Headphone recommendations?

[LikeLinus]

My Grado SR's broke in one speaker and I decided to order a new pair of headphones. I went ahead and ordered the HD280 Pro from sennheiser, but I'm not quite sure about them overall.

I've also been looking into the HD590/580 or the AKG K 240S.

After some research it would appear that the AKG is the best headphone out of those and they are under $100 to boot. The problem I'm having is that I see post where people talk about how awesome the midrange/bass is, then I see other post that people say there is no bass at all!

I'm really just looking for people who've had use with these and what their opinions are. I'll also accept recommendations!

 

[apac]

Sennheiser 580s/600s. Accept nothing less than perfection .

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: apac
Sennheiser 580s/600s. Accept nothing less than perfection .

beat me.

 

[jfall]

Which Grado's did you have before?

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: jfall
Which Grado's did you have before?

SR80's.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: apac
Sennheiser 580s/600s. Accept nothing less than perfection .

Simply saying "Get this, it's the best" doesn't help. I've heard a bunch of knocks on the Head-Fi forums because of it's soundstage and they are a bit too bright, leading to fatigue after long listening, also a big of defused bass presentation. But on the other hand I've heard great things. But I seem to keep hearing that the AKG appear to be slightly better than the 580's and are signifigantly cheaper.

Anyone here used the AKG?

Are you running these headphones with an Amp of any kind, or just straight from the source.

 

[TechnoKid]

I really like the Koss ksc-30 (or was it 25??) that I got on hot deals a while back. Best headphones I've heard for $30.

Oh, btw, I read that the 580 is the same as the 600's drivers except it is in a different enclosure. Definately get an amp with the 580/600, and let those things break in for about 20hrs. I reccomend getting an amp with any headphone set (reasonably good headphones) as it will improve sound quite a bit.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid
I really like the Koss ksc-30 (or was it 25??) that I got on hot deals a while back. Best headphones I've heard for $30.

Oh, btw, I read that the 580 is the same as the 600's drivers except it is in a different enclosure. Definately get an amp with the 580/600, and let those things break in for about 20hrs. I reccomend getting an amp with any headphone set (reasonably good headphones) as it will improve sound quite a bit.

I've been reading break-in times of 50-100 hrs.

I do plan on getting an amp..but its picking a damn headphone thats killing me

 

[0roo0roo]

did you ever pick one?

good headphone review sites?

good amps?

do portables requires amps?

 

[bockchow]

i was kinda wondering what happend with this too, my 280's sound great for sealed cans but if you don't need them to be sealed then your better off going with open. mutch better sound no contest. i realy like headroom for reviews

 

[0roo0roo]

yea i'm kinda curious, maybe want to buy for sound quality, a step up from my sony buds.

frys has the boostaroo, kinda hard to find http://www.dansdata.com/boostaroo.htm portable amplifier. i'm having doubts that a portable device can adequately power a 40-50mm driver.. i'm used to using sony buds(not horrically bad ones, they cost $50 when i got em), so i have no experience with big cans

i just know underpowered is not good.

i saw some noise canceling panasonics with 50mm drivers that seemed interesting.

and cripes, that site doesn't have either sony or panasonic...

 

[Gerbil333]

I love my Sennheiser HD-280 Pros. I'd got with any high end Sennheisers.

 

[0roo0roo]

eh, guess i'm leaning towards grado sr60 since apparently the higher end ones need amps to beat em on portables. atleast thats what this site says i wonder if pc soundcards would put out enough power to see the difference though. the sens and grado 80's might be nice if the pc could power em enough to outdo the 60's..hmm.

and what brick and mortar store has em? frys certainly doesnt

on another note, that site compares portable players output, seems the ipod is the best of the harddrive bunch not bad, i got soured on portable mp3 players thanks to diamond rio's horrible output

 

[0roo0roo]

^

 

[Anubis]

Grado SR 325's
i think they actually sound better then real speakers

i use SR 80s on my comp straight from teh sound card output and they sound just fine. i havent tried them on a portable. but how often do you use bigheadphones on a portable

 

[ebaycj]

Beyerdynamic DT770's.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: Anubis
Grado SR 325's
i think they actually sound better then real speakers

This depends a lot on the speakers they are being compared to, but generaly headphones are going to sound better than more expensive speakers because of the headphones lower cost of production.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

headphonesw dont have to deal with room accoustics so they sound better than speakers.

try a pair of stax out

JBLaze

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
headphonesw dont have to deal with room accoustics so they sound better than speakers.

try a pair of stax out

JBLaze

But headphones have the problem of isolated stereo seperation.

 

[0roo0roo]

some dedicated headphone amps fix that problem with a slight mix, there are winamp plugins that do the same.

 

[Zugzwang152]

I've been using a pair of Sony MDR-V6's for about 2 years now, and I love them. My former roommate has a pair of senn 280 pro's, and while they are good, I like the V6's a tad better. They are old however, but they are the standard in studio monitor headphones.

 

[Relayer]

Another vote for the Sony MDR-V6's

 

[stev0]

senn 580's, hands down for the money there is nothing better.

if your willing to spend more... go with the 600's

 

[LikeLinus]

Whoa a thread from the dead!

I ended up receiving the 280Pro and just kept them. They weren't that great at first but after a week or so of playtime they've started to sound pretty good. Their range isn't as good as the 590's I've tried, but it's decent enough for what I'm using them for (mp3's and games on computer). I've been happy with them so far. Plus I got them for $70 which was nice.

I just don't use headphones enough to warrant the 590's or 600. I have an all Klipsch home theater and I just use it when I want to listen to music away from the computer.

Additionally theres a mod for these headphones that will bring out the bass a bit more and make the overall dynamics a bit better. I might try this soon to see if I can tell the difference.

Mod for 280 Pro

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: JonnyBlaze
headphonesw dont have to deal with room accoustics so they sound better than speakers.

try a pair of stax out

JBLaze

But headphones have the problem of isolated stereo seperation.

WinXP in headphone mode takes care of that problem.