dbdynsty25
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2010
- Posts
- 2,283
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- 257
Okay, so I didn't want to be the guy that makes the blanket statement, what headphone is best for me, but I'm kind of going to do that. I've spent the last few weeks on the boards trying to find the perfect headphone for me. I've tried all kinds of options and I have yet to find the perfect headphone. My use is at the gym 90% of the time and the other 10% is at home. My source is a Zune HD and that's it...no amps, just the dap. My requirements which seem to be really difficult to obtain:
- I don't need an ultra rugged headphone as I baby all of my electronics (it's an OCD thing, lol) so that's not really a concern of mine.
- They must be able to be worn over the ears as I have weird ears that don't support the bottom of the IEM so they tend to slide out easier when they are worn cable down.
- Must have a chin slider...it's just a comfort thing keeping the earphones in place a bit better.
- Prefer an L plug at the source, but not necessary
I listen to about 90% hip hop/rap and the other 10% is stuff like Marc Broussard, Gavin DeGraw, Live, JJ Grey & Mofro and Joe Bonamassa. Yeah, it's a really weird mix, which is why it's tough to find the perfect headphone. If I have to choose one genre, obviously it would be Hip Hop/Rap focused.
In the past few weeks I've tried the following headphones (and the complaints about each):
Phonak Audeo PFE (Perfect Bass version) - this is the closes headphone to perfect I've found. It goes over the ear, has a chin slider, straight plug (not a huge deal), but the problem is that they are just too quiet. I like to listen to music pretty loud when working out and my Zune HD is almost maxed out when trying to push these headphones. Say the Zune goes up to 30, I'm on 28 with these, sometimes 30 for older recordings) whereas most other headphones sit around 23-25. This is my one and only issue with these. They are also a bit light on the bass, but that could be a function of the quiet overall sound.
Monster Turbine - prefer the sound of these, maybe slightly too much bass, but definitely can live with it (almost perfect design wise...almost...a little heavy for gym running and don't have chin slider to keep the cables in check)
NU Force 700X - sounded too thin compared to the Monsters. Definitely not bad, just not close to the Monsters in my mind (no chin slider as well, iffy fit because of the size of the earphone...couldn't insert it deep enough it seems)
Fischer Audio Eterna - didn't like the sound, too muddy bass wise and just overall too big for my liking
Sennheiser ie6 - loved them with my Cowon S9 and J3, but just can't reproduce bass very well without the BBE enhancements that the Cowon's have...the Zune has a very poor equalizer.
Shure SE215 - like the sound on these as well, but I just couldn't get a good fit no matter what I did. The cable bumped part of my ear that pulled the headphone away from my head, ruining the seal. So I guess I can eliminate all of the recent Shure headphones since they are the same for the most part. I had really high hopes for these and I'm pissed they don't work with my ears.
Brainwavz M2 - great sound, but a horrible horrible cable. Flimsy, tangled really easily, no chin slider...just not very good as far as form and function go for me. Again, loved the sound tho, so if I can find something like this I'll be happy for sure. Might be my favorite sound out of all the headphones I've tried so far.
So those are the bass centric headphones I've tried so far. I'd really like to keep them under 100 bucks, but could go up to 125ish if need be. Just can't justify any more than that because I'm not a huge audiophile so I can't tell the minute differences that well...just want something that sounds good to me I guess.
Are there any other headphones out there that I should try? I've got a pair of Hippo VBs coming, but I've got low hopes for those just because of their form as well. I've read through Joker's thread about all the IEMs and that's how I came up with the above headphones, I just appear to be stuck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. Sorry this is so long. Really sorry.
- I don't need an ultra rugged headphone as I baby all of my electronics (it's an OCD thing, lol) so that's not really a concern of mine.
- They must be able to be worn over the ears as I have weird ears that don't support the bottom of the IEM so they tend to slide out easier when they are worn cable down.
- Must have a chin slider...it's just a comfort thing keeping the earphones in place a bit better.
- Prefer an L plug at the source, but not necessary
I listen to about 90% hip hop/rap and the other 10% is stuff like Marc Broussard, Gavin DeGraw, Live, JJ Grey & Mofro and Joe Bonamassa. Yeah, it's a really weird mix, which is why it's tough to find the perfect headphone. If I have to choose one genre, obviously it would be Hip Hop/Rap focused.
In the past few weeks I've tried the following headphones (and the complaints about each):
Phonak Audeo PFE (Perfect Bass version) - this is the closes headphone to perfect I've found. It goes over the ear, has a chin slider, straight plug (not a huge deal), but the problem is that they are just too quiet. I like to listen to music pretty loud when working out and my Zune HD is almost maxed out when trying to push these headphones. Say the Zune goes up to 30, I'm on 28 with these, sometimes 30 for older recordings) whereas most other headphones sit around 23-25. This is my one and only issue with these. They are also a bit light on the bass, but that could be a function of the quiet overall sound.
Monster Turbine - prefer the sound of these, maybe slightly too much bass, but definitely can live with it (almost perfect design wise...almost...a little heavy for gym running and don't have chin slider to keep the cables in check)
NU Force 700X - sounded too thin compared to the Monsters. Definitely not bad, just not close to the Monsters in my mind (no chin slider as well, iffy fit because of the size of the earphone...couldn't insert it deep enough it seems)
Fischer Audio Eterna - didn't like the sound, too muddy bass wise and just overall too big for my liking
Sennheiser ie6 - loved them with my Cowon S9 and J3, but just can't reproduce bass very well without the BBE enhancements that the Cowon's have...the Zune has a very poor equalizer.
Shure SE215 - like the sound on these as well, but I just couldn't get a good fit no matter what I did. The cable bumped part of my ear that pulled the headphone away from my head, ruining the seal. So I guess I can eliminate all of the recent Shure headphones since they are the same for the most part. I had really high hopes for these and I'm pissed they don't work with my ears.
Brainwavz M2 - great sound, but a horrible horrible cable. Flimsy, tangled really easily, no chin slider...just not very good as far as form and function go for me. Again, loved the sound tho, so if I can find something like this I'll be happy for sure. Might be my favorite sound out of all the headphones I've tried so far.
So those are the bass centric headphones I've tried so far. I'd really like to keep them under 100 bucks, but could go up to 125ish if need be. Just can't justify any more than that because I'm not a huge audiophile so I can't tell the minute differences that well...just want something that sounds good to me I guess.
Are there any other headphones out there that I should try? I've got a pair of Hippo VBs coming, but I've got low hopes for those just because of their form as well. I've read through Joker's thread about all the IEMs and that's how I came up with the above headphones, I just appear to be stuck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. Sorry this is so long. Really sorry.
