[will-1994]

Hi there, i had some sony mdr v700's and they have recently broken, i think they may have been fake! For my next headphones,i want some headphones with a much higher sound quality, everytime i go into HMV or somewhere they have headphones to test and their always so amazing! I like full size headphones, and i like sennheisers. i do not want to have to use an amp, and i normally listen to dubstep/ indie/ rock music through my laptop on spotify! i was looking at the denon D1001's but i think their too compact and i heard the bass wasnt very good! then i saw the Sennheiser HD380 pro, these are rated very well, but after reading a few reviews apparently the bass too isnt very good. but i really like the sound of these, will they be better than the sony's? also, i dont need much noise cancelling as i listen to them quiet at home, but i dont want really loud open ones because my family will start getting annoyed! any advice would be really appraciated. my price range is about £100 british pounds. but i thought i could buy refurbed ones off dakmart for cheaper?! thanks a lot guys! will.

 

[earerror]

Welcome to head-fi!
 
Question: did you enjoy the sound signature of your Sony Hp's? 
 
How important is bass for you? say from 1 to 10...

 

[will-1994]

I didnt really enjoy the sound of them, i dont know if people will agree with me on here, but i think the sound quality compared to say bose or sennheiser was quite bad, they gave me quite a headache if i listened to them for long.
 
Bass is not very very important i would say 6/10. mainly i just want some really quality headphones, i think sony focused too much on the bass.
 
cheers

 

[earerror]

Take a look at the M50's. (yes again) they are good performing different music genres. 
Nice amount of bass, and they are good with rock music. If you have the chance to try before buying, it would be gr8. 

 

[will-1994]

Are these the audio technica ath m50? I'll try and try these out! Ive found the sennheiser HD380 pro for £70, is it worth it? or are they not right for me? thanks for your help earerror!

 

[earerror]

Quote:

Are these the audio technica ath m50? I'll try and try these out! Ive found the sennheiser HD380 pro for £70, is it worth it? or are they not right for me? thanks for your help earerror!

Yes, they are.. (well regarded here) 
 
To be honest, i haven't heard much about the Sennhs you posted. People describe them as "Good" but thats something general. 
 
If some guy here owns them, it would be good to have some impressions on them. 
 
 

 

[acidbasement]

As a general rule, if you're willing to spend 100 pounds on a set of headphones, unless they're a total rip-off they will be good enough that you will much prefer hearing them properly amped rather than right out of your laptop's headphone jack.
 
My advice is to get a set of Koss KSC75.  They're small, but IMO there is nothing better for such a small amount of money.  I have Sennheiser HD600s, but still I absolutely love listening to my wife's KSC75.  
 
Then, if you crave more you can start saving your pounds for something bigger, plus an external DAC/amp.

 

[will-1994]

To be honest i dont really understand what an amp does... ive only started researching for new headphones yesterday and i always assumed people plugged them straight into laptop/ipod! im not very clued up and probarly wont notice much differnet between to different headphones, i just want something that is the BEST for my money, and as i recall sennheisers sound very good! would an amp make such a difference even i would notice?! cheers

 

[will-1994]

i like to consider myself as quite knowledgable about technology, but buying headphones is like rocket science! i found a rating of 9.9/10 on quite a reputable site for the sennheiser hd380 pro, and then other sites are slating it! wow this is hard!

 

[acidbasement]

Here's a good place to start:  http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/a-hopefully-helpful-headphone-buying-guide-for-newbies-by-boomana
 
In general, the sound directly out of your computer isn't going to be too good because there is so much electromagnetic radiation inside the case at all sorts of frequencies, and while it won't affect digital signals, it will degrade the quality of analogue signals.  An external DAC will get all analogue signals outside the computer case, and that is a good thing.  I'm not much of an expert on correct combinations of amps and headphones, but in general some headphones sound better with higher voltage amps and some like higher current, and your computer headphone output will provide neither high voltage nor current.
 
Do some reading on the forums here, scroll through the wikis, and (if you can) try before you buy something expensive.  In the meantime, get a set of KSC75 to start off with.