Best headphones for me

Yo, so i just got my laptop and now i just feel as my headphone isnt enuf to attract me to listen to any songs again. Notice i want a headset not a earphone or whatever. I dont however listen to RAP or metal. I listen to pop music and i dont really prefer to hav the sound so high. Which one should i choose? i dont prefer to spend more than a hundred. Best if it could be bought in retail store.

 

For sub-100$ range, I recommend Grado SR-60. To be honest, IMO it is easier to find "earphones" under 100$ than headphones, especially if you look for full-sized ones. Going above 100$ will give you more options - say. ATH-AD700 or Sen HD555.

 

bump bump bump

 

X2 for the Grados. Although it's very hard to find them in a retail store.
I've found that some of the best places to look for headphones in a B&M is in a music store, one that sells instruments not CD's. Who better to go to than the people who make the reproduction of sound their main vocation?

 

i can go to sennheiser but of course the px100 is not going to be there .

 

What is wrong with px100? Koss Porta Pro is another good headphones that is like PX100.

BTW, SR60 is rather uncomfortable to wear, so you may want to see it by yourself, if possible. Do you have any Hifi audio store nearby?

 

I am a audio technica guy they have a few models for low end range. If it was for my laptop and laptop only tho Plantronics Pulsars is what I would get since they sound great and are wireless w/ bluetooth. I dont like cords and a laptop they dont add up well for me.

 

Plantronics is a good brand. I have a Plantronics cell phone bluetooth headset (I know, they're not headphones) and the sound quality is excellent.

 

wait brand or band.

 

I have a pair of the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 open-ended cans. I love them, but they are huge and unwieldy. I've read nothing but good things about the Sennheiser px100 headphones, so why aren't they an option? I plan on getting a pair when I have the cash. I've also heard (no pun intended) good things about the Koss Porta Pro mentioned by Woodgypsy.

 

*brand. It was a typo. Fixed in last post.

 

U guys Mis Heard me i never said im not getting the px100, I said The sennheiser store near me dont carry them. I heard Staples and COMPUSA carry them , so i might go get it there instead of buying something online.

 

I have owned the Px100's for two years, and I enjoy them. I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD280Pro Silver headphones from creative products for $104.
You can read my review of the HD280's on the Voodoo Mutthaboards.

http://www.voodoopc.com/boards/messages.aspx?topic=38090&forum=6

I hope this is what you are looking for, they are definitely the best headphones I have ever had, and they are definitely the best for around $100.


K-TRON

 

so u enjoy the hd280 more than the px100?

 

Yes, I find that the Hd 280 Pros are very comfortable, and they block out a ton of background noise. The headphones are cupped phones, meaning that the headphones cup over your ears. Thus listening to music for extended periods is comfortable. The pressire and weight of the headphones is evenly disturbuted around the ear and headrest.

The most important thing is that these headphones help block out noise. It really helps and it make a tremendous difference, I wouldhave to continue to increase the volume on my Px 100's, so that I could block out the background music and hear the music. The HD280's attenuate and block around 32db. This helps elimiate most background noise.
Literally, in my case I used to listen to music with my px 100's at 3 pushes on the up button in volume on my dell, which is about 25-30% volume.
SInce the hd280's block out some noise, I can get the same relative volume of music at one notch, which is about 8-10% volume. I can listen to music for hours on end at just that level. I never have to increase the volume even over long periods of time. The build of the headphones is very nice. I love the fact that their os only one wire rather than two. The bass on these phones is amazing. A good friend of mine recommended me these headphones. He said that the hd280's are one of the three best cupped headphones. The other two are Beyer Dynamics - their too expensive for me.
I love the hd280's, they are great. I listen to music through windows media player, and I have the volume on one notch, and I set the volume in WMP to 50%. I enjoy this volume of music. It is not too loud, and not to low. I cant hear anything which is going on around me at 10% volume, so no more distractions, well at least audible ones. I enjoy these phones, and hope to get at least 3 years out of them.

I can tell you a bunch of flaws of the Px100's if you want. I am too tired to post more know though. Tomorrow.

If you need any pics PM me, I have the original box. I can take pics of my Px100's next to my Hd280's.

I am glad that my situation is helping others make a good decision.

K-TRON

 

thanks for the whole lot of info. I dont want pics, i want to know the flaws of the px100 lol, plus its not like all people agree about the hd280 comfortness.Some says its unconfortable.

 

The only problem I see with the HD 280 Pros compared to the PX 100s is the fact that they are much larger. I wouldn't want to carry them around with my notebook, but they would be fine for home use.

