Which headphones?

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I'm looking for a pair of open-air, over-the-head style of headphones for use at home. I already have a portable set for my iPod.

I will be powering them of the headphone jack of a NAD c370 integrated amp (which a few people at audioreview.com have rated it as good as or better than many SS headphone amps). I may buy a tube headphone amp later, but will work with the NAD for the next year or so......

Budget: under $200

I'm already considering the Sennheiser HD-555 and Grado SR-125. I live in the middle of nowhere, so my choices are limited to etailers and mailorder. Any contenders I should also be considering in this price range?

 

[zumbo]

Don't know about open-air, but here are a couple of half-open and a couple closed.
http://www.wildwestelectronics.net/mbquart1.html

 

[Nick250]

I'm looking for a pair of open-air, over-the-head style of headphones for use at home. I already have a portable set for my iPod.

I will be powering them of the headphone jack of a NAD c370 integrated amp (which a few people at audioreview.com have rated it as good as or better than many SS headphone amps). I may buy a tube headphone amp later, but will work with the NAD for the next year or so......

Budget: under $200

I'm already considering the Sennheiser HD-555 and Grado SR-125. I live in the middle of nowhere, so my choices are limited to etailers and mailorder. Any contenders I should also be considering in this price range?

I have two headphone amps and I don't think its likely they will improve the sound over the headphone out of your NAD. If I could start over I would not buy the amps. Live and learn.

I am partial to the Senns HD580. Smooth balanced sound, comfortable to wear for a long listening session and all around great headphone IMO. I also have a Grado SR-80s. The Grado sound is very in your face, not balanced and a bit harsh. That being said, if you are in the mood for in your face rock and roll and you want to feel like you are in the middle of the band, Grados fill the bill. For me they are uncomfortable to wear and and that coupled with the way they sound they are not good for long listening sessions.

The one advantage the Grados have over the Senns is that the Senns is not very efficent and needs a receiver to drive it. The Grado can be driven by a portable listening device.

Headphones are like speakers, what I like you may not, and visa versa. And as with speakers the only way to know is to listen to them. At least you don't have to deal with room acoustics.

 

[WmAx]

I'm looking for a pair of open-air, over-the-head style of headphones for use at home. I already have a portable set for my iPod.

I have generally, what I believe(or I might just be crazy) to be a good 'feel' for which headphones excel in specific recording types. I can also reference what is really 'accurate', since I am one of the few that has taken the time to compare live sound sources with the feed from flat response measurement microphones in real-time A/B. So, if you would be more specific as to what tonal ranges you liked emphasized(or if you don't like anything emphasized), specific aspects that are important, specific typical music types/vintages and even some specific reference albums/tracks, then I might be able to refer (a) specific product(s) to you.

-Chris

 

[RanjeetRain]

I prefer Grado

I agree with Nick.

My personal preference is Grado. Prestige series if I want to save money, or Reference series if I am in a mood to spend. Senn are nice, but quite highly priced.

 

[Cotizi]

I own the Senn. 555's and i think they are great for the money. Excellent bass response and the highs are not harsh at all. Everytime i listen to my HT setup with my athenas and then my headphones, the headphones are drastically "better" in my opinion. But this is to be expected. Very very detailed and are easily driven on basically anything except portable players...which you already have a pair for. Great choice in my opinion. I tried the Grado headphones and they were not my style. In reference, my athenas seem more harsh and discrete up high and dont carry the same level of detail as the 555's.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I just bought some Grado 225's. I compared them side by side to the Sennheiser 555 and there was no comparison. The 125 is way better as well. I chose to spend the extra $50 and get the 225 for piece of mind more than anything. They were both close. Bass was a little deeper on the 225. The Grado's are more comfortable as well. They apparantly changed the padding recently. They fit my head perfectly and aren't as big and bulky as the Senns. My opinion, but both these Grado models are as good as the Senn HD 600 and that's saying something as they are a significant step up from the 555.

JC

 

[Sheep]

I have the HD500's. Good cans for the price.

SheepStar

 

[AudioArcher]

Grado

Grado most definitely, hands down. I absolutely LOVE mine. Senns would be my second choice as well.

 

[warpdrive]

I'm not a Grado fan

I have the SR225's, and they are up for sale right now. They are just too bright.

I'm something of a headphone addict as most of my music listening is through headphones.

I just recently bought the AKG K701's, and they are amazing, the best set of headphones I've heard except the more expensive Stax electrostatics.

I also like my Beyerdynamic DT880's, which are MUCH better than my SR225's. They are nearly as bright as the SR225, but manage to not sound as harsh. If you go Grado, I think of their prestige series, only the SR60 is worth the money (which I also sold). Comfort is definitely an issue, as my head/ears hurt after more than 2 hours listening
Here's my review: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=131182

The ones I would suggest around $200 or less is the DT880 and the Sennheiser HD580. The AKG K601 might be worth a listen ($220 street) but I haven't heard those yet.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I tried the 60's, 80's, 125's, 225's, 325's. The 60's and 80's were much brighter IMO. The 325's weren't worth the $100 more and the 125's were just a tad below the 225's.

Bright to one person is detailed to another.

The Senns definately aren't as crisp or clear.

