• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Recommend around the ear headphones for me.

char[] rager

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
310 (0.06/day)
Location
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Sc
System Name Obsidianight
Processor Intel Core i7 950 @ ~ 4 GHz
Motherboard Asus P6T Deluxe
Cooling Custom Liquid Cooling
Memory 6GB (3 x 2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Triple-Channel @ ~ 1.6 GHz (9-9-9-24-1T)
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP! GTX 580 @ 900 MHz Core / 1025 MHz Memory / 1800 MHz Shader
Storage 180 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Display(s) Sceptre 24 Inch (1920 x 1200) 2 MS Response
Case Corsair Obsidian 800D
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply 1 kW Antec TruePower Quattro
Software Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit / Linux Mint 9 And Fedora 13 KDE Through VirtualBox
I am looking for around the ear head phones, I am getting tired of the ones that you stick inside of your ear :mad:

Criteria
  1. Less than 100 USD
  2. Have decent sound quality, bass is a MUST
  3. Does NOT have to be noise cancelling
  4. NO microphone built in
  5. Needs to last at least more than two months before breaking :mad:
  6. Have a decent sized cord
  7. Be standard sized, like for iPods (3.5mm I think)
  8. Does not need a battery to operate
 
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
5,196 (0.96/day)
System Name Dust Collector
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard Asus B550I Aorus Pro WiFi AX
Cooling Alpenfohn Black Ridge V2 w/ Noctua NF-A9x14
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3200MHz/CL16
Video Card(s) Power Color Red Dragon RX 5700 XT
Storage Samsung EVO+ 500GB NVMe
Display(s) Dell S2721DGF
Case Dan Case A4
Power Supply Corsair SF600 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G603
Keyboard Logitech G613
Sennheiser HD 555.

Only downside is that they sound rather poor through an MP3 player. Otherwise, they meet all of your requirements.

Oh and they can be had for $75 shipped at Electronics-Expo after the coupon code: LSDA0915

You can also do a 100% reversible mod to turn them into HD 595's.

Read: Do at your own risk.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
Sennheiser HD 555.

Only downside is that they sound rather poor through an MP3 player. Otherwise, they meet all of your requirements.

That totally depends on what music player you use. ;)
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
926 (0.17/day)
Location
Akron, OH
System Name Main Rig
Processor Athlon 5350
Motherboard AsRock mITX
Memory 4gb
Storage 120gb Kingston HyperX SSD
Display(s) Samsung Syncmaster 740N
Power Supply Corsair 430 watt
Grado sr80i are probably the best phones under $100, but they sit on your ears, not around them. The Sony MDRV6 that were recommended are very nice and have been around forever.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
2,106 (0.33/day)
System Name Norfree
Processor i5 3570k @4.4
Motherboard Gigabyte UD5H
Cooling 212 Evo
Memory 4x4GB Kingston 1600 @ 1833 9cl
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro Fury
Storage Corsair SSD, WD Black
Display(s) 1080p TV
Case Corsair 300-R
Audio Device(s) Auzentech Prelude > Fidelio X2s and AD-700s
Power Supply PCP&C Silent 950w
Software Win 10 Pro 64
If you're feeling ballsy grab some Grado SR60i's and visit
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/508459/sr60-mod
the guy does some impressive things with those phones ;D

Denon D1000s are supposedly good. Also Shure 440s and 750djs are worth a look. As well as the ever-popular Audiotechnica M50s. Lots to choose from good sir! Typically its a toss up between the M50s and 750djs as to which is the best lower-priced hip-hop phones. Both are bass heavy. But they may not fall into your $100 budget.. better add $10.
 
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
1,050 (0.17/day)
Location
indiana
Processor c2d e8400@ 3.8ghz 24/7
Motherboard Abit IP-35e 80$ lol
Cooling zalman cnps9700 led
Memory 2 x 2 gig patriot viper
Video Card(s) evga Gtx 285 oc
Storage 2 x 300gig sata seagate 7200.10 in raid 0/ 1.5TB for backup
Display(s) acer 24" TFT LCD AL2416WBSD
Case Antec 902
Audio Device(s) XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro series
Power Supply ocz gamextreme 700w
Software windows 7 ultimate
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Messages
2,190 (0.38/day)
Location
Minnesota, USA
System Name TaichiTig
Processor i7 6800K
Motherboard ASRock X99 Taichi
Memory 32GB DDR4 3200
Video Card(s) RTX 4070
Storage SSD + Misc. HDDs in DrivePool
Display(s) BenQ PD3200U, Samsung C32HG70
Case Antec Twelve Hundred
Audio Device(s) Behringer UMC404HD, LSR308, Shure SRH840, AKG K612, Etymotic HF5
Power Supply Corsair 750TX
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Deck Legend Ice Tactile
Software Win10
555s are decent for the price. If you want more sound isolation, try finding a deal on Audio Technica ATH-A700s. 555s are open cans with better sound. The A700s are closed cans with better isolation.

