which headphones

i need a good set of headphones that provide decent sound and are also relativly cheAP MAXIUM OF 100 AUS DOLLAR OR 80 US

 

get sennheiser cx300, they are in ear style with amazing bass and very comfortable, sometimes I wear them up to 5 hours. I got them for 15 pounds from ebay.

 

sorry if i was unclear i want an out of ear style thanks anyway

 

I got a pair of $25, Sony Stereo Monitor Headphones and they work well for the price, comfortable too.

 

Sennheiser PX100, I love mine!

 

any reason why you want "cans" instead of "pods"? u can't get good quality can's for a low price, a high quality cans require more power to drive them effectively. you laptop headphone output (as most portable devices are) have IC amps that put out only a few milliamps. you'd need an out board headphone amp to drive good quality cans.

IEM (in ear monitors) or sometimes call canalphones are the new "pods." if you haven't tried one, i really suggest you do. they seal out a lot of outside noise and pretty much uses your ear canals as a speaker enclosure. sound reproduction is very good and because a lot of noise is sealed out, music is played back at a lower sound level than cans and/or traditional pods--this is super crucial if you want to be able to hear when you're 50 years old.

i am an audio freak (ok, some of us call outselves audiophiles). cans will ultimately give the "better" (i prefer the term "accurate") sound, but at a much higher cost (not just price, but cost in mobility, cost of storage space, etc). at home i use a vintage set of grado cans and a set of akg static cans, but for my mobile devices i use etymotic and shure products. ety's are a better buy, and dollar for dollar gives a better than shure (shure spends a lot of money on marketing. think sony) but shure, in their higher end models will give a better sound than the ety's but at more than twice the cost (again, think sony). super.fi makes great ime's as well, but i haven't had the chance to try them yet.

no disrespect to people who love sennheiser and sony headphones...there are good products in their line-up, but only in the pro-grade stuff. consumer price products have a lot of marketing fluff... you're paying for their advertising.

good luck. get a good set of phones and the music experience will change your life, really. and dont' go cheap. squeeze a few bucks more if you can. we're talking about your ears here eh? do them justice, not damage

 

are the sennheister HD 415 headphones any good

links to a review?

 

Couldn't agree more...the only problem here is budget. Good IEMs at less than $100 USD are hard to find. I would most certainly recommend Shure e5cs (as an owner) but they're super expensive.

Is there something you would recommend at this price range, or maybe $20-30 higher? Perhaps the low-end Grados?

 

It depends on what you want, the 415's are going to be more bass heavy and colored. The 515 will lean more towards accuracy, but you're going to have trouble finding true accuracy in this price range. If you can find a pair of HD570's in your price range I'd suggest grabbing them. They're not great, like the 580's and up, but they are very nice and well balanced.

Even if you don't buy from them (and you can, they ship just about everywhere), Headroom is an excellent resource. They know their stuff, and they really are extremely honest about what they sell and why.

General suggestions, it's hard without knowing what you listen to:

Sealed general listening - Beyerdynamic DT231

Sealed with a tendency towards bass - AKG K 81 DJ

Open general listening - Sennheiser HD570 if you can find em, or EH350

But honestly, if you can get over the idea of putting a driver directly into your ear canal, I suggest picking up a pair of Shures or Ultimate Ears. The E2C and Super.fi 3 respectively.

 

Oh, and I just want to say, don't buy a Grado without listening first. You should listen anyway, but Grados are... often difficult to appreciate, and to some people extremely uncomfortable.

 

I'd definatly go with the Sennheiser PX100's They only cost 50USD on newegg. I've had a pair of them for almost 2 years now and I've used many other kinds of headphones since then and I don't like any as much as the PX100's not even ones that cost 2-3 times as much. You can also get the PMX100's which have the neck band rather than the band that goes over the head for 10USD less.

 

is the EH 250 any good

 

I third the PX100's. Excellent sound, excellent bass at a awesome price point.

 

Another vote for the highly rated Senheiser PX100. It has won so many awards...

