[R04R]

Try looking at JVC HA-RX700 and JVC HA-RX900

I just got the RX700s and they're working great for me. Search for some reviews on head-fi

 

[blkfi]

My HD280's served me faithfully for many years, but finally died a painful death with a spunky labrador the other day. I'm not crying too hard because they got to be fairly uncomfortable. I have a big head, listen mostly to electronic and jazz music (so I'd like true, but not overstated, bass), and don't really care about open vs. closed. I move around a lot and rarely have the opportunity for a consistent amp. Comfort is subjective, but definitely key. Equal to or less than $100 is also key. Any suggestions?

 

[Dino S]

Wrong thread, sorry.

 

[Octavaryum]

Grado SR225i
Sound: 4/10 - When I first got these, I was in love. They were my first pair of hi-fi phones. However, after getting HD600's and properly amping them, I immediately wanted to sell them. They did not improve at all with amping for me. They sounded harsh and sibilant. They were refined and detailed, but unlistenable for me. I fully understand why everyone likes these for rock. They have no soundstage and they make guitars sound up close and loud. I personally like more laid-back phones.

Comfort: 2/10 - Worst I've ever used. I tried bending the headband until the bowls were comfortable, but then the sound suffered. I ended up just putting a beyer DT770 headband and sennheiser hd414 reverse-quarter modded pads onto them to make them wearable for more than 3 hours.

Build Quality: 8/10 - Surprisingly sturdy, all things considered. They seem like they would've lasted for quite some time. They're fully plastic. I took two points off because of quality control at Grado. Mine came looking as if they'd been thrown around a bit and weren't properly in the pizza box.

Overall: 3/10 for the price. I found these MASSIVELY overpriced, which is probably why you'll see so many for sale for $140. They're good headphones if you can stand them - don't get me wrong. But for what you get it's just not worth $200.


Sennheiser HD600

Sound: 10/10 - The moment I had these properly amped I knew what I had been missing with the Grado's. Ahhhh, warmness. These are laid back, warm/darker, have a very good soundstage, and are pretty well balanced. With these music just kind of floats around your ears, caressing your pinnae and teasing your malleus. It's like a seductress rubbing up against your cochlea. My kind of lady, er, headphones.

People will tell you these are best for classical and jazz. Allow me to disagree with them. I think these are fantastic for rock, metal, jazz, classical, acoustic, etc. They work perfectly with all genres. However, if you're in the Grado camp I can see why you wouldn't like these for rock/metal. They don't inflate the highs so the guitars and vocals can be in your face and loud.

Comfort: 9/10 - Very comfy, but there is just this SOMETHING that isn't working with them. I can't tell quite what it is, but I'm always trying to adjust them. For non-lunatics this should be a 10/10. I love the clamp.

Build Quality: 9/10 - They seem like they'd last. In fact, I know they will. My current pair has been through at least two other owners. I took 1 point off because of a couple of small things. The pads having to be replaced a tad more often than I'd like and the headband being pretty easy to break.

Overall: 9.5/10 for the price. These really are amazing. I bought mine for $175 used. They do not sound like $175 headphones. They sound ridiculously good. I cannot recommend more.


AKG K701

Sound: 9.5/10 - Let me just begin by saying that I think these cans are massively underrated. They're often criticized for being too lean on the bass. I understand this criticism, but do not agree with it. I think the bass quantity is plenty - and you're hearing this from a fan of the HD600's! These are absolutely on the bright-end of the spectrum. They are also VERY, VERY, VERY detailed. VERY. They have a bigger soundstage than the HD600's, and a very interesting one at that. Vocals are kind of upfront, guitars are more on the sides and further away, bass is all around, and drums + cymbals are further away. This may not be fully accurate, I find it difficult to explain. These cans seem to work every genre perfectly, much like the HD600's. The one criticism I have with them are vocals. Female vocals sound a bit flat and lifeless with these, male vocals are a bit better. By no means do I mean these RUIN vocals, it's just that they're not perfect.

Comfort: 9.9/10 - They lose .1 point because of the bumps in the headband. They're VERY comfortable and ENORMOUS! I find these to be more comfortable than the HD600's. They give your ears a lot of breathing room. The bumps at the top of the head can be annoying - but only if I rub them *Hard* into my skull. I need to try these on after cutting my hair (It's pretty bushy up there) to see if I have to lower this rating.

Build quality: 7/10 - plastic plastic plastic. It peeves me that AKG didn't even make the tiny little GRILLS out of metal at this price point. The cord termination can-end seems pretty good. I took most of the points off because the auto-adjustment parts of the cans seem VERY flimsy. They should've been made entirely of metal.

Overall: 9/10 for the price. I bought these for $5 more than the HD600's. They sound very similar in terms of overall sound quality and refinement. I like to think of these two headphones as brother and sister. The Senns tilt towards the dark end, the AKG's towards the bright. However, the HD600's are absolutely more enjoyable. The K701's are a tad analytical, but I can still enjoy them.

 

[ScarlettD]

For me, it is also Sennheiser HD-25 and CX300

 

[francisdemarte]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octavaryum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sound: 10/10 - The moment I had these properly amped I knew what I had been missing with the Grado's. Ahhhh, warmness. These are laid back, warm/darker, have a very good soundstage, and are pretty well balanced. With these music just kind of floats around your ears, caressing your pinnae and teasing your malleus. It's like a seductress rubbing up against your cochlea. My kind of lady, er, headphones.

This has to be the best description of a headphone I've ever read!

 

[naiku]

Last month my Sony MDR-V700 died. They served me pretty well over the 5-6 years I owned them.
I am looking for a new pair of headphones. My main use for them would be listening to music through my macbook or ipod. I listen to metal, pop, techno..etc. Sometimes I will hook them up to this Turtle Beach X41 audiobox to play the xbox360. Closed or Open are fine as long as they are comfy to wear for long sessions, v700s definitely weren't comfy.