Edit to add: the Sony model erocker mentioned would be a good choice.
 
Last edited:

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
9,501 (1.43/day)
Location
Texas
System Name Whim
Processor Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s) Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s) Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply Corsair 750w
Software Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)
I own some of the suggestions above.

I have the Grado SR-60i's, the Sony MDR-7506's, and the Sennheiser 595's. Of all of them, the best sounding for me are the 595's, but those are out of the price range, and not super bassy. In fact any Senn's lack base.

The Sony's are high pitched and not my favorite, however they isolate a lot.

If you want base and good sound, the Grado's sound amazing. GREAT base, but they will leak noise like a bitch. For the price, the Grado's are great. My Grados are also fun to mod (custom grates, quarter mod, driver mods, etc, extremely moddable!). Get the Grados, you will love them. They perform great in a quite enviorment, in a noisy one, meh ok.

From left to right:

595s, Grados, and Sonys.



PS: The 555 to 595 is a total hoax. Drivers are different. This will come out at higher volumes, not at lower ones, it is easy to tell.
 

Attachments

  • phones.jpg
    phones.jpg
    121.1 KB · Views: 511
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
2,106 (0.33/day)
System Name Norfree
Processor i5 3570k @4.4
Motherboard Gigabyte UD5H
Cooling 212 Evo
Memory 4x4GB Kingston 1600 @ 1833 9cl
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro Fury
Storage Corsair SSD, WD Black
Display(s) 1080p TV
Case Corsair 300-R
Audio Device(s) Auzentech Prelude > Fidelio X2s and AD-700s
Power Supply PCP&C Silent 950w
Software Win 10 Pro 64
you need to get some of that glue off those grados. it looks terrible! lol. did removing that middle button give any audio benefits? im about to open mine and add some dampening material and punch holes. should be good fun!
 

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
9,501 (1.43/day)
Location
Texas
System Name Whim
Processor Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s) Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s) Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply Corsair 750w
Software Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)
you need to get some of that glue off those grados. it looks terrible! lol. did removing that middle button give any audio benefits? im about to open mine and add some dampening material and punch holes. should be good fun!

What glue? There is no glue. I think you are mistaking seeing the drivers behind the grate. Have you seen Grados in real life? Those silver disks are the DRIVERS. Removing the middle button is worth it 100%. Improves airflow and bass with it. The grate made a great improvement and changed air flow from 30% to 80%. I am greatly impressed with them after the mods.
 

char[] rager

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
310 (0.06/day)
Location
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Sc
System Name Obsidianight
Processor Intel Core i7 950 @ ~ 4 GHz
Motherboard Asus P6T Deluxe
Cooling Custom Liquid Cooling
Memory 6GB (3 x 2GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Triple-Channel @ ~ 1.6 GHz (9-9-9-24-1T)
Video Card(s) Zotac AMP! GTX 580 @ 900 MHz Core / 1025 MHz Memory / 1800 MHz Shader
Storage 180 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Display(s) Sceptre 24 Inch (1920 x 1200) 2 MS Response
Case Corsair Obsidian 800D
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply 1 kW Antec TruePower Quattro
Software Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit / Linux Mint 9 And Fedora 13 KDE Through VirtualBox
Well, I REALLY do appreciate the coupon code offer you gave me Kantastic, but I asked some audiophiles here at my school (MIT, don't know why I didn't go them first) and for around 100 USD, the sony ones erocker offered me are the better choice.

Really though, I do appreciate the offer Kantastic :toast:
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
921 (0.17/day)
Location
SouthERN Africa
System Name inferKNIGHT
Processor Intel Core i5-4590
Motherboard MSI Z97i Gaming AC
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory 2 x 4GB DDR3-1866 Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer (R/G)
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 970 STRIX 3.5GB (+0.5GB? o.O)
Storage 1 x 256GB Cricial M550, 1 x 2TB Samsung 7200.12
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster T260
Case Corsair Obsidian 250D
Power Supply Corsair RM750
Software Windows 8.1.1 pro x64
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
2,106 (0.33/day)
System Name Norfree
Processor i5 3570k @4.4
Motherboard Gigabyte UD5H
Cooling 212 Evo
Memory 4x4GB Kingston 1600 @ 1833 9cl
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro Fury
Storage Corsair SSD, WD Black
Display(s) 1080p TV
Case Corsair 300-R
Audio Device(s) Auzentech Prelude > Fidelio X2s and AD-700s
Power Supply PCP&C Silent 950w
Software Win 10 Pro 64
What glue? There is no glue. I think you are mistaking seeing the drivers behind the grate. Have you seen Grados in real life? Those silver disks are the DRIVERS. Removing the middle button is worth it 100%. Improves airflow and bass with it. The grate made a great improvement and changed air flow from 30% to 80%. I am greatly impressed with them after the mods.

