New Headphones

[Brusfantomet]

Hello, i am looking at new headphones, budget is not that specified but under 1000 USD would be nice. The bigger restriction is that i want to get them from a Norwegian shop (since i live in Norway) i therefore would be happy if anybody can suggest some cans.

What are they going to be used for? Listening to music/ watching movies and series and playing games at home. Sound leakage to and from the headphone is not a con (used in a farly quiet room with only me in it)

As for what kind? I have some Sennheiser HD595 now, and the reason i want to upgrade is that i think they have started to get a it worn. The sound quality from them are not ass good as the speakers i use (Dynavoice DF-6 with a Yamaha RX-A830) and that bothers me. It is worth mentioning that i use the headphone amp on the RX-A830 for the headphones.

This far i have found some contenders:
Sennheiser HD700 Expensive, but i have heard good things about them
AKG K550 much cheaper and got a good review

Do you have any other recommendations?

 

[WhiteNoise]

Audeze LCD2 R2F

You'll be happy u did.

 

[Brusfantomet]

Those look really nice, but i do not think my receiver can give 1 to 4 W of power on the headphone jack. Also, the price of 998 USD is shipped inside the us, shipping to Norway is probably going to be in the vicinity of 50 USD, add the 25 % VAT and you are looking at 1300 USD, with none of the European consumer laws protection.

 

[Frederik S]

Take a trip to Denmark and pickup some HiFiMAN HE-560s when the Norwegian currency has regained some of its value . Audeze is quite expensive inside the EU unfortunately. Maybe try and find a set of used HD700/800s/HE-560s etc.. on Head-fi?

 

[Brusfantomet]

That is a possibility, but getting to Denmark would cost about the same as a pair of K550.
also, the Danish Krone (DKK) is tied to the Euro, as long as the euro is high the excnahge rate is bad. do they have the HiFiMANs in Sweden (the Swedish Krone, SEK, is NOT tied to the Euro.
Anybody know how the return rigths and stuff is there? I am asking because if i get the headphones from an Norwegian shop i have 2 weeks after i get them where i can send them back if i want to (have to pay the postage) and it automatically gets as close to a 5 year warranty as it can.

 

[Frederik S]

DK and SE (I think) has two years of warranty, where the first six are work as a guarantee where the manufacturer has the responsibility to prove that you did something wrong, the last 1.5 years is where you have to prove the issue was there to begin with and not caused by wear etc... You have two weeks return if the only thing that has been done is an examination of the product. It must not have been used, but usually they do not care too much and just accept the return.

 

[AhokZYashA]

the HE560s is a very good set of headphones
but it does need an ample amount of power to drive.
i dont know how much Oppo's PM1 cost there, but its pretty awesome set of headphones as well.

 

[Jatheon]

What about Sony MDR-NC500D? They are around $400, and I think they'll meet your needs.

 

[CJCerny]

Grado SR325e is a nice headphone.

 

[Brusfantomet]

DK and SE (I think) has two years of warranty, where the first six are work as a guarantee where the manufacturer has the responsibility to prove that you did something wrong, the last 1.5 years is where you have to prove the issue was there to begin with and not caused by wear etc... You have two weeks return if the only thing that has been done is an examination of the product. It must not have been used, but usually they do not care too much and just accept the return.

Hmm, here you have 5 years of return right, meaning that the shop has to prove it was you fault that the thing failed/broke/did not work during the hole period. If the product is bougth from a internet shop you also have 14 days to test the product, you can use it as much as you want, but it must be in good order if you want to return it.

As for the headphones:
I cant find the Hifiman in any shops here.
the Oppos are actually available in one shop, for 1600 USD.
The Gardos are available and within budget (480 USD)! but looks more like something portable to me.
Noise Canceling headphones for living room use?

 

[Frederik S]

The Grado 325s are not top of line and especially not for the price in terms of performance. I don't know any country that offers terms like that other than Norway I would just buy a set of used ones from Head-fi but again I go through a lot of headphones selling and buying stuff all the time and buying new is just too costly.

 

[Brusfantomet]

Well, you know one of the best things about living in Norway? No matter were you go in the rest of the world its always cheap

Top of the line is not important, being good is.

 

[CJCerny]

Grado makes a couple of models more expensive than the SR325e, but you have to spend a lot more money to get very little improvement. As with any headphone, you will want to try to track them down and listen to them first. If you are a bass lover, Grado is not the brand for you. If you are a detail lover, then Grado is something you need to look at closely.

 

[CJCerny]

I would also recommend the Sony MDRV6 headphones. They have been around forever and have always been well-liked. They are about $100 US. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get good headphones. The Grado SR80e is also a great headphone that sells for about $100.

 

[Brusfantomet]

Ok, the MDR-V6 was sold out everywhere. As for bass/detail, the HD595 i am using now are not that good with bass, but the most important thing for me must be that the treble is controled, i cant stand it when the "S"es in lyrics become to sharp. how is Gardo headphones in that regard?

 

[awesomesauce]

check out audio technica

http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/category.asp?catID=5

some are really good for the price

 

[HWTactics]

OP, I see in the things you're planning on using these headphones for that you will want an open-back design. Open-back phones give you a wider sound stage for better positional imaging, which is very important to have in games or movies.

I've used more headphones than I can count. Grado, Sennheiser, Sony, Denon, Audio Technica, Shure, etc. This info is coming from me who has settled on around the $300 USD price bracket,

The sharp "S" sounds are what's known as sibilance in headphones. I also HATE sibilance because I listen to a lot of female vocals. If you want headphones that are open-back without any sibilance, Sennheiser phones are known for their warm-yet-accurate response. The HD650's are the shining star in Sennheier's <$700 price range and I would HIGHLY recommend them. They are also open back and wonderfully natural sounding.