 

The Senn PX100s are a sound choice, especially if you plan on carrying them around with a notebook. Portability goes out the window once you're also lugging a headphone case for full sized cans and a portable amp...

The Beyerdynamic DT-231s Ethyriel recommended for general use above are also a good choice... simply awesome for the price (around $110 AUD).

I'd also suggest looking at the AKG Acoustics K24P (open) and K26P (closed) as an alternative to the Senn PX series. They're cheaper, and at least for the K26P, sound better.

You may want to have a look around at Headphonic, an Australian online dealer located in Perth.

 

Has anyone tried the V-Moda Vibe Ear Buds? The reviews I've seen ( Anythingbutipod.com, and these on other V-Moda styles IGN, Mobiletechreview all sound pretty positive.

I'm not looking for anything high-end. Just something comfortable, with good sound, and decent noice cancellation.

Thanks.

 

Bear with me Depends on how much isolation you require. And bear with me

Quite honestly if you want complete isolation in a portable form, but do not want to fall for "anti noise generating" rubbish from the likes of Bose, IEMs are the way to go. Unfortunately even a big US supplier like headphone.com have changed their guide page

IEM tips go into your canal and create a seal - i.e. like ear plugs. Canal phones sit at the entrance of your ear - they go no deeper than your pinky finger. Even if you get the names mixed up, it is important to understand this distinction. IEMs isolate provided you get a proper seal. Canals only offer partial isolation at most

The V-Moda's are canals (as I define them!). Plain and simple. Many on head-fi have commented on their SQ but have been left disappointed by their isolation. Ditto the D-Jay canals on head-fi. IEMs typically come with a fit kit offering flanges, foamies and soft flex tips. Canals come with a standardised "3 sizes of tips" - you can see from the pics

I cannot comment on their SQ. But if you truly want proper isolation, i.e. hear nothing on a plane, consider budget IEMs, such as Shure E2, E3, E210, Ety Er6i, UE super fi.3's. What I would recommend depends on your music tastes, possibly source and your importance on looks

Myself though, I leave my IEMs only for certain situations. For general use, I use my cheap Senn CX300 canals - simply because they take the beating of day to day use and I don't mind having to replace them. And for the £16, surprisingly good. After trying 5 diff brands of budget canals, I think I'll stick with the CX300s for my budget needs

 

Speaking of IEM, I'd be hesitant to get Etymotics unless you're positive you want more than one flange, as they only offer 2 and 3 flange tips.

I'd also like to point out that the build quality on my Shure E4C seems to be much better than that of the UE Super.fi 5 Pro. Given, there's a $100 difference, but the cord is much sturdier, and the build of the actual casing doesn't seem cheap and loosely fit like the UE's. I'm kind of sensitive to this, though, since my UE's died like 5 days out of warranty (also get a second year with Shure) Oh, and with the Shure's I don't hear it when I smack the cord against something, they have much better insulation I suppose.

 

sanpabloguy, if you can afford it, research Westone UM1s I believe around $100 (Ebay permitting!). Little brother of my UM2s. Simply amazing microphonic-free cable, best fit in a universal IEM I've experienced and good "rock out" sound. Nothing analytical or nothing like how I'd imagine Ety's would be described. E4s consequently neglected

OP: I third Senn PX100s. Surprisingly detailed, nice warm mids and ok bass. Best budgets I have ever bought

 

I own the Vibes and though they provide good sound, they offer virtually zero isolation so I gave them to my girlfriend. I replaced these with Westone UM1 and I agree with everything written above about them. I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD555 which are larger cans but have excellent and relaxed sound (as well as being very very comfortable). You can find these for around $100 if you look.

PX100s are a good starter headphone, as are the Koss KSC75 if you don't mind the clip on style.

 

Grado SR-60's - Hands down.

~ Brett

Edit: They aren't the most comfortable things in the world and they're open air (i.e. basically no noise cancellation) but they sound incredible. You won't want to go back to anything else.

 

I'll second the Grados... I have SR-80s, myself.

LOVE the sound. They're not going to shake your skull with bass, but mids and highs are lovely.