[FTLOSM]

I have an older Rio S50 mp3 player, for the longest time I never used it, recently I started converting my cds to mp3s on my computer and have been enjoying the mp3 player alot now.

Anyways I have always used the rio stock in ear headphones, and I messed a bit with the eq built into the mp3 player and got a bit better sound out of them, but one day my right earbud fell apart and a friend gave me his over the ear aiwa headphones, now granted he said they weren't high end and he recalled them being about $75 but OMG the difference between those and my rio earbuds was amazing!

Ok so I had to return them to him that day and I halfway fixed my broken bud (superglue), but now I am on the search for some decent headphones that will compliment the mp3 player here.

Compact lightweight stuff is NOT an issue, I don't mind wearing larger headphones with some meat if they will block out alot of outside noise and offer more UMMPFH like those aiwas did.

I know many here are ROTFL that I am so gaga over some cheapo awia's but man I gotta say songs on my mp3 player sounded totally different (tons more bass crisper highs etc) just swapping out the stock rio buds for that set of awias...

The thing that gets me tho is the rio headpones frequency range was almost the same range as the aiwas - yet the difference in sound was CLEARLY night and day, I guess I don't understand enough about tech specs...

Anyways any suggestions for headphones (prefer over the ear type vs in the ear type and bigger/heavy is not an issue,) that might work well with an mp3 player (that don't require a ton of power to drive them) I doubt this mp3 player has much power in general, but I did notice BIGTIME bass differences with the aiwa's so I am hoping to find something like this or more in the $200 or less price range?

I figure since I am enjoying the mp3 player now and have heard a sample of what a bit better headphones can offer, now I might even use the mp3 player MORE or upgrade to another mp3 player if there is one that is higher power, yes i wanna blow my eardrums out but with more bass vs more distortion hehe..

I listen to all sorts of music, everything from Ozzy to Smooth Jazz to Journey to Korn...and I usually listen to it all at louder volumes so I now officially have the "I want to buy a set of real headphones" bug and hopefully this is the place to get input and educate myself a bit more before just buying the first set i see.


Thanks for any suggestions,

Bill

 

[K2Grey]

I personally have the Sennheiser MX400, they cost $10 and are widely regarded as a good bang/buck earbud. I don't have any problems for them. A bit more expensive are AKG K14p and the Sony MDR e888 costs like $50 but is thought to be good when you mod it. There are also some $100+ Audio-Technica earbuds but I don't know what they are.

For over-the-ear the best one is almost universally agreed to be Koss KSC75 which is probably the best bang for the buck earphone out there. They're two separated clip-ons, one for each ear, and are about $15 or so. I didn't feel they were anything special out of my mp3 player (Iaudio U2) but out of a USB sound card they sounded much better. The earbuds and the KSC75 all don't isolate against outside noise and the KSC75 leak.

There are also the in-ear-monitors, IEMs, or canalphones which are earbud like earphones which go slightly into the ear canal. The $100 price range has the Westone UM1, the UE super.fi 3pro, Shure E2c, Shure E3c and Etymotic Er-6i. These are not reviewed that much, I think the most liked are the Ety Er-6is but I don't own any of them.

At the $200 price range (check Ebay prices) are UE super.fi 5pro, Westone UM2, Shure E4c, Etymotic Er-4p. There is alot of dissension over which is best which is not helped by the fact that the Etymotics seem to have multiple ways to get a good seal and one way sounds alot better than the rest.

All the IEMs seal the ear and offer isolation similar to that of an earplug. They are generally regarded as much better than the earbuds and the KSC75. Make use of the search function and decide which one would suit you best. Or, if you're crazy, buy multiples and return the ones you don't like as much, in this case you would want to buy from some place with a nice 30 day no questions return policy.

Edit: The specs for earphones tend to be complete garbage. One thing to remember is that different headphones have different frequency responses. This can be shown by a curve and shows which frequencies of the human hearing spectrum are emphasized more than the others (with flat being considered ideal, although with IEMs what's ideal is different because the sound doesn't bounce off ear and other stuff like that).

Also, the frequency range is total garbage, since manufacturers can claim their earphone goes from 15hz to 24khz even if the 15hz signal is 30 decibels lower volume than the midrange and no one can hear or feel 15hz anyway.

 

[redshifter]

hi bill.
get the beyer dt231. it's an over the ear headphone that's light and portable, and your mp3 should power it fine. plus it's $60. go to
http://www.headphone.com/products/he...mic-dt-231.php
to get a pair. i know tyll from headroom and he'll treat you right.

you'll like the sound of these cans. i know i do.

 

[FTLOSM]

I will be checking those out for sure (Beyerdynamic DT 231's) I just wish there was somewhere to go side by side and hear these in one place...

I just really liked how those over the ear aiwas had a decent amount of pressure and totally covered my ears, so it blocked out so much outside stuff and the bass was rockin, I wonder if the 231's would do that (they look alot lighter and smaller)...

Heck at $60 tho I can't go wrong to try them I guess (budget for me is $200 or less for these).

