$50 headphone budget

Good evening. ^_^

Now that my $20 Koss headphones from four years ago have finally died (wires have come unsoldered inside the volume control pod, and I'm not interested in fixing it), I'm in the market for a good pair of stereo headphones. I prefer circumaural headphones, the kind with the cups that completely surround the ear. In-ear headphones are out of the question.

I would mostly use them for music. I've got a Razer Carcharias headset and Logitech Z-2300 speakers for gaming. The music would mostly be coming from my laptop and my iPod, and primarily in 320kbps MP3 files, although I do some streaming via Pandora and Grooveshark as well.

Isolation isn't an issue, so open-ear designs as well as closed-ear are okay.

Engage!

 

Koss Porta Pro is a classic choice. Sennheiser PX100 is great too and more stylish IMO. Both headphones are open-ear design and very comfortable (especially the PX100)

 

I've heard good things about both of those, but neither are circumaural; they both sit directly on the ear, which I have always found uncomfortable.

Thanks for the suggestions, though.

I guess I'll also add that collapsibility is not important either; these headphones will primarily be staying put.

 

I've always loved my Sennheiser headphones, in-ear, open air and closed back designs. They've always sounded excellent, last forever, and are comfortable to wear for long periods. If you're interested in just listening to music I'd recommend an open air designed set, for recording get a closed back. These are the ones my brother has, Sennheiser HD 435 and they're very good.

 

I just bought the Sennheiser HD 218 today for $65. The sound is good and they are very good to neutralize external noises. I probably should have put $20 more and get the big Sony ones my friend has though. They feel better.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, but again, those are both supra-aural, i.e. they sit directly on the ear, rather than completely surrounding it.

I'm sorry if it seems I'm being picky, but...well, I am.

 

I know what you mean, I like circumaural phones too.

You could try these koss ones. Can't go wrong with a lifetime warranty.

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/p?openform&pc^fs^UR20

These are the ones I have. Love em, they fit over my ears nicely, and sound quality is excellent. Can get em new nowadays for $20-30:

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/private_headphones_dj-headphones_005176

These looks good too:

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/private_headphones_dj-headphones_500155


I can't vouch for the quality of koss phones, but sennheisers are some of the best. Below are my dream headphones (true circumaural), $100 though on newegg. I think it's harder to find true circumaural at lower price points, since those are the types a lot of professionals/audiohiles use.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/private_headphones_dj-headphones_004974

 

Thanks for the links, merc!

Anyone know what's the difference between the HD 555 and 595? They look almost physically identical, they're both open-back circumaural designs, but the 595 costs almost twice as much as the 555.

At the moment that HD 515 is looking pretty nice. A guy I know who's really into audio stuff says I can get a refurbished pair for $50 plus a few for shipping, backed by Sennheiser warranty. Any opinions on that?

Also, what's all this talk about headphone amps? Would I need one for these headphones?

 

Check out the sony MDR-XB series. The 700's may be out of your price range, but check out the 500's for just about 50. Great bass, good mid tones. The comfort of these things are ridiculous, it's like having pillows swallowing your ears. They also have the ribbon cables to prevent tangling.
Amazon has good prices.

 

$50 bucks for those is great, ESPECIALLY if it comes with the sennheiser warranty, which I believe is 2 years. If not, you can get em new for a few more bucks. Comparing the stats to mine, like OHms (Ω and frequency response, I can tell you they're very good, and my pair are some of the nicest I've used. But yeah, you can't go wrong with a pair of sehnnheiser, especially if they're from an audiophile line.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001FTVDG...e=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B0001FTVDG

 

Update: I can get a pair of HD 555's, refurbished and backed by Sennheiser warranty, for a little over $70 plus shipping. It's stretching my budget, are they worth it over the 515's?

Also, what about an amp? I've been reading conflicting opinions about whether or not these headphones require an amp to sound good, and quite frankly I don't even know what a headphone amp is. I'd rather not get such expensive headphones if it means I'm going to have to spend $50 more on an amp.

 

The hd555's are low impedance headphones, you should be fine. Amps aren't always required, but can almost always improve sound quality in headphones. For the 555's? I'd say no, you'd be set.

 

I would recommend to save a little more and go for something like Audio Technica ATH-AD700 $90, extremly comfortable, easly driven as they are low imp, and sound really nice for the price.

 

Thanks for the help.

That's really pushing it; almost double my original intended budget. If I can find them for $70 or less, I'll look into it.

So, let me get this straight: higher impedance means I'll need an amp? It sounds like some mystical gizmo that magically improves sound quality when you plug headphones into them. I'm just curious, what exactly does an amp do and why does it make things sound better?

In any case, what sort of impedance would require an amp vs. no amp? The HD-555's have 50-ohm impedance, as far as I can tell, although I'm seeing reviews that mention 120-ohm as well. Are there different versions of the exact same headphone model? How can I tell which one I'm buying?

Sorry for all the questions; I'm sure many of them are nothing short of idiotic, but I'm really new at this.

