Headphones to watch movies and listen to music.

[andyj]

I am looking for headphones to watch the movies and to listen to music. I like deep bass and very good quality of the sound. Do I need amp. for the headphones? Is wireless better choice then wired ones? Do I need to spend a lot of money to have good quality headphones? My budget is up to $300-$400. Any ideas what should I by?
Andy J.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Hi Andy. Do you plan to use these at home or when you travel? Do you need sound isolation on your headphones? If you plan to use these at home, do you have receiver/amplifier with headphone out?

 

[andyj]

Thank for your response. I am planning to use mostly at home. I don't have amplifier and I don't know if I need it. I need your help to tell me when I need amplifier. I am assuming it is for listen a laptop or tablet. Am I right? I have Denon AVR -X4100W. I have Auxiom front, center and rear speakers and SVS subwoofer. Is sound isolation necessary? Is sound isolation changes the sound of music? What I mind is a god quality sound and deep bass. I am not young (65 years) but I am very picky about sound. I read a lot of reviews about headphones and it is very confusing. The ratings are from 1 to 5 stars for the same product. I also used to play drums in rock band in early 70's so I know how the sound supposed to be.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

by sound isolation Ty meant to ask - if you care if people near will hear your music or do you want block sounds from outside.
I like Open back headphones, which while don't do much at all for sound isolation in or out, they tend to provide best long term comfort and open soundstage.
From headphones I own AKG K712Pro are most comfortable and Senhessier HD558 are close in sound quality, but not as comfortable long term - I think it's very personal matter.
I'd recommend you to check out Senhessier HD600 and maybe 700. Also Beyerdynamic DT 990 (32 or 250 ohm versions - get 32 if you ever would like to use with mobile device like smartphone or headphones out port straight out of laptop), if you connect it to your denon - you should go with 250ohm version.
Pro will have tighter fit, coiled cable and a bit cheaper materials, otherwise identical sound.

 

[afterlife2]

IMO these work great for both, especially Movie/TV dialog. It also has a long A$$ cord: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PIONEER-SE-A1000-OVER-EAR-TOP-OF-LINE-STEREO-HEADPHONES-WITH-6-3MM-ADAPTER-/191565130640?hash=item2c9a2beb90:g:hCwAAOSwTA9X6bCw

 

[andyj]

Thank you for your advice. I think open back headphones are just for me. I don't care if people can hear the sound. I don't want to fill tired after 1 hour of listening to music. I think I am going to stick to Senhessier just don't know what to choose between hd600, 650 or 700. I wish I could try before buying them. Which ones are most comfortable and gives a full sound and deep bass? What do you mean by tighter fit and coiled cable? Do I need to buy a different cable?

Afterlife 2 - please explain to me what IMO means? Do you recommend to buy Pioneer headphones for movies only?

Andyj

 

[afterlife2]

In My Opinion that's what IMO means. They work for both Andy. They are by far my favorite to listen to Movies/TV, but they are great for music and the bass is tight, not over blown. I think it's good to have at least 2 pairs of headphones. For music only I prefer the JBL S500, just amazing with music, but for movies TV the Pioneer are killer.
JBL S500(It's amazon so if you don't like them you can always return them. I doubt you will return them): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WCGOD62/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A101WUF3E63OK5

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Sennheiser HD600 would be best out of Sennheiser line value considered. They are really comfortable with neutral and balanced soud. You mention you want deep bass, do you mean deep bass or strong bass that is overwhelming? I'm really satisfied with HD600 and they have good balanced bass but if you want overwhelming bass then HD600 won't satisfy you. If you want more bass I believe Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 has more bass, I personally haven't heard those so can't say this for sure. Beyerdynamic DT990 Premium would be another good option that has bit more bass than HD600 and are comfortable as well. If you want really strong bass then I would suggest Denon AH-D600, they are fun and comfortable headphones but the bass was too strong to my taste as I prefer more balanced sound.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Forgot to add about the amplifier, as you have good receiver you can use your receiver headphone out and its build in headphone amp so you wont need a dedicated headphone amp. Thats what I myself do as well, use my receiver as headphone amp. And as was already said, sound isolation question was for the case if you don't want others to hear what you listen / you to hear sounds around you.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Thank you for your advice. I think open back headphones are just for me. I don't care if people can hear the sound. I don't want to fill tired after 1 hour of listening to music. I think I am going to stick to Senhessier just don't know what to choose between hd600, 650 or 700. I wish I could try before buying them. Which ones are most comfortable and gives a full sound and deep bass? What do you mean by tighter fit and coiled cable? Do I need to buy a different cable?

Afterlife 2 - please explain to me what IMO means? Do you recommend to buy Pioneer headphones for movies only?

Andyj

You could get DT990 Premium (not pro) and not worry about coiled (vs straight) cable or tighter (a bit more pressure on head) fit.
Again, in my limited experience you shouldn't disregard AKG K or Q series as they are both very comfortable and have great sound.

I never heard Pioneers AF is all over, but I do own about 8-9 different phones including 3 different Sennheiser's and they are all excellent at their price points.

