[32443524]

I've been using crappy $5 headphones for a while(and gone through about 5 of them in a year or two). I've decided that since I can end up listening to music for 5-10 hours a day to make otherwise boring tasks/things related to work fun, it's about time I get something decent.

I have a $300 budget. Willing to go a bit over, but I'd really prefer not to. If it's just like $20 extra and gets me something a lot better, though, then sure. I want comfortable, long-lasting headphones that cancel a bit of noise, but not too much. I don't want to have to hear the TV in the background, but I want to be able to hear if someone is trying to talk to me or get my attention. I also want headphones that make little to no noise to those around me as sometimes I like to turn it up a bit and I don't want other people to have to deal with it. I'd prefer something that doesn't absolutely destroy my ears over time, at least not more than regular headphones would.

I primarily listen to rock, metal, eurobeat, and occasionally some techno/trance/house/elektro/anything with a beat. Really, I like quite a wide variety of music, but those are the main ones. Rock/Metal and beats.

The only thing I'm really picky about is comfort. If the headphones are uncomfortable, I just don't wanna wear em, ruining the point of having them. Not that picky about anything else except headphones that damage your ears a lot over time, but I assume anyone who makes headphones for more than $20 has already taken this into account. Oh, and if they're good for FPS games, that's a bonus, but not really much of a factor. I can definitely live without it.

Sorry for kinda wanting a lot of stuff, but with all the headphones out there, I'm sure there's at least one that fits what I want.

 

[Almoxil]

For rock, metal and related genres, I have my Ultrasone HFI-780 for home use, and I'm very happy with them. Sound is very clear, forward, and they have a huge and detailed bass. I guess they should work great with electronic music. They isolate you from ambient noise (maybe not the best if someone is trying to get your attention). Comfort-wise, I don't have any problem, although they don't "disappear" when I'm wearing them. You can find them for $200 and under.

 

[32443524]

Alright, sounds good, I'll look into them.

Anyone else got any suggestions? I wanna know what I can get before I go out and buy something and I don't know very much about how the things people talk about work.

 

[Rex81]

Denon D2000.

 

[fjrabon]

what are your thoughts on using an amp? $300 is probably in the range of where you'd want to get an amp to go with your headphones and then maybe one of the really good small portables (like koss ksc75's) for your on the go needs.

 

[32443524]

Well, I don't want to spend more than around $300, so it either means I don't get an amp or I get slightly less expensive headphones and get an amp to go with them.

I wouldn't use portable headphones enough for it to be worthwhile. If I absolutely had to, I'd just stick with what I already have.

 

[Almoxil]

One question: what will your primary source for music be? CD player, MP3/multimedia player, home stereo, DVD player or other?

 

[Rakooon]

I'd too certainly vote for HFI780 as they really fit in your need.Sound great for both rock/electronic music.Like Almoxil said, its gonna be hard hearing exterior sound though ,and they're not the most confortable around but for that matter there's a good alternative here: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f125/q...12/index2.html


Quote:

Originally Posted by 32443524 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not that picky about anything else except headphones that damage your ears a lot over time

If you're worry about that, it happened that Ultrasone have some kind of "Shielding" that protect hearing from negative vibration or someting....
Giving the same volume sensation for less decibels .... opinion about that are pretty split around here !

If you wanna read for yourself...

Ultrasone

 

[boomana]

If you're looking at Ultrasone, which really isn't to my taste, I think the Proline 750s are much better headphones (should be able to find for your budget if you look around) than the HFI780s even after mods and recable. I've heard both a couple times, and think the 780s are not particularly suited to music listening as compared to most headphones available. The bass is boomy, and the highs are pretty harsh. I know some folks like them a lot, but I'd definitely look into other headphones as well.

Looks like Shure is stepping into the market with some new closed headphones I hope to be hearing at CanJam. From Jude's review of the 840, the under $200 headphone category could be improving.

 

[Starguard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rex81 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Denon D2000.

Definitely agree.

I am in a similar boat to the OP... I had been using a pair of Sony MDRV6s for 17 years and I recently decided to get some new headphones.

I went for the Denon D2000s (I'll have a few review up once I get my Compass...)

Most users will complain they are bass heavy. There are mods to 'fix' this 'problem,' but personally I am enjoying them.

Also--the build quality has absolutely blown me away. They feel very solid (joints are still an issue, however).

 

[KONAKONA]

Oh another eurobeat fan....maybe, what kind of eurobeat do you listen to? (Examples please, lol)

Reason I ask, is at least the eurobeat I listen to does a lot better on some headphones than others....