 

Mastershrom,

Im gona suggest something that might have some complications over time (its a joke btw, but i spend a ton of money because of them), Head-FI, its a great place like NBR is for laptops, this is for headphones, just dont get lost into it, or you wallet will suffer, post there you might get much more suggestions and even search there you might find a lot of threads already the same as you looking for.

 

Thanks for the heads-up, Abula. I registered and made a thread over there...let's see what they say!

 

If you dont mind in ear then get the Maximo iMetal 590s or NuForce NE-6.
Best IEM's for $50 and they sound as good as much higher costing IEMs.

 

From my original post:

 

To bring some closure to this...

I ended up buying a pair of JVC HA-RX900 headphones from buy.com, for just over $50 with free shipping. I considered recommendations from you guys here, as well as the good people over at the illustrious Head-Fi forums. A lot of people agree that their sound is on par with some of the more expensive Audio Technica models, especially after being properly burned in. I guess we'll see.

Stock photo:



Thanks again to all of you who have helped me. I'll be sure to post some photos and thoughts when the RX900's arrive this week.

 

wow i was just doing light research on some headphones...any thoughts on the grado's? 60i or 80i? very very new newbie regarding headphones...was going to pull trigger on the 80i plus a fiio amp

ps the 60i is not too far from the 50 dollar budget...

 

Is there something of that sort but has a mic??

 

From what I read at Head-Fi, the SR60i are excellent headphones if you don't have an amp or don't want to use one, while the SR80i benefits more from an amp.

I have no clue, honestly...perhaps you should check out the Head-Fi forums, they would certainly be able to help you out with that more than I can.

 

I'm waiting for my account to be approved now...

 

just picked them up tonight in the rain....love them
i ordered the amp from ebay...cant wait to put them together but so far...it sounds great just on the iphone....will keep reply back when i get the amp if any one cares

ps i hope whoever got the jvc pictured enjoys their new headphones as well...

pps damn just listening to them again and wow loving how they sound...i wish i could be more technical but im so happy just listening to music...this is my first pair of headphones that didnt come with a walkman also i was considering some noise cancelling bose which peaked my interest in headphones will try them out at the apple store to listen to the difference...pps i was using the the noise cancelling shures that had a mic for the iphone

 

Nice, did you go for the SR60i or SR80i?

And those JVC's should be here on the 25th.

 

hey ur on here hahah
i just reread this while listening to my 80i
and i just realized it was you mastershroom who originally posted haha...
i similarly had 20 dollar shure earphones that i got in feb 2009...weirdly the wire cracked open during the cold winter...im going to try to send them in and ask them to fix or hopefully replace

nice dude hope u enjoy ur new headphones...

open is the word to describe these headphones...just listening to concert music is like wow...haha i should be a professional reviewer...
give a review on ur new headphones when they come in mastershroom haha

 

Y hello thar Mastershroom!

And good purchase, I hope you enjoy them.

 

O hai thar, you're on Head-Fi too?

 

I shoudlnt have gona back to headfi, reading again got me interested, i just ordered JVC HA-RX700 to see how they are. Hope your RX900 come soon to you, mine coming on monday.

 

No, but I dug through a couple of pages of threads, and found yours.

 

Well, the RX900 arrived today. I don't have any pics yet and I've only had a couple hours to test it, but I am very impressed so far. For starters, they're much bigger than they look in the pictures. The cups fully surround my ears with room to spare. The faux-leather ear pads are very soft and comfortable. They keep a very slight grip on my head, not quite a squeeze. I've had them on for about 3 hours now with no discomfort.

The adjusting mechanism is quite nice, too. It uses pretty a pretty typical click-sliding device to shorten or lengthen the headband, and the settings are very firm, unlike any other headphone I've ever used. It doesn't loosen up 10 notches when I pull the headphones off of my head, which is a first for me. When you select a notch, it stays there.

Sound quality is quite nice. It doesn't seem to be lacking any frequencies or overdoing any others. Bass, mids and treble are all nicely balanced. Isolation is pretty good too, despite the semi-ported design. It's like the sound stage of an open pair, with the isolation of closed.

So far I've just been using them with my iPod Touch and my netbook. I don't have any headphone amps, DAC's, or anything fancy like that.

Overall, they're excellent for the price. Buy.com has them for $55 shipped. They're a good choice if you want some quality cans without shelling out for Sennheiser, Audio Technica or Beyerdynamic.

 

Thanks for the feedback, glad you like your new headphones. Btw have you tried gaming with them yet? i just wanted to see if its a good all around headphone for music, movies and gaming, specially since you some gaming headset?

PS, i though mine was gona arrive before.... you said your was delayed, mine still for next week.

 

Yeah, I did some MW2 multiplayer last night...they sound. Everything from footsteps to explosions come through nicely. I think my Carcharias is a bit better balanced for gaming sound effects, but the RX900 is certainly no disappointment in that regard.

 

I saw some people mentioned wanting an amp/dac. The nuforce uDac is a great choice for entry into the audiophile range. It is essentially a usb sound card, but could also be used as a pre-amp for people who really hate their wallets.