I need new headphones help

[takato14]

1: they are. their gaming products are getting too dumb yes but their regular studio stuff is almost the best you can get other than other other brands out there.


my pair of pc 363d's

i've had literally no problem at all with the construction of this headset whatsoever. it's quality plastic and not the cheap plasticky stuff i've seen on some cheap audio technica headphones. like seriously, i can twist these things pretty violently and they don't snap or make stressmarks on the band. they're not overpriced, they're marketed as a premium product.

2: vintage. quarter inch jack. not good for mobile use, dude.

1: I have a lot more experience in this industry than you do. Sennheiser's headphones are mostly stuff. Only the HD800 is good and it's still almost matched by the AKG Q701, which is under 1/5th of its price.

2: Holy stuff, it's like, there aren't any good 1/4" adapters designed for portable use, none at all

Well now I'm conflicted. Its not like I need anything top of the line, I just need something that sounds good for cheap. It seems like there is a general distaste for Sennheiser so I might as well cross them off my list. Ill just do more searching then, because I'm really not looking for "vintage" headphones.

The Pioneer Montior 10 is still my recommendation, as it's easily worth $500 in today's market based on sound alone, but if you insist on going modern I'd say get the DJ200s. They're wonderful.

[Ad Bot]

[TomTheGeek²]

-snip-

i hope you know what frequency response really is and not look it up wikipedia.

oh yeah, most vintage headphones like that are permanently a quarter inch jack.

hell, i'd do it but i don't want to tote headphones around like a dope.

I'm currently just using an old cheap pair of IEMs until I can get a new pair of headphones. The main issue I have with IEMs is that they tend to fall out of my ear and get uncomfortable after awhile.

Sadly, I know that with ~100 dollars I wont be able to get anything decent, and thats fine. I would just like something.

in ear HEADPHONES or MONITORS?

the ones i have are like super ergonomical.

[TomTheGeek²]

1: I have a lot more experience in this industry than you do. Sennheiser's headphones are mostly stuff. Only the HD800 is good and it's still almost matched by the AKG Q701, which is under 1/5th of its price.

2: Holy stuff, it's like, there aren't any good 1/4" adapters designed for portable use, none at all

1. yes they're are BIG alternative out there for headphones.

2. i'm not a big fan of having to plug more than 1 thing in my phone. like seriously if you're gonna go mobile then buy something 3.5mm! don't go too crazy and get a phono/quarter inch only model of headphone just to buy an adapter. it would save a consumer time and money to buy something that works for your typical phone or tablet or whatever than to use an adapter to make it work.

[Nal]

oh yeah, most vintage headphones like that are permanently a quarter inch jack.

sounds a bit gimmicky

i hope you know what frequency response really is and not look it up wikipedia.

for what? I've used these sources
http://www.cnet.com/products/beats-by-dr-dre-studio-white/specs/
http://head-phones.findthebest.com/l/136/Beats-by-Dr-Dre-Monster-Solo-HD
and for the superlux
http://avlex.com/products/hd-668b/
http://www.amazon.com/Superlux-HD668B-Dynamic-Semi-Open-Headphones/dp/B003JOETX8
and for the sennheisers the amazon iirc

[takato14]

i hope you know what frequency response really is and not look it up wikipedia.

oh yeah, most vintage headphones like that are permanently a quarter inch jack.

hell, i'd do it but i don't want to tote headphones around like a dope.

Fine, how about this then.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGQuincyJonesQ701.pdf $200
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD800.pdf $1500

they're practically loving identical; the HD800 is only a minor incremental improvement over the Q701, and there are even things the $200 headphone does better

sennheiser is overpriced, end of story

[takato14]

2. i'm not a big fan of having to plug more than 1 thing in my phone. like seriously if you're gonna go mobile then buy something 3.5mm! don't go too crazy and get a phono/quarter inch only model of headphone just to buy an adapter. it would save a consumer time and money to buy something that works for your typical phone or tablet or whatever than to use an adapter to make it work.

if you SERIOUSLY would disqualify a headphone from purchase just because it doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, you are loving stupid

[Amerax]

in ear HEADPHONES or MONITORS?

in ear headphones.

monitors I'm usually alright with. its the in-ear ones that bother me.

[takato14]

in ear headphones.

monitors I'm usually alright with. its the in-ear ones that bother me.

At this point, my suggestions are one of the following three:

Koss Pro/DJ200, TEAC CT-H02, or Superlux HD668b

the Superlux are the most comfortable and probably the best all-rounders
the CT-H02 is cheapest and is an extremely competent monitoring/mixing headphone
the DJ200 will sound the best for music and has the best build quality

take your pick

[TomTheGeek²]

if you SERIOUSLY would disqualify a headphone from purchase just because it doesn't have a 3.5mm jack, you are loving stupid

yes?

if i need a quarter inch jack, i'll get a quarter inch jack. if i need a 3.5 mm jack, i'll get that instead.

not big of a deal since there's such a mix of brands to choose from. if i was a studio looking for headphones i'd def buy the bigger jack since that hardware mostly requires it. hi-fi equipment is also a concern for this since yes i do own a stereo receiver with the quarter inch port. i literally just simply converted it over with the adapter here since my greatest common stereo jack i use is 3.5mm.

in ear headphones.

monitors I'm usually alright with. its the in-ear ones that bother me.

i can agree with you after switching over. when i went to the se215 i was amazed they don't slip out that much, especially when you use the foam instead of the silicone tips (mine got forgeted over so i'm using the silicones :c )

[Amerax]

At this point, my suggestions are one of the following three:

Koss Pro/DJ200, TEAC CT-H02, or Superlux HD668b

the Superlux are the most comfortable and probably the best all-rounders
the CT-H02 is cheapest and is an extremely competent monitoring/mixing headphone
the DJ200 will sound the best for music and has the best build quality

take your pick

I'll probably go for the DJ200, then. Its in the middle of my budget and ive heard good things. Thanks for the help.

