Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: FELINEGUITARS on August 24, 2009, 01:02:03 AM
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I need a new pair of headphones - mainly to plug into my rack mixer so I can play guitar late at night without upsetting neighbours - I have a speaker sim in the rack so am hoping wont sound too different to through a power amp & speakers
My old Sennheissers are dying so new phones are needed
I want to get a good pair that are reasonably lightweight and give good sound without too much colouration
Don't want to spend a FORTUNE but something of audiophile / studio quality would be a bonus
Can anyone suggest any good contenders that I should look at
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i use a sansamp british and sennheiser hs25sp setup for what you describe. i couldn't possibly say its the best quality-wise, but its far from bad, and has proven very reliable.
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Sennheisers have always sounded good to me.
Maybe ask Ben for advice.
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Just did a search back on here and seems that Grado Sr80s came up highly recommended.
I know Tom and Indysmith (and Denim & Leather) rated them well - so sounds promising
My old Sennheisers were cheap ones and I have had them 21 years , and the foam has died on them etc, etc
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I swear by my HD25-1s. Real workhorses. Made to deliver trustworthy sound in high-noise, high-abuse environments and do so very well indeed.
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How much is a "fortune"?
I use Audio Technica ATH-M50, which are about £110, but really top quality. I can even use them for mixing and mastering if needed. Theyre great with my electronic drums too. http://www.dv247.com/headphones/audio-technica-ath-m50-professional-studio-monitor-headphones--47663
The next one down, the M30 are supposed to be really good too: http://www.dv247.com/headphones/audio-technica-ath-m30-closed-back-dynamic-stereo-monitor-headphones--2666
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The SR80s are great, and sounds great with guitar, but the wiring pisses me off whilst playing guitar. I'd be looking for a wireless solution if I were you.
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The SR80s are great, and sounds great with guitar, but the wiring pisses me off whilst playing guitar. I'd be looking for a wireless solution if I were you.
+1
plus, why do they need to spin all the way round, that really gets on my breasts
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Still love my SR80s but yeah the speakers spinning all the way around does get annoying, because it tangles the cables. I think mine are damaged slightly as the left ones a little louder than the right, but I cant be arsed to sort it out, and I've had em over a year now anyway so I guess the warranty is gone?
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Grado has a 6 month warranty, I believe.
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I have tried many headphones from beyerdynamic's, HP25's and many other top brands. (sennhieser, AKG)
For around £200 I suggest Ultrasone proline 750's.
They are amazing for playing guitar, they have crazy patented technologies making giving them an amazing sound dispersion so they sound more like a set of speakers. They also cover a much wider frequency range than HP25's and Beyer 660's or 770's.
The grados are amazing but they still leak a terrible amount of sound. probably not enough to bother anyone unless they are in the same room though but they can be loud.
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I also have Ultrasone Pro 750s, and I dont think they're all that.
They have too much low end (though you can tweak, sort of, with their placement on the head) the highs dont attack enough for all musics and they arent terribly accurate in the top end. Too lush.
They sound very, very, VERY nice, but I trust my HD25s more. I use the pro750s for mic placement (because they have great islolation and better soundstage), listening for fun (because they do sound great) and reference, but not for unflinching honesty required of monitors.
Oh, and the the "crazy patented technologies making giving them an amazing sound dispersion so they sound more like a set of speakers" is a plastic plate infront of the driver that has holes in the forward side so that, in theory, sound is directed against your pinnea, then into your ear, rather than straight into your ear. It only partly works to create a stereo field (rather than binaural) part of the time, and is clearly not flash tech (but is flash marketing). I believe this plate is what takes a lot of attack out of the sound as well.
And they need a shite-tonne of burn in too. HD25s dont need nearly as much.
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I really like my Sennheisser HD280 phones for playing through my VooduValve after the kids are in bed...
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The s-logic system actually uses a patented diaphragm that produces differently to a standard cone.
Yeah I was exagerating soz :lol:
I just really like them.
I also have a pair of Equation Audio RP21's that are great.
There's a lot of personnel preference involved with headphones I think because alot of people swear by hp25's but I find them to harsh and abrupt, for drums they are great but I prefer it smoother, with better bass response.
I mixed an acoustic song with HP25's and my Ultrasones and I have to admit that my Ultrasone mix was quite strange and I was way more satisfied with the HP25 mix.
But for playing guitar I find the s-logic system helps the guitar sound less like you'd expect when playing through headphones.
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I recommend Grado SR80s too, great headphones, know alot of people with them and whenver I use them it brings a smile to my face.
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Wakening the dead!
What's the difference from the Grado SR60, SR80 and the iGrado to iPod listening? I'm no super-ear-man or whatever, just want to listen the bass lines and have punch on tone...
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For ipod use, I think Shure E2C in ear monitors are great. It's discontinued but you can still get them from online shops. I haven't tried the successor models.
What I always find is that with ear/headphones there's always a trade off between sound quality and noise isolation. With closed headphones they always sound boxy and well, closed. With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.
With the Shure, the sound has a very nice spread and very natural. Not quite sure why but maybe it's because the sound is generated in the bit that rests just outside of your ear canal and the sound is pumped through the tube into your ear canal. Maybe the extra travel helps with the soundscape I dunno but yeah it's awesome. Great detail you can really hear everything. Totally worth the £35 I paid for it!
edit: the bass on this is nice; crisp and natural. But if punchy bass is what you're after you might like the CX300 or any of the DJ oriented headphones as they have more bass oriented EQ.
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At any given price Cans > In ears.
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With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.
