45729420
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
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UPDATE: I've made my decision and purchased headphones, I'm just leaving this around for people who may be in the same situation as me.
I've been going back and forth between a lot of my options for literally hours a day everyday for the past few weeks, unable to find precisely what I'm looking for. I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands of reviews, watched a lot of videos, and done plenty of research only to end up back where I started. At this point, I'm so lost that I could really use some guidance in trying to find the best headphones for what I listen to in my price range.
Determining value
Sound Quality > Build Quality > Comfort > Looks
(But if one of them is exceptionally bad, it could bring down the headphones as a whole.)
Genre preferences
I'm mainly going to be listening to electro house, trance, some drum and bass/dubstep, rock, metal, screamo, and things that sound similar. Basically, two "types" of sounds, if that makes sense. I would really like for my rock, in particular, to feel full and energizing and wouldn't mind if the electronic group was only above average, or even just average if I have no other choice. What I would really like to find is something that does both of these very well.
I'm going to be listening to things like this:
Headphones I've considered, but wasn't interested in
And why.
Sennheiser HD650
I owned modded Sennheiser HD555s and think the "Sennheiser sound" just isn't for me. I can appreciate it from a distance and enjoy the quality, but it's too laid back and can make some of my music feel pretty sterile. To make things worse, the plastic headband cracked which eventually led to its destruction. This has happened to a lot of people and HD650s are made basically the same way in that regard. They've also been described quite often as "colored", which is almost certainly not for me. They've got quite an expensive base price if you're looking to buy them new and would require a lot of amplification. If it wasn't for a bad experience with the build quality and my preferred genres being some of the weakest with this line of Sennheisers, I'd totally get them.
Sennheiser HD600
See 650, but with a more neutral sound.
Sennheiser HD558, 598, etc
Besides the fact that I don't want to buy what is basically the same headphone for 2-3x as much money as I got the 555 for, my concerns with the build quality are so great that I wouldn't be comfortable purchasing another similarly built Sennheiser headphone even if it was well suited for what I like in fear that it would literally come apart on its own after a few years.
HiFiMan HE-500
Normally I wouldn't consider anything in this price range, but it was touted as one of the best values on the market today and a headphone worthy of challenging the high end $1.2K+ contenders at a mere $699. I figured, it's only a few hundred more, it's a huge purchase and one I'll have to work to make up for, but it could be the thing I've always dreamed of. After reading into it more, the genres I listen to seem to be some of its weakest points which is basically a dealbreaker for me.
Ultrasone PRO 900
I saw a post in the deals thread saying it was only $320 right now. They have a pretty big following, even a thread that's hundreds of pages long and always seems to be on the first or second page. I got really close to pulling the trigger on what was somewhat of an impulse buy of great headphones half off. There was only one left in stock. I had to do it. But I thought for a moment and realized I should probably look into it first, because it's still a big purchase. When I did, I was hugely disappointed. Negative reviews all over the place, people saying they're simply not worth the money, and some even saying they're "the worst headphones ever!" Obviously, a lot of these kinds of things can be taken with a grain of salt, but there were so many mixed and often negative reviews that, after looking into them for a while, I decided I wasn't going to buy them, even at that price.
Audio-Technica ATHM50/S
They're not going to beat headphones in this price range, lmao.
Grados, all of them
Serious comfort issues, both with the feeling of the headphones themselves and with the sound that comes out of them. I also hear they're not so good with electronic music. I don't like how they go on the ears rather than around, either. Meh, I want to like them, but they've got an awful lot going against them. As much as I'd like to enjoy my rock to the fullest, I want to do it for well over half an hour to an hour at a time, and it's not the only thing I listen to in the first place.
Denon D2000/5000
I didn't look into these nearly as much as some others, but they don't seem to be so good for rock music. Feel free to recommend these if you think I should check them out again and give them another shot. I only spent what was relatively a small amount of time doing research on them and some of it came from rather subjective sources.
