Desperately need some headphone advice .

[CharlieCS]

Recently got to appreciate sound more then i use to .So i will be getting rid of my cheap speakers and replacing them with a nice set of headphones my budget is most certainly below 100$ .


Am looking for rich and clear sound mostly for music . Will be using X-Fi Extreme Music , no amp or anything else for now .
Heard good things about HD 555 from Sennheiser and AD700 here on OCF , any other options you can throw at me would be greatly appreciated . Am leaning toward the 555's out of the two .

[jhanby]

I would lean closer to the AD700 personally.

It will sound much better without an amp.

What sort of music you into ?

[tweakboy]

How is the low output driver on that AD700 ?

Is it a 5.1 headphone ?

Does it come with mic ?

These are all questions your going to have to answer. gl

[CharlieCS]

I would lean closer to the AD700 personally.

It will sound much better without an amp.

What sort of music you into ?


I listen to all sorts of music . And when i sad i desperately need advice i mean desperately , both hd 555 and ad700 do not seem like the most comfortable headphones and i read alot of reviews mentioning ad700 fall of your head .So really are there more options as to good bang for your buck headphones , besides these two ? Am really clueless about most of this stuff .




How is the low output driver on that AD700 ?

Is it a 5.1 headphone ?

Does it come with mic ?

These are all questions your going to have to answer. gl

Primary and likely only use for these is music , thus i dont need a mic nor surround , they are already around my ears how much more surround can they get lol

[jhanby]

Ok.

The AD700 are some of the most comfortable headphones you can buy. Yes if you move your head around they fall off, but thats cos they are so light. The Senns will grip your head a lot more tightly.

If these are purely for home listening, the AD700 is for you.

[tweakboy]

Youd be suprised Charlie. Listening to music in true surround headphones, with 4 speakers in each cone. You can tell the difference in 1 second,, how much better it is then stereo headphones. Also it has its own dedicated amp. That is crucial , with a nice knob.

You have other choices Im just showing you specs of some competition.. gl

[MadMan007]

tweakboy I don't understand why you *always* talk about surround headphones given that you have some that go unused. Furthermore no one who is in to headphones ever recommends them and for stereo sources and recordings which is almost certainly what the OP has (I assume he isn't looking to use them with DVD-A or multichannel SACD) they don't make sense.

Charlie - the recommendations so far are probaqbly the best in your price range although there may be a few more. Alessandro MS-1 which are retuned Grados or some Grado models might be to your liking too. Hmm...Shure SRH440s are ~$100. I'm not entirely up on all the options though just the most often mentioned ones. What I'd recommend with headphones is either buying used to see if you like them in which case you won't take much of a loss reselling or buying from a place with a liberal return policy.

[ratbuddy]

I've been very happy with the HD 485's, check those out as well.

[jhanby]

Youd be suprised Charlie. Listening to music in true surround headphones, with 4 speakers in each cone. You can tell the difference in 1 second,, how much better it is then stereo headphones. Also it has its own dedicated amp. That is crucial , with a nice knob.

You have other choices Im just showing you specs of some competition.. gl

For god sake Stop spreading this rubbish around.

I know that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but jesus you have been proven wrong and it has been explained to you many times.

Please stop incessantly posting this sort of post.

Have you ever heard true high end Stereo headphones out of a proper dedicated amp ??

You have already asked the OP questions against the AD700s (or any stereo headphones for that matter) and he has said NO.

[CharlieCS]

Thanks for all the advice guys , joined head fi today , will read around a bit , doesnt seem that will hurt .Also i found out i dont want open ear headphones , which both of these are .Am also looking at a used pair of A700 , i let you know what i will settle on , thanks again .

[tweakboy]

handby yes I have used Sony Studio Monitors ,,, the ole ones and new ones goldish color.

Im saying with a amp a 5.1 system sounds better experience...

[ratbuddy]

handby yes I have used Sony Studio Monitors ,,, the ole ones and new ones goldish color.

Im saying with a amp a 5.1 system sounds better experience...

Uhh, what the hell does that have to do with someone looking for headphones?

[saltytheseagull]

Sony 7506.

[zangler]

ad700's here on sale...looking at these myself...

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-AD700-Audiophile-Headphones-Neodymium/dp/B000CMS0XU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[MadMan007]

Thanks for all the advice guys , joined head fi today , will read around a bit , doesnt seem that will hurt .Also i found out i dont want open ear headphones , which both of these are .Am also looking at a used pair of A700 , i let you know what i will settle on , thanks again .

Is there any particular reason you want closed headphones? Are you worried about external sound isolation or keeping sound from leaking?

Anyhow if you're going closed I'd look hard at the Shure SRH440. Supposedly if you get the SRH840 pads for them they become virtually the same headphone and now that they've been out for a while any FOTM hype should have passed. Otherwise for full-sized closed I can't give any particular advice because I don't usually look at closed phones.

[CharlieCS]

Is there any particular reason you want closed headphones? Are you worried about external sound isolation or keeping sound from leaking?

