[delenda est Sony]

Per the vox populi at Epinions:

http://www.epinions.com/elec-Audio-H.../sort_dir_~des

10. KSC 55 ($20)

09. Panasonic RP-HS9 ($10)

08. Sony MDR E818LP Ear-bud Headphones ($6)

07. Koss KSC-35 Headphones ($30)

06. AKG Acoustics K 141M Headphones ($79)

05. Sony MDR W08L Vertical Headphones ($6)

04. Sony MDR W20G Vertical Headphones ($12)

03. Sennheiser EH 2270 Ear-cup Headphones ($67)

02. Beyerdynamic DT 831 Headphones ($143)

(drumroll here...)

01. Technics RP-DJ1200A DJ Headphones (Silver) ($105)

Hmm, so points to ponder:

a) Sony only has 30% of the slots locked in, and all for earbud style phones. Koss holds another 20% of the slots. Sennheiser and Beyer have underperformed and Grado has been thorughly trounced. And Technics ... what an unexpected dark horse!

b) Who says headphone collecting is expensive? The average price of our winners circle is less than $50, and 5 models are $20 or less.

c) Reviews of many of these fine products seem to be in short supply on this forum. Let's tear ourselves away from our $950 ear molds and RS1s and move towards convergence with our proletarian bretheren...

 

[Kirosia]

Yeah right

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

You can't really count the epinions rating scale because....
1. The reviewers have little to no credibility
2. None of the reviewers have heard all the headphones in the list, so there is no viable way of comparison
3. The reviewers are all operating on different rating scales
4. Many headphones don't have any reviews yet so they show up as a 0
4. The amount of reviews for each of the headphones is uneven (the five star winner only has one vote)

The only time epinions is actually useful is when there is an educated post where the reviewer compares 2 or more cans and explains the attributes to each.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Unfortunately, delenda est sony, most of the headphone reviewers who posted a review on Epinions have never compared the headphones that they reviewed to anything better than stock freebie bundled Walkman headphones or lower-end Sony V-CRAP. I can dismiss most of those "top-10" choices as "underperformers at any price". The three Sonys on that list are mediocre at best, while the Panasonic RP-HS9 sounds no better than stock freebie Panasonic PCDP headphones. And that Sennheiser eH2270 is one of the worst Sennheiser headphones that I've ever listened to, especially at its price point. And I didn't care much for the AKG K141M, either. And the Technics is not really suited for music listening, either, due to its (mid)bass-heavy audio balance. The Beyerdynamic DT831 sounds good only on acoustic music (especially classical) - and requires a decent amp in order for it to be properly driven.

Which leaves the two Kosses, both of which are exceptional-sounding headphones at their price points (though they may lack the detail and/or refinement of higher-priced headphones).

Oh, by the way, I was one of the reviewers (along with coolvij, who hasn't even logged on to Head-Fi in quite a while) who reviewed the Koss KSC-35 out of that list - I gave it 5 stars (of course, relative to other headphones in its price range). And I agree with the one Epinions reviewer who rated both the Beyerdynamic DT831 and the Koss KSC-55: He gave them 5 stars (relative to other cans at their price points, just like I did). Also, Head-Fi sponsor Todd "The Vinyl & Headphone Junkie" Green gave a review of the Beyer DT831 on Epinions when he was with Headroom.

 

[commando]

This is a question i'm facing with the headphone review database i'm currently writing (see link in my sig). The solution i'm currently considering is to submit a review you have to register, and during the registration process you have to give a bit of information about your headphone/hi-fi experience, and the headphones you've personally owned. If I (or another mod) think they're experienced enough to review, they get to review whatever cans they want.

The other thing i'm considering is how to rate headphones. Right now I have criteria like bass extension, bass impact, treble detail, soundstage, detail, isolation, etc, but no 'overall' rating. If anyone can make any suggestions to make it better i'd be most interested to hear them, here or on that thread.

The whole system will be free for anyone to use, and will hopefully evolve into an authoriative headphone review database. If I could be bothered I could extend it to other equipment, but for now i'll just do headphones.

 

[NeilPeart]

Forget what a mass of uneducated (in the realm of hi-fi headphones) consumers think! Instead see what one uneducated guy thinks!