 

Well, after the first week of owning the PX100's, the headband just does not lock anymore. It is adjustable, if you did not know. It is basically a metal band, with small notches in it, which slides through the two plastic members which connect to the speakers. After a week or two, the plastic piece which keeps the band from further adjusting must have wore down. Well, so after a year or so, the head band gets so loose that I had to tape the plastic together. There are two pieces of plastic which wrap around the metal adjustable band. The one piece on the inside os only attached by three screws, all of which are next to the headphone, and none near the part which adjusts.

My next issue, is that they do not cancel any noise, so you hear everything which disturbs music greatly.

Then I dislike the cables very much. They are very thin, about 1-1.5mm thick, and the cable is not very long - maybe 3-4 feet. The cables tend to get ripped out of the connectors, if you go to reach something with your headphones on. The wire starts to bend out of the conduit for the adapter for the laptop, and the shrouds which enter into the headphones. When you move back, the wire bends, and then the headphones come flying off youre head.

This is why I like the HD280's, because teh cord is about 5mm thick, and the cord is springy (like a phone cord) and it is about 12 ft long. I can walk across my room with my headphones on, and I am still good. I live in a college dorm room.

The Px100's are very light in comparison to the Hd280's, there about 60 grams versus 350grams.

Over long periods of time, my px100's, would start to slide across the top of my head, and eventually slide over my face. I would have to constantly readjust them. The Hd280's have a much better adjustment system, and they have never slid on my head yet.

As far as the comfortability of teh Hd280, I think people are having problems because they are 1) the people who say laptop harddrives are loud, when its a faint whirring, or 2) the people have the volume too high.

I can say that if you have the volume over 20% on the Hd280's, its like having the volume on 80% on the Px100's, which is really loud.
I find that if I listen to one or two songs in a row, with the volume more than 20%, then my ears start to hurt. I listen to music at about 5% volume, which is equivalent to 20% volume of the Px100's, which is fine, and I cant listen for 5-6 hours on end without my ears hurting.

I know after listening to music for 8-10 hours, that when you take them off, everything in the room around you is really loud for a few minutes, while your ears adjust to normal volume.

I think the only uncomfortable thing about the Hd280's, is that the volume of them. You can really push the volume up, which will hurt your ears. At low volumes, your ears will not hurt. I find that the actual headphones themselves do not hurt my head at all. I use them as earmuffs when studying, and when there is no music, my ears feel fine.

Also, the Px100's are not shielded, so everyone around you can hear what you are listening to. In my case, I didnt like the fact that all my friends knew I listened to Shania and Phil Collins and such. WIth the HD280's, you have to really have the volume at about 30% for someone 1foot away to hear anything.

On both headphones, the folding design is very nice. The PX100's will fit into your pocket, but the Hd280's will not.

Here are a ton of pics:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737501.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737502.jpg
This one points to the plastic shroud which causes adjustment to be bad:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737503.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737504.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737505.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737506.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737508.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737510.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737512.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737513.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737514.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737515.jpg
Much stronger construction on adjustment:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737516.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737517.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737519.jpg
They fold flat for easy storage in backpack:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737520.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737521.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737522.jpg
They also fold like this, so teh cups dont get damaged or dirty:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737523.jpg
or they can fold like this:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737524.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb109/bigdogtrucker/SL737525.jpg

I hope this helps in your decision.

K-TRON

 

There are better sounding, more comfortable phones for home uses, though - noise isolation is the point of HD280. IMO HD280's sounds and comfort is lacking.

 

im confuse woodgypsy. u said the sound are better and u say its lacking?

 

The HD280's are plenty comfortable.
Dragonteeth, what you should do, is go to a guitar center or a music store. They usually have a few headphones there. They will let you test them yourself. I would bring a mp3 player, and test them out, that is if they have them.
In my opinion, they are very good headphones.

K-TRON

 

I had the HD280s for about a month and I did not like them. As noted before, some people do find them uncomfortable. I found they had a vice-like grip (yes, even after stretching them out) and were very uncomfortable. They do a good job blocking out sound, I agree with you there, but have other flaws. One is extremely weak bass. It was almost non-existent, even after burning them in for 20 hours. The HD280s can be modded with tape to have better bass, but it is still weak. If you like techno, which can have some very, very low bass, they are decent because the HD280s have good low ranges, but other than that I recommend passing on them.

 

Sorry if my writing was confusing. I meant to say that if portability is not an issue, there are some 100$-150$ headphones that I prefer over HD280. For example,

Audio-Technica ATH-AD700
Sen HD555
Goldring DR150
Denon AH-D1000

Probably I am still missing some. With the exception of AH-D1000, they are all larger than HD280 - althogh they are all more comfortable, IMO. AH-D1000 is smaller than HD280, but it doesn't fold so HD280 probably is easier to carry.

As far as I looked, Amazon.com have D1000 for 100$, and Newegg has AD700 for 106$.

 

Senn HD595/555 !