[Drumline1997]

I do at college, there's a guy with wireless momentum's, and lots and lots of people with solo 2's.

 

[Midgetguy]

So is it just me or do you guys also look closely at headphones people are wearing when walking around to spot brands you know? Lol I spotted a red ATH m50 today.

I did it all the time while I was at college. Stuff I saw was a lot of Apple buds and Beats Tours. Also saw Beats Solos and a couple Beats Studios. Also saw a fair number of ATH M50/40/30 and occasionally saw some Momentums and Urbanites. I once saw a set of Ultrasone Pro900s, that was a surprising one.
 
And yes, I also look on pretty much any tv/internet shows as well. I've seen many Sennheisers of the HD280, HD25, and HD202 series of headphones.

 

[DavidA]

So is it just me or do you guys also look closely at headphones people are wearing when walking around to spot brands you know? Lol I spotted a red ATH m50 today.

My son walks around with a HE-560 and his GF uses a Momentum on-ear, my GF uses her HD-700 but of late its been the ypsilon build most of the time.  I've also seen a HD-700 on a girl walking her dog along the canal where we live, but its mostly beats that I've seen over the years.

 

[Tayyab Pirzada]

Lol why do people buy Beats. Beats me (pardon the pun).

 

[ccdan]

  Lol why do people buy Beats. Beats me (pardon the pun).

Maybe you should try out the Studio 2 and find the answer yourself. Make sure you use some quality tracks.
 
Although I auditioned the HD600 I'm not yet sure they're (much) better than Studio 2 in terms of details (I know they're different, open back vs. closed, but they can be compared to a certain degree..) 

 

[jbarrentine]

  I auditioned the HD600 I'm not yet sure they're (much) better than Studio 2

 

 

[wahsmoh]

I saw a guy once wearing a Sennheiser HD580 on an airplane LOL. Then I also remember seeing someone with the ATH-ES9 woodies at an airport. So there are people with some decent cans out there.
 
I also got compliments from a guy who recognized my TH-X00's I wore on an airplane. He had Beats on and told me he saw those before and wanted to buy them.

 

[FaezFarhan]

My TH-X00 Purpleheart arrived but I'm still listening to my HD600!

 

[Drumline1997]

  My TH-X00 Purpleheart arrived but I'm still listening to my HD600!

What are your impressions of the X00?

 

[Midgetguy]

  Lol why do people buy Beats. Beats me (pardon the pun).

LOTS of celebrity sponsorship deals and advertising. Unlike Sennheiser or Audio Technica or Fostex or any other more audiophile companies, Beats spends a boatload of money producing and airing commercials that have celebrities in them tied to sponsorship deals. Because of that, they have the most coverage and is a well-known brand as a result. They sound good to 90% of people because 90% of people have only ever known what stock Apple buds sound like. And they are expensive, so the sheeple logic of "more $ = better" applies. So that combined with being a well-exposed brand name associated with popular people makes Beats the default choice for "better audio". It's all just about level of knowledge. For example, at this moment of writing, on Amazon the wired Beats Studio 2 overear headphones are literally $4 more than a set of HD600s on Amazon.
 

  What are your impressions of the X00?

I've got the mahogany set, but I'm fairly doubtful there are huge differences between the three types anyway. For me, in a nutshell, the TH-X00 has fantastic detail, is pretty v-shaped, and has absolutely killer bass. It's not an HD600 replacement for sure, but is certainly a great complementary headphone to the HD600 IMO.

 

[Drumline1997]

  LOTS of celebrity sponsorship deals and advertising. Unlike Sennheiser or Audio Technica or Fostex or any other more audiophile companies, Beats spends a boatload of money producing and airing commercials that have celebrities in them tied to sponsorship deals. Because of that, they have the most coverage and is a well-known brand as a result. They sound good to 90% of people because 90% of people have only ever known what stock Apple buds sound like. And they are expensive, so the sheeple logic of "more $ = better" applies. So that combined with being a well-exposed brand name associated with popular people makes Beats the default choice for "better audio". It's all just about level of knowledge. For example, at this moment of writing, on Amazon the wired Beats Studio 2 overear headphones are literally $4 more than a set of HD600s on Amazon.
 
I've got the mahogany set, but I'm fairly doubtful there are huge differences between the three types anyway. For me, in a nutshell, the TH-X00 has fantastic detail, is pretty v-shaped, and has absolutely killer bass. It's not an HD600 replacement for sure, but is certainly a great complementary headphone to the HD600 IMO.

I saw a pair on avexchange for $285 today and almost pulled the trigger, but decided to wait for alpha dogs. Think I'll enjoy their sound signature more than X00's.

 

[danmlr]

Yeah, it's too bad. We're in an age now with "perfect" sound, massive storage options, very inexpensive high quality amps, and the masses settle for overpriced brands like beats. 
 
Having said that, I have yet to find a high quality pair of IEM's or closed back headphones at a price point I like: $75 or less. I hear MDRV6s are good, but they're closer to $100. I've largely given up on good sounding IEM's. I just assume the sealed design spells doom for sound quality. 

 

[Midgetguy]

  Yeah, it's too bad. We're in an age now with "perfect" sound, massive storage options, very inexpensive high quality amps, and the masses settle for overpriced brands like beats. 
 
