I'm in the market for a good set of headphones or earbuds. At home I'd prefer earbuds from all of the noise my family generates but otherwise I think I'd prefer to use open air headphones elsewhere to full appreciate what I'm listening to. Noise cancellation is cool if it works. Currently I use a pair of earbuds that came with a Creative Zen X-Fi that sound remarkably well given the other earbuds I've had in the past (skullcandy mostly. No bass, really tinny sounding and the plastic on the cable is really cheap feeling). Not an audiophile but if something really does sound $250 good I'll take a listen for sure. What would also be nice but is not requisite by any stretch of the imagination is bluetooth functionality for headphones. My phone and laptop both support streaming audio over bluetooth and I wouldn't mind taking advantage of this. Cables can get really annoying while doing any sort of exercise. And if it matters at all my hearing is a bit better than the average person it seems. On tests of high end frequencies I can hear past the average of 20khz and into the 22-23khz ranges. That is assuming the last time I was tested the speakers were capable of accurately reproducing those frequencies.
I use Westone2's which are professional monitoring headphones for the following: -DJing (home/out) -High quality tunes on trips -When I need to ejaculate without taking my pants off The sound is sickeningly crisp and they're about $250 ($230 maybe). They don't pound the bass, which I really like. There are multiple "buds" that come with them, and they're made of putty so they conform to your ear. They come w/ a small case you can fit into a pocket. The downside is I wear my earbuds into the ground b/c I jog in them, so these are my "indoor" pair. I got a pair of "bass something or other" Audio Technica's ($100?) which are nowhere NEAR as good. I got them for 8,000 yen, but retail was 10,000. The Westone2's I got for 17,500. Looking at the numbers, the AT's were kind of a waste of money. They're not even close to as warm or loud. I won't punch myself in the testicles if I damage them on outside though. The Westone3's are apparently sick, but they're like $500-ish. http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/10/13/the-best-in-ear-monitors-for-djs/ Note, the downsides I have with them are 1: It's a bit weird getting used to hooping the wires over your ear, but you need to to prevent pulling them out. 2: The cable is short, so you may want an extension. Hardly deal breakers.
I have some $20 Sony headphones (MDR-V150's to be exact) that are pretty good. Certainly far from the best money can buy, but pretty good for $20, and way better than any earbuds I've ever used. We should have a general thread about audio equipment too. I've been looking at some some amplifiers and such lately.
I own a pair of Sony MDR-570 over ear headphones that i picked as a replacement for a different busted pair i had to return and i quite like them. They have a nice sound without not too bassy but still have a good amount of bass as well as being generally good all round. They are very comfortable too even after extended use. Also although the earphones just sit over your ear they do block out a nice amount of ambient noise.
Eh, most earbuds being made today are garbage that shouldn't even be sold. The ones with the little rubber fitting on the speaker annoys me. If you even slightly move your head with them in, they fall out; this also goes for if you go jogging, and do other activities while listening to music. Yes, I'm aware they usually come with other sizes of the rubber bits for the headphones, I've tried pretty much every size, nothing seems to want to stay in my ears.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-EP...6FQI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313934345&sr=8-1 Amazing for price, cheap to replace if lost or broken. These blow anything that isn't in-ear out of the water..
I have a pair of Sennheisser HD-201 headphones, which are very weird because instead of black, the plastic is dark blue, and the word "gaming" is written on one of the sides (and it's really not a gaming headset). These are good enough to isolate me from noises I find inside the bus to a Mexican "Pueblo" - which means they are good enough for pretty much anything that involves cheaply avoiding a huge-noise and annoyance prone enviornment. Not a professional set or anything. They cost me like 500 pesos a few years ago. I've had to change the plug on them twice, though.