Anyhow if you're going closed I'd look hard at the Shure SRH440. Supposedly if you get the SRH840 pads for them they become virtually the same headphone and now that they've been out for a while any FOTM hype should have passed. Otherwise for full-sized closed I can't give any particular advice because I don't usually look at closed phones.

Yes Madman thats the main reason, i live in NY and external sound is a big problem lol . Also shures are on top of my list ,honestly i pretty much decided that am going for Shures . But am also considering Equation RP-22X and some sony models , just going to ask around to make sure that shures are the best sound among those , but everything else has me sold on shures :)

[c627627]

One of the old threads, at least some info may be useful:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=509881

[sprinj76]

Check out the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s, i've had them for about a month now and love them. They are extremely comfortable, low impedance (38ohms) which means they are easily driven by portable music players and computers, and closed design.

I can't recommend these things any higher, they are simply amazing. Even though the list price is around $130-150 they can be found on ebay for sub-$100. I encourage you to read some reviews, even the audiophiles are impressed.

I use them for gaming (TF2, LFD, UT3, CS-S, etc...) and music (dance, rock, punk, etc...)

[four4875]

uhh... lower impedance means harder to drive.

[jingiko]

i personally use Technics RP-DJ1200
they're under $100 on amazon and well worth it imho.

a lot of DJs in NYC use them at nightclubs so they get banged around often esp with them having to mix in a loud area and still keep the beat going.
Been using them for a year and still no flaws. dropped them a couple of times too.
well built and a few nice features you might like.

they're very clear with rich bass.
i was using them with my realtek onboard sound until i got me some creative fatal1ty pro x-fi champion series which blows all my mp3s away.

[sprinj76]

uhh... lower impedance means harder to drive.

No, this is wrong.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/impedance

Impedance is another word for resistance, the more resistance (or impedance) a headphone set has the more power it will take to drive . . .

[four4875]

ohms law... I=v/r so if its driven 5v peak to peak, 5/38 = 131.6mA. a 150 ohm load at the same 5v p-p is 33 1/3mA. alot less current, so easier to drive.

[sprinj76]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law

You're on the right track but wrong thought process. Lets say you have a constant 5v, and two sets of head phones one with 38 ohms and one with 50 ohms. Using ohms law, I= v/r, you get 131 mA for the 38 ohm pair; and 100 mA for the 50 ohm pair.

What this means is the 38 ohms pair will have a higher amperage to drive the speaker in the headphone at 131 mA, and the 50 ohm pair will have less amperage to drive the speaker letting only 100 mA through.

Therefore the lower ohms pair will produce a louder sound with the same amount of power.

Reference this website:
http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/headphones.html
"Impedance: One issue that's especially important when choosing a pair of headphones is impedance. So called low impedance and high impedance pairs should not be intermixed.

Low impedance headsets may vary from 75 ohms up to about 150 ohms. Phones in this impedance range may be directly plugged into the headphone jack routinely found on recording and playback equipment.

Higher impedances sets normally have an impedance of around 600 ohms; these are more useful in studio installations where many units may be wired in parallel for studio monitoring applications.

The 600-ohm models are more rugged than low impedance ones in that the higher resistance coils are less susceptible to burn out than low impedance models. On the other hand, high impedance sets require a higher driving signal to produce the same level of sound output in comparison to low impedance headsets.

This means that low impedance headphones will sound louder when plugged in devices with low output voltages such as portable CD players, etc. In reality, because of the limited power available from portable players, headsets for portable use should have a maximum impedance of 64 ohms.

Worth keeping in mind here that the lower the impedance, the more efficient headphones are in converting the incoming electrical energy into sound. On the contrary, the higher the impedance, the more electrical energy is required to drive the headsets tiny speakers."

[fldrice]

Youd be suprised Charlie. Listening to music in true surround headphones, with 4 speakers in each cone. You can tell the difference in 1 second,, how much better it is then stereo headphones. Also it has its own dedicated amp. That is crucial , with a nice knob.

You have other choices Im just showing you specs of some competition.. gl

You mean 4 drivers in each speaker right? A headphone is by nature STEREO (2 speakers strapped to your head). A speaker may have multiple drivers to split up the various frequencies, but there is no such thing as a "surround" headphone.

Charlie,
I personally prefer the AD700. However sound is quite subjective. Can however, tell you that a low impedance and high sensitivity can such as the AD700 will be quite easy to drive.

[zangler]

i have had the AD700's now for about 3 weeks...and they are really superior...at the price point it is like stealing.

[Doogiehowser]

i've been using jvc's HA-RX900's for about 6 months now and i love em. Although when i first started using them, the headphones would literally vibrate when the bass was pounding. I found a solution here (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/jvc-ha-rx900-modifications-picture-tutorial-56k-forget-about-381303/) at the head-fi.org forums. Since competing the mod, they are fantastic. Very balanced sound stage since modified, very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time while gaming or listening to music. Lastly, the only dislike i have with them is that a amp is almost needed being quiet when used with a ipod or any mp3 player of the sort whereas when used with my sound card (auzen forte x-fi), i cant use them with the volume higher than 25% without my eardrums rupturing.