 

[Rakooon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd definitely look into other headphones as well.

I perfectly agree.. I myself did a LOT of reading before getting my first cans.
It ended up with ultrasone for me and im pretty satisfied with em , even for rock

but that's me.Be sure to check every option you can get for your money 32443524 !!

 

[32443524]

Denon AH-D2000 people, I found em for $230 here. I saw the original pricetag of $350 and that made me really uncertain, but this makes it a definite possibility. I should probably keep looking at stuff, though, just in case. Could probably get em $25+ cheaper if I looked extra hard, as all I had to do for this was type it into Google and click the price comparisons.
Quote:

Originally Posted by boomana /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you're looking at Ultrasone, which really isn't to my taste, I think the Proline 750s are much better headphones (should be able to find for your budget if you look around) than the HFI780s even after mods and recable.

I can't really find them anywhere for cheaper than about $370, which is going pretty far out of my range. The 650 seems to have a more reasonable price tag($340 on the site, meaning probably $300 elsewhere). They seem like the best deal at the moment. The only difference on the site seems to be the frequency range, and I can't even really hear 25,000hz, so that makes no difference to me. Could just be my crappy headphones at the moment, but the average human can only hear like 25-20,000 and the headphones do 10-25,000, so I don't think 8-35,000 is really necessary. Looking it up really quickly on the internet brings me to this quote.
Quote:

Can you hear a 25,000Hz sound? Almost certainly not. The threshold of human hearing, even amongst the youngest, keenest ears, is about 20kHz (20,000Hz). 25,000Hz is into the ultrasound that echo-locating insectivorous bats use!

In fact, I see them here for $200 rather than the 750s $370+ price tag. Seems like quite the bargain. Which brings me to my next question: Is there any reason to get the 750s over the 650s being that us humans probably can't tell the difference? Or is there something big that I'm missing here?

And is it worth it to get an amp to go with this? Like are there any you'd recommend? I planned to spend $300, so might as well. I don't want to damage my hearing by making it "too" loud, as I never find myself turning my volume up all the way to the max anyway, but it would be nice to enhance sound quality.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Almoxil /img/forum/go_quote.gif One question: what will your primary source for music be? CD player, MP3/multimedia player, home stereo, DVD player or other?

My computer and my MP3 player. On my computer, I'm using this sound card. My MP3 player is an iPod Nano, but I'm looking to get something else as I got one that doesn't have as much space as I need now that I listen to more music. But mainly, I'm gonna be using my computer.
Quote:

Originally Posted by KONAKONA /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh another eurobeat fan....maybe, what kind of eurobeat do you listen to? (Examples please, lol) Reason I ask, is at least the eurobeat I listen to does a lot better on some headphones than others....

Basically all the stuff in Super Eurobeat(too lazy to figure out how many songs that is). I just started to like it around half a year ago, so I don't have all the songs yet or anything.

I absolutely love m.o.v.e, it's like the perfect fusion of everything, and for some reason I like hearing them sing in broken English, haha. The guy can be mediocre at times, but the girl sounds great pretty much all the time. Boulder in particular was a great album by them.

I also listen to a lot of random songs from music games as they're the first thing to really "introduce" me to Eurobeat. Despite how enormous the Super Eurobeat collection is, I'm looking for new stuff all the time. I'd name a billion bands, but I just don't know of that many yet.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm leaning towards the Ultrasone PRO 650s at the moment unless I have a reason to get something else over them.

 

[KONAKONA]

Ah the same kind as me. I'm almost certain you picked that up from initial D as well.

In any case, eurobeat suffers from sibilance quite a bit. If your cans like to bring out any sibilance it will drag a whole bucketful of it right to your ears in the vocals. Not very fun. I use another persons set of PK2s from time to time and I listen to almost nothing but eurobeat when I use those. The mids and the highs on them are lush and make the synths sound fantastic. They also aren't sibilant so the vocals are quite nice too. One thing that would normally be a bad thing on the PK2s is that they lack bass, but most eurobeat actually sounds a bit better with the bass turned down IMO. (Not like it was a important factor in the first place) It just doesn't sound as good on my other cans (Portapro, because the bass is emphasized, and Q40s because of some serious sibilance)

I've heard that the PK2s sound a bit like grados, and I've also heard that grados are better for rock and the like. The only problem there is that all grados are open, which means almost no isolation. However, I've also heard that most closed cans have problems with sibilance, so you might be better off with open cans.

I'ma shoot you a PM as well.