HD280: not much bass
ER4-P: flanges don’t fit everyone
PS1000: lots of bass, but it’s diffuse; lacks impact
My personal opinions.
get these:
http://assets1.listeningpost.co.nz/assets/grado_sr325i.jpg
the iGrados are a good, cheap ($50) portable pair
everyone recommending Senns is also right
that’s all i have experience with
I would heartily recommend SR225 or RS1 rather than the 325s.
Senns are hit or miss, imo. PX100 and HD800 are my personal favorites.
Again, 280s for games, not music. As for the ER-4s, who the fuck uses the flanges? Buy the foams, shit it comes with a full set of them, you can also get medical grade ear molds for them. I’ll still take the ER-4s over nearly anything.
Foams fit me even worse than flanges. Universal IEMs are just ymmv like that.
I personally like big, exaggerated soundstages for gaming with medium bass quantity. Do you prefer less bass for gaming? Or are you just going for isolation?
Isolation for the most part. I game with all music off and positional sound on via this sound card http://www.htomega.com/clarohalo_xt.html
I’ve got some medical grade castings for the ER-4s, but the mushroom foams (not the standards) also work great for me.
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzzht3rz6V1r7oby3o1_400.jpg
That being said, my mom got me a pair of iBeats when she came back from her trip to Korea. They’re pretty much like iPod/iPhone earbuds, but they block out sound better. Like the newer iPod/iPhones you also volume/play-pause control with a mic. My only real gripe with it is that the volume control feels a bit flimsy compared to the stock iPhone earbuds. I can’t complain too much since I didn’t pay for them though.
I have a pair of Sennheiser 650s and an Audio-gd NFB12 dac/amp. Love the setup.
Even though they look ridiculous, I’m a big fan of the Audio technica ath-a500 that I have. I bought them for around $100, but apparently the prices are all wonky online now. You can get the upgraded version (Ath-a700) for near the same price though.
They are great closed headphones that have a cool design to wrap around the head so they’re pretty snug without being too overbearing. Have a ground sound stage as well.
So I had this pair of 100 dollar, noise cancelling headphones, but the noise cancelling didn’t seem to do much of anything. Maybe a tiny, tiny bit clearer when you’re on the bus, but the same effect could be achieved by turning up the volume a notch. I can’t even remember what the brand was. Anyway, when my lastest mp3 player died (because I paid only, like, 40 bucks for it, ironically having more expensive headphones than a the player itself), I got a sony walkman, and the earbuds included are pretty darn good. I remember back in the day hating earbuds because they were uncomfortable and never stayed in place, it seems the little rubber grippy things do their job, and the sound quality is pretty good, so I’ve just been using those.
Can anyone recommend a good pair of earphones?
Anyone who is newish to the world of personal audio NEEDS to go to innerfidelity.com, and look at the stuff written by Tyll Hertsens.
The info on that site is significantly more trustworthy than getting advice from random schmucks on forums. That includes headphone-specific forums.
Bumpity bump
I’m still rocking the Senns 280-PRO, the bass on things are just as strong as when I opened it out of the box. I just laugh now whenever I see someone rocking Dre Beats.
I got 1 of those sony walkmans n yes, I agree, very good quality, no need to buy any expensive headphones when u have the sony ones
I’m rocking 598s at home. So comfy.
Hey, I just bought these headphones as a present for my brother, but wondering if you guys had any personal experience with these in particular, or the brand itself. Thanks for any help!
Sennheiser HD 202 II Professional Headphones
My problem with inner ear phones is that until I got custom ear molds they were severely uncomfortable, and I couldn’t get a good seal thus they affected sound quality. I got some custom ear molds on the Shure e5c and they feel really nice…the total cost is expensive as fuck though.
I purchased some Grado SR60’s almost a year ago. The metal tubes holding the headphones to the headband can get loose though, the left one completely came off and I ended using some gorilla wood glue to put it back in, no issues now but it’s still one thing going against it.
They have a retro-look I guess, which I’m indifferent too but it’s there, they work great with ipods, phones, portable audio players. They can belt out bass when asked to. I use them predominantly at home but also outside from time to time(about 1-2 times a week when I work outside for a couple hours) and they haven’t lost any oomf.
They are not noise cancelling and can be a bit clunky when you get used to them. The ear cup foams are not the greatest comfort you’ll get, I think you can swap them out with some unfashionable Sennheiser ear cup foams that are vastly more ergonomic to the ears, but again they’re jaundice yellow and not something I’d ever rock in public.
They were 80 dollars new at amazon when I purchased them. If you want something considerably better than ipod headphones but don’t want to dish out more than 100 bucks, and don’t mind the fact they don’t noise cancel, these are great. I hear the SR80’s are 100 bucks straight up now, I might upgrade to those soon.
sennheiser makes quality stuff overall. The 202s are good. All of their stuff is. Just be aware they don’t skew towards bass.
Thanks for your help! Much appreciated.