New headphones on a budget.....

[Meghan54]

(I refuse to call them cans....)


I've got a disintegrating set of Grado SR80's that I just have to replace and don't want to go with Grado again. Nice enough for the price, just tired of them.

Looking at the AT ATH-M50's, Senn. HD 580's, maybe the AKG Q701's, but that's about as much as I want to spend. No on-ears, only over-ear.

Suggestions? Oh, be using them everywhere...home for music off my NAD receiver, computer, laptop.

Thanks!

 

[bigi]

MDR V6

This is as far as I go for cans.

 

[sdifox]

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=87136&promoid=1284

 

[darkswordsman17]

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame

 

[JackBurton]

Man, you want to try some TRUE audiophile headphones, Beats by Dr Dre.

 

[merlion]

Looking at the AT ATH-M50's, Senn. HD 580's, maybe the AKG Q701's, but that's about as much as I want to spend. No on-ears, only over-ear.

Of those, I'd go with the AT's. A very good all around over-ear headphone. When I was looking to purchase, it was between the AT and the Sony MDR-V6 that bigi mentioned. Ended up grabbing the Sony to save a few bucks, and have been very happy with them.

 

[SyndromeOCZ]

The HD580's are pretty high impedance. I've got some ATH-M50's and my brother has the HD580's. They both sound good, but the M50's are easier to use, more portable and closed so they are more public area friendly.

 

[gus6464]

(I refuse to call them cans....)


I've got a disintegrating set of Grado SR80's that I just have to replace and don't want to go with Grado again. Nice enough for the price, just tired of them.

Looking at the AT ATH-M50's, Senn. HD 580's, maybe the AKG Q701's, but that's about as much as I want to spend. No on-ears, only over-ear.

Suggestions? Oh, be using them everywhere...home for music off my NAD receiver, computer, laptop.

Thanks!

You will need an amp with the Q701 no ifs and/or buts. ATH-M50's are always good. My current go to for music when I am at work are my Custom One Pro with velour pads and Fiio E10 mini dac/amp. Whole setup cost me $210 last year and I love it.

 

[gus6464]

These is a superb deal for some easy to drive headphones and IMO blows all the options you mentioned out of the water:

Beyerdynamic DT1350 80ohm
http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-D...custom+one+pro

Seriously... Go buy those as fast as you can.

 

[Whirlwind]

Of all the ones you list , I would take the AKG Q701

You will want an amp with them, though.

Oh, and those Grado SR80i are a great bang for your buck.....hard to beat them at $99

 

[hans030390]

The M50 is a great all-rounder headphone and will work well with about anything you hook it up to. It's got a really good response (a bit U-shaped signature, but fairly neutral overall), fairly low resonance, and has great build quality. It's my go-to recommendation for folks looking for a simple yet great option around $150. The best open-back option around that price is either the HD558 or HD598. If you want to go closer to $300, you'd be looking at something like MrSpeaker's Mad Dog (needs a good DAC and amp, though), the new NAD VISO headphone, HD600 (also needs dedicated DAC/amp, as will the HD580, which is just an early HD600), etc.

Of all the ones you list , I would take the AKG Q701

You will want an amp with them, though.

Oh, and those Grado SR80i are a great bang for your buck.....hard to beat them at $99

Not a fan of Grado. They all have a mid-bass hump and really elevated, and uneven/peaky treble. You can get much better sound out of a $30 headphone (For example, Tascam TH-02, which also noticeably improves with some very simple mods). The AKG K701/702 (and anniversary eddition) along with Q701 aren't bad overall (more pleasant than Grado for sure), but they have a peak around 2KHz that makes them sound too shouty to my ears.

 

[hans030390]

These is a superb deal for some easy to drive headphones and IMO blows all the options you mentioned out of the water:

Beyerdynamic DT1350 80ohm
http://www.amazon.com/Beyerdynamic-D...custom+one+pro

Seriously... Go buy those as fast as you can.