 

[Dan Madden]

Watching movies with headphones is actually a very pleasant experience (especially for clear dialoge) . I like to call it 'the poor man's surround sound'. For your budget, try out Grado headsets. They are fabulous. You will also likely need a headphone extension cord which you can buy at many electronic stores that sell cables etc. If you are using your amp's headphone jack, you will not need a headphone amp

 

[cel4145]

HD650 would be a better choice for movie watching, IMO, over HD600 because they have less roll off in bass extension on the low end.

For $200, the AKG K7XX Massdrop edition are very nice. Very comfortable. Good warm sound with plenty of bass extension. Not bass heavy, though.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

HD650 would be a better choice for movie watching, IMO, over HD600 because they have less roll off in bass extension on the low end.

For $200, the AKG K7XX Massdrop edition are very nice. Very comfortable. Good warm sound with plenty of bass extension. Not bass heavy, though.

I personally prefer the neutral sound of HD600 over HD650 darkish sound.

 

[andyj]

I found Grado RS2e on Amazon for $495. There are a lot of very good customer reviews. Does anybody have them or know how they sound? I like a full sound of music with rich but clear bass. I like classic rock music, blues and bands wit lead guitar. What is the frequency of them? Is it 20-20000 or better? I prefer better numbers.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I found Grado RS2e on Amazon for $495. There are a lot of very good customer reviews. Does anybody have them or know how they sound? I like a full sound of music with rich but clear bass. I like classic rock music, blues and bands wit lead guitar. What is the frequency of them? Is it 20-20000 or better? I prefer better numbers.

Don't get too much on the frequency numbers that manufacturers claim. True performance is different thing. I personally dont like how Grados feel on my head/ears and prefer Sennheiser/Beyerdynamic for comfort. I have not heard those Grados, but what I have heard I was not impressed.

 

[KEW]

Andy,
If you have a Best Buy with magnolia room close by, the one near me had a very good display with about 7 models of Sennheiser, as well as some other nice models that you can try out.
If you go there and come back with notes about what you like and don't like, some of the excellent headphone guys here might be able to help guide you on that basis (or you may simply make your decision after hearing them). Just be sure that you are listening to music you know well. I think all of the Best Buy's have Tidal music streaming, so they should be able to play about anything you request as long as it is not overly obscure.
Good luck! The good news is there are lots of great headphones, the bad news is it would take a very long time to be certain you have the very best for your ears! I think comfort ends up being the really important factor if you expect to use them for long periods.

 

[andyj]

I tried Magnolia once. Not every Magnolia has so many Sennheiser headphones.The only concern is the source of the music. I listened to their sources and some of them sounded good. One time I listened to Bose speaker system in store and found out they had a special CD made just for stores. I hooked up different source of music and then the sound was terrible. I am going to take my tablet to Magnolia and test some of them so you know what sound is best for me. Is it true that if headphones are good to listen to music they will be also good to watch movies?
I would like to thank all of you for your help.

Andy

 

[KEW]

I think it is safe to say that headphones good for music are also good for movies. The exception is if you like some sort of coloration when listening to music that would hinder speech intelligibility. However, if we can assume you are looking for accuracy, they should work well for both and headphones are generally clearer than speakers because you have no resonance from cabinet nor room effects.
I'm not a headphone guy, mainly because my ears heat up fast if they lose circulation (they are cooling fins).

When listening to my speakers, the main change I favor is I like to turn up the subs for action movies to better feel the impacts. It is more about the fun of enjoying the LFE/sub (Hoo-wah as Tim the Toolman would say) than necessarily obtaining what was intended. However, I don't think I would enjoy exaggerated deep bass using headphones.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I tried Magnolia once. Not every Magnolia has so many Sennheiser headphones.The only concern is the source of the music. I listened to their sources and some of them sounded good. One time I listened to Bose speaker system in store and found out they had a special CD made just for stores. I hooked up different source of music and then the sound was terrible. I am going to take my tablet to Magnolia and test some of them so you know what sound is best for me. Is it true that if headphones are good to listen to music they will be also good to watch movies?
I would like to thank all of you for your help.

Andy

Using your table/phone as a source is quite good way to find out how they compare, how ever some headphones have higher impedance so you need to adjust volume with the source. This will affect to sound as well but you should get an idea how they sound and compare. Sennheiser HD600 for example will lose a bit with a phone/table as they can't power them sufficiently but still you should be able to compare them, I did that with my phone when I was getting my headphones and when I got home and plugged them in my receiver they sounded even better. When you find headphone that sounds good to you with music it should indeed sound good with movies as well!

 

[cel4145]

Is it 20-20000 or better? I prefer better numbers.

And that's all that they would be useful for--only as numbers.

Whats the point of having above 20K content? And then below 20hz? That's sound meant to be felt and would require HUGE amounts of output to be able to hear. It doesn't make sense to even worry about designing headphones for <20hz.

Besides the fact that those numbers are especially meaningless without a +/- db rating. Could be really rolled off in response by the ends of the range where it can't produce very useable content.