JC

 

[warpdrive]

I tried the 60's, 80's, 125's, 225's, 325's. The 60's and 80's were much brighter IMO. The 325's weren't worth the $100 more and the 125's were just a tad below the 225's.

Bright to one person is detailed to another.

The Senns definately aren't as crisp or clear.

JC

Well, objectively speaking, the Grado's *ARE* bright.

They have a HUGE 10dB spike at 5kHz up. They are not even close to being neutral. John Grado has outright said he tunes his headphones to sound exciting to him, neutrality isn't really a goal.

http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[0]=141&graphID[1]=147&graphID[2]=135&graphID[3]=&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones

And I disagree. Detail and brightness are too different things. Brightness is just amplitude whereas detail is the ability of the driver to relay information. You can have a bright headphone that isn't detailed. The Sennheiser's have a LOT of detail, the HD580 is more detailed than the SR125 but isn't as bright.


For headphones, you actually want the treble to droop slightly for most neutral perceived response. Instead, the Grado's do the opposite.

A natural sounding headphone should have a gentle hump in the bass (about 3 or 4 dB) between 40Hz and 500Hz. (This compensates for the fact that headphones don’t give you the physical punch that the sound from a speaker has; so a slight compensation of increased bass is needed for natural sound.) Headphones also need to be rolled off in the highs to compensate for the drivers being so close to the ear; a gently sloping flat line from 1kHz to about 8-10dB down at 20kHz is about right.

You’ll notice all headphones have a lot of ups and downs in the high frequencies; this is normal and mostly due to reflection cancellations in the folds and ridges in the outer part of the ear. Ideally however, the ups and downs of the frequency response should average out to a flat line. Large peaks or valleys over 3kHz in width usually indicate poor headphone response, and should be viewed as a coloring of the sound. Some small dips in the highs may actually be desirable and should exist in the 2kHz to 8kHz region.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Warpdrive. i heard them side by side. You can say you like the Senns. To me, the Grado's were fantastic. Senn's are muddy. The 225's are not as bright as the 125's. Like speakers, headphones are an individual thing. I like treble. I like detail. I like the Grados.

JC

 

[warpdrive]

Warpdrive. i heard them side by side. You can say you like the Senns. To me, the Grado's were fantastic. Senn's are muddy. The 225's are not as bright as the 125's. Like speakers, headphones are an individual thing. I like treble. I like detail. I like the Grados.

JC

I used to like my SR225's too, I went to the store and heard the whole range of Grado's all the way up to the RS-1. As I listened to more of my music at home, I realized they were distorting even my best recordings with harshness in the treble, and fatigued me. My ears could only take that 10dB treble spike for so long. The Grado's are colored. If that's your preference, who am I to argue. Some people like boosted bass, some people like boosted treble. I prefer to strive for an more accurate sound

When I heard the Beyer's, I knew the days of the Grado's were numbered, the Beyers do everything the SR225 does, a bright lively sound, better details, but without the harshness or edge that the Grado's have.

Note: I don't own any Sennheisers. I'm familiar with all of the Grado's and most of the Senns. I don't like either actually. Like you I prefer a brighter headphone, but the Grado's and Senns being too far left and right in the sound signature....I prefer a more neutral but still lively headphone. That's why I own Etymotics, AKG and Beyer headphones, no Senns or Grados (once I sell it)

And I will bring it up again, the Senns have just as much detail, in fact more. If you took a Senn 580, EQ boosted the treble the same amount (10dB), you would actually hear more details that the Grado. The Grado doesn't actually resolve that much detail, it just gives the illusion of detail due to its artificial treble. I do recommend the Senn 580 for the reason that its detail is excellent, and its soundstage is far better than any Grado, even the RS-1. Grado's collapse the soundstage too much.

 

[mazersteven]

I'm looking for a pair of open-air, over-the-head style of headphones for use at home. I already have a portable set for my iPod.

I will be powering them of the headphone jack of a NAD c370 integrated amp (which a few people at audioreview.com have rated it as good as or better than many SS headphone amps). I may buy a tube headphone amp later, but will work with the NAD for the next year or so......

Budget: under $200

I'm already considering the Sennheiser HD-555 and Grado SR-125. I live in the middle of nowhere, so my choices are limited to etailers and mailorder. Any contenders I should also be considering in this price range?

I just purchased a set of Sennheiser HD 600's. Here is my review I posted.

Mazer's Sennheiser HD 600 Review

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19170

They can be had to $229 at www.headphone.com

I think they are worth the extra $29 bucks. Do a Google search, and read all the reviews over the hedphone mentioned already.


I also purchased the AKG K 701's for $285.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I am not a headphone expert that's for sure. I did compare in the $200 range (Canadian). The Senn 600 is closer to $400 up here. It would be more like the Grado 325's in comparison.

When I auditioned them, I used a Grado headphone amp which had no EQ or bass treble controls. Maybe if I could have turned up the treble a little with the Senns (555) I would have liked them more. I notice I have to turn up the bass a little on these Grados and turn down some treble on some recordings.

I have been playing them for 48 hours non stop now to break them in. I read that they get less harsh/ more bass after break in. Hope this is true. Maybe, your ears just get used to them.

JC

 

[nm2285]

Beyerdynamic DT880. Done.