The new Beyer headphones are known for having poor QC standards and generally poor engineering behind them from a sound perspective, so it's highly variable what you'll end up getting (I've seen measurements of 3 different DT1350 units...bad response, and the variability was pretty bad). On top of that, you'll get a smoother, overall better response with the M50.

MDR V6

This is as far as I go for cans.

I mean, if this was 20 years ago...not a super great option anymore.

Oh, I've also heard good things about Sony's MA900 open-back headphones. Around $200, I think, and should run fine from most gear. I've been told they have a smooth response with a warm tilt. A bit more of a low-bass roll off compared to what you'd get in the HD598 or HD600, but I've heard it doesn't sound bass-light necessarily.

 

[Meghan54]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I do appreciate them.

Amazon is going to put the ATH-M50's in a BF lightning deal today @ 11AM, so am going to see how "cheap" they get. If the price drops enough, I'm buying them later this morning.

 

[Scotteq]

If you're considering DT1350, you'll definitely want to take a serious look at the KEF M500 or Sennheiser Momentum.

Neither are cheap, though, at around $350.

 

[hans030390]

Sennheiser Momentum is also pretty well received overall. I think I'd still go with the Mad Dog, but if you can't afford the extra $220 or so for a decent DAC/amp unit to get the most out of them, the Momentum will do better on a wider variety of sources and might be a good idea.

 

[Whirlwind]

The M50 is a great all-rounder headphone and will work well with about anything you hook it up to. It's got a really good response (a bit U-shaped signature, but fairly neutral overall), fairly low resonance, and has great build quality. It's my go-to recommendation for folks looking for a simple yet great option around $150. The best open-back option around that price is either the HD558 or HD598. If you want to go closer to $300, you'd be looking at something like MrSpeaker's Mad Dog (needs a good DAC and amp, though), the new NAD VISO headphone, HD600 (also needs dedicated DAC/amp, as will the HD580, which is just an early HD600), etc.



Not a fan of Grado. They all have a mid-bass hump and really elevated, and uneven/peaky treble. You can get much better sound out of a $30 headphone (For example, Tascam TH-02, which also noticeably improves with some very simple mods). The AKG K701/702 (and anniversary eddition) along with Q701 aren't bad overall (more pleasant than Grado for sure), but they have a peak around 2KHz that makes them sound too shouty to my ears.

Sounds like an opinion to me....what $30 headphone is better than any grado.....put the crack pipe down and slowly walk away :whiste:

 

[hans030390]

Sounds like an opinion to me....what $30 headphone is better than any grado.....put the crack pipe down and slowly walk away :whiste:

I just listed a specific headphone as just one example, the Tascam TH-02. Go look up measurements of Grado headphones. They all share same the same characteristics I just mentioned: mid-bass hump, elevated and peaky upper mids/treble, high harmonic distortion, etc. The Tascam in comparison has considerably lower distortion and a much flatter response overall save for a dip around 4-5KHz. With an extra $30 in new ear pads and some mods (super easy to do), the comparison is just silly. You can find measurements for all of these on Innerfidelity and other audio sites like changstar.com, the latter of which also has modded measurements.

Yeah, it's my opinion that Grado is junk, but it's also the case from most objective standpoints as well. Here, let me make it easy for you.

Grado SR-60i: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR60i.pdf
Grado SR-125i: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR125i.pdf
Grado SR-325i: http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoSR325i.pdf

Notice how similarly they measure, and rather poorly at that? That response after 2KHz is just nasty, taking into account the technology and compensation curves used for measurements at Innerfidelity. The measurements at changstar are a bit more telling.

Here's the RS-1, a supposedly reference headphone: http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=44.0;attach=208;image

Or how about the modified Alessandro MS-1, that's supposedly to be more neutral sounding? http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=392.0;attach=1728;image

No thanks, and that doesn't even account for their CSD (areas of resonance in the frequency spectrum) or harmonic distortion, which are similarly bad.