Okay the drivers look like the leftover glue from removing the button. Guess its just the angle of the picture.. Did you punch all 10 holes in the grados or just 4?

 

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
9,501 (1.43/day)
Location
Texas
System Name Whim
Processor Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s) Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s) Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply Corsair 750w
Software Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)
Okay the drivers look like the leftover glue from removing the button. Guess its just the angle of the picture.. Did you punch all 10 holes in the grados or just 4?

http://assets.head-fi.org/5/59/1000x500px-LL-59564afb_rings.jpg

It should be obvious I made custom grills for the headphones, and thus, no glue would be there in the first place. It is the angle. If I get a better camera (lol iPhone) then I can take some better shots. Also, I never punched the holes. I don't see a point. I get good sound as is. I heard a friend's who punched the holes, and I don't like it.

Picture here:




You can easily tell I did the quarter mod, and right way too! The cuts are SUPER circular. I got an knife and cut around a quarter. Sounds great!
 

Attachments

  • quartermod.jpg
    quartermod.jpg
    120 KB · Views: 389

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
9,501 (1.43/day)
Location
Texas
System Name Whim
Processor Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s) Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s) Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply Corsair 750w
Software Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)
Also, here are the grills. No glue, see? I let the grills rust a bit on the outside and then I coated them to give the headphones a nice old look. Trust me, they looked too shiny when I put them in.

If you do decide on Grados, the mods are easy to do and easily make the headphones equivalent to $200+ phones IMO.

 

Attachments

  • grills.jpg
    grills.jpg
    119.8 KB · Views: 486
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
2,106 (0.33/day)
System Name Norfree
Processor i5 3570k @4.4
Motherboard Gigabyte UD5H
Cooling 212 Evo
Memory 4x4GB Kingston 1600 @ 1833 9cl
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro Fury
Storage Corsair SSD, WD Black
Display(s) 1080p TV
Case Corsair 300-R
Audio Device(s) Auzentech Prelude > Fidelio X2s and AD-700s
Power Supply PCP&C Silent 950w
Software Win 10 Pro 64
It should be obvious I made custom grills for the headphones, and thus, no glue would be there in the first place. It is the angle. If I get a better camera (lol iPhone) then I can take some better shots. Also, I never punched the holes. I don't see a point. I get good sound as is. I heard a friend's who punched the holes, and I don't like it.

Nice stuff :) Supposedly the holes increase bass by a good amount. The Grado-guru Bilavideo swears by it, but of course all ears are subjective. I'll be able to give another opinion if I ever get around to it. Have you tried bowl cushions or just the quarter cushs?
 

PVTCaboose1337

Graphical Hacker
Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Messages
9,501 (1.43/day)
Location
Texas
System Name Whim
Processor Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus P8Z77-V LX
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory 2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256gb, WD 2TB Black
Display(s) Shimian QH270 (1440p), Asus VE228 (1080p)
Case Cooler Master 430 Elite
Audio Device(s) Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
Power Supply Corsair 750w
Software Windows 8.1 (Tweaked)
Nice stuff :) Supposedly the holes increase bass by a good amount. The Grado-guru Bilavideo swears by it, but of course all ears are subjective. I'll be able to give another opinion if I ever get around to it. Have you tried bowl cushions or just the quarter cushs?

Yeah I have a set of bowls for the headphones. I like the cushies alot more. The bowls kinda hit my ears are strange angle. The cushies feel so nice. In addition, my ears are closer with the cushies, increasing the sound enjoyability.

I thought about wanting to increase the bass, but really, it was too much. I feel like I am on stage already. In addition, since I have made the Senn's my primary headphones, I have gotten accustomed to lighter sounds. I really love bass, but I now recognize subtleties in music. Anyone who wants too much base is missing alot. I was one of those people, but Senn's changed me.

EDIT: Not trying to tell OP he is wrong, we all have tastes. Mine has since changed / evolved.

PS: You will get addicted to music / audio / headphones / amps when you get a good pair. I never enjoyed music till I got Grados.
 
Top