I wont lock the thread though because im interested in what everyone is arguing about.

[takato14]

yes?

if i need a quarter inch jack, i'll get a quarter inch jack. if i need a 3.5 mm jack, i'll get that instead.

not big of a deal since there's such a mix of brands to choose from. if i was a studio looking for headphones i'd def buy the bigger jack since that hardware mostly requires it. hi-fi equipment is also a concern for this since yes i do own a stereo receiver with the quarter inch port. i literally just simply converted it over with the adapter here since my greatest common stereo jack i use is 3.5mm.

you're acting like all headphones are equal or something, and it's pissing me off

this industry is crammed full of stuffty gear, making your choices extremely limited if you want something good; you need all of the options you have available to you

most of the best headphones in the world only have a 1/4" jack, and you can just buy a $15 adapter that will last forever and work for everything, why would you completely rule out a headphone over fifteen loving dollars and 6 inches of extra cable

[TomTheGeek²]

you're acting like all headphones are equal or something, and it's pissing me off

most of the best headphones in the world only have a 1/4" jack, and you can just buy a $15 adapter that will last forever and work for everything, why would you completely rule out a headphone over fifteen loving dollars

no man i agree with you. say i had $1500 and i bought a pair of HD800s.

if i was dumb enough not to research it, if i got an adapter they will not work. why? the impedance is so high you need a powered jack.

the best headphones in the world come like that for a reason because they're for people who know what they're doing. most consumers are looking for a decent pair to run with or just chill out with on a train or whatever.


now what nal has came with an adapter. the stock connector is 3.5mm. that's fine by me, but sometimes just getting an adapter won't solve your problem.

[takato14]

no man i agree with you. say i had $1500 and i bought a pair of HD800s.

if i was dumb enough not to research it, if i got an adapter they will not work. why? the impedance is so high you need a powered jack.

the best headphones in the world come like that for a reason because they're for people who know what they're doing. most consumers are looking for a decent pair to run with or just chill out with on a train or whatever.

now what nal has came with an adapter. the stock connector is 3.5mm. that's fine by me, but sometimes just getting an adapter won't solve your problem.

holy loving stuff are you serious

are you SERIOUS

that is not, by any metric, how electrical impedance works and it is not how audio works either

every jack is powered because everything that makes sound has an amplifier in it, the HD800 not only works out of my cell phone but also plays quite loudly and sounds quite good

the HD800 improves drastically with better amplification because its a very difficult load and most amplifiers can't handle it without stuffting themselves, it doesn't just not make sound out of something because it's "not powered", that's unscientific nonsense

[TomTheGeek²]

holy loving stuff are you serious

are you SERIOUS

that is not, by any metric, how electrical impedance works and it is not how audio works

every jack is powered because everything that makes sound has an amplifier

the HD800 not only works out of my cell phone but also plays quite loudly and sounds quite good

apparently they do work out of the box, just not as good as you expect.

NOMINAL IMPEDANCE 300 Ω

most headphones are around 38Ω and phone will fully drive the headphones the manufacturer intended to.

you're literally only using 70-80% of the $1500 you spent with your phone. to get full performance you NEED a powered jack.

i just don't get why you would want to spend that much for something you can't use all the way.

the HD800 improves drastically with better amplification because its a very difficult load and most amplifiers can't handle it without stuffting themselves, it doesn't just not make sound out of something because it's "not powered", that's unscientific nonsense

well sorry there. i've hear that you need a powered jack to use the damn thing. i learned something today. (other than what not to do at target)

[takato14]

apparently they do work out of the box, just not as good as you expect.

most headphones are around 38Ω and phone will fully drive the headphones the manufacturer intended to.

you're literally only using 70-80% of the $1500 you spent with your phone. to get full performance you NEED a powered jack.

i just don't get why you would want to spent that much for something you can't use all the way.

You have absolutely no idea how impedance works. Where did you get that 70-80% figure from, your ass?

Headphone amplifiers (or "powered jacks" as you keep referring to them) cannot make a headphone sound better. A hard to drive headphone is like a heavy weight: it can put more strain on the amplifier and degrade it's performance. However, the amount of performance degredation that can occur at this point in the audio chain is absolutely miniscule. Most of the time what happens is that it clips at extreme volume levels, but you shouldn't be listening that loud to begin with so that's not a problem.

The DAC (digital to brown townog converter) is a lot more important, and is most of the reason why the headphone gains performance out of better gear. However, most phones have very good DACs nowadays because good ones are becoming cheaper as the technology matures. The HD800 is a headphone that is very transparent to the source material, which is why the amplifier isn't quite so important relative to the DAC.

And back to the original argument: yeah, most consumers will never be able to notice something like this or even come close to appreciating the full quality of these headphones, but that still doesn't make Sennheiser's price hiking acceptable.