Headphones

Avoid Sony, they have a habit of exploding at the pivot point for no real reason. I'd suggest the Senheisser HD25 if you don't want to spend too much. If you don't mind importing and spending more a pair of Grados would be my suggestion; The SR125 are amazing, and have a response time that really comes in handy for FPS games. If money isn't a problem check out the Etymotic ER-4S I've got a pair with a custom plug that I use for all monitoring at work and really there's not much to touch them in terms of either quality or isolation until you start getting into 4 figures. As long as you don't have sensitive canals you'll be fine with them.

If you intend on spending a lot on a set of headphones (+£200) look at investing in a dedicated headphone amp to drive them, you'll be amazed at the difference in quality.

 

"Don't want to spend too much" equates to £60? Yeep!

 

Erm that'll be the HD25 sp, HD25s range from £99 to £120 in places ive seen. Myself i have a pair of Sennheiser 280pros which i use mainly for djing and are very comfortable have excellent noise isolation.

 

My idea of not spending much would be something like these, you rich bugger Scooba

 

Sorry :/

Ears are important though; a bad set of headphones will not only be uncomfortable, make your music sound bad, and fatigue your ears, but can also in extreme cases physically damage your hearing system. There's no way to fix that sort of damage short of still experimental growth of ear hairs from your DNA.

If you want a very cheap pair try a pair of Sennhesier HD 433s or the Koss KSC 50

 

Bad points; It's very bass heavy and if you can find a zoomed picture the barrel, just above the arm of the cup, that connects to the headband will break very quickly. It normally shears in half vertically requiring either tape or glue. Your headphones are now stuck in one position.

Good points; It's loud which is handy if you're DJing in a large club.

 

Senhhieser, you can get some good prices on them at richer sounds. Maybe you dont want to spend £60 upwards on headphones? You won't regret it if you do. I initiially bought some £20 headphones for gaming, ok but no bass, tinny sound. I now have some sennhieser hd580's £99 but worth every penny. Perfect for gaming, music and movies.

 

Any opinions on the Sennheiser HD600's?

Xav

 

Fatigue your ears?
"Sorry, I can't play a match, my ears are tired"

WHAAAT?

 

I have a pair of these headphones, they were about £30, work fine and Ive had em about 6 months now .The have a microphone which is very useful for gaming too

 

the plantronics audio90 isnt bad, i got a set myself and i know two other people with a set... they arnt as crisp as a set of sinnheiser or a decent set of bosh.

as for me, i'd like to check out a pair of those surround-sound headphones from zalman, see what they are really like for 60 quid
(also gotta get a new UK standard laptop-style keyboard for this machine )

plantronics main section is audio headsets for call centres, so more likely than not their computer headsets are designed the same, for vocal reproduction rather than the full range..

dont touch philips, never seen so many breakages of them in my life.

 

The other ones dont have a mic though I believe, which is pretty much essential for me .

 

They're actually very, very good for the money!

 

You can't really fault them, especially at the prices I've seen recently for them. Only slight niggles is that they have a Y cable which I always find annoying especially if you move around with them on and that they are open. That might not be a problem for you especially if you are only using them indoors but you'll end up having to turn them up if there's a TV on in the same room. Be aware they are quiet if you are trying to play them off a portable and really need an amp to give you decent levels.

 

Yep, that's the one thing which other people don't like about me using them, I've got two pairs, one for my AV the other on my PC, and if I play anything noisy Bym can sometimes hear it from another room heh

 

My father has a pair of these http://www.beyerdynamic.com/com/product/sheets/d848.php3 , and I have the older DT990 (the new ones are slightly revised).

The most comfy headphones i've ever used because they don't actually sit on your ears, they sit inside that ring you see in the picture. The headphones effectively sit "around" your ears.

Most importantly, they sound incredible. Not cheap at £160 however, but worth every penny.

G

 

These are mine. Christmas pressie. I must say, I think they sound very nice

 

Can the Sennheiser's handle the really low frequency bass signals? I'm looking for a pair of headphones to plug into my bass, for practising without annoying the neighbours, but all the headphones I've tried so far have had a varying amount of distortion in the low end.

 

ive noticed no distortion on mine, tbh a decent pair of monitoring headphones shouldnt distort on low frequencies.

 

Most headphones tend to have a really dodgy bass and rely on the proximity effect to make it bearable. The Sennheiser HD25 on the other hand do have a decent response right down. I've found for example that stuff I've mixed monitored on Beyer DT150 is bass heavy but on the HD25 comes out just right.