I NEED HELP CHOOSING THE RIGHT HEADPHONES
Jul 3, 2012 at 10:05 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 27
APKOHA

APKOHA

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Well, I pretty new to this kind of thing, that is choosing great headphones, I don't think I've ever really experienced true great quality sound, and I don't know any good places where I can go test out the different kinds of headphones. The only ones I ever see on display for demo are Bose. So I came here looking for help.
 
  • I want great sound quality, great comfort in my headphones, and head phones that have good build.  I will be using my headphones at home, car, and pretty much i won't be moving around a lot while i listen, so mobility isn't exactly an issue. I will use them mostly with my computer or my mp3 player which at this point will most likely be a Cowon J3.
 
 
 
   2.  Price range: I am willing to go up to $500 bucks, but it would be great if i found less expensive headphones that still are great quality.
 
 
   3.  I don't know if genre matters for choosing the right kind of headphones, but just in case I'll list my music preferences. They are various sub-genre's of metal, death metal, black metal, symphonic/melodic metal, power metal, progressive metal, folk metal, and viking metal, and I listen to classical music on occasion.
 
 
  4. Also, I'd like for you to explain why you recommend a specific type of headphone. So pretty much what are your reasons.
 
 
  5. And finally, I would also like you to say whether or not I'll need an amp for the specific headphones that you recommend.
 
 
Thanks for all your help. 
 
Jul 3, 2012 at 11:52 PM Post #2 of 27
AKG K702/ Q701. Sounds amazing, $240, you WILL need an amp, but not a big one. Great for any genre you listed.
 
Jul 3, 2012 at 11:56 PM Post #3 of 27
Please don't use headphones while you operate a vehicle - it's highly unsafe.

Regarding what headphones I would suggest - I like the AKG suggestion apart from them lacking isolation (which will be annoying in the mobile scenarios); but otherwise they're a fairly good all-rounder candidate. Otherwise, what do you think of the Bose QC15? (Have you tried them?).

You might also look at the Ultrasone PRO2900 - bit faster and more detailed than the AKG, comes with a case, and have more low-end impact. Fairly nice set of cans, clamp aside.

Amp requirement is probably fairly minimal for all three; my PDP drove the 701s fine, and the QC15 and PRO2900 are just super sensitive. I don't know much about the Cowon or what laptop you have though; so it's hard to say if it'll be suitable.
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 12:39 AM Post #5 of 27
Quote:
apkoha said:
Well, I pretty new to this kind of thing, that is choosing great headphones, I don't think I've ever really experienced true great quality sound, and I don't know any good places where I can go test out the different kinds of headphones. The only ones I ever see on display for demo are Bose. So I came here looking for help.
 
  • I want great sound quality, great comfort in my headphones, and head phones that have good build.  I will be using my headphones at home, car, and pretty much i won't be moving around a lot while i listen, so mobility isn't exactly an issue. I will use them mostly with my computer or my mp3 player which at this point will most likely be a Cowon J3.
 
 
 
   2.  Price range: I am willing to go up to $500 bucks, but it would be great if i found less expensive headphones that still are great quality.
 
 
   3.  I don't know if genre matters for choosing the right kind of headphones, but just in case I'll list my music preferences. They are various sub-genre's of metal, death metal, black metal, symphonic/melodic metal, power metal, progressive metal, folk metal, and viking metal, and I listen to classical music on occasion.
 
 
  4. Also, I'd like for you to explain why you recommend a specific type of headphone. So pretty much what are your reasons.
 
 
  5. And finally, I would also like you to say whether or not I'll need an amp for the specific headphones that you recommend.
 
 
Thanks for all your help. 
Click to expand...

Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250-Ohm headphones (open), full bass, full treble, good sound stage, vocals are not as forward as the bass/treble, but they are clear.
Fiio E11 portable headphone amplifier will drive the DT990s decently loud, but not super loud. solid build (for a headphone).
For around $13, off eBay, you can get two spare batteries (BL-5B) for the E11 and a simple AC battery charger.
total price should not be more then $250.
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 6:21 PM Post #10 of 27
What kind of headphones do you want open-back or closed-back? Obviously with an open-back pair there isn't going to be good isolation from outside noises and your music will also leak a lot. But other than that (IMO of course) open-back headphones are superior to closed-backs. You are going to be listening to high quality music right? There is no point in spending up to $500 as you say if you are going to be listening to low quality music. If you are going to be listening to low quality music anyway despite what I said then you would want headphones that aren't very revealing. I'm not going to recommend any headphones to you as I am still very much a noob in this subject as well and I haven't tried many headphones.
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 8:54 PM Post #11 of 27
Well it depends what do you consider high quality music? But majority of my music are various sub-genre's of metal, and I have a pretty big classical collection too. I don't listen to much electronic music such as techno/trance/dubstep, and I also don't listen to any rap/RnB, or pop music. A lot of people think metal is simplistic or primitive, and maybe some of it is, but that could be said about almost any genre. For instance, Cannibal Corpse I would consider it primitive, but I still find it fun, and then you have bands like Opeth and Symphony X which have complex song structures.
 
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 9:04 PM Post #12 of 27
Well I think that CD quality music is just fine (of course the music has to have been recorded well, mastered well etc. . . . I boycott any albums that don't have good dynamic range). IMHO anything higher than that is just ridiculous/pointless (plus I saw an online page somewhere that explained why anything higher than CD quality is not worth it . . . don't ask me where I saw this or ask for a link cause I don't remember where any others who are paying attention to this thread) . . . of course I would say "to each his (or her) own" if anybody disagreed with me.
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 9:19 PM Post #13 of 27
I'm surprised no one's mentioned the grados yet. Though I don't personally like the grados sound, they are quite good for the genres you've listed.
 
I'd also suggest looking at the akg k240, which I preferred over both the k271 and k701, but that may have just been a result of improper amping.. as for others in the AKG lineup, maybe the k601 can be taken into consideration.
 
Could also take a look at Sennheiser HD650. These have a lot of upgrade potential so could do some good in the future.
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 10:25 PM Post #14 of 27
Quote:
hasashi said:
I'm surprised no one's mentioned the grados yet. Though I don't personally like the grados sound, they are quite good for the genres you've listed.
Click to expand...

Yeah me too. I have heard from several people on this forum that Grados are considered the best for metal/rock music, and they are even rated well for sound quality. However, many people on here and elsewhere said that the Grados are or can be extremely uncomfortable. The AKG K702's seem interesting but I heard you need a decent amp to drive them, but I'm not exactly sure why because they are only 62 Ohms. I thought you need amps for Headphones with ohms around 150 and up. Lets say i got the AKG k702's would the FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Amp be good enough to bring out great sound quality?
 
Jul 4, 2012 at 10:42 PM Post #15 of 27
apkoha said:
Yeah me too. I have heard from several people on this forum that Grados are considered the best for metal/rock music, and they are even rated well for sound quality. However, many people on here and elsewhere said that the Grados are or can be extremely uncomfortable. The AKG K702's seem interesting but I heard you need a decent amp to drive them, but I'm not exactly sure why because they are only 62 Ohms. I thought you need amps for Headphones with ohms around 150 and up. Lets say i got the AKG k702's would the FiiO E7 USB DAC and Portable Amp be good enough to bring out great sound quality?
Click to expand...


Impedance != drive-ability.

The AKGs are a good choice.
 
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