Which headphone to get?

[se1zure]

I am currently deciding between one of these two headphones:

the Sennheiser Hd 280:
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000065BPB/ref=s9_asin_title_1/103-1663048-6831809

or Sony MDR-V6:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Headphones-Voice/dp/B00001WRSJ/sr=1-1/qid=1167876965/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1663048-6831809?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

I have been told both are ecellent, but which is better for my $70?

Or do you have a differet reccomendation.

 

[thundergust]

sennheiser HD280 for isolation
sony v6 for bass
grado sr60 for sound

 

[se1zure]

I am likely using these for just my at home computer, weh playing games, and listening to music.

SO, the grados are best for me? Cna you link me to a site that sells them, because amazon no longer has them for some reason.

ALso, is teh sound on the Sennheiser Hd 280 bad, or not very noticable at all in difference?

 

[jaxvon]

I am likely using these for just my at home computer, weh playing games, and listening to music.

SO, the grados are best for me? Cna you link me to a site that sells them, because amazon no longer has them for some reason.

ALso, is teh sound on the Sennheiser Hd 280 bad, or not very noticable at all in difference?

I've compared the V6 headphones to the Grado SR-60s. The Grados feel like cheap toys next to the Sony headphones. Additionally, the Grado headphones have colorations that make some music sound good (particularly rock), but will leave other types of music sound 'off'. The V6 headphones are much more neutral, and therefore can easily be tweaked to a sound you like with EQ.

I use my MDR-7506 headphones almost exclusively with my computer and I am very happy with them. The lower impedance than other large headphones means they are easily driven with onboard sound or a sound card. The folding design makes them great for going places (with my laptop or for a LAN party). And for gaming, I have found nothing better. You can hear *everything*.

 

[se1zure]

I've compared the V6 headphones to the Grado SR-60s. The Grados feel like cheap toys next to the Sony headphones. Additionally, the Grado headphones have colorations that make some music sound good (particularly rock), but will leave other types of music sound 'off'. The V6 headphones are much more neutral, and therefore can easily be tweaked to a sound you like with EQ.

I use my MDR-7506 headphones almost exclusively with my computer and I am very happy with them. The lower impedance than other large headphones means they are easily driven with onboard sound or a sound card. The folding design makes them great for going places (with my laptop or for a LAN party). And for gaming, I have found nothing better. You can hear *everything*.

whgat about the sennheiser's in comparison?

 

[jaxvon]

whgat about the sennheiser's in comparison?

Still lesser than the V6s. Even the upper end Sennheisers are built cheaply next to the V6. As for sound, the V6 wins as well. The V6 is, and has been, a studio reference headphone. They are the standard for headphone accuracy in studios. Walk into any studio or radio station and there's a good chance that you're going to see a V6. To me there is no contest, but the final decision is still up to you.

 

[se1zure]

aynone else have a say before I click "buy"

 

[Nick250]

aynone else have a say before I click "buy"

Yup I do. Headphones are like speakers, it's all personal preference. My personal favorites are Senns HD580s. I also own Grado SR80s which I don't use anymore. I have not heard the Sony's, but they seem like a reasonable choice if you are buying blind.

Nick

 

[Atokade]

If you don't mind reading up,
www.headphone.com is a great resource for all things headphones and their reviews. Like speakers, best thing to do is to find a store where you can audition a bunch with your own CD.

 

[nav]

In a moment of late-night boredom, I decided I'd make a graph. The Sony MDR-V6 is widely stated as being nearly identical to the Sony MDR-7506 (there are a couple small cosmetic differences). Joe Woj of HeadRoom in this thread on Head-Fi posted a frequency response graph for the Sony MDR-7506 headphones. I then went to HeadRoom's Technical information to get a graph of the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro headphones. I quickly traced them both with some handy software I'd written and put the data into a spreadsheet program for a pretty graph. Voilà!

If you don't know your own headphone tastes perfectly (who does? ) this is hardly an end-all bit of data, but it can't hurt.

 

[jaxvon]

In a moment of late-night boredom, I decided I'd make a graph. The Sony MDR-V6 is widely stated as being nearly identical to the Sony MDR-7506 (there are a couple small cosmetic differences). Joe Woj of HeadRoom in this thread on Head-Fi posted a frequency response graph for the Sony MDR-7506 headphones. I then went to HeadRoom's Technical information to get a graph of the Sennheiser HD-280 Pro headphones. I quickly traced them both with some handy software I'd written and put the data into a spreadsheet program for a pretty graph. Voilà!

If you don't know your own headphone tastes perfectly (who does? ) this is hardly an end-all bit of data, but it can't hurt.

This is not a reliable comparison. There is no information on the procedure used to measure the 7506 headphones, so one cannot compare it to the HD280 measurements. In addition, the peak seen can be easily fixed for computer listening with some EQ or a convolution filter (I use the latter).

 

[nav]

This is not a reliable comparison. There is no information on the procedure used to measure the 7506 headphones, so one cannot compare it to the HD280 measurements.

I absolutely agree that the source of that data plays a major part in its usefulness. The Sony's measurement is seemingly somewhat "unofficial", but from the same organization as the Sennheiser's. Headroom does detail its measurement procedures to some extent, and both sets of data are labeled and described, respectively, as being from the same software suite. The exact same test procedure? Well, we know what is said about assumptions and conclusions thereof, but I've made the jump to moderate if obviously imperfect accuracy in their comparability .

