[Eagle_Driver]

My worst headphone experience ever:

Discovering (twice, at that!

) that the Sony MDR-V600 turned out to be a completely disappointing replacement for the 'classic' MDR-V6.

 

[Harrath]

Optimus Pro 40's. I bought these at Radio Shack in my more naive days due to the advice from the salesmen telling me "all headphones are the same at this price point ($45), the only difference is the amount of cushy stuff". Needless to say, a few years later I can't even listen to these cans...they manage to be both dark and harsh at the same time. I didn't even know headphones HAD a soundstage until I started reading this forum, because these headphones have NONE.

 

[bdormer]

A pair of $20 Sony band-behind-the-head cans. Sound like s**t and uncomfortable as hell. The best thing about them was the pic of the guy with "pinapple hair" on the package.

I gave them to my son for use with his gameboy.

And.. some cheapie included-in-the-box phones that came with my first PCDP - I think it was a Citizen purchased when I was much younger and less informed about portable audio and headphones in general. I still have them. Used only for quick tests - they will idicate that a signal is or isn't coming out of the jack. And that's about all they are good for.

 

[fewtch]

Sennheiser HD-280 Pro (apologies to any fans reading this). I would honestly prefer to listen to a pair of stock earbuds free with a $50 walkman.

 

[bangraman]

Cheap headphones I've had have been cheap. I've pretty much got what I expected. The worst low end phone I've owned is probably the Sony MDR-V500 which is well built but completely fails to deliver in the sound department.


Beyond $100 I've only gone for phones with reasonable reviews to begin with or manufacturers I trust, so the difference between the worst and what's acceptable has been quite small and even just down to personal taste in music. But if you were to press me, the "worst" mid-range phone I've used is the Beyerdynamic DT250-80. The title for the "worst" audiophile phone I've used is jointly held between the Audio-Technica ATH-A1000 and the Sennheiser HD600, for different reasons.

 

[eric343]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador Stax <$2500 Senn Orpheus >$12500 Hm, even if they aren't as good, I doubt if they are 5x as good. At this point the return is pretty small, so it is the end of the line. At least it will be for me. I think only 1 or 2 head-fi'ers have ever owned an Orpheus. That's just too much money. You can't even get there in stages. After the Stax it's another $10000 + jump. you don't slip that one by the wife. Especially when you drain the entire bank account AND max out all the credit cards!

But the HE90s alone (with your KGSS) are so much better than the Orpheus system... and depending on who you ask, can be had for $3400, $5000, or $7500.

 

[hop ham]

my friend thought his sony v600's from a dell axim (winamp) was a good combo and made me listen to it.

it was a friend so i smiled, waited for him to leave, and then listened to my grados (needed to take that nasty v600 aftertaste outta my ears).

 

[ph0rk]

Quote:

Originally posted by MusicLover just thinking about stock headphones with mp3 players and pcdp's makes me sick to my stomach.

It depends, back in 2000 my pjb-100 came with porta-pros stock

(then again, for a $700 6g player, they had better come with some damn good headphones!)

 

[daycart1]

Here is mine: way back in the day (I mean way back) when I was a little kid, I had a miserable little "transistor radio" that ran off a 9v battery. It came with a single ear "earphone" that would make stock Coby earphones look and sound like audiophile equipment.

My bedtime was 7:30 so my mother wouldn't let me listen to Buffalo Bisons (that's right, Bisons, not Sabres) hockey games. So I'd sneak my radio under my pillow and catch the games though I often fell asleep with the earphone in my ear during the break between the 2nd and 3rd periods.

I did enjoy the games that way, though.

 

[redshifter]

a few years back i ordered some koss sportapro cans from some inet store. when i get them, they had sent me those giant "classic" koss cans with the volume controls on the earcups. the invoice has "koss sportapro" printed on it, but someone had crossed it out and written in the code for the headphone i got.

oooookay.

when i called them about a return, the peon on the line told me he couldn't do anything for me because "the boss was on vacation". etc.

the moral of this story is i now own neither the koss "air traffic controller" headphones, nor the "sportapro".

another bad experience was having my ety er6 pulled violently out of my ear. when the seal broke my eardrum almost did as well... ouch

 

[Nights_85]

man that oughta kill reshifter... hey what MD is that in ur avatar?

 

[AdamZuf]

i am now in the middle of my worst headphones experience - downgarding from modded DI/O+EMP to Echo Darla20 SC+Porta Corda.
i don't even want to listen to music like that - and if i do, it has to be quite dark or electronic - the trebles are so horrible i'm getting pissed off.. and the EQ just can't fix that

lucky me it's just temporary and soon i'll have a much better DI/O and a PPA .. it's just that i'm stuck in israel

of coarse that ear-buds are worse.. but that was before i was an addict..

 

[Takashi]

A couple of years ago when I was working on mixing down my amateur band's demo CD, I needed a headphone with more detail and clarity than the one I had then (cheap one of Aiwa). I picked up Sony MDR-Z600 at a guitar shop on my way back from work, because it said on the package "flat and accurate".
I used that phone quite intensively for a week or so to touch up the recorded material, followed by a couple of weeks of ringing in my ears. I never go back to that phone.

Yeah, it's japanese version of V600.

 

[tomek]

bangraman: I would love to hear your explanations for your two worst audiophile quality headphones.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nights_85 man that oughta kill reshifter... hey what MD is that in ur avatar?

that's the sony mz-r50, the line-out is the black jack on the right.