DWells55
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2010
- Posts
- 12
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- 0
Hey, everyone. I've come here before for help finding IEMs and around-ear headphones before and haven't been steered wrong before, so I was hoping you guys could help me with my first more expensive purchase. I'm looking for a pair of at least somewhat portable headphones that I can use both at home and on the road - planes, in public, outside, whatever. Comfort and build quality are important since they'll be traveling with me and used for extended periods of time. My audio source isn't going to be all that high-end - either an iPhone 4 or 2011 MacBook Pro. I don't own an amp at the moment and I'm not really interested in having to deal with one for the time being (though I could deal with a Fiio E1 if necessary), so I need something that can be driven by those audio sources alone. Audio files are mostly LAME MP3 V2, with some V0 in there and then 192kbps on older stuff that I'm trying to replace. I listen mostly to rock, metal, and electronica, with some classical and acoustic tossed in. Additionally, I'll probably use the headphones for occasional gaming and television show/movie watching. My budget is a maximum of $300.
Additionally, I'm looking for something that's going to have a noticeable sound quality increase from anything I currently own. I currently have the following IEMs: Sennheiser CX300 (don't use anymore), NuForce NE-7M, MEElectronics CC51 (still breaking these in, not sure if I like them better than the NuForce) and two around-ears: Sennheiser HD201 (decent but meh) and Pioneer SE-M390 (pretty happy with the sound on these but use them almost entirely for gaming, not built well-enough to travel with). I'm thinking it's reasonable to expect a pretty big difference in sound quality from these despite my audio sources and files, given that my budget is $300 and those top out at maybe $70.
I've done some research and the Bowers & Wilkins seem to fit the bill as a good choice, especially in terms of portability, comfort, and build quality. Sound quality appears to be a mixed bag, no one seems to think they sound bad, but not quite as good as they could for the price, but I'm thinking there might be a point of diminishing returns of sorts given that I don't have an amp and my audio source is resoundingly mediocre. I can live with trading some sound quality for better build quality, comfort, and portability. I would love to hear some other suggestions though.
So, to summarize, I'm looking for:
Thanks, everyone.
Additionally, I'm looking for something that's going to have a noticeable sound quality increase from anything I currently own. I currently have the following IEMs: Sennheiser CX300 (don't use anymore), NuForce NE-7M, MEElectronics CC51 (still breaking these in, not sure if I like them better than the NuForce) and two around-ears: Sennheiser HD201 (decent but meh) and Pioneer SE-M390 (pretty happy with the sound on these but use them almost entirely for gaming, not built well-enough to travel with). I'm thinking it's reasonable to expect a pretty big difference in sound quality from these despite my audio sources and files, given that my budget is $300 and those top out at maybe $70.
I've done some research and the Bowers & Wilkins seem to fit the bill as a good choice, especially in terms of portability, comfort, and build quality. Sound quality appears to be a mixed bag, no one seems to think they sound bad, but not quite as good as they could for the price, but I'm thinking there might be a point of diminishing returns of sorts given that I don't have an amp and my audio source is resoundingly mediocre. I can live with trading some sound quality for better build quality, comfort, and portability. I would love to hear some other suggestions though.
So, to summarize, I'm looking for:
- $300 or cheaper
- Reasonably portable, built well, comfortable for extended listening
- Usable in public (open back is probably out of the question?)
- Can be driven unamped by iPhone 4 and MacBook Pro
- All around performance, but will be used mostly for rock, metal, and electronica, with some movie watching and gaming
- Noticeable sound quality increase from what I currently own
Thanks, everyone.