What is the ***BEST*** pair of headphones available today?

[brad1]

So my boyfriend is celebrating his 28th birthday in a few weeks (three to be exact) and we're both in our 20's and we love music, especially him. So instead of getting him what people traditionally get music lovers (set of drums, guitar, etc), I've decided I wanted to go a different route and buy him a very good pair of headphones (over-the-ear kind of headphone, not the earbuds).

Now I've talked to a BUNCH of people I know and I've been getting a slew of different "suggestions" and I've pretty much narrowed it down to either the Sennheiser HD800 or the Grado PS-1000, so what better place to ask than the people who live & breathe this stuff?

Which would you recommend of the two? If you have another suggestion place tell me about it, this is obviously not my expertise and you guys have probably forgotten more about this stuff than I'll ever know, so I need your help.

Also, sort of a somewhat-related (perhaps stupid) question, but is it possible that some people may just NOT like the sound higher-end headphones will produce? Just curious...

Thank you so much for your help...

 

[Alex2507]

Give this thread a read. It mentions a few different decent head phones in different price ranges.
Personal preference always plays into it but for the most part quality wins out.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74560

 

[MinusTheBear]

So my boyfriend is celebrating his 28th birthday in a few weeks (three to be exact) and we're both in our 20's and we love music, especially him. So instead of getting him what people traditionally get music lovers (set of drums, guitar, etc), I've decided I wanted to go a different route and buy him a very good pair of headphones (over-the-ear kind of headphone, not the earbuds).

Now I've talked to a BUNCH of people I know and I've been getting a slew of different "suggestions" and I've pretty much narrowed it down to either the Sennheiser HD800 or the Grado PS-1000, so what better place to ask than the people who live & breathe this stuff?

Which would you recommend of the two? If you have another suggestion place tell me about it, this is obviously not my expertise and you guys have probably forgotten more about this stuff than I'll ever know, so I need your help.

Also, sort of a somewhat-related (perhaps stupid) question, but is it possible that some people may just NOT like the sound higher-end headphones will produce? Just curious...

Thank you so much for your help...

Drop the Grados off your list. The HD800 are excellent headphones, rather expensive though. They also have a higher impedance so they might not work well hooked straight up to portable devices (MP3 players), receivers and computers. They would probably need a separate headphone amp to power them properly.

While I wouldn't categorize them as the "absolute best", at a fraction of the price of the HD800 I would recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 880 32 ohm (<$300) and Audio Technica AD900 (<$300). The Audio Technica AD900 have a wicked open and spacious soundstage.

 

[m_vanmeter]

this is a personal opinion only, but most Grado headphone sit "on the ear" (even with the odd foam cups that can be added to the 1000's) and the Sennheisers are "over the ear" and the foam cup padding rests on the skull bones around the outside of the ear. For longer periods of wear, the "over the ear" style is much more comfortable to me.

I have had excellent experiences and use with Sennheiser HD "500" series headphones. Open back and extremely comfortable for long wear periods, they have a price advantage over the very high end "800" series, but really very little compromise in sound quality.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

while over the ear suggestion are all good, i'd like to mention in ear type - very good for commute & fitness exercise:
Shure - SE425 or SE535
I own the prior one since this march and I absolutely love them...
Only "problem" now - most compressed mp3 sound like crap - that's typical issue with any good headphones/speakers.

 

[brad1]

Thanks for the help guys, I ended up asking at the head-fi forums and got the LCD-2's from the Audeze site

 

[GranteedEV]

Be a bit careful with what you read on head-fi. They know how to get people to spend thousands of dollars on things which don't affect the sound

 

[markw]

Like a lot of things in this hobby, particularly speakers and headphones, personal preference is the most important player here, and everyones is different.

What you're doing is akin to posting a picture of two women and asking "the forum" which one will please the recipient. As you can see from your responses here, every one has a different take based on their experience, price range, and peference.

Also, if you read further at the head-fi forums, you'll note they tend to also recommend stand-alone headphone amps for most of the finer headphones. Some might actually need them.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Never heard of these headphones until today and would love to listen to them. The measured performance on these headphones is very, very good. They are certainly reference headphones fo sho. From the pictures they are not my favorite looking headphone, usually not important but would be if I was dropping a grand on a pair of headphones.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2.pdf

Enjoy.

 

[zhimbo]

Never heard of these headphones until today and would love to listen to them. The measured performance on these headphones is very, very good. They are certainly reference headphones fo sho. From the pictures they are not my favorite looking headphone, usually not important but would be if I was dropping a grand on a pair of headphones.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2.pdf

Enjoy.

Sweet. That's a pretty fine gift!

 

[Boerd]

Drop the Grados off your list. The HD800 are excellent headphones, rather expensive though. They also have a higher impedance so they might not work well hooked straight up to portable devices (MP3 players), receivers and computers. They would probably need a separate headphone amp to power them properly.

While I wouldn't categorize them as the "absolute best", at a fraction of the price of the HD800 I would recommend the Beyerdynamic DT 880 32 ohm (<$300) and Audio Technica AD900 (<$300). The Audio Technica AD900 have a wicked open and spacious soundstage.

I can vouch for the Beyer 880 (Manufaktur) - I have a pair and love them.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I can vouch for the Beyer 880 (Manufaktur) - I have a pair and love them.

Your custom 880's are indeed awesome.

 

[FirstReflection]

Well, too bad I'm late

I certainly do like the Sennheiser HD800 for an open-back, circumaural headphone. They pretty much demand a separate headphone amp though.

For a closed-back circumaural headphone, I really like the Denon AH-D5000, so that's something I would have recommended as an option.

For anyone who wants portable headphones though, I would certainly point them towards Shure SE535 in-ear monitors!

After those three, you start to get into more "custom" stuff. For in-ear monitors, you go over to JH Audio. For over-the-ear "cans" you can start looking at electrostatic or magneplanar headphones.

You can go nuts with headphones, but the amazing thing is, even if you go extremely high end, the price - while seeming very high for headphones - is still WAY less than what you would pay for some really great speakers. Headphones are certainly the least expensive way to get amazingly high resolution and fidelity. $1000+ for headphones makes most people's eyes bug out, but $1000 for a pair of speakers seems like nothing. So if you just think of them as a pair of speakers, they really aren't expensive at all!

 

[lsiberian]

I use the Etyomics Research ER4p. They have a built in ear plug attachement for about a 30db noise isolation. Best sound I've heard from a headphone, but not necessarily great for 8 hours straight of listening. If you've worn flange ear plugs then you can guess the comfort level.

 

[ErnieM]

A headphone review site.


Headphone Reviews, Earphones, Earbuds for iPod, iPhone and More - HeadphoneInfo.com

 

[zhimbo]

Well I would recommend the beats pro its awesome with every format. Definitely it will be perfect gift for you! In my opinion audio solutions Sydney is a good spot offering proper warranty.

Can we banish this Spammer From Down Under, please?