Author Topic: Headphone Recommendations (Read 9559 times)

crossthreaded · « **on:** April 09, 2009, 01:01:53 PM »

I have a 50$ gift card to crutchfield and am thinking about picking up these Sennheiser HD 485, they are 80 bucks. I have some very torn up koss 20$ headphones now.

will I be able to find a better deal in this price range? I have found nothing but good reviews about these headphones so far, seem to be about as clear of sound you can get without stepping up quite a bit price-wise.

here is the crutchfield page http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143HD485/Sennheiser-HD-485.html?o=p&showAll=N&search=headphones

I'm not an audiophile by any means, I just need some decent headphones to listen to music at the library with. Can't stand earbuds so those are out of the question.

thanks for any help!

BC · « **Reply #1 on:** April 09, 2009, 02:16:57 PM »

Some good info here

http://www.headphone.com/

pjdavep · « **Reply #2 on:** April 09, 2009, 02:23:06 PM »

I was going to steer him to headphone.com too, but then I got promptly distracted by the Senn HD800's...*drool*...

Going back again, I don't see the HD 485s on that website. Not sure if they are newer, or headphone.com doesn't think enough of them to carry 'em. Their impedence looks low enough so that they could be powered by stock heaphone outputs (in lieu of needing an amp). I love the two Senn heaphones that I have (HD280 pro for home, HD 650s at work).

Later,
pjdavep

rastasean · « **Reply #3 on:** April 09, 2009, 03:07:25 PM »

I was looking for headphones a couple weeks ago.
If you want to spend a lot of money, most people like any flavor of the AKG headphones but those are easily $200 and can go up from there.

For less than $100, or a little over, this is what I was looking at:
Sony MDR 7506 (there is also the MDR V6 which came after these)
and the Sennheiser HD 25sp.

What I don't like about the 25sp is the fact that it has two cords for each side. I prefer one cable when possible.
I settled for the 7506s and there are dozens of people on here who have had theirs for years and had no issues.

good luck!

crossthreaded · « **Reply #4 on:** April 09, 2009, 05:52:23 PM »

hmm, thanks for the recommendations but those are a bit more than I was wanting to drop. I wouldn't be thinking about spending this much if it wasn't for the gift certificate I have to crutchfield.

I guess I'll give them a shot, didn't ready anything bad about any of the other sennheiser units

Red Boink · « **Reply #5 on:** April 09, 2009, 09:44:43 PM »

Hi, I bought a pair of low end sennheiser phones for my son and it wasn't long before the cords into the muffs pulled out enough to render them useless. Could be the particular pair. Sennheiser customer support wasn't much help. I'd encourage you to look at the Sony Md7506.

I just checked, my son's were the senn 202s, so they were much lower on the quality scale.. the 485s look good, give them a go and let us know. They get excellent reviews at Amazon.

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD600s that I bought new from Amazon about three years ago for $199 shipped. They're a good set, but I like some lower end headphones, too. One thing is if they are high impedance you'll need a headphone amp to get the best out of them. The 600s need one and I use a Ray Samuels Emmaline Hornet to push them and it is a very good combination.

Good Luck, let us know how you like them.

Best,

John

George · « **Reply #6 on:** April 10, 2009, 09:59:10 AM »

By the way, the Sony MDR 7506 are identical to the MDR V6. They sound the same and look the same. The only difference is that the V6's miniplug is nickel plated and the 7506's is gold plated and that the 7506's are marketed towards the professional audio market while the V6's are marketed towards the consumer audio market. I highly recommend the V6's for $69, they will last you a hell of a long time and sound excellent and anything, and I mean ANYTHING, will power them properly. I've also tried the Sennheiser HD 201's and liked them a lot.

By the way, these are also awesome headphones:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=yamaha+headphones&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11113999328709153225&ei=U1DfScGEEJOotAOnsvSyCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=1&ct=result#ps-sellers

They sounded great when I owned them, only problem was that the pleather padding started to crack and fall apart. At least with the 7506/V6's you can swap out the pads with the velour pads Beyerdynamic uses on their DT250 series headphones.

rastasean · « **Reply #7 on:** April 10, 2009, 12:12:30 PM »

Quote from: Yogurt on April 10, 2009, 09:59:10 AM

By the way, the Sony MDR 7506 are identical to the MDR V6. They sound the same and look the same. The only difference is that the V6's miniplug is nickel plated and the 7506's is gold plated and that the 7506's are marketed towards the professional audio market while the V6's are marketed towards the consumer audio market. I highly recommend the V6's for $69, they will last you a hell of a long time and sound excellent and anything, and I mean ANYTHING, will power them properly. I've also tried the Sennheiser HD 201's and liked them a lot.