With most MP3 players (and especially if you are listening to MP3s or the Apple equiv) you really are not going to tell much difference with a $30 pair of phones of a $200 pair of earphones anyone that tells you otherwise is insane or fibbing. I personally use the Panasonic RP-HJE270 as they have a good frequency range, are quite bassy, under $30, they are loud, do isolate noise quite a bit, although with the volume down you can hear things around you which is handy if you are walking or jogging and need to hear a 10 ton lorry hurtling towards you, the rubber earpieces go over an oval driver rather then a round one so they fit in the ear much better then normal. For a commercial set of headphones they are amazing. If you do find that the earbuds do keep slipping out then use a small amount of unperfumed talcum powder in your ears and they should stay in much much better. Also clean your ears and your earphones weekly as they can accumulate gunge quite quickly.
Eh? Anyone who only cleans their ears weekly is a slob in my opinion. I clean my ears when I get up, and before I go to bed. Along with brushing my teeth, etc, etc. As far as the little earbuds go, they don't have any ear wax in them or anything of the sort. Also, I'm not putting talcum powder in my ears just to create more friction between the rubber ear pieces and my ears. Besides, I got annoyed when jogging and that piece of crap pair of earbuds fell out, so I tossed them on the ground and broke them.. Long story short, I have a nice pair of headphones, and a decent pair of ear buds, but not that rubber piece bullshit.
That's funny since most claim you can't tell the difference between 320K MP3 and WAV. I can tell the difference between my $100 and $250 earbuds easilyi. Night & day... on both MP3 and WAV. If you're talking about 128k MP3s... well... such a person should indeed not spend more than $30 on headphones.
I just did a search on earplugs/headphones. And I found this old lovely thread. http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17487& and this one too. http://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24039&
You have have done, but 2 to 3 years is a long time, a number of the things recommended have been long since discontinued. A few thread will do the job much better. Listening to good classical music and you can tell the difference between a 320K MP3 and a WAV file, not from a FLAC and WAV though. I am not saying that a $200 pair of headphones doesn't sound brilliant, but for most people in everyday life they are not going to notice the difference.
I can typically tell the difference between a 320kbit MP3 and FLAC assuming the sound hardware from point A to point B is capable of accurately reproducing the piece in question. Bad speakers will definitely make it difficult to hear the difference as would made sound processing hardware. Not audiophile grade idiocy by any means. More like the difference between composite and S-Video and RGB.
I have these: I am currently using my second set of these, since the first one broke down this year around april. All in all, these are great. Light weight, great sound and not too expensive either (they cost me 19 bux). When I got my first pair in september 2008, nobody around here was using these sort of headphones, and now I see people wearing them all the time on the bus... It kind of pisses me off, but whatever...
I think it depends on what you do with the headphones/earbuds. If you're going to be jogging around town or listening to music while you do things, there's no reason to have a pair that costs a couple hundred bucks. If you're the type that actually sits and listens to music often (WITHOUT multitasking - Literally LISTENING TO MUSIC and that is all), you should invest in the top-dollar product. Yeah, I know that might sound offensively pretentious to some.
Well, I sit to listen with speakers, not headphones. But yeah, actually, the headphones are better for listening in a bed or couch, for example. To listen with speakers you need to stay right between them, of course. For those of us that really sit just to listen, not doing other things like browsing the web, cleaning something... That's a hobby, I believe. The bad part is about the music one listen a lot with good speakers. Listening them with headphones take out all the shivers made by the music... Well, maybe that's a good reason to listen to radio. And you can discover new sounds too...
Well said, alecjahn. I take a few trans-continental trips per year, and should be taking as many within Japan but don't. I've found the ear buds to be dope. They don't require batteries, and they're way more compact than the Bose Quiet Comforts I had so I can still fit my pocket pussy in my backpack! If I commuted by train they'd even be more validated. But, I use them do DJ first and foremost, and for that, they're off the hook.
I'd recommend Sennheiser for sure. I've had a bunch of Sony's over the years and its like night and day when you switch to a proper pair of cans. I bought the Sennheiser HD555's about a year ago for $120CAD, worth every penny.