The only upside of closed back headphones is that bass is louder and boomier than open back because the low frequencies can reverberate inside the cup. Open back are better in every other way if you're not worried about sound leakage.

Note: this is all very generalized information but accurate for the majority of headphones.

Edit: if you want to spend around $1,000 on a pair of cans, I would suggest instead spending half that on headphones and half on a quality headphone amp to power them. A beefy pair of cans can't really stretch its legs without one. A $1k set of cans would be even more starved without quality amplification. These guys make some good Schiit.

 

[Atomic77]

I know they can be expensive but Beats headphones are supposedly really good. I use a Sony behind the head headphones for my Ipod Nano.

 

[R-T-B]

I know they can be expensive but Beats headphones are supposedly really good. I use a Sony behind the head headphones for my Ipod Nano.

We're talking $1000 budget. Beats aren't really well-regarded once you enter that price range.

I appreciate the try, just pointing out the level of crazy some people will go for good sound.

 

[-1nf1n1ty-]

hifi man he-400/500 are really good as well as akg k712

 

[xvi]

I have a few headphones and thought I could give some advice on this, but then I saw the $1k budget. I haven't purchased any headphones over $150 US. With that said, for what it's worth, I rather like my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro.

I know they can be expensive but Beats headphones are supposedly really good.

To be honest, Beats are generally shunned for their poor quality (especially within this budget). I don't think they'd be applicable here. Here's a chart measuring frequency response of the first three headphones mentioned (or rather close at least) compared to the Monster Beats. There are people who like that kind of sound signature, but it's rarely those passionate about headphones.

Back on topic a bit, I highly recommend checking out headphone.com's Build-A-Graph page for comparing cans.

 

[AhokZYashA]

or you can get the HD650s which is also very good pair of headphones.
i recently tried the Audeze EL-8 open backed heaphones, and it sounds pretty good, clear highs without hints of sibilance.
the beyerdynamic T1 can also be found for around 1000US secondhand, take a look at those too.

 

[Brusfantomet]

OP, I see in the things you're planning on using these headphones for that you will want an open-back design. Open-back phones give you a wider sound stage for better positional imaging, which is very important to have in games or movies.

I've used more headphones than I can count. Grado, Sennheiser, Sony, Denon, Audio Technica, Shure, etc. This info is coming from me who has settled on around the $300 USD price bracket,

The sharp "S" sounds are what's known as sibilance in headphones. I also HATE sibilance because I listen to a lot of female vocals. If you want headphones that are open-back without any sibilance, Sennheiser phones are known for their warm-yet-accurate response. The HD650's are the shining star in Sennheier's <$700 price range and I would HIGHLY recommend them. They are also open back and wonderfully natural sounding.

The only upside of closed back headphones is that bass is louder and boomier than open back because the low frequencies can reverberate inside the cup. Open back are better in every other way if you're not worried about sound leakage.

Note: this is all very generalized information but accurate for the majority of headphones.

Edit: if you want to spend around $1,000 on a pair of cans, I would suggest instead spending half that on headphones and half on a quality headphone amp to power them. A beefy pair of cans can't really stretch its legs without one. A $1k set of cans would be even more starved without quality amplification. These guys make some good Schiit.

ohhh, the HD650 is almost half the price of the HD700.

I actually have a ok amp (e-bay thing with lots of power) but i do not use it, partly because my screen emits a noticeable amount of EM interference and partly because i realy realy like the ability to change from speakers to headphones by simply plugin them into my receiver (RX A-830), switching between sound cards when going from speakers to headphones is not relay an option.

or you can get the HD650s which is also very good pair of headphones.
i recently tried the Audeze EL-8 open backed heaphones, and it sounds pretty good, clear highs without hints of sibilance.
the beyerdynamic T1 can also be found for around 1000US secondhand, take a look at those too.

Another one for the HD650s there i see.

I have a few headphones and thought I could give some advice on this, but then I saw the $1k budget. I haven't purchased any headphones over $150 US. With that said, for what it's worth, I rather like my Sennheiser HD 280 Pro.


To be honest, Beats are generally shunned for their poor quality (especially within this budget). I don't think they'd be applicable here. Here's a chart measuring frequency response of the first three headphones mentioned (or rather close at least) compared to the Monster Beats. There are people who like that kind of sound signature, but it's rarely those passionate about headphones.

Back on topic a bit, I highly recommend checking out headphone.com's Build-A-Graph page for comparing cans.

I had a pair of HD280pro, they were great for using outdoors, but i killed them when tried to replace the broken cable.

They do not have the HD595 there, (but the HD598 is close i think), i see that the HD700 and HD650 is somewhat close in frequency response, and better than the HD598.

I also saw that i can get the Philips Fidelio X2 for the same price as HD650, but i guess the Sennheisers are better?

 

[HWTactics]

You may find this comparison of HD650 vs HD700 useful. The general consensus according to my research is to either buy the HD650 or skip straight to the HD800.

Grado has a similar conundrum; past the $99 SR80i, the next several models up do not offer a significantly better "Grado sound" until their $450 SR325i.

 

[Frederik S]

So I have recently tried the X1s and X2s here in Denmark. The X2s are much better and definitely a headphone well worth the money. They seem durable and they run well of any medium powered source. The Grado's are simply not in the same league as the modern designs from Philips/Sennheiser/HiFiMAN. The X2s are much better than the 325is and cheaper which is a plus in my book.

If you want a set of analytical sounding headphones the HD700/800 should be on your short list and with a few mods they do obtain reference quality sound. If you want slightly better bass response with a slightly more compromised highs the HiFiMAN planar magnetics are the way to go. X2s are not in the same range as the HD700/800 or HE-400/HE-560 but can hold their own and I think they sound better than the HD650s even when the 650s are driven off an appropriate amplifier.