[Samjf123]

I am looking to buy new headphones to replace my Creative wp-300 wireless headphones. I'm looking for wired headphones, either on-ear or over-ear, that are not too big and cost under £200. My main priority is sound quality. I have narrowed it down to these 4:

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear
Sony MDR-1r
Bowers and Wilkins P3
Philips Fidelio L1

Which is the best? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Artem]

What kind of music do you like? And the source?

 

[Trunks159]

The 1r is the best out of those most definitely!

 

[blueangel2323]

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear - good allrounder, balanced sound with a slight fun tilt (a bit of bass and treble emphasis compared to neutral)
Sony MDR-1r - mids-forward, moderate midbass hump, laid back subbass and even more laid back treble, so somewhat dark sounding, but excellent soundstage given the lack of treble presence
Bowers and Wilkins P3 - midbassy, lackluster subbass extension, dark, congested, lacks clarity - the worst of the bunch
Philips Fidelio L1 - haven't heard it but if it's anything like the X1, roughly neutral except for bass emphasis, with good clarity

 

[Samjf123]

Thanks for the answers so far! I like a wide range of music, for example one of my favourite bands is Bastille. I'm using an iPod Touch 4th generation. I don't know much about audiophile terminology so explanations of things like "subbass extension" might be useful.

 

[blueangel2323]

Extension means capable of producing the lowest or highest audible frequencies, the opposite of rolloff. Subbass extension means it can play low into the 20-80hz range.
 
This might help: http://www.head-fi.org/a/describing-sound-a-glossary

 

[juan1894]

If you listen a wide range of music i say the momentum. Not very big, relaxed sound signature (No piercing highs, no elevated bass) However i read in threads that the momentum has little earpads to be over ear for some people.

 

[Trunks159]

Hes not talking about the regular momentum, hes talking about the new on ear momentum.

 

[juan1894]

Hes not talking about the regular momentum, hes talking about the new on ear momentum.

Oh sorry You are right. My bad.

 

[FatmanSize48]

How about the KEF model?

 

[GREQ]

  How about the KEF model?

They're not under £200.

 

[Samjf123]

The reviews I've read seem to say they're all pretty laid back apart from the Momentums and the music I listen to isn't very laid back, so I guess the Momentums might be better suited to my music taste. But from what I've heard, they're less comfortable than the others, they're on-ear instead of over-ear (does that affect sound quality?) and they're not semi-open like the L1s.

 

[GREQ]

If your ears are 65mm tall, the odds are you will be able to fit your ears in the Momentum, and they will be comfortable.
 
The Momentums ARE quite laid back - but they have enough 'speed' to play all genres well. 
 
If your ears are bigger than 65mm. the other one to go for is the Fidelio - that's more 'lively' than the Momentum and a good all-rounder - it actually has quite a similar sound signature to the Momentum.

 

[Trunks159]

Hes probably still talking about the on ear momentum.

 

[Trunks159]

Look into the ATH WS99.