Bill

 

[FTLOSM]

Would a set of DT250 80's be overkill for what I am doing? If I had the DT 231 and the DT250's side by side here would I reallly feel or hear a difference on my small mp3 player here or are a set of DT250's something that require more power than what a mp3 player puts out?

I read a few reviews for both online and such and they both sound like good headphones, for the $100+ difference what would I gain as a end user with a mp3 player vs someone with hi-end home stereo stuff...

In the future I plan to upgrade my mp3 player too, are there any that put out more power or better sound than others?

Thanks for any help guys and gals,

I am just doing alot of reading here on the site and on the web, but I wish here in East Lansing MI they had a big headphone shop LOL

Bill

 

[Alex M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTLOSM Anyways any suggestions for headphones (prefer over the ear type vs in the ear type and bigger/heavy is not an issue,) that might work well with an mp3 player (that don't require a ton of power to drive them) I doubt this mp3 player has much power in general, but I did notice BIGTIME bass differences with the aiwa's so I am hoping to find something like this or more in the $200 or less price range?

You may want to consider Grado headphones, there are several models ranging in price from $60 to about 10 times that much. Even the low end models would be much better than most earbuds. In particular, search this forum for the new Head-Fi only HF-1 model reviews.

 

[FTLOSM]

I spent some time at this overview page

http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-ap...ion/traveling/

and these are the three that looked the best to me

The Beye DT231's @ $59

The Senn HD280's @ $99

The Beye DT250 80'S @ $179

Review wise they all sound like they would be great headphones, looks and features wise the HD280's sure "look" nice to me...

Thanks for input on these different models, I hate to spend more on something yet not really see or feel the difference by only using a mp3 player altho I sure might be looking into adding one of those "airhead" units to my mp3 player...

 

[AdamWill]

You'll certainly get better sound even out of a modest portable with better headphones. It won't be as good as the headphones are _capable_ of, but it'll be a lot better than your stock earbuds

All of those are fine choices, you wouldn't be disappointed with any of them from a quality point of view, I don't think.

 

[sgrossklass]

Just don't get DT231s when you need isolation, they're definitely unsuited for noisy places. (BTDT, been no good for my hearing. Have a K26P now, much better in that regard.) Together with a somewhat warm source and possibly a bit of modding, they're fairly nice compact inexpensive closed cans, and they can take a beating. For noisy places, I'd rather consider a Sennheiser eH250, or possibly a HD212Pro, in that price range. Check out the HeadRoom graphs, you want usable isolation well under 2 kHz. Besides the HD280Pro, also take a look at the similarly priced HD25-SP (which is more compact and also isolated very well).

 

[viator122]

Also keep in mind that the DT250 and the HD280 both have a coiled cord.

 

[FTLOSM]

Yeah I spent a good 2-3 hours just reading last night and have been all around the block on what to choose, I do want something I can grow with (if I start to use with home system or add amplification to portable), The Senn HD-555 looks interesting, altho that is an open concept vs closed...

Had a question to those of you in the know on closed vs open, I am fearful that an open system type headphone will lack in bass kick since its going out and letting other sounds in, is this silly of me (have never listened to a pair vs closed type). I just had those aiwas on and they were closed and MAN what a punch and difference over stock rio buds.

I dont mind size (i listen at home in living room 95% of the time) and I don't mind if others in the room can hear a bit (open vs closed) yet I guess its just in my head that an open concept set would lack bass where a closed would have more punch, is this guestimation accurate or not at all?

Are there any stores that offer Senns and Beyes to go testdrive physically?

At this point I am at a choice of a set of dt231's for the road, and a set of senn hd280 pros or senn hd-555's as my main pair for the home.

I don't mind the coiled cord and using my mp3 player ill get that flexable 1/4 to 1/8th thingy...

Bill

 

[Ttvetjanu]

Grado's are open and their bass kick is eye blinking. The punch of sound feels like a solid piece of air, almost like a bullet. Grado's, however, leak A LOT of sound, people sitting 10m away will hear what you are listning to, especially if you like to listen to loud volumes.

With grado's all external noise will also also be heard by you (except if your volume exceeds everything else). IF these issues don't bother you i'd definately recommend SR-60's.

Otherwise i bet the 250-80s are great, aswell as the HD280's. They should provide some nice bass (amount, but not sure about impact, which is what grado is all about).

EDIT: You might want to buy the dt231 on the road, AND get the SR-60's for home use, since there you wont get bothered by external noise. The bass kick is incredible after about 100 hours of play.

 

[Justin_tyt]

I've got a pair of the dt231s and they are great headphones for the money. As was already said, they won't isolate much from outside noise and do leak sound, but if that's not super important than I think you won't go wrong with these. Just a suggestion to try out the sennheiser hd497s if you can, they are open but when I tried them side by side with the d231s they had more bass kick. Both are nice phones and would be good for portable use.

 

[Firestarter]

for me, the Sennheiser HD-25's are the best overal 'fullsize' headphones for on the go. they're quite small, isolate very well and sound great with excellent bass impact

 

[afbug]

With $200, you can get an IEM (for isolation) like er6i or UM1 plus a grado sr60 or ms1 for indoor use.