By the way, these are also awesome headphones:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=yamaha+headphones&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11113999328709153225&ei=U1DfScGEEJOotAOnsvSyCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=1&ct=result#ps-sellers

They sounded great when I owned them, only problem was that the pleather padding started to crack and fall apart. At least with the 7506/V6's you can swap out the pads with the velour pads Beyerdynamic uses on their DT250 series headphones.

Frequency Range
5 Hz - 30 kHz
for the V6

Frequency Range
10 Hz - 20 kHz
for the 7506

oh, and a two dB difference for max input.

If you want a small portable pair, check out the Koss Portapros. I have a pair of these and love them and they are around $25-35 and come with a little case.
PORTAPRO

The PortaPro by Koss is covered by Koss' No*Questions*Asked Lifetime Warranty.

George · « **Reply #8 on:** April 10, 2009, 02:05:08 PM »

Quote from: rastasean on April 10, 2009, 12:12:30 PM

Quote from: Yogurt on April 10, 2009, 09:59:10 AM
By the way, the Sony MDR 7506 are identical to the MDR V6. They sound the same and look the same. The only difference is that the V6's miniplug is nickel plated and the 7506's is gold plated and that the 7506's are marketed towards the professional audio market while the V6's are marketed towards the consumer audio market. I highly recommend the V6's for $69, they will last you a hell of a long time and sound excellent and anything, and I mean ANYTHING, will power them properly. I've also tried the Sennheiser HD 201's and liked them a lot.

By the way, these are also awesome headphones:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=yamaha+headphones&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11113999328709153225&ei=U1DfScGEEJOotAOnsvSyCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&resnum=1&ct=result#ps-sellers

They sounded great when I owned them, only problem was that the pleather padding started to crack and fall apart. At least with the 7506/V6's you can swap out the pads with the velour pads Beyerdynamic uses on their DT250 series headphones.

Frequency Range
5 Hz - 30 kHz
for the V6

Frequency Range
10 Hz - 20 kHz
for the 7506

oh, and a two dB difference for max input.

If you want a small portable pair, check out the Koss Portapros. I have a pair of these and love them and they are around $25-35 and come with a little case.
PORTAPRO

The PortaPro by Koss is covered by Koss' No*Questions*Asked Lifetime Warranty.

Uh huh:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-mdr-7506-a-218888/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-7506-a-18803/

There's countless threads about the 7506 vs. the V6 on head-fi. They are the same exact headphone. There's even one thread where a guy purchased the 7506's and one ear cup has 'MDR 7506' imprinted on it and the other ear cup had 'MDR V6' imprinted on it.

Lastly, it's laughable that you would look to the frequency specs posted by the manufacturer...I never look at that them because surely you don't think a headphone can reproduce that frequency (5Hz vs 10Hz for the bottom end of the spectrum), right?

Oh one more thing, the Porta pros color the sound too much for my liking (way too much mid bass emphasis).

edit, unfortunately the pics are long gone: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-vs-mdr-7506-beyer-pads-1378/

rastasean · « **Reply #9 on:** April 10, 2009, 02:59:32 PM »

Quote from: Yogurt on April 10, 2009, 02:05:08 PM

Uh huh:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-mdr-7506-a-218888/

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-7506-a-18803/

There's countless threads about the 7506 vs. the V6 on head-fi. They are the same exact headphone. There's even one thread where a guy purchased the 7506's and one ear cup has 'MDR 7506' imprinted on it and the other ear cup had 'MDR V6' imprinted on it.

Lastly, it's laughable that you would look to the frequency specs posted by the manufacturer...I never look at that them because surely you don't think a headphone can reproduce that frequency (5Hz vs 10Hz for the bottom end of the spectrum), right?

Oh one more thing, the Porta pros color the sound too much for my liking (way too much mid bass emphasis).

edit, unfortunately the pics are long gone: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sony-mdr-v6-vs-mdr-7506-beyer-pads-1378/

very interesting find of the v6 vs. 7506.

