Great Quality Over Ear Headphones

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rainereality

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Jan 12, 2013
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I went down the road of looking for good IEMs, but found that when I tried out a few pair they just didn't fit right and caused more pain than anything.

So now I'm looking for a good pair of high quality over-ear headphones for listening to music that generally fall into the lows/mids, but occasionally need high's (so generally an all-around pair)

My main requirements are:
Comfort
Accurate frequency response
Some of the properties that I think come with that I think are that they be non-leather pads, closed-type headphones so they're not sitting on my ears.

My maximum budget would probably be around $300 but they would need to be really darned good to max out that budget. I'm really looking for something ~$200 if possible.

Thanks for your help!
 
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Is a sound card absolutely required? I'm just concerned about the inflexibility of using USB interface. I'd like to use the headphones for iPhone/Mobile devices as well if possible.

Will there be that big of a difference between using a sound card and not using one?

I'm fairly new to looking for quality audio gear so additional information always helps.

Thanks
 
Not required but it sure sounds better. Creative Zx oem sound cards go for around $55 and are WELL worth it.

You should also reconsider the inline volume control and mic. I rock a Zx with a pair of Sennheiser 558s and use the mic that comes with the sound card. Inline volume control usually breaks or otherwise hurts the sound quality.
 
reconsidered, i'll update my post as I'm not overly concerned about it.

Also, i was wondering if you knew where a good place would be to look for/try out headphones? I'm in Canada so I'm not sure if you'll have any suggestions. But at least somewhere to browse online that might assist in me figuring out what I should try.
 
Ask on Head-Fi. It is a very helpful site for such questions.

Really though, for good overall sound, go with Sennheiser and you will be happy.
 
rainereality said:
Would you re-recommend your HD558s? Or would you pick something different/newer now?
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Call me crazy, but I'll take a comfortable pair of headphones over one that sounds slightly better, but is uncomfortable, any day.

In that respect, I love my Sennheiser 598s. Same design as the 558s, just slightly different materials (in a very ugly way haha), so I imagine the 558s will be comfortable as well.

They're worlds better than the terrible Logitech G35 and G930 that I also have (if I had only known!) and sound great with the aforementioned Sound Blaster Z.

I was not impressed by the Sennheisers when running them off onboard audio (ALC 1150 with a supposed headphone amp), but my mind changed completely once I got the sound card.
 
Without an amp I would look into the Senn Momentum (over ear) or Amperior (on ear). They can be had fairly reasonably on amazon right now.

With an amp find a pair of used Senn 580/600 (I paid 180 shipped for mine), however they only really come alive with an amp suited to their impedance.

I currently own both Amperiors and Momentums and enjoy them both, I am currently deciding which I will keep for use on flights because IEM's become painful after about 3 hours of continuous use for me, and I loathe noise canceling cans.
 
rainereality said:
Would you re-recommend your HD558s? Or would you pick something different/newer now?
Click to expand...

Nothing newer that I would buy. For a comfortable, all around headphone, they just do everything I need. You will need to use the included 1/8th to 1/4 adapter for portable use though. That might make portable use a bit tricky. I would look at other headphones for walking around portable use but if you are sitting they should be fine.
 
HammerSandwich said:
You should read this rave review.
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From the review:

"Criticisms? Well, they're not as open and airy sounding as good open headphones, so they're a bit constricted and close sounding."

You want open headphones for gaming if at all possible. Not to say that the NADs don't sound great. Just that for gaming, closed is not ideal.
 
Ah but they have leather ear pads. How dare you! I kid. Those nad cans have promise. I think they might do well for the op bc they fit tight ish and are light weight. Also, sennheiser hd 25 or whTever the modern version is would do well.
 
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Hey all, I'm back after exploring a few different options and eventually ended up buying the Seinnheiser HD558. They definitely have the fullness I was looking for, they're not amazing out of the box for the highs/mids but I think they're going to work in a bit and do me just fine. Also, I am planning on using them for gaming occasionally and the openness really does help for that.

I also gave the Beyerdynamic DT880 a try and those mids/highs are mind blowing, any kind of strings or anything on the high end are ridiculously good. I got the same feel from some audio-technica a900 (which figures because I was testing them from the same friend).

Tried the momentums and the closed style I found too crowded for my taste though their style would be great for mobile/commuting.

Thanks everyone for suggestions. I think I'll be sticking with the HD558's for now because I managed to get a pretty good price on them as well (around $140 CDN) and any benefit experienced from higher quality seemed not worth it for what I was looking for.
 
I have many of the closed ones and by far my favorite is the Shure 840.
 
suprised nobody mentioned these monoprice headphones yet.

great sound quality, meh pads. There's supposed to be a modding community out there somewhere for those things though.
 
last week i got a used pair a Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 headphones (excellent condition $80~) @ guitar center.

basically none of my other headphones have been used since so far...excellent headphones and amazingly comfortable (not very portable however).
 
If can still return the 558 I would look into the Sony MA900. I owned the 595 for many years and was never liked the lack of bass. The Sony's have the bass (nowhere near my ultrasonne's (closed) but still it is very much there tight and goes all the way down). They need no amp and are the most comfortable headphones on the market IMHO, they weight nothing, you could be excused for thinking the headband is a cheap thin plastic but is actually magnesium. Everything I felt the was lacking with the Senn's where in these phones. One caveat they are open to the extreme if that is a problem or a benefit is up to the user.
 
ma900s do not have the bass impact that the 558s do. they might have a bigger soundstage but by their design alone, the bass will dissapate in the open air.
 
I love my Senn 598s, they were a steal on sale for 175. That said, they DO lack a bit of bass, so for those times I want to listen something very bassey, say I'm in the mood for some wubwub, I have a pair of cheap ($40) closed JVC HARX700 that I use for that.
 
bitgod said:
I love my Senn 598s, they were a steal on sale for 175. That said, they DO lack a bit of bass, so for those times I want to listen something very bassey, say I'm in the mood for some wubwub, I have a pair of cheap ($40) closed JVC HARX700 that I use for that.
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Right. The MA900s are even more open than the 558s. So it isn't as big a difference as bw closed and open cans but the effective loss of bass is similar if less overall.
 
I am using an Audio-Technica ATH-M50 connected to a Native Instruments Komplete 6 audio interface. I use this setup to connect studio monitors to my pc.
 
the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pros are the most comfortable headphones ive ever worn and they can be found for $180 on amazon at the moment and they sound amazing, however they require significant amplification to truly shine. i would recommend the fiio e9/e17 combo
 
Im using the Sennheiser PC-360's since I game and need a mic. Love them. Only paid $146
 
OP, did you try buying different tips for your IEMs? There are so many types of tips and they can make a huge different in how comfortable the IEMs are in your ears. For like $20-$30 you can get a couple variety packs and a pretty good selection to test out. I dunno, I just wouldn't give up on IEMs without trying at least some Comply foam tips, the small/medium/large pack is like $15 on amazon to try. Better than letting them go unused, assuming you still have them.
 
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