Any two sets of headphones
I don't want to swap them out, man. I'd rather just have one good pair that works with the two sounds I want them to. Having to unplug one and plug the other in to get the best sound quality every time I want to listen to something different would be a problem with the way I spontaneously listen to things.
I've been going back and forth between a lot of my options for literally hours a day everyday for the past few weeks, unable to find precisely what I'm looking for. I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands of reviews, watched a lot of videos, and done plenty of research only to end up back where I started. At this point, I'm so lost that I could really use some guidance in trying to find the best headphones for what I listen to in my price range.
Determining value
Sound Quality > Build Quality > Comfort > Looks
(But if one of them is exceptionally bad, it could bring down the headphones as a whole.)
Sound Quality
I am looking for something that provides an exciting, yet accurate sound without being grating or artificial. See the genre preferences section of this post for the kinda stuff I'll be listening to. This is by far the most important thing.
Build Quality
When making purchases, I'm always looking for something that will last for years. Something that can be resold when I'm done with it and still retain most of the value of a new one. Things made of metal tend to look and feel better than things made of cheap plastic, even if they're heavier, but more importantly, they tend to last longer too. I don't care how heavy it is. As long as it's a solid product, I'm not super picky about the details.
It must have a replaceable cable in the event I need to buy a new one, preferably a thick and durable one that isn't prone to getting damaged in the first place. If not, there needs to be some way to repair it with minimal hassle. What good are the rest of the headphones if they're severely crippled the moment they're accidentally run over one day with an office chair? Obviously, it would be good to not do that in the first place, but things happen. The cable should be at least 2 meters long, anything less is rather uncomfortable to me for home use with the computer. If not, it should have a buyable extension cord that does not compromise sound quality. To be quite honest, it's ridiculous to have such short cables on anything that isn't built primarily to be portable.
Comfort
If I can't wear them for more than 2-3 hours without needing to take a break, I probably shouldn't have had them on in the first place. In this price range, I would hope for something "usable" comfort-wise, at least.
Looks
Pretty things look nice. Some headphones are so beautiful that they look like modern works of art. That'd be great if I wanted to look at it all day, but I'm going to be wearing it. Unless it's an atrocious abomination, I probably won't care.
I am looking for something that provides an exciting, yet accurate sound without being grating or artificial. See the genre preferences section of this post for the kinda stuff I'll be listening to. This is by far the most important thing.
Build Quality
When making purchases, I'm always looking for something that will last for years. Something that can be resold when I'm done with it and still retain most of the value of a new one. Things made of metal tend to look and feel better than things made of cheap plastic, even if they're heavier, but more importantly, they tend to last longer too. I don't care how heavy it is. As long as it's a solid product, I'm not super picky about the details.
It must have a replaceable cable in the event I need to buy a new one, preferably a thick and durable one that isn't prone to getting damaged in the first place. If not, there needs to be some way to repair it with minimal hassle. What good are the rest of the headphones if they're severely crippled the moment they're accidentally run over one day with an office chair? Obviously, it would be good to not do that in the first place, but things happen. The cable should be at least 2 meters long, anything less is rather uncomfortable to me for home use with the computer. If not, it should have a buyable extension cord that does not compromise sound quality. To be quite honest, it's ridiculous to have such short cables on anything that isn't built primarily to be portable.
Comfort
If I can't wear them for more than 2-3 hours without needing to take a break, I probably shouldn't have had them on in the first place. In this price range, I would hope for something "usable" comfort-wise, at least.
Looks
Pretty things look nice. Some headphones are so beautiful that they look like modern works of art. That'd be great if I wanted to look at it all day, but I'm going to be wearing it. Unless it's an atrocious abomination, I probably won't care.
Genre preferences
I'm mainly going to be listening to electro house, trance, some drum and bass/dubstep, rock, metal, screamo, and things that sound similar. Basically, two "types" of sounds, if that makes sense. I would really like for my rock, in particular, to feel full and energizing and wouldn't mind if the electronic group was only above average, or even just average if I have no other choice. What I would really like to find is something that does both of these very well.
