[LukeV]

This might be a little shocking but I have never owned a pair of headphones...ever!

And I recently bought myself a soundcard (X-Fi Xtreme Music) and thought I should get a nice set of headphones to go with it. I currently have crappy 2.1 speakers and maxell earphones. So plenty of room for improvement.

I mostly listen to rock/metal and play my guitar on my pc aswell. I also do gaming and watch movies on my pc.

So basically I want headphones that would provide good quality in all those aspects. I would prefer headphones that let out as little sound as possible. And I wear glasses so not sure which type of headphones will provide me with the best comfort, on/over the ear.

My budget is $90 and unless I have a really really really good reason I do not intend to go over it.

My biggest problem though is my location. I live in Malta(Europe) and everything is overpriced here so I might have to buy online. But finding a place that will ship it to me is also not that easy. And if I do find a site that ships to me, I'll still probably have to pay a tone of fees if I buy it from outside of Europe.

So yeh this is proving to be a tough ordeal. Any help would be great!

 

[nylan8301]

Welcome to Head-Fi, sorry about the wallet...

Now, what type of gaming do you do? FPS? If it's just WoW or some other MMORPG, then I think any headphone is fine (then again, I don't play any MMORPGs anymore).

Frankly, at that price point, I'm kind of stumped. No closed headphone for around $90 that I've heard sounds good with metal/rock. There are, however, multiple choices for an open headphone, but those will leak sound, of course.

I'm not necessarily saying to save up, but hopefully some other members with experience with closed cans can shout out.

Nylan

 

[Joelc87]

AKG K26 or K27i's, great headphones for rock/rap/any other popular music of the day. About $50 from headroom if i remember correctly. HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

 

[LukeV]

Hi, thanks for replying.

I found a pair of the K27i for about $66 including shipping on ebay...

They look pretty good. Not very bulky which I like. I don't like having the wire coming out of both sides but that's negligible.
Also they look pretty small. Are they over or on the ear headphones?

And I'd also be happy to hear about open headphones aswell.

Thanks.

EDIT: Also I mostly play fps games. No mmorpgs. But gaming isn't my main focus here. Music is.

 

[nylan8301]

I know this sounds like a stupid question, but do you have someone whom you would wake up if the headphones leaked? Or do you want to take these to work?

What I would recommend are a pair of Koss KSC-75 for FPS gaming. They're very light clip-on headphones and they don't leak quite as much as traditional open headphones (but they do still leak). Their headstage is perfectly fine for FPS (I use mine for HL2 regularly). You can pick them up traditionally for $15 shipped.

Since you're into Rock/metal/etc., that the Grado line, or rather the Alessandro would be best. Respectively, that would be the SR-60 for Grado and the MS1 for the Alessandro. The SR-60 cost $70 USD plus you would have to pay for shipping or for exorbitant import costs.

The MS1, however, ships anywhere worldwide for $100. If you combine the KSC-75 and the MS1, you'd cover nearly every base that you want. I should also say that if the MS1 is anything like a SR-60, they will leak quite a bit more than the KSC-75.

Hope that helps,

Nylan

PM me with any questions

 

[LukeV]

I found a pair of Grado SR-60 I could get for about $90 including shipping. What do you guys think?

Just how much sound will they leak? I'm not worried about waking someone up, but if I'm on a plane or a bus...I don't want everyone looking at me cause my headphones are leaking death metal. I understand some people just don't like it.

But really I'm mostly using these for home use so its not a big deal.

I might just go with these...

Also will they cause any comfort issues since I have glasses. Just wondering. If all goes well I will order them tomorrow.

Till then I'm still open for feedback and suggestions.

Oh and I checked out the KSC-75. Not quite what I'm looking for. I'm more focused on getting the best music quality.

Thanks.

EDIT: And about the MS1s. I'm guessing you need to buy those off of their website? Is it me or is the shopping cart broken. I get an error when I try to check out.

 

[nylan8301]

If you're going to be on a bus/plane, people will most likely notice the leak. My wife can hear it clearly if she's in the back of our apartment with the doors open. If it's played very quietly, people might not hear it, but if it's death metal, I imagine that you'll want to use these to their fullest extent (loud enough to leak).

Also, the KSC-75 give the SR-60 a run for it's money. They sound VERY similar. The only difference I can hear is that the SR-60 is a little smoother in it's midrange and treble (more refined). The KSC-75 can have a bit of grainy sound. I mean, it's a difference of more than fifty USD! I'm a fan, what can I say. But, it's your money. We'll get you the best for 100 USD.

As to the Alessandro website, I don't know what the problem might be. Try emailing them and let them know something is up. Their website is the best place to buy them (for the worldwide shipping).

Nylan

 

[ricmat]

Hi!


1st question - is your budget really 90 USD or 90EUR? cause this days it makes a lot of difference!


so, if you really love guitars, go ahead and buy some Alessandro MS-1! They really are great for that, and they are very very good with all the rest.


However, you also have some alternatives: you could start with something cheaper and decent, like the sennheiser PX100, or go ahead to something more lively and fun like the closed Audio Technica ES7.

It's really up to what you want, BUT if you want to evolve and notice the differences WHILE having time to improve your budget, I would suggest:

PX100 -> MS1 -> ES7 (then, the sky's the limit!

)





Oh! and not all the 2.1 speakers system are bad! I have 2 very very decent 2.1 speakers systems! Harman Kardon Soundstick II and Klipshc (or whatever it's the name...

)



Cheers!

 

[ricmat]

oh! and if you're interested, read my MS-1 review! it could be of help to you!

 

[Joelc87]

The AKG 27i's are on ear.

 

[Zephyron]

If you plan to travel with them phones, I'd recommend a pair of good closed back headphones.

At that pricepoint, if it is US$90, I'd recommend scouring for a used Equation Audio RP-21 (Got mine for US$80 at the time).

If possible, and provided you are going the RP-21 route, enquire the previous owner about the amount of time clocked on the phones (I am the 3rd owner of my pair).

The RP-21s require at least 300 hours to show what they can do, and it'll get better from that point on as well.

 

[LukeV]

Yes my budget is/was 90USD

Ok so my options are as follows:

Grado SR-60 for $86USD shipped.
Alessandro MS-1 $99USD shipped.

I also found a few sennheisers I could get that where within my budget, mainly the HD201, HD205, HD215, HD484, HD415. But I hear this are mainly use for modern electronic music not for rock.

The PX100 are not quite what I'm looking for. And the while the Koss KSC-75 are somewhat tempting, clip on headphones are quite what I'm looking for here.

I couldn't find a pair of the Equation Audio RP-21 online. Shame cause they look awesome.

So I'm still not sure what I'm gna do. Are the Alessandro MS1 worth the extra money. Are there any closed headphones I don't know about. I'm not too keen on the sound leaks.

Thanks.

Oh and about the AKG K27i. Do they look alot of sound aswell?

 

[LukeV]

Bump

So which will it be guys the Grado SR-60, Alessandro MS-1, AKG K27i, Sennheiser HD 485.

Thanks.

 

[hawk]

I'd recomend the HD485's imho.

 

[LukeV]

Are they any good for metal though? Do they leak alot of sound. I read that they do leak quite a bit. They are also very large which I'm not too keen on.