I am not sure which pair would best suit my situation. My price range is between 100-150$. Anything more seems like it would be a waste without getting an amp. I was looking at the HD555 since i seen a few people mention them but seems silly for me to just buy a pair without hearing all the options.

Any ones recommendation or thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[EternalShadow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Octavaryum /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grado SR225i AKG K701 Sound: 9.5/10 - Let me just begin by saying that I think these cans are massively underrated. They're often criticized for being too lean on the bass. I understand this criticism, but do not agree with it. I think the bass quantity is plenty - and you're hearing this from a fan of the HD600's! These are absolutely on the bright-end of the spectrum. They are also VERY, VERY, VERY detailed. VERY. They have a bigger soundstage than the HD600's, and a very interesting one at that. Vocals are kind of upfront, guitars are more on the sides and further away, bass is all around, and drums + cymbals are further away. This may not be fully accurate, I find it difficult to explain. These cans seem to work every genre perfectly, much like the HD600's. The one criticism I have with them are vocals. Female vocals sound a bit flat and lifeless with these, male vocals are a bit better. By no means do I mean these RUIN vocals, it's just that they're not perfect. Comfort: 9.9/10 - They lose .1 point because of the bumps in the headband. They're VERY comfortable and ENORMOUS! I find these to be more comfortable than the HD600's. They give your ears a lot of breathing room. The bumps at the top of the head can be annoying - but only if I rub them *Hard* into my skull. I need to try these on after cutting my hair (It's pretty bushy up there) to see if I have to lower this rating. Build quality: 7/10 - plastic plastic plastic. It peeves me that AKG didn't even make the tiny little GRILLS out of metal at this price point. The cord termination can-end seems pretty good. I took most of the points off because the auto-adjustment parts of the cans seem VERY flimsy. They should've been made entirely of metal. Overall: 9/10 for the price. I bought these for $5 more than the HD600's. They sound very similar in terms of overall sound quality and refinement. I like to think of these two headphones as brother and sister. The Senns tilt towards the dark end, the AKG's towards the bright. However, the HD600's are absolutely more enjoyable. The K701's are a tad analytical, but I can still enjoy them.

I totally agree with this. Although I feel you can find even more of

with the best amp and source that you can find. I was also very disappointed in the amount of plastic on the 701's, but sound quality is amazing. What's up with the bumps? Feel like they are there just to dig into your head.

 

[leakthenet]

so can anyone recommend me an over-ear headphones for under 500...closed-air used for music/gaming and the weight not being heavy over long periods of time

 

[tomo90]

Need some advies, which o these closed headphones is best for me, headphones should have some bass and be comfortable. I'll use this in home (not portable).

Shure SRH 240
SENNHEISER HD 428
Sennheiser HD 418
Sony MDR-XB300
AKG K514
BEYERDYNAMIC DT 235
JVC HAR-X700

thanks

 

[RAFA]

Quote:

Sound: 10/10 - The moment I had these properly amped I knew what I had been missing with the Grado's. Ahhhh, warmness. These are laid back, warm/darker, have a very good soundstage, and are pretty well balanced. With these music just kind of floats around your ears, caressing your pinnae and teasing your malleus. It's like a seductress rubbing up against your cochlea. My kind of lady, er, headphones.

This is how a headphone should be described, if you want people to buy it. With all those latin words, where I did not know what they ment, I imagined these word in a different direction.

I do not want to say what I thought malleus was and especially not cochlea.

But a translation for you:

pinnae = external ear
malleus = auditory ossicles
cochlea = i did not find the englisch word, maybe it is the englisch word. in german you would say hearing-snail, however it is not that, i was first thinking of

(I know, how inmature)

 

[kakode]

hi , finally choose between sr60 and hd485: bought sr60...i auditioned both b4 buying.....the grados has a lot of "wow factor" as compared to hd 485. i couldnt notice much bass impact difference between the two. for me i love the forward voice of grados....cant stop listening to them is the final verdict

 

[TheRookie52]

woahhhh calm down with the anatomy lesson guys lol.

 

[nabcs]

AKG K701
Sound - 7/10 Transparent, wide soundstage, good bass but a little lean...a little cold and analytical.
Confort - 10/10 Very comfortable...listen for hours without fatigue

Sennheiser HD800
Sound - 10/10 Transparent, wide soundstage (more than K701), deep and tight bass, have the right warmth to connect me to the music.
Confort - 10/10 Big cans but very comfortable.

Grado GS1000i
Sound - 5/10 Narrow soundstage, detailed but hot highs, fat but fake bass IMO...big disappointment.
Confort - 8/10 Comfortable but feel a little pressure of the headband in my head.

 

[paulchiu]

i added another headphone over the last few months, it's the audio technica ath-ad700

here are my short ratings
(I wear a size 7.75 cap, so big headed response. your mileage will differ...)

1. Sennheiser HD800
Sound A+
Comfort B-
Amp Pig

2. Grado GS1000i
Sound A
Comfort A+
Amp Easy

3. Audio Technica ATH-AD700 (ridiculous at $90.00)
Sound A-
Comfort A+
Amp Real Easy

4. Denon AH-D7000
Sound A
Comfort B
Amp Great with Grace M902B

5. Shure SE530PTH
Sound A
Comfort B+
Amp iPhone

6. Grado SR-80
Sound B+
Comfort B+
Amp super work phones....use it now for Final Cut Studio

7. Audio Technica ATH-ESW9
Sound A-
Comfort C- like a vise on my head
Amp Easy.....iPod easy