 

[se1zure]

So, if you coudl all take a vote on which one to get, out of those three, based on how they sound with your music (I like all kinds of music), what would you put your money on?

I am a not so rich and in school right now, haha, so this is most of my christmas money, and I just wanna get heaphones I won't grow to hate later.

 

[WmAx]

I absolutely agree that the source of that data plays a major part in its usefulness. The Sony's measurement is seemingly somewhat "unofficial", but from the same organization as the Sennheiser's. Headroom does detail its measurement procedures to some extent, and both sets of data are labeled and described, respectively, as being from the same software suite. The exact same test procedure? Well, we know what is said about assumptions and conclusions thereof, but I've made the jump to moderate if obviously imperfect accuracy in their comparability .

The measurements are probably comparable, at least for the most part. However, reading a response graph is not as straightforward, especially for headphones. For example, nearly all of the high frequency aberrations (peaks and dips) are usually not due to the headphone driver, but instead due to the reflection(s)/resonance(s) between the [relatively] reflective ear surface and interior of the headphone. In addition, the headroom graphs are made on a dummy head that replicates the average human ear and ear canal structure, and the measurements include the resonances that occur as a result. These same resonances also occur when you listen to speakers, but since a dummy head is not typically used to make speaker measurements, you would not normally see the effect(s) of such on the final response graph(s). Also, the headphone driver is directly against your ear, and a speaker for example, would be located in front of or near in front of you off to the side somewhat, and a high frequency reduction occurs to some extent with the speaker, if you measured from the perspective of inside your ear canal vs. a free-standing measurement microphone. The end result is that one can not directly interpret the frequency response graph of a headphone as to what one would expect to hear from a speaker in free field space with a similar looking response trace.

-Chris

 

[se1zure]

The measurements are probably comparable, at least for the most part. However, reading a response graph is not as straightforward, especially for headphones. For example, nearly all of the high frequency aberrations (peaks and dips) are usually not due to the headphone driver, but instead due to the reflection(s)/resonance(s) between the [relatively] reflective ear surface and interior of the headphone. In addition, the headroom graphs are made on a dummy head that replicates the average human ear and ear canal structure, and the measurements include the resonances that occur as a result. These same resonances also occur when you listen to speakers, but since a dummy head is not typically used to make speaker measurements, you would not normally see the effect(s) of such on the final response graph(s). Also, the headphone driver is directly against your ear, and a speaker for example, would be located in front of or near in front of you off to the side somewhat, and a high frequency reduction occurs to some extent with the speaker if you measured from the perspective of inside your ear canal vs. a free-standing measurement microphone. The end result is that one can not directly interpret the frequency response graph of a headphone as to what one would expect to hear from a speaker in free field space with a similar looking esponse trace.

-Chris

...

ANd in noob terms? lol.

 

[WmAx]

So, if you coudl all take a vote on which one to get, out of those three, based on how they sound with your music (I like all kinds of music), what would you put your money on?

I am a not so rich and in school right now, haha, so this is most of my christmas money, and I just wanna get heaphones I won't grow to hate later.

I would recommend Sony MDR-V6/MDR-7506 within the price range(<$100 USD). It is built far better than the others, and it sounds superior, in my opinion. The MDR-V6/MDR-7506 is a much more accurate monitoring device than the others listed(and most others, regardless of price), but this is hardly correlated with musical enjoyment.

-Chris

 

[se1zure]

I would recommend Sony MDR-V6/MDR-7506 within the price range(<$100 USD). It is built far better than the others, and it sounds superior, in my opinion. The MDR-V6/MDR-7506 is a much more accurate monitoring device than the others listed(and most others, regardless of price), but this is hardly correlated with musical enjoyment.

-Chris

Ok, thanks all! I ended up gettign teh Sony MDR-V6. I hope I wont' regret it later, it's reviews on Amazon were fairly good too, but I wouldn't accredit the amazon buys to too much.

 

[Nick250]

If you don't mind reading up,
www.headphone.com is a great resource for all things headphones and their reviews. Like speakers, best thing to do is to find a store where you can audition a bunch with your own CD.

I support the audition suggestion that Atokade made, but use caution when at headphones dot com, there is much snake oil to be found there.

Nick

 

[nav]

Ok, thanks all! I ended up gettign teh Sony MDR-V6. I hope I wont' regret it later, it's reviews on Amazon were fairly good too, but I wouldn't accredit the amazon buys to too much.

I think you'll be very happy with them. I'd love to hear a pair someday (I really have to find a local store to audition headphones, buying every pair I want to hear would get kind-of expensive ). Please let us know how you feel after you've spent some time listening to them.

I support the audition suggestion that Atokade made, but use caution when at headphones dot com, there is much snake oil to be found there.

Definitely; quoted for emphasis.

 

[Tod]

I support the audition suggestion that Atokade made, but use caution when at headphones dot com, there is much snake oil to be found there.

Nick

????


I always liked their site. From what I've seen, they just describe the product and how it will sound. Mind sharing more? Without becoming libelous, if that bothers you, but I've seen a couple of disparaging comments around here and never known quite why. Usually it's obvious (or I'm a dumbass).