Not everyone will like the portapros but I find they work for the music I listen to.

jlykos · « **Reply #10 on:** April 10, 2009, 10:48:05 PM »

I recently purchased the Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones and really, really like them. Darker sound than the 7506 (which I previously owned) and fills in the lower midbass better than the 7506. The high end is not as harsh or brittle as the 7506 either. They are certainly worth a listen and I prefer them to the 7506 after having used them for a little while.

Red Boink · « **Reply #11 on:** April 12, 2009, 01:13:41 AM »

To be honest, I use the 7506 for monitoring in the field only. And, often, it is voice, background, and folley. I agree the sonys have flaws, but they are workhorses. I can use them for music without any serious problems, more than can be said about some more expensive headphones, like the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones. I bought a set of those and they sound thin and harsh across the board to my ears. My son got those, as he liked them for gaming, listening to music, and net bouncing while in the noisy company of the rest of the family. But, I just couldn't appreciate any thing about the way they sounded for music.

George · « **Reply #12 on:** April 12, 2009, 11:26:13 AM »

I think the reason why I like my 7506's so much is that their sound signature is so easy to remember and you know they never steer you wrong. Every time I've used them to listen back to recordings I just made they were spot on on their "assessment."

noahbickart · « **Reply #13 on:** April 12, 2009, 08:41:22 PM »

If I were in your shoes, with the $50 at crutchfield, I would buy these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143HD280P/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro.html?o=p&showAll=N&tp=887

-Noah

Chuck · « **Reply #14 on:** April 13, 2009, 04:31:46 PM »

Quote from: noahbickart on April 12, 2009, 08:41:22 PM

If I were in your shoes, with the $50 at crutchfield, I would buy these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143HD280P/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro.html?o=p&showAll=N&tp=887

-Noah

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD-600's that I use for critical listening at home and I love them.

I use the Sennheiser HD-280's at work. They sound good, but are uncomfortable to wear (at least for me) over long periods of time.

As others have mentioned, the Sony V6's are very good as well. Don't buy the V600's as they are highly colored.

Scooter123 · « **Reply #15 on:** April 20, 2009, 08:48:59 PM »

I'm a Senheiser kinda guy, from cheap to high end, I just love their flat sound.

boyacrobat · « **Reply #16 on:** April 20, 2009, 10:24:14 PM »

maby mod

i modded my senn hd 515 to dual entry silver cable direct to drivers.
pissed off 6 points of contact internally and now have only 2.
custom 700 mm long silver cable teck flexed to look like sex walking
terminated to canare f12 3.5mm .

hate 1 side cord entry - tilt syndrome pending
the sound is the cleanest i have ever heard

oh the re listens, you just re listen
that simple

g

crossthreaded · « **Reply #17 on:** April 30, 2009, 01:43:26 AM »

went ahead and ordered the 485's and like them so far. Nice sound, bass seems to be full. They aren't broken in yet though so hopefully it will deepen.

I wish I would have known these things are audible to people around you. I got them to go to the library with and might not be able to use them for that. I might pick up those other sennheiser ones that block out noise. I never saw that response or I would have looked at them.

I got some strange looks from my girlfriend tonight cleaning the kitchen listening to my ipod with big headphones on :lol

Ryan Sims · « **Reply #18 on:** May 01, 2009, 11:38:00 AM »

Quote from: jlykos on April 10, 2009, 10:48:05 PM

I recently purchased the Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones and really, really like them. Darker sound than the 7506 (which I previously owned) and fills in the lower midbass better than the 7506. The high end is not as harsh or brittle as the 7506 either. They are certainly worth a listen and I prefer them to the 7506 after having used them for a little while.

I'm a big fan of these as well.

goodcooker · « **Reply #19 on:** May 03, 2009, 11:16:51 AM »

Quote from: noahbickart on April 12, 2009, 08:41:22 PM

If I were in your shoes, with the $50 at crutchfield, I would buy these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_143HD280P/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro.html?o=p&showAll=N&tp=887

-Noah

I agree....I have a pair and I like them alot. They are kinda large, and uncomfortable for me after a few hours but the people around you will not hear them no matter how loud....and you will not hear them.

