[madkay]

Hi guys, I wanted to buy headphones and an amplifier for my boyfriends birthday. He has mentioned Sennhieser and I looked at their site but I'm not sure which ones are good. He also mentioned a special cable for. The headphones but I am clueless about all this stuff. Help

 

[Tangster]

What kind of music does he like?
 
Will he be using it at home, mostly stationary or portably with an iPhone or something?
 
How important is style?

 

[madkay]

Rock Trance Rap

He will be using this at home, he already got some nice little ear phones for his iPhone. Not sure what you mean by style?

 

[ColinC]

Quote:

Rock Trance Rap

He will be using this at home, he already got some nice little ear phones for his iPhone. Not sure what you mean by style?

I'm assuming by 'style', Tangster meant the look of the headphones. Does your boyfriend care for a certain look? For example, Open back, closed back, a certain colour etc. That will aid in narrowing things down a bit.

 

[madkay]

Quote:

Rock Trance Rap

He will be using this at home, he already got some nice little ear phones for his iPhone. Not sure what you mean by style?

I'm assuming by 'style', Tangster meant the look of the headphones. Does your boyfriend care for a certain look? For example, Open back, closed back, a certain colour etc. That will aid in narrowing things down a bit.

Well, I know the headphones he has been looking at are Sennhieser and they look real big with a bar that goes across your head.

 

[madkay]

I think they are about $500.

 

[Tangster]

Quote:

I think they are about $500.

The only Senns I know of in the $500 bracket are the HD600 and HD650, neither of which I would say are for rap.

 

[ColinC]

Quote:

I think they are about $500.

 
     The price bracket really depends on where you are from. I couldn't find any info on your profile, are you located in the United States or Canada or elsewhere? I know that some headphones per say on amazon.com are $150, but would be ~$300 here in Canada (Amazon.ca). If you could give your location it would help things a bit. Also, this 'bar' you're talking about, I really can't relate that to anything I've seen. except for the headstrap similar to that on some AKG headphones (see example below):
 
http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/akg-k-702-405411.jpg

 
 
 

The only Senns I know of in the $500 bracket are the HD600 and HD650, neither of which I would say are for rap.
 

 
 
     Correct. There are only a couple of Senn models sitting around that price bracket and these are them. Neither of which have a 'bar' going across your head. As Tangster said, both of these cans have a very retreated low bass response, which wouldn't be too good for your boyfriend's rap music, as rap is bass heavy and these headphones wouldn't give you that 'bassy' feeling.  On the other hand, his rock music would sound just fine, because too much bass tends to flood rock songs and bring out the drums a little too much, making the vocals hard to hear. I'd say the trance fits more into the rap category, and would be nice with a little more bass.
 
 
    The head-fi'ers around here could recommend many great pairs of headphones to you, but your choices are pretty limited with just Sennheisers. Would he be okay with a pair that isn't Sennheiser or is he set on them?
 
 
 
 

 

 

[Tangster]

To be quite honest, would it not be easier to just ask him what he wants?

 

[ColinC]

Quote:

To be quite honest, would it not be easier to just ask him what he wants?

     
     Sure it would, but it takes away from the whole surprise present experience 

. Although I'm sure in the end, getting the headphones he wants is going to be most important thing...

 

[madkay]

The Sennhieser hd650 you mentioned looks like the one he has been looking at. Maybe I should have said plastic bar.

He also mentioned a special cable. Anyone know what is a good cable for those headphones?

 

[ColinC]

He also mentioned a special cable. Anyone know what is a good cable for those headphones?

Yes, the cable for the HD650 is detachable, and interchangeable. There's a few threads here on Head-Fi regarding cables for the HD650. Use the search button at the top of the page to find them, or take a look at this thread below;

http://www.head-fi.org/t/88712/best-cable-for-sennheiser-hd-650

Best of luck!

 

[madkay]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121058897370