I'm going to be listening to things like this:
Tiësto, Wolfgang Gartner and Luciana
Armin van Buuren
DJ Fresh, Doctor P and Flux Pavilion
deadmau5
Metric
Avenged Sevenfold
Black Veil Brides
Metallica
Green Day
Sorry about poor sound quality in some of these. It's Youtube, I've gotta work with what's been uploaded.
I've intentionally picked things that are rather different from each other to give a general range within the genres. I don't really care about how it performs with other genres. If I listen to others, I'm usually listening to them for different reasons and don't care much about the fine details of the sound quality.
I've intentionally picked things that are rather different from each other to give a general range within the genres. I don't really care about how it performs with other genres. If I listen to others, I'm usually listening to them for different reasons and don't care much about the fine details of the sound quality.
Headphones I've considered, but wasn't interested in
And why.
Sennheiser HD650
I owned modded Sennheiser HD555s and think the "Sennheiser sound" just isn't for me. I can appreciate it from a distance and enjoy the quality, but it's too laid back and can make some of my music feel pretty sterile. To make things worse, the plastic headband cracked which eventually led to its destruction. This has happened to a lot of people and HD650s are made basically the same way in that regard. They've also been described quite often as "colored", which is almost certainly not for me. They've got quite an expensive base price if you're looking to buy them new and would require a lot of amplification. If it wasn't for a bad experience with the build quality and my preferred genres being some of the weakest with this line of Sennheisers, I'd totally get them.
Sennheiser HD600
See 650, but with a more neutral sound.
Sennheiser HD558, 598, etc
Besides the fact that I don't want to buy what is basically the same headphone for 2-3x as much money as I got the 555 for, my concerns with the build quality are so great that I wouldn't be comfortable purchasing another similarly built Sennheiser headphone even if it was well suited for what I like in fear that it would literally come apart on its own after a few years.
HiFiMan HE-500
Normally I wouldn't consider anything in this price range, but it was touted as one of the best values on the market today and a headphone worthy of challenging the high end $1.2K+ contenders at a mere $699. I figured, it's only a few hundred more, it's a huge purchase and one I'll have to work to make up for, but it could be the thing I've always dreamed of. After reading into it more, the genres I listen to seem to be some of its weakest points which is basically a dealbreaker for me.
Ultrasone PRO 900
I saw a post in the deals thread saying it was only $320 right now. They have a pretty big following, even a thread that's hundreds of pages long and always seems to be on the first or second page. I got really close to pulling the trigger on what was somewhat of an impulse buy of great headphones half off. There was only one left in stock. I had to do it. But I thought for a moment and realized I should probably look into it first, because it's still a big purchase. When I did, I was hugely disappointed. Negative reviews all over the place, people saying they're simply not worth the money, and some even saying they're "the worst headphones ever!" Obviously, a lot of these kinds of things can be taken with a grain of salt, but there were so many mixed and often negative reviews that, after looking into them for a while, I decided I wasn't going to buy them, even at that price.
Audio-Technica ATHM50/S
They're not going to beat headphones in this price range, lmao.
Grados, all of them
Serious comfort issues, both with the feeling of the headphones themselves and with the sound that comes out of them. I also hear they're not so good with electronic music. I don't like how they go on the ears rather than around, either. Meh, I want to like them, but they've got an awful lot going against them. As much as I'd like to enjoy my rock to the fullest, I want to do it for well over half an hour to an hour at a time, and it's not the only thing I listen to in the first place.
Denon D2000/5000
I didn't look into these nearly as much as some others, but they don't seem to be so good for rock music. Feel free to recommend these if you think I should check them out again and give them another shot. I only spent what was relatively a small amount of time doing research on them and some of it came from rather subjective sources.
Any two sets of headphones
I don't want to swap them out, man. I'd rather just have one good pair that works with the two sounds I want them to. Having to unplug one and plug the other in to get the best sound quality every time I want to listen to something different would be a problem with the way I spontaneously listen to things.
