Recommend: The best headphones between $40-$80

[janiceMarch]

Hi,

I'm a college student who recently slept on my MDR-cd580 headset and broke it. I'm looking for anything between $40 - $80.

What would be the BEST headset available in this range, if at all?

I've been looking at the Sony XD (100-400) series and their priced ridiculously low but I did see someone say the XD line was better than the MDR-CD line?

Any suggestions.
Any other makes/models/ in this price range that you would consider the best?

Please help! Quick!

Thanks for all replies.
Janice.

 

[l_simon_l]

Are you looking for a headset (headphone and microphone) or just a headphone?

If you do a search on budget headphones you are going to find tons of info.

If I were you I'd audition Grado SR-60

 

[Kameleon]

Really depends what you want in a can. Questions to ask yourself:

Open or closed? Open cans generally sound better for their price, but they won't give you isolation and might annoy people around you. Grados are notorious for leakage, my SR225s basically sound as loud whichever way round the cups are swivelled, it's like mini laptop speakers stuck to the outside of them

Closed cans will give you more isolation, and won't leak much if at all, but you do sacrifice some sound quality in most cases.

Comfort? How important is comfort to you? Are you going to be wearing these for long periods of time, and will it bother you overly much to have something that doesn't feel like pillows on your ears? Circumaural (the pad goes fully around the ear) headphones are generally more comfortable than supraaural (the pad sits on the ear) ones, though it depends on what the pads are made of.

Portability? Do you need to carry these cans around, or use them on the move? Under this heading also comes the question of type of can - I'd assume you're looking for something full-size, but there are also canalphones, earbuds and clip-ons to consider (though you pay for portability with sound quality, unless you're willing to spend).

What are you going to be using them for? There are cans which excel for music but if you wanted them primarily for games and movies there are better choices out there, and vice versa. Does music take precedence over being able to pinpoint enemies in games or hearing bullets whizz around you in the Matrix?

What do you listen to? There are distinctive "house sounds" to the different headphone manufacturers' ranges, and they each excel in different genres/styles of music - it all depends what you want out of your headphones. A can that will knock your socks off with rock music just might not have the refinement for classical or jazz, and might be too unbalanced for electronica. What music you listen to should play a large part in your choice, if you'll be using these headphones for music.

What do you like to hear most in your music? Closely related to the above, different cans emphasise different things in music - there are very few neutral headphones. So do you like lots of bass, lush mids, or detailed highs?

Budget - you've already covered this, but is there a headphone amp in your future? If not that'll cut down some on your choices, some headphones really need proper amping to shine where others are great without and even better with.

Think that's about it, answer those questions and it'll be a lot easier to recommend stuff

 

[Cerebral_Mamba]

If an OPEN (no isolation from outside world and leaks sound), Supra Aural (not enclosing the ears), Not so protable HEADPHONE (not headset) will be fine, then the Grado SR60 is your best bet in terms of sound quality.

Again, if you are looking for Headphones and not headsets, the low end SONYs suck big time. Though it is frequenty hapening, I personally can't imagine a Sony headphone for less than $100 that doesn't TOTALLY SUCK.

Again, if you want headsets, try PLANTRONICS or Sennheiser.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

going with the AKG K 26 P..

 

[kramer5150]

K240s-55 is my favorite can in that price range.

Garrett

 

[mahlerfan]

The Sennheiser 497s-- which actually can be had for $35 now!

 

[Nandro]

But I bet the general consensus would say the SR-60's are the best in that price range if we took a poll dont you think? Under $100 he could get tha MS1's and they are supposed to sound very nice.

 

[kin0kin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by janiceMarch Hi, I'm a college student who recently slept on my MDR-cd580 headset and broke it. I'm looking for anything between $40 - $80. What would be the BEST headset available in this range, if at all? I've been looking at the Sony XD (100-400) series and their priced ridiculously low but I did see someone say the XD line was better than the MDR-CD line? Any suggestions. Any other makes/models/ in this price range that you would consider the best? Please help! Quick! Thanks for all replies. Janice.

NO WAY the xd series is better than the cd series. But i've only heard the xd200 (and still owns it), I do own the cd480, something similar to yours. if you are thinking about the lower end XD series, dont waste your time, it's a serious downgrade from your cd580.

sr-60 is the best choice given that budget. you may find it a little uncomfortable if you are coming from the cd580.

 

[mahlerfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nandro But I bet the general consensus would say the SR-60's are the best in that price range if we took a poll dont you think? Under $100 he could get tha MS1's and they are supposed to sound very nice.

Well I think that the 497s are more transparent than the SR-60s. Also the sr-60s can be fatiguing, but the 497s aren't.

 

[janiceMarch]

Wow, seriously I'm amazed at how active the Head-Fi forums are. NICE!

