Headphones ~$300 - your experiences
 

Hey all,

I'm a lover of audio (over $10K on car audio over my short car-owning years; around $5k on home theatre etc) and I can't believe I've been running around with $49 sony fully-closed earhones for my iPod for around 5 years now! SONY!!! Come... ooooonnnnnn! No wonder I'm going deaf (or is that the drums? And noisy exhaust?)

I import all my audio at Lossless quality so i figure a nice $250-$300 pair of either open-ear or closed-ear headphones are something I deserve, considering I listen to my i Pood a fair bit, and I'd can plug them in to my home amp for some quiet listening from time-to-time.

Just wanna get people's opinions on some headphones that have served them well or they have read good (read excellent) reviews on. I'll buy them on the net if i need to save some money, so Australian availability isn't an issue.

Things that have caught my eye: Sennheiser HD 555 and Denon AH-D 501.

I'm looking for something that plays the highs nicely. I'ma bit more of a fan of the high areas then most.

CHEERS! :)
Alex

Have been happy with my Sennheisers!

Checkout [URL="http://headphones.com.au/"]Headphonic[/URL] in West Perth
Those guys are headphone geeks!

Also consider a headphone amp makes so much difference its not funny.

+1 for headphonic

Its hard to recommend headphones as they are very subjective and what I like may sound totally shit to you. I might love the sound of 20 dollar changware ear buds as my ears may not be good enought to hear/appreciate the quality of something better.

That said if you stick with the below brands you usually cant go far wrong.

Sennheiser
Etymotic
Shure
Ultimate Ears

For abit of info take it how you will beacuse as I said above its hard to suggest headpones to someone .

I love my 79 dollar CX300s Had these for about 3 years now and they have been through everything I can throw at them including going swimming and through the washing machine twice and they still sound nice and crisp not alot of bass but the midrange is good.

My atrio m8s are not to bad I cant say I love them as they dont seem to fit my ears properly and are quite bassy for a canalphone which I dont like to much I prefer a fairly even spread.

Etymotic ER4p I did like these sound wise however the attenuation was abit crazy and you cant hear a thing when you have them in which is good for some things but not for others. Possibly my favourtie sounding canalphone ever they also come with heaps of spare tips and a nice case

I also have Earmoulds which are custom molded earplugs with build in speakers.. I think the Etymotics block out more sound and the sound they produce is far better.

Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3Studio also have a set of these @ 149 I would consider them a very well rounded canalphone.. but would buy the 79 dollar cx300s before them.


I know I have mentioned canal phones above but for ipod/travel use they are the only way to go in my opinion. You have to take the time to make them fit right but once you do the rewards are well worth it

i got the HD555

get a set! you're welcome to give them a test run before you purchase

Sennheiser HD 25...dont know if you can get these anymore, I think the newer ones are the HD 25-SP-II...They are fcuking awesome!!!

Wouldnt buy or use anything else if you're serious about audio...just my 2c :D

i have Sennheiser HD 25's mate an ur right they are good and good value..

I was recommended HD25s by a friend.. I dont recommend them if you have a large head. Felt like someone was standing on the sides of my head when I had them on :P

Grab a set of the sennheiser cx300ii for everday knockabout use for sure! about $70 from jb. then get something else for home...

Shure SE-530's , just do it!

Love em to bits!

Failing that Bose quiet comfort 3's

I am in love with my Bose QC3's but unfortunately they are more than $300 (unless you try ebay)

QC2's sit over the ear and have more base but the QC3's sit on the ear and I feel give better sound quality.