I'm looking forward to NOT listen the stupid people with mp3 cell phones listening hip hop on bus, so if it leakes 10x louder than in my ears, would be great to me :lol:
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At any given price Cans > In ears.
lol you seem to disagree with me a lot don't you? Have you actually tried the Shure? Can you suggest something better for the price I paid for it then? I realise there is personal preference but I've tried a lot of head/earphones with my ipod and it's the best experience with the Shure by far.
- too leaky/too much noise coming through (Sennheiser PX100, Grados)
- Tinny, boxy and artificial sounding (all closed cans I tried under £50)
- too bassy, lacks detail. Painful to the ear. (CX300)
- physically huge (any proper cans)
Assuming that Fernando is going to listen to his ipod outside, my criteria is pretty normal I think.
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With open phones you get too much outside noise and also too leaky. Useless for commuting or using in library or something. Ear canal designs like Senheiser CX300 are too immediate and aggressive imo.
I'm looking forward to NOT listen the stupid people with mp3 cell phones listening hip hop on bus, so if it leakes 10x louder than in my ears, would be great to me :lol:
:? What?? Not quite sure what you mean. If you mean that you don't mind leaking sound to other people, do you realise that you'd be one of those "stupid people"? One man's music is another's noise.
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Hummm, how is this Shure about confortable?? These in-ears always give me pain in the ear, but I've only seen the "hard plastic" ones, this Shure seems to be alike the industrial ear pluges...
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HD212s are very good bang for buck.
The CX500 and 550 (as the CX95s I use for wandering about with have been rebranded) dont have the excess bass, sibilance and lack of detail of the 300s. They need burn in though.
And I dont disagree with you.
And yes, I've tried the E2c and found them rather shallow and clumsy - they lack detail. I have some E4s (not c, the proper ones) kicking around as well.
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:? What?? Not quite sure what you mean. If you mean that you don't mind leaking sound to other people, do you realise that you'd be one of those "stupid people"? One man's music is another's noise.
They don't use headphones, those cell phones with speaker... if they used their headphones I wouldn't be pissed...
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Hummm, how is this Shure about confortable?? These in-ears always give me pain in the ear, but I've only seen the "hard plastic" ones, this Shure seems to be alike the industrial ear pluges...
The shures come with a bunch of incredibly uncomfortable plasitc things and some foam inserts that are great, the best I've encountered actually, but take some time to get in right and arent suitable unless youre going to leave them in for a while.
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Sennheiser rubber inserts are much more comfortable, but dont isolate as well, fwiw. But the CX line werent designed as IEMs.
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Nah, I may be getting the can style, listening 30min with normal in-ears give me a incredible pain in the ears
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Yeah I use the foam inserts and they're great. They'll need replacing soon though. Getting rather dirty after 3months and the seal is not as good as when it was fresh. Complaint for the Shure usually comes from not getting the right fit but MDV I'm sure you know the deal with these if you owned them, also a high end one. I guess compared to the higher end models they lack detail. Would you say the higher end models are worth the price increase? I never even looked at anything over £50 to use with my ipod.
I haven't tried the CX500s. Good to know they aren't like the 300s. I got a headache quickly when I was using the CX300. This didn't happen with the Shure.
Hmm. Didn't care for the HD212 much. HD201 and 202 I didn't like at all. HD415 ok but poor isolation. CX95 were like £80.
All of what I'm saying is purely for ipod use in noisy environment though.
edit:Nah, I may be getting the can style, listening 30min with normal in-ears give me a incredible pain in the ears
cool it's all preference. I'm the same but didn't find the shure painful at all surprisingly. Try as many as you can at your local hifi shop :)
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Try as many as you can at your local hifi shop :)
Don't know anything like this here in Brazil, I'll do a google search :lol: Of course Amazon wouldn't ship to Brazil the Grado :x
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If your serious about listening to music on headphones than you will be prepared to spend £100+ on a good set of cans.
If you buy £30-£40 in ear headphones then they will cr@p out alot and sound moderate at best. Sennhieser in ears are the best ive heard at £30 but they brake every other day, so you end up spending more anyway.
As with almost everything though it is a matter of preference. you have to look at what you want a fit the specs together.
Same as buying a guitar.
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Try as many as you can at your local hifi shop :)
Don't know anything like this here in Brazil, I'll do a google search :lol: Of course Amazon wouldn't ship to Brazil the Grado :x
http://www.audiocubes.com/
I think these guys are pretty good with shipping. And they have great cans.
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Thanks for the link!
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If your serious about listening to music on headphones than you will be prepared to spend £100+ on a good set of cans.
If you buy £30-£40 in ear headphones then they will cr@p out alot and sound moderate at best. Sennhieser in ears are the best ive heard at £30 but they brake every other day, so you end up spending more anyway.
As with almost everything though it is a matter of preference. you have to look at what you want a fit the specs together.
Same as buying a guitar.
This.
The only exception for me has been the senn CX95s. They can be had for 50 quid, and sounded better than my future sonics atrios (good bang for buck at 100).
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Yer i'll admit there are exeption.
I really like my AKG K81's and they can be picked up for around £35. But they are uncomfortable and need new jacks all the time.
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Sennheiser HD 600 are excellent, don't know how much would you be willing to pay?, kind of pricey but best quality. We had them for years and use them daily, audiophile quality without going over the 1000's and very comfortable.
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I'm looking now on a Grado RS2 used, just because it looks terrific with the Mahogany (and it's one of the top products), it's only US$275 + shipping
If it don't work, my max will be about US$100 (R$180), as I'm going to buy too a shoulder protection as my right shoulder is giving me pain everytime I move it and perhaps an Ancient Kauri body blank :D