New member w/headphone questions
Dec 25, 2013 at 3:14 PM Post #16 of 19
Which would you recommend- the Sony or the Sennheiser?
Should I just go with a cheaper pair like the ATH-M50's for listening at work?

I like the ZMF headphones that Claritas mentioned above too but they're a bit on the pricier side.

So looking at your first post, it seems like you are getting x2 headphones (x1 open & x1 closed). $300-400 budget on the open & $200-$300 budget on the closed?
 
for open, both the hd600 & hd650 are excellent choices. if you can't decide between em, you shld try to see if you can demo em. Or you can go for the $400 open planar magnetic HE-400 (my personal preference out of em) - from what i've read, the HE-400 sounds better than all the different modded fostexs like the ZMF (tho I haven't tried any of those mods so I can't say, kinda skeptical paying so much money for a $70 pair of headphones, no matter how well tuned they are), so that is a great choice if you were interested in the closed ZMF. final alternative for open is to go cheaper for the $200-300 akg k701/q701 vs beyer dt 990 pros. those are also very well-reviewed headphones that can be considered in the same sound quality class as the other options. my personal preference for open is the he-400.
 
for closed, if you didn't get the HE-400, but still wanted to try orthos, the $300 mad dogs by mr. speaker is very popular here (note mad dogs are not the most portable pair of headphones tho).
 
mdr-1r vs momentum, it depends what you are looking for. if you want more neutral, go momentum. momentum sound sig was very well balanced with a lil bass emphasis. mdr-1r is colored, but i thought the coloration sound very smooth & fun. mdr-1r is warm mid-centric, very rich & lush, with a midbass boost -> great for rock/guitars/female vocals. note the momentum would be more portable than the mdr-1r (as the momentums are extremely light & sleek), but the mdr-1r are definitely more comfortable with big earcups & slanted drivers to give your ears clearance. the momentums over-ears actually fit on-ear in real life (i have small ears too). price: i've seen the momentums down at $300 and the mdr-1r sub-$200 ($180 was the lowest). the momentums are probably more technically capable & had a slight edge in clarity/overall sound quality, but I ended up preferring the mdr-1r d/t their amazing comfort, price, and i liked their warm fun smooth sound signature. just a personal preference tho.
 
other closed over-ear options that are good value are the $200 akg k545 from razerdogaudio & the sub-$100 ue6000 from (I believe tigerdirect, you can get rebates on em to get it cheaper maybe $70). akg k545 was reviewed to have great sound quality (some people preferred em over the momentums) and the ue6000 is great value at its price w/ lots of extras: really portable as it's foldable, can use in passive mode or w/ active noise cancelling feature. while the ath-m50 are a tried & true classic with many fans, i personally think that there a lot of great new headphones that sound better nowadays as the m50 is a really old model.
 
i would get the ue6000 if looking for a budget $100 pair. most comfortable is def mdr-1r (if you will be using for really long periods of time). most portable would be the momentum & ue6000. best sound quality momentum (& k545/mad dogs probably but I haven't heard those). all the headphones listed above have great sound quality, biggest difference is sound signatures. all of those headphones are priced very well in my opinion, so you are getting a good value for your money. just a question of how much you want to spend. probably just want to find something w/ a sound signature that matches your tastes (best way to do this is to demo).
 
hope this wall of text was helpful for you! :)
 
Dec 25, 2013 at 4:00 PM Post #17 of 19
Thank you very much for the detailed info- appreciate it!! I was going back and forth on the 600 vs 650 and couldn't choose. It was driving me crazy. After reading the reviews between the two on the link that KG Jag posted, I decided to go with the 650. They will be here tomorrow. I will see how they sound. Sometime down the road I will be picking up some HD 800.

As for closed, I think the Sony MDR-R1 look good. They are going for about $200 on Amazon right now. I think I will pick up a pair of those (without bluetooth and mic) to use at work.
 
Dec 25, 2013 at 8:33 PM Post #18 of 19
Super! Enjoy your new headfriends, soundstage77. And job well done, money4me247.
 

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