These top ten are headphones that I personally prefer above others and also ones that I consider to be the most scaleable (I tried to include a 'phone from each manufacturer, but if I were less egalitarian I would replace the DT 880 with the SR-404):

AKG K 1000
Audio-Technica ATH-L3000
Beyerdynamic DT 880
Grado PS-1 Pro
Grado HP-1
Sennheiser HE 90 (never heard but it's the ORPHEUS)
Sennheiser HD 650
Sony MDR-R10
Sony Qualia 010 (never heard but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now)
Stax SR-007 (Omega II)

 

[Jahn]

hmm out of the ones i've heard, which BARELY makes it to ten anyhow...

R10
RS-1
K1000
Qualia 010
MS-2
DT770/80 Ohm
MS-1
SR225
KSC-35
ER4P (sorry gang not a big fan of in the ear cans - but it did beat the k501 and HD280 imho)

I'd love to hear more closed cans, like the Audio Technicas. Considering how the 770 managed to sneak in the middle of the pack based on the benefits of a closed can alone, that's saying something.

 

[delenda est Sony]

I guess there are a few serious points to be gathered here:

1) look at how price sensitive Joe Consumer is! We see a lot of newbies here asking for cheap headphones and almost inevitably we see the new guy being nudged towards $70 or $90 phones; in other words 3 and a half to 4 and a half times the $20 or less that most headphone upgraders spend... If we wonder why the Best Buy headphone section is so lame, this price limitation is at least part of the reason.

2) evangelical audiophiles could easily and radically transform the Epinions list due to the flawed nature of its structure. Like what Eagle Driver did... Fond of Grados? Get two or three other Team Grado buffs, go in and write 5 star reviews of your favorite cans and see them soar to the top of the list. This would probably be a good thing, as lots of people do use Epinions to buy stuff, especially when they are unfamiliar with the product class. More consumers buying more good headphones will create more demand for quality from the mass market suppliers.

3) Epinions really is a crappy evaulation system. Makes Amazon seem like the Neilsen ratings... I am glad to hear that Commando is working on a real headphone database.

 

[Bigchill]

Heard those sony earbuds are good

 

[Hirsch]

Of the headphones I have heard enough to comment on (which means that some obvious candidates may be missing):

Tier 1:

Sony MDR-R10
Sennheiser HE90
Stax Omega II

Tier 2:

Sennheiser HE60
Grado PS-1
Stax SR-404
EDIT: AKG K-1000 (how did I forget this?)

Tier 3:

Grado HP-1000
Grado RS-1
Sony CD3000
Sennheiser HD-650
Audio Technica W2002

OK, so there's eleven cans in my personal top ten. I never said I could count. The tiers represent my personal preferences (a "tier 3" headphone could easily be somebody else's "tier 1"). If I had to choose a single best headphone for me, it would be the R10.

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn ER4P (sorry gang not a big fan of in the ear cans - but it did beat the k501 and HD280 imho)

You need to hear some E5's...

 

[Jahn]

i noticed audiocubes put something up on mall-fi here that is asking for reviews on its site - not a bad idea. plus you get some discount coupons. too bad i dont own anything they sell or i'd do it.

 

[saint.panda]

I personally rate the HD650 (with proper amplification) equal to or even higher than the PS1 and SR 404 (the latter one was a bit weird sounding to me, maybe I need some long term listening with these, there was no impact. The PS1 was amazing but not worth the MSRP imo)

 

[ayt999]

of the ones I have heard so far... (in no particular order)

ATH-L3000
MDR-R10
Omega II
PS1
HP2
Qualia 010
HE90 (haven't heard it yet, but I assume it will be)
HE60 (haven't heard this either, but seems that I should include it)
HD650
ATH-W11JPN (I dunno, cannot think of anything else so I put another can I have)

hmmm... I think I need to hear more cans so I can form a better list. I only have six of the cans on that list.

 

[bangraman]

My Personal Top 10, not out of what I've heard or auditioned but what I've owned (or at least, what I can remember I've owned... I lose track sometimes).

1. SR-007
2. ATH-W2002
3. ATH-D1000 / HD650 tie (not strictly a fair tie, but due to different reasons)
5. RS-1 / CD3000 tie
7. DT880 / HD600 tie
9. ATH-W1000
10. K271S