

Where did you find the Behringers? I'm tempted to try them. I have a Behringer digital equalizer (the DEQ2496) that I absolutely love. Behringer has some astonishing bang-for-the-buck products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLamp Steve, What kind of music you generally listen to ?? I listen to all popular genres viz Rock/Pop/Trance/Techno/Alternative/Metal etc but I am some what particular about the mids and the bass. I want proper mids and a good tight bass. I feel that its the mids which carries the magic. Bass is what gives you the thrill. For highs I am ok with decent performance (not looking for something extraordinary). Let me know, on these scales which would be better HD497 or Grado SR60 ?? Some people are of the opinion that Grado is bit on the brighter side, is it true?? Basically what are the strengths of Grado over the HD497 and vice-versa ?? Also are the HD477 really not worth considering (looking at my budget) ? Your views are very essential

 

[HeadLamp]

I am now considering Grado SR80 as well. Its available for $95 (correct me if I am wrong). Please let me know if its really that good to pay that extra buck.
Also would you recommend anything superior to this guy, looking at my taste of music.
BTW I checked out Behringer here in India, cant say about its dealers in other countries. But man, its worth giving a try. You can check out its website :
http://www.behringer.com/HPX4000/index.cfm?lang=ENG
http://www.behringer.com/HPX2000/index.cfm?lang=ENG

I think you should be able to find a dealer here in there website.

Let me know about SR80 btw.

 

[Steve999]

I prefer the SR60 to the SR80. I prefer the flat pads to the bowl pads, and otherwise the construction and sound are very similar. You can do a head-fi search... it's not exactly an original thought on my part.

With the SR60s you are getting a very high bang-for-the-buck.

I'm going to keep my eyes out for those Behringers, though they are up against some stiff competition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadLamp I am now considering Grado SR80 as well. Its available for $95 (correct me if I am wrong). Please let me know if its really that good to pay that extra buck. BTW I checked out Behringer here in India, cant say about its dealers in other countries. But man, its worth giving a try. You can check out its website : http://www.behringer.com/HPX4000/index.cfm?lang=ENG http://www.behringer.com/HPX2000/index.cfm?lang=ENG I think you should be able to find a dealer here in there website.

 

[jant71]

I would go along with bjackson saying you should go with AT if you can. I suggest the new T series. The T44 is around $55-$60. Check them out at audio-technica.com. Good luck in your search!