George · « **Reply #20 on:** May 04, 2009, 08:52:53 PM »

Quote from: Scooter123 on April 20, 2009, 08:48:59 PM

I'm a Senheiser kinda guy, from cheap to high end, I just love their flat sound.

I wouldn't consider Sennheiser's "flat sounding." They have a mid bass hump, but with a laid back presentation. They actually remind me of some big fuzzy speakers that don't scream/shout at you.

spaceboy_psy · « **Reply #21 on:** May 21, 2009, 04:40:28 PM »

Quote from: crossthreaded on April 30, 2009, 01:43:26 AM

I wish I would have known these things are audible to people around you. I got them to go to the library with and might not be able to use them for that.

DOH! My first thought when I read your post was "must tell him they are open headphones!"!!! But you bought them already

damn, need to find a new good deed for the day.

Quote from: jlykos on April 10, 2009, 10:48:05 PM

I recently purchased the Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones and really, really like them. Darker sound than the 7506 (which I previously owned) and fills in the lower midbass better than the 7506. The high end is not as harsh or brittle as the 7506 either. They are certainly worth a listen and I prefer them to the 7506 after having used them for a little while.

YES YES YES YES YES!!!!

I bought a pair of HD280s a while ago. I'd heard that the bass was 'fuller' in ATH-M50s but the Senns were that bit cheaper so I got them. First listen - Where's my BASS?? God damnit! Popped em on ebay, got the ATH-M50s and wow, they are the most expensive headphones I've ever used so I guess I can't judge by price range, but they damn well are the best headphones I've used too. Such even response, so natural and clear, round full bass, smooth mids, crisp treble. Virtually perfect!

'YMMV' or somesuch silly acronym...

pjdavep · « **Reply #22 on:** May 23, 2009, 10:19:57 PM »

Quote from: spaceboy_psy on May 21, 2009, 04:40:28 PM

I bought a pair of HD280s a while ago. I'd heard that the bass was 'fuller' in ATH-M50s but the Senns were that bit cheaper so I got them. First listen - Where's my BASS??
<SNIP>

Ahhh, you didn't let them get thru a break-in period first? In my experience, all Senn headphones I have owned (HD-280, HD-580, HD-600, HD 650) sounded incredibly thin and wimpy out of the box. Comparing that with the 80 hour mark is worlds different, with most of the change coming in the bass. You should buy a used pair (or borrow a pair) and do a fair comparison of the two!

Later,
pjdavep

Chuck · « **Reply #23 on:** May 24, 2009, 12:24:14 AM »

I love my HD 600's. The HD 280's feel like a vise on my head.

Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B) · « **Reply #24 on:** May 24, 2009, 01:03:55 AM »

Quote from: Chuck on May 24, 2009, 12:24:14 AM

I love my HD 600's. The HD 280's feel like a vise on my head.

I have the HD 280's and while I wouldn't go as far as a vise, they certainly aren't as comfortable as my Grado SR80's. Those are out of commission at the moment, and I need to get them back working again.

Love my Grado's.

spaceboy_psy · « **Reply #25 on:** May 24, 2009, 09:47:20 AM »

Quote from: pjdavep on May 23, 2009, 10:19:57 PM

Quote from: spaceboy_psy on May 21, 2009, 04:40:28 PM
I bought a pair of HD280s a while ago. I'd heard that the bass was 'fuller' in ATH-M50s but the Senns were that bit cheaper so I got them. First listen - Where's my BASS??
<SNIP>

Ahhh, you didn't let them get thru a break-in period first? In my experience, all Senn headphones I have owned (HD-280, HD-580, HD-600, HD 650) sounded incredibly thin and wimpy out of the box. Comparing that with the 80 hour mark is worlds different, with most of the change coming in the bass. You should buy a used pair (or borrow a pair) and do a fair comparison of the two!

Later,
pjdavep

DOh

Cheesecadet · « **Reply #26 on:** May 24, 2009, 11:07:48 AM »

Sony MDR-7506 headphones are awesome...without breaking the bank

cottle · « **Reply #27 on:** May 26, 2009, 06:11:47 PM »

^ I used to have a pair of the Sony 7506's as well, and they did do a great job for a $75 pair of headphones.

I think I might go with the AT's for my next pair, after hearing so many great reviews.