Headphones

[mosfet]

Recently I’ve found myself listening more and more to music on headphones. For two reasons; firstly I’m no longer able to crank it up as loud as I like (such are the sacrifices of parenthood

) and secondly the presentation of headphones has certain appeal.

Even my cheapo Sennheisers (about £30) allow me to hear more into the mix with more clarity and detail than any loudspeaker I’ve heard – taking the room acoustic out of the equation at a stroke has much to do with this I think.

So, any recommendations / opinions / experiences for headphones up to £150 or thereabouts?

AKG, Beyer, Sennheiser and Grado are the names I’ve seen mentioned fairly regularly.

At the moment I’m using the headphone op-amp output from my CD player which will also be replaced in due course.

 

[JamPal]

Hi Mossy,

Mr Birkett is a headphone expert and will be along to reccomend the Beyer Dynamic DT531's before long.

Brand new they are about £120.00 and I snaffled a pair S/H for £45.00 in P&P on his reccomend. It turns out they used to be his.

Any way, I can heartily reccomend them, they seem to do everything well. When I was using my Naim CD Player I didn't exactly sing their praises, but with the more detailed Copland they have really come into their own.

They are also very comfy, which is important. The Grado SR125 (i Think) had a very similar sound, for more money and less comfort.

I also auditioned a pair of Sennheiser 570 Symphonies in Richer sounds; wich were knocked down to a bargain £79.00 and they were very nice also. Had the Byeres not come up at a good price i would have gone hom4e with the Sennies, even against the Grado's.

Enjoy shopping

James.

 

[Hawk]

Personally I favour Grados. I find them more open and forward than Senns, but some don't find them very comfortable so you will need to dem them for comfort as well as sound! Some big gains can be had by using a dedicated headphone amp but as with speakers and amps you will need to spend time to find the synergistic match that does it for you. IMO Senns and Grados represent two different ends of the spectrum so i would start by listening to HD650s and maybe SR225s to see what you think. Beyers are popular too and IMO sit between the grado and senn house sound. Good bass without sounding too shut in and fairly open although they ultimately dont get to the grado level of sparkle.

Hawk

 

[JonR]

What about Stax, Hawk? Any good?

 

[Davewhityetagain]

I do not often use headphones, but when I do I like Grados the SR60 are nice and not too dear I also have Sennheiser HD 270 really like them, spend a bit more like the Grado SR125 if your going to use them a lot

 

[JamPal]

Hawk wrote:

Personally I favour Grados. I find them more open and forward than Senns, but some don't find them very comfortable so you will need to dem them for comfort as well as sound! Some big gains can be had by using a dedicated headphone amp but as with speakers and amps you will need to spend time to find the synergistic match that does it for you. IMO Senns and Grados represent two different ends of the spectrum so i would start by listening to HD650s and maybe SR225s to see what you think. Beyers are popular too and IMO sit between the grado and senn house sound. Good bass without sounding too shut in and fairly open although they ultimately dont get to the grado level of sparkle. Hawk

Certainly the Grado's have more sparkle, but for extended listening i would go with the beyers. The sparkle became a little trying quite soon IMO and the Beyers were in for the night.

But Hawk is right, you should try both.

It's odd, but the Sennies, Beyer and Grado's are all quite different, yet all very pleasing in their own way and I think you really need to go have a listen.

Unless you fancy spending big on some top quality Stax kit. I was utterly gobsmacked by the (4040???) at the Heathrow show. Heaven.

 

[Hawk]

JonR wrote:

What about Stax, Hawk? Any good?

Yep sure are :dude: Ive got the 4040sig set up as well as the grado/solo and they sound superb. Would blow the budget big time though..

Hawk

 

[Sony6million]

I listened to them at Heathrow tooand thought the top ones were good, as were the entry level ones. But the (2?) other models in between I couldn't notice muchdifference. I'd just go for the entry ones but they look shit, and feel flimsy.

 

[JonR]

[No message]

 

[JonR]

Hawk wrote:

JonR wrote:

What about Stax, Hawk? Any good?

Yep sure are :dude: Ive got the 4040sig set up as well as the grado/solo and they sound superb. Would blow the budget big time though..

Hawk

Ah, not surprising that (about blowing the budget that is) - as PB seems to like them

 

[White Pheasant]

I've recently bought a pair of Grado SR60 (good value for around £70)and favour theirmore forward and exciting presentation -superbwith rock/metal etc. Unfortunately I do find that they start to become uncomfortable after about half an hour though - presumablydue to the flat ear pads - so perhapsnot so good if you like long listening sessions.

 

[Biscuit]

Beyer DT 880's are a comfortable (physically and aurally) balance between Grado (forward) and Sennheiser (boring

) IMO.

 

[Geordie]

DT531's are good, but they are discontinued, so getting them unless s/hand will prove impossible.

They were only ever £100 tops.

The DT990 are worth a try though. Get them from www.meier-audio.de at an excellent price.

 

[mosfet]

Thanks all.

The comments re. the Grado’s appear to echo what I’ve read elsewhere – clear and exciting but possibly a little fatiguing in the long run. The Beyer range looks good with good pedigree for headphone design so this is probably where my purchase will be.

AKG 240 S are also on the list.

I found this review site here. Includes frequency response graphs (which I find useful).

 

[Geordie]

Personally if I was you, I'd scratch the K240S off your list. I've had one, and it was one of the biggest let downs I've had yet in headphones. Rubbish.