Re: l_simon_l
Looking for headphones

Re:Kameleon
Thank you for the very detailed reply.
Looking for

-- Open Headphones

-- Needs to be pretty comfortable. I will be using them for long periods of time. I use them for various reasons. I do 3D Animation & Visual Effects so while I'm doing that and working with a dialogue piece I need to playback the audio over and over to sync the sound with the lip movement (or to the music if it's a musical bit.
I also use it to generate foley effects (character and environment sfx - like footsteps, clothes moving, knuckles cracking - basically all the little tiny nuances that would have been captured at a live shoot) so precision and detail I guess is an important factor. I do this in Sony Vegas/Pro Tools depending on what's at hand. Again a lot of sound scrubbing for long periods involved.

-- Portability - I don't really care about portability at all - this is mostly for editing, animating and very importantly as well listening to music while at the desk.

-- Usage (see notes above) In addition I don't really play games but I am a big film buff and definitely enjoy realistic sound (as much as my pockets will let me

-- What will I be listening to? Given the above additionally in terms of music I'm a big House lover. Love dat electronic music. Sometimes jazz/electro-jazz. Not really into rock on a long term basis. I need good house music, lots of coffee and red bull to keep me going

-- What do I want to hear? Bass, lush-mids or detailed highs. Hmm, I really like a solid deep bass but I'm more about the detailed highs but then again will "lush-mids" help for voices (in sound editing)......sighhhh

-- future upgrades? Hmmm never had a headphone amp so I would say it's possibly not something in the near future. Besides I'm sitting in midst of a ton of equipment already (computer and video related, that is.)


Re:Cerebral_Mamba
I'm really into the open headphones although I know it can be annoying to others if the sound leaks but I'd rather turn down a tad and let the headphones breathe a little on my ears cos it is for long use.
Low-end Sony's Suck? Hmmm, my mdr cd-580 was only $60 at the time I bought them and I loved them. I might be missing out big then - what are you comparing them to?

Re: chrisfromalbany & kramer5150
Checking them out now. Any more details you can throw my way about them, given the details above?

Re: mahlerfan
The 497s sound like a good bet but they seem to have a real ak...akw...awkwe..akwerd...awa....bad design.
I love Sennheiser's - They make great mics too. I have their wireless HDR85 and while I won't say remarkable things about the sound quality I will say relatively they have the best audio reception/ excellent additional battery that charges while your using one and there's nothing better than walking away from the desk in the middle of the night to smoke a cigarette out on the fire escape and have the movie/music come with you in the dark. YEAH!
Also helps when your doing the dishes and not trying to call too much attention to yourself...but then again maybe not..........what was this thread about again?

Re: Nandro
Checking the Grado SR60s since so many of you have recommended it. I'm a little concerned about how much is heard though. I read somewhere someone say it's like little laptop speakers attached to your head for others around you. While sound leakage is given with the open style HPs is this one really That bad? Like as in relatively more than others?

Re: kin0kin
Hey money man! Thanks for the detailed reply my other posting. I was looking anywhere between the XD200-XD400 line. Are these any better than my MDR CD-580. I guess I'm basically looking for an equivalent or even better an improvement over the 580s cos getting a headphone that's worse than the ones you were used to listening to is the worst thing. Thanks for the warning. So would you say the XD200 is better than the CD580 then? There's such a big price difference between the two though which makes me a bit worried or is that just a good deal then?

Re: mahlerfan
Hmmm... 497s or SR-60s ? IF only the 497s looked just a tad better they just seem awkwardly big in pictures. Are they comfortable for long use? What do you mean by more transparent - as in clarity?

Thanks for all the replies. Please keep 'em coming when you have the time.
J.

 

[xluben]

The Sennheisers are not nearly as big as they look. My roommate has the HD212 Pro's, which I find rather nice looking.

As for headphones, I would suggest looking into the Koss UR40's. Very comfortable, cheap, nice open sound with a bass emphasis, and can be found at Circuit City.

 

[mahlerfan]

I think that the sr-60s are more comfy-- also might be better than the senns for the type of music you'll listen to.

Why do I think that the sr-60s are more comfy? Well you can shape the metal band to fit your head perfectly and the smallish senn earpads annoy my ears after awhile.

Given your more specific demands I'm reversing my opinion now.

 

[J-Pak]

Also think the SR-60 is very comfy. Just stretch out the headband so the earpads aren't pushing on your ears. The Grado comfies that come with the SR-60 are very nice, but I replaced mine with the stiffer Senn HD414.

 

[kin0kin]

no dude, the xd200 is absolutely....no way, in any aspects, (other than the look) is better than the cd480/580. absolutely no way. as for the xd300, and XD400, I'm not sure since I've never got a chance to audition them.....

the 497 arent big, they just look ugly. but the cd580 doesn't look that much better, so it shouldnt be a problem

I find that the cd480/580 to sound really darn good at that price point. It is actually my main phone. they are bass shy, and doesn't sound that detail when compared to other higher end phones. if you were to pick the sr60/ms-1, I wouldn't say you are upgrading/downgrading...more so like changing the taste and sound signature. but if you can fork out a little more (around $120), a sec hand hd580 would be a good choice!

btw, this may sound conservative...but it's generally better to stick with open cans if you don't need isolation.