The Tascam TH-20 in comparison (no PDF): http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/canjam-rmaf-2013-tascam-th-02-low-cost-sealed-headphones

Correction, there's a PDF in his database under the brand Teac. Here are measurements of a modified Tascam TH-02, using even simpler mods than what I did: http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1203.0;attach=4413;image

Much better response, much lower distortion, better square waves...the works. The measurements of the headphone at changstar reveal the dip is mostly around 4-5KHz (I can also verify after running it through SineGen). Nothing really out of the ordinary...they sound a tad dark but still have decent air and detail. Low resonance, so the sound is clean. Even better with a bit of damping material in the cups. Compare this to measurements of the $5000 Abyss headphone, some of the popular T50RP modded headphones (Mad Dog, Paradox, etc.)...

Yeah, Grados don't have much in the way of objectivity backing them up from any price point.

 

[spacejamz]

I know this doesn't help you now but Frys had some Senn HD215s yesterday for $40 (their reg price was $200)...I picked up a pair and listened from my phone...havent tried through an amp yet...

 

[Meghan54]

I know this doesn't help you now but Frys had some Senn HD215s yesterday for $40 (their reg price was $200)...I picked up a pair and listened from my phone...havent tried through an amp yet...

Thx for the head's up. They still have them online, but no ship date listed. Pre-order is what's listed. So, bought a set anyway. We'll see when they arrive how they do vs. the M50's. Those arrive Monday.

 

[spacejamz]

Thx for the head's up. They still have them online, but no ship date listed. Pre-order is what's listed. So, bought a set anyway. We'll see when they arrive how they do vs. the M50's. Those arrive Monday.

That is awesome...hope it comes through...

I am not a headphone expert/connoisseur but they sound pretty good to me...

 

[soulcougher73]

Creative Aurvana Live

 

[vbuggy]

I'll throw the MDR-ZX700 into the ring if you want to spend less than the M50. A more even tempered sound (the M50 has more than a hint of Beats about the sonic signature IMO, though it's technically totally decent), pretty good performance, comfy, light (for a full size).

 

[Exterous]

Thx for the head's up. They still have them online, but no ship date listed. Pre-order is what's listed. So, bought a set anyway. We'll see when they arrive how they do vs. the M50's. Those arrive Monday.

How much did they end up being? I was thinking about grabbing one of those but with the Amex+ rebate deal I grabbed the Logitech UE6000 for what should be $16 instead

I'm really curious to know how you end up liking those

Man, you want to try some TRUE audiophile headphones, Beats by Dr Dre.

OOOoooo I have heard good things about those! Even better when you do the mod where you replace the existing 3.5mm cord with a Monster one. Apparently the gold plated diamond connectors really improves the sound

 

[hans030390]

HD215 might not be bad, but I'd be skeptical that they're really that great for the price. The only trustworthy opinion I got on them (someone highly involved with audio and headphones - designs amps as well - compared to some random Amazon review) is that they were a leap behind the M50 or even the Creative Aurvana Live. I could only find measurements of the previous generation, HD205, and not from a preferred site at that.

Creative Aurvana Live

This is actually a pretty good budget headphone. Really easy to apply simple mods, and it does noticeable benefit from them.

Really, though, even some of these headphones I'm not crazy about I'd easily take over a Grado.

BTW, OP, if you are interested in a modded pair of those Tascams, I'd be able to provide very low cost services or can provide detailed instructions. Just something to consider. It's really amazing what a $30 headphone plus $30 in materials can do.

 

[Oyeve]

Sounds like an opinion to me....what $30 headphone is better than any grado.....put the crack pipe down and slowly walk away :whiste:

Grados are way overpriced hipster douchbag plastic headphones. They shouldnt even be called headphones. Just slap some radio-shack speakers to your head and BAM! instant grados. I have no idea why people think these are the end all be all headphones! there is no quality or tech, they are really just speakers in a cheap plastic open shell. No design at all. rant off.