Looking for advice about which headphones to buy.

[Tannorn]

These are the fetures I'm looking for:

>Over-The-Ear, prefferably circumaural but supra-aural is OK.
>Bass Boosting, Deep Bass, I don't care what it's called as long as I can feel drops like they're from Thor's Hammer.
>Durable Construction
>Noise cancelling would be nice.
>standard sized audio jack (I'm american if that makes a difference)

I'm willing to pay up to $75 but I am a cheap bastard who'd only like to pay $50. I understand that this may limit my choices considerably, but I'm working a dead end job and I have bills to pay.

>>>sidenote: I'm looking to replace my Skullcandy Skullcrushers. The cord got ripped while moving them.
Things I liked about them:
>great bass
>completely noise cancelling
Things I disliked:
>felt rather flimsy and the moving parts either moved too loosely or way to stiffly.
>the ear paddings both look as if they were made to fit over a right ear, lol
>the housing for the battery to the bass booster is very near to the audio jack which hindered my ability to use my iPhone when the battery housing was clipped to my belt. and when the battery housing was not clipped to my belt i either had to hold it or be very annoyed by it flapping around.

also, i am not sure if this is common to all headphones or just the skullcrushers, but whenever the cord rubbed something i could hear a slight muffled sound in the headphones which was very noticable when listening to music at a lower volume or when listening to things like comedy that have quite a bit of empty sound.

any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tannorn]

also, i like the look of the MArc Ecko Unltd Motion

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

So I guess the Denon D5000s are out of the question...

 

[Kursah]

I really enjoyed my JVC HA-RX 700's for good impact and bass while being easily driven. Though even a cheap $30 sound card like the Asus Xonar DG will make it kickass in comparison to any onboard solution...and that's the cheapest sound card I've seen that featurs a headphone amp...and it rivals my much more expensive Auzen X-Fi Forte's HP amp.

The JVC's are not noise cancelling..though they do block a fair amount of noise. With the pad and felt mods done, they sound great, hit hard, go very loud, are very sturdy and pretty well built for a mostly plastic headphone.


But I hear that Skullcandy has a lifetime warranty...or at worst you pay a fraction of the price for replacements...so you may look into that.

But honestly JVC HA-RX 700 + Asus Xonar DG, you get an amazing sound setup for around $70 shipped that you will have to spend much more to beat. Like say my $150 Auzen X-Fi Forte (no longer available last I checked) and my $300+ Denon D2000's. The JVC HA-RX 700's hit hard, there are the more expensive 900's that have more bass and go lower, but don't have the impact.

Beyond that, anything else I've seen or experienced in that price range while good, isn't nearly as well built, sturdy, has as much bass, or needs way too many mods that you're a $30 hp + $100 in mods to get it to sound good. The mods on the 700 can be done for FREE if you have some foam to stuff under the earpads to elevate them...this helps with comfort and sound, and the felt mod helps with mid/vocal clarity a little. Check the Headphone thread in my sig, I review quite a few headphones in the OP, and a lot of other TPU members have donated their own as well. Beyond that, check out Head-Fi.org. Google JVC HA-RX 700....there's a huge following with them. I just gave my 3-year-old pair to my G/F and gave her that Asus DG...just hooked up the sound card last night and I was truly blown away that a $30 sound card could drive headphones that well...super impressive. If I were starting out...those two components are what I would get, and I'd leave well enough alone and save the $100's I've spent in this area.

Just some food for thought.

JVC HA-RX 700 still the budget KING IMHO.

 

[majestic12]

My vote goes to the JVC HA-RX700s as well. They're amazing for their price.

 

[Tannorn]

So I guess the Denon D5000s are out of the question...

Not necessarily out of the question...but it would take a lot of convincing.

 

[Tannorn]

JVC HA-RX 700 Asus Xonar DG, you get an amazing sound setup for around $70 shipped that you will have to spend much more to beat

Just googled the pair, they both look absolutely fantastic. i love the design of the headphones, they look very sturdy for such a low price. and you were right on the money, i found the pair for $70 shipped. I just built a new gaming rig and somehow i forgot to get a sound card, so this works out perfectly for me, thanks so much for the advice

 

[Frederik S]

Everything Kursah said!

 

[Kursah]

A few things to note. The Green output on the card is either for the Front/Main Speakers or changed to Headphone via software to activate the amp. With the JVC HA-RX700 I recommend the Exciter mode (highest gain) or middle gain mode.

If you want to use 2.0/2.1 speakers you MUST plug them into the Green port on the sound card itself. Well WTF?! right. What to do now? Well thanks to Asus for being nice enough to amplify the Front Panel Heapdhone jack!

Make sure you plug your cases FP Audio into the sound card and just use the front panel for your headphones. I noticed no glaring differences between direct off the card and fp, and in this price-range it wouldn't matter anyways. My ears are untrained by audiophile standards, but I love powerful and clear sound and am a basshead if that's any indicator of how I rate/measure sound.

But do everything in software for your speakers...then plug the headphones to the FP, it'll auto-jack detect...set to Headphone, click the icon next to that option, select exciter. You will have to manually change EQ's if you wanna run different for each (recommended imho)...but that's the worst of it...and well I do that with my Auzen Forte as well...but my much more expensive and no-longer-made Forte only amplifies the headphone jack on the card...nada on the FP. For $30 you CANNOT beat the Xonar DG! Plus the EQ is more powerful and capable in the Asus software than the X-Fi Software imho. I have had a card with X-Fi spu's since the mid-2000's...I know the software quite well by now.

JVC HA-RX700's shot up in price, and are barely available...I wonder if production has ended. Either rate JVC HA-RX700 + Asus Xonar DG is the best bang for the buck HP/Soundcard combo I have ever heard for sub-$100 money as of this date....3/3/2012.

 

[Frederik S]

I think the JVC headphone line-up is getting a revamp (speculation on my side, long time since the design has been changed and there have been no additions the last six months). Munich hifi show is approaching there might be new models from a lot of the headphone manufacturers in the pipes.