Having said that, I have yet to find a high quality pair of IEM's or closed back headphones at a price point I like: $75 or less. I hear MDRV6s are good, but they're closer to $100. I've largely given up on good sounding IEM's. I just assume the sealed design spells doom for sound quality. 

IEMs can be very good. But the main problem may be your expectations/budget combined with what's available on the market; you're fairly unlikely to find a sub-$75 set of IEMs that can rival a $100+ set of headphones (open or closed). There are certainly good IEMs out there for what they cost that are in your budget, but they will not best a good headphone in the same price range. Of the stuff I've tried (a limited scope I know, but I can only attest to what I have experienced), what I'd expect your definition of "high quality" is doesn't exist in an IEM (nor most headphones for that matter) in terms of both sound quality and build quality for under $75. It's an almost impossibly tall order. I wish I could recommend something to you, but I'm not quite sure I can.

 

[DavidA]

  Yeah, it's too bad. We're in an age now with "perfect" sound, massive storage options, very inexpensive high quality amps, and the masses settle for overpriced brands like beats. 
 
Having said that, I have yet to find a high quality pair of IEM's or closed back headphones at a price point I like: $75 or less. I hear MDRV6s are good, but they're closer to $100. I've largely given up on good sounding IEM's. I just assume the sealed design spells doom for sound quality. 

Agree with @Midgetguy, for your $75 budget it will be hard to find what i think you consider "high quality" but the MDR-V6/MDR-7506 is one of the better deals for closed headphones and they are sometimes priced under your $75 budget.  If you don't mind used then I've gotten quite a few Momentum on-ear headphones for $48-56 from Amazon Warehouse, one of the best deals around IMO.
 
Sealed or closed back doesn't spell doom for sound quality, but they do cost a lot more than your budget.

 

[Argyris]

I hear MDRV6s are good, but they're closer to $100. I've largely given up on good sounding IEM's. I just assume the sealed design spells doom for sound quality. 

 
It's interesting that the V6/7506 came up in the midst of a Beats discussion, since I'd say it's the closest the headphone world had to Beats before Beats was but a gleam in the greedy eye of Noel Lee*. I remember almost 15 years ago reading through pages and pages worth of forum people and consumer product reviewers praising the V6 variant**, making it seem like the greatest thing since sliced awesome. It got recommended left and right. IMO, it's honestly nothing special. Pretty good for 1985 or so when it was new, likely durable as all hell (the garbage-bag-stretched-over-cheap-foam earpads notwithstanding), but not really competitive with newer options.
 
I'll give my impressions for the sake of discussion, since I've heard several of them on numerous occasions. The overall tonality leans toward being midrangey, with a persistent edge and a noticeably rough, "dirty" character. The treble drops off a cliff above 10 kHz (likely why my friend, who has a 7506 he's over the moon about, said my HD 600 sounded "tinny" to him). The upshot is that everything sounds dry and a bit like the sonic elements are dissociated cardboard cutouts. The lower and mid treble are elevated, lending a sort of "spitty" character to the upper harmonics on vocals, and a strange, unnatural sound to cymbals. They don't shimmer--it's like bursts of metallic noise, and it's all attack and no decay. If the upper mids are a bit pushed forward on the HD 600, they're excessive on the 7506. It gives the sound that typical "lo-fi" character that comes with lack of extension, kind of like listening to everything through a midrange driver. Or a clock radio. Despite this, the bass extends surprisingly deep, but the upper bass to lower mids transition has a noticeable dip, meaning voices lack depth and the bass sounds isolated and hollow. It's overall a great example of a headphone that draws a nearly perfect line on a diffuse field-compensated graph and yet sounds pretty far off the mark.
 
Much better, IMO, is the Shure SRH440. It's not perfect, and it requires a bit of modification for both comfort and sound reasons, but it's a lot closer to the HD 600 in raw sound quality than others I've heard (the aforementioned 7506, the infamous M50, even the more expensive HP50). In stock form the baffles tend to dig uncomfortably into the ear after about half an hour, and the sound has a persistent tizzy edge that no amount of EQ can solve. The treble spike is also a little too powerful, leading to fatigue on brighter material. The trick is to affix felt over the drivers (though not over the bass reflex ports), which eliminates the comfort issue, softens the treble peak, and cuts down on the tizz. This last one is likely because the felt front loads the driver and damps the mid treble ringing somewhat, leading to a cleaner sound.
 
It's still not on the level of the HD 600, but it's a good deal better than I've heard elsewhere, and for $99 it's a pretty good deal, IMO. The overall sound is slightly V-shaped, but with strong presence in the upper midrange. Not quite as neutral as the HD 600, but very nicely balanced, and by virtue of this an excellent all-rounder. I've gotten quite a bit of enjoyment out of my pair over the past six years, though it's not the most durable thing out there, and the headband requires further modification if you, like I, happen to find it uncomfortable.
 
*Or, if the rumors are true, his son, who sold the cow with the milk when he drew up the deal with Dr. Dre without any input from daddy.
**The 7506 variant is wired slightly differently and utilizes a gold-plated connector rather than the nickel-plated one on the V6--the two headphones are otherwise identical, but that hasn't stopped people claiming one or the other sounds noticeably different/better