Let's talk headphones

00ChevyScott

00ChevyScott

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Dec 3, 2010
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I've currently got a pair of Sennheiser HD203 and I think they sound pretty good, but as with anything, you get curious about what's better. So here are some questions for you audiophiles, yes I know you're here.

If one were wanting to spend $150 or less for a set of headphones, what would you suggest? I'm seriously considering something like the Sennheiser HD598 although it is above my current price range.

- Music Genres: Rock, Metal, Classical, 80s-90s Electronica, Jazz - No rap, but I don't mind good low end for certain styles of music.
- I would prefer not to amp them if possible, mostly due to cost and convenience. If the benefits are worth it, I may consider it though.
- I like clean, accurate treble as well as a large sound stage. I wouldn't mind a high treble biased sound as long as it had the low end to back it up.
- Open vs Closed. I have the HD203s in case I need to be quiet, so let's sway towards the open style set for the larger sound stage.
- Sound sources - I generally listen to Pandora/RDIO/Spotify. However, if I drop ~$150 on headphones, I may decide to invest some in HQ digital media.
- Media player - Generally a laptop, but I do have a Sansa Clip Zip MP3 player as well. 3.5mm jack only for now.


Hopefully that's enough info. Ask away if I missed anything important.
 
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Listening to a flac on my nexus 5 thru some ath-m50x right meow...they are decent for sure. Closed but pretty well balanced.

Also just thought I'd add you can find some decent audio flacs on archive.org.
 
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There is always the stupidly simple HD555 to HD595 mod. [video=youtube;PvQ8PzBrHXE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQ8PzBrHXE[/video]

I'm betting that the HD598 is just a HD595 in a different color, just like the HD558 is just a repainted HD555. So the mod should still be viable.

Yup, I checked. It works for the HD558 as well. So if that is the style of headphones you want you are good to go and under budget.
[video=youtube;k-kJ7sN16qw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-kJ7sN16qw[/video]
 
A headphone amp would be a great addition. I have one of the old "tube" styles and it rocks a good pair of headphones.
 
I personally wouldn't mod a $150 pair of headphones unless I knew 100% what I was doing.

As for media, don't you have an iPhone or something to store it around? I don't believe an MP3 player holds anything in .flac or .alac format.


I don't think it'll be too long before it becomes a more expensive trend. I shelled out $300~ for my Sennheiser PXC 450's, best I ever had. Then I went back to my old CDs and made sure to convert them to the larger .alac format via iTunes. Personally though, I'm not too sure if the audio quality did go up because of the lossless format.

I'm not exactly enough of an audiophile to tell the difference, but I certainly enjoy listening to the different "layers" in my music that I'd never hear using standard iPod earbuds.
 
Noctis, the Sansa Clip MP3 reportedly has a higher quality sound output than any iPod. Depending on how the media I currently had sounds, I may or may not start converting things to a lossless format, but I too am not necessarily an audiophile.
 
I don't know if you are still looking, but for rock and metal music, a pair of grado sr80i's sound great. They have kind of a unique sound to them though, so it would be good to try them out. For music that has a lot of mid-range sound to it, I enjoy listening to the hd449's by sennheiser.
 
Ok, so lets get a few thing straight.

You can not convert a lossy format to a lossless format. No more than you can convert a low resolution out of focus picture into a high resolution sharp image. The data lost in the first imprint is lost for ever. That being said FLAC is a waste of time for listeners. The human ear can't hear the difference between well made lossy conversions and lossless formats. The people who claim they can are lying, selling you stuff, or padding so audiofool ego and trying to justify the thousands of dollars they dropped on their setup. Lossless is good for archiving music and for audioengineers breaking things down and building them up again, i.e. working with the music. A 320 kbps CBR (constant bit rate) or 192 kbps VBR (variable bit rate) is plenty. The 192 VBR is pretty much the same and will leave you with a lot more space for storing you music.

