Headphones with Quality and Style?

Heya everyone,

I'm in the market for a good pair of headphones for my incoming laptop.
Not gonna lie, I'm kind of an aesthetics .
The ones I'm looking at now are the Skullcandy Hesh, but my main problem is that they dont have a mic.
(I'm not too impressed by the gaming headsets)

So I'm wondering: Has anyone here used Skullcandy headsets that can vouch for their quality?
or are there any other brands I should look into?

I'm looking to spend about $50-ish USD.

 

So, do you want a pair with or without a mic?

 

well first of all your on the right path already looking at headphones instead of headsets, you can get a much higher quality and have a larger variety.

All you need is THIS, and your favorite headphones are now a headset.

Now about your choice, Skullcandy is not known to be one of the better quality sounding brands.

You will find many more recommendations for Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Grado and others in that range.

I would go to google and search those brand names and see if you can spot one you like. Be sure to look for one with a low impedance so you can power it directly from your laptop without an amp.

I use the Audio Technica ATH A-700's they sound great and are super comfortable, and I really like the self adjusting headphone band. I use them for my desktop though, too big to toss in my laptop bag.

For laptops most people go with earbuds, or me personally I use bluetooth headphones.

If you really wanted skull candy you missed a good opportunity - http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=392538

 

Sorry, Namaiki, I should have specified. ><
I don't really need a mic, no.
Especially with this wonderful gadget Vicious just linked me!

Thanks a lot for the recommendations Vicious ~

I'm a big fan of the big DJ-Style headphones and I like those Audio Technica ones you are using, but its a bit more than I was hoping to spend. x.x

I'll look into the other brands you listed now. =]

 

Vicious, what brand model blue tooth headphones do you use?

 

For the laptop or computer when I am in the house I use Plantronics 590, for on the go or out in public I use my Motorola S9-HD.

The Plantronics have nice bass and great sound, and very comfortable and great range too, but a bit flashy with the blue ring so I dont like to wear them in public.

The Motorola are super light weight and what I used when I go bike riding, I pair them with my phone for music, but they can be used on my laptop too in public and they look great. Just not nearly as comfortable as the 590's, bass is there but you need to make sure the earbuds have a nice tight seal. Very Loud I cant even turn them up all the way.

 

AD700 is <$100 often. For a quality set of headphones that is not much. I was going to say AKG K701 looks great but then that is triple the price lol.

 

I've heard good things about the Razer pirhana?

haven't personally tried it myself though

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

At the moment I'm really thinking about these Sennheiser HD-555 Audiophile Headphones and the Audio Technica ATH-M50 Closed-Back Dynamic Monitor Headphones.

Anyone know which are better?
I like the Senn ones better, but the comments about zero noise canceling and the plus itself kind of worry me.

I decided to up my budget after looking into more last night ~

 

HD-555 are a popular choice, I have never personally used them though.

 

I almost bought the HD-555 but went for the A700 on the recommendation that they were better for rock music. If your main goal is aesthetics, you're going to sacrifice on quality, or pay a lot for both.

 

I had the HD555 and I will take the ATH-AD700 over it any day. If you are looking at a HD555 just go for the ATH-AD700. You will be happy you did.

 

I had the AD700's they are still on my to get list. Superior comfort and the best sound stage ever (great for locating people in fps games) but I would use the A700 more often due to them being closed to keep the sound in and having more bass.

You need both

I think I got my A700 for like $95 on ebay, also dont forget about bing.com cashback.

To the OP even though we are tossing things around out of your noted price range, ask yourself is this somethnig you want or need just for a few weeks or months or an actual investment? Chances are you plan to use these for years and in that case the price for the A700 / AD700 starts to not look so bad, as you can enjoy a higher quality item.

Lucky for you this is notebookreview.com and not hi-fi.org or something where instead of $100 headphones they would be pressing you to buy $1000 headphones (+amp, +custom cables, -2nd mortgage on house)

 

There's a set of HD-555's on sale in the BST forum for $73 shipped, FYI.

I use Shure SCL4's and Koss KSC75's, depending on the setting and if I need to be able to hear what's going on around me.

 

My problem with the A700 is that it gets stuffy after longer use. I have the A900 as well which is a step up from the A700. Can't really go wrong with either but since the AD700 is better all around.

 

I used to only us my Ultrasone HFI-780's and loved them. But now that I got some Westone ES3X I haven't been using them nearly as much. Personally I would up my budget to around 200$. But thats just me. If you only plan on using them for gaming then go with the ones that have the best sound stage, if your going for music then pick some that have the same sound signature of the genre's of music you like.

 

Haha that is a bit of a stretch from $50. This is like going to Headfi. You want to spend $100 then you find your credit card maxed out -.-"