Amps only amplify the strength of a signal. They give you more volume and help the amplifier built into your source cope when you are driving headphones you shouldn't be using with a mobile device anyway (600 Ohm studio headphones for example would be a very bad mobile choice). Amps do not improve sound quality. They increase volume (which always sounds better with the small side effect of making you deaf) or fix an underpowered built in mobile amp (this is pretty much the only reason to use one). Some enthusiasts use amps because they have easier volume controls and because it makes them look cool. Kind of like people wearing non prescription glasses.

The ipod/iphone/ipad and sansa clip series are equivalent in sound quality with perhaps a slight edge for the clip. Both are producing an accurate source which is the only measure of a good source. Either it is accurate or it is not. It really is that simple. If a source is inaccurate the evaluation ends there. That device is a dud. Where you then separate and rank different sources is the UI, codec support, equalizer settings, and ease of transferring music etc. For apple and android products you can download quality equalizers. For the clip series you can download rockbox.

Stuff like the hifiman is complete BS because it has a built in equalizer and crap UI. You are essentially paying the big bucks for a single setting equalizer that you could have set up for free on any device you like. Apple products are crap for wholly different reasons. Like the iTunes malware, ridiculous prices, and proprietary codecs.

Required reading for anyone looking to upgrade their audio rig. Look at the "The 10 Biggest Lies in Audio" chapter. http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf
Source for ipod vs clip: http://nwavguy.blogspot.fi/2011/02/sansa-clip-measured.html
 
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Thanks for the links sideways, I'll check them out. OP I see you've made your choice, keep us posted on how they sound. I use Sennheiser HD228s with my laptop when I need to keep quiet and for occasional travel as they fold flat and I have been pretty happy with them. I keep a pair of Westone UM1 in-ear buds with Comply foam tips in my EDC pack and have been happy with those too.
 
Headphone amps aren't just about making you DEAF.

Boosting weak output without distortion with some devices, driving some headphones and, smoothing out some electronic "noise" are all reasons to get one. Most good options cost less than the headphones. ;)
 
I personally use my Asus Xonar DG audio card which has a built in amp paired up with my Koss KSC 75's, good bang for the buck. I used to use the Xonar DG with a pair of Superlux HD 558B but after using the KSC 75's I found I prefer the sound from the KSC 75 after some EQ tweaking. I saw someone rocking a pair of PortaPro's in line for lunch at school and chatted with him and he let me test them out for a minute, it sounded good but a tad bit bassy for my tastes.

Between just the two headphones I use using the built in amp which is halfway decent in that audio card does make a noticeable difference and was worth the $20 for it. So my advice invest a little in an amp, it's money well spent.

The KSC 75's may do the trick for you, take a look at them. But honestly I take some of that money and invest it in HQ music, there is a pretty good difference from 128 to 192 which I believe the jump is in Pandora if you subscribe, and another jump when you go a bit higher but not as drastic.
 
I know you've made your choice, but I'll support it here, and give some additional thoughts. In the sub $150 price range, if you do not need sound isolation, the Sennheiser 558 are a pretty good value. Also up there are AKG 240, and Grado 125 (splurge for the bowl pads). Things get a little trickier if you do want sound isolation. The Shure 840 are very competent, but usually a bit above your price point. The venerable Sony V6, and Audio Technica M50, stand in nicely though.

None of the above require an amp, and unless you've got high-rez/dsd source, no need for an external dac either. Just go with what you've got - the Clip actually has a surprisingly good output. Save your money for other headphones, which will have a much greater affect on the sound and your enjoyment than the other audiophile goodies could ever have. Sideways is absolutely on point here.

Given the genre's you listen to most, at some point you may want to try some Grado's (even the SR-80's) - I find they play nicely with rock and jazz. Their soundstage is a bit less open than the Sennheiser and AKG, I liken it to being near the stage in a small jazz bar, rather than being in the audience at a orchestra hall. But it works for many genres nicely.
 
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