Headphones

Garry H

Looking for a decentish set of headphones for home use that don't cost more than my house. They don't need to be Bluetooth or wireless. Over ear ones. Any recommendations? I know that there was some headphone guy on here, but can't remember who it was (HD?)

pblakeney

If I was looking for something to meet your spec, then I'd consider these -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD- ... DTM3AYJ77N

bendertherobot

Assuming your house is more than £250, how about Sennheiser HD650?

Zendog1

Amazon have HD650's at £230 just now. Amazing sound and not THAT expensive.

joelsim

Depends completely on what sort of music you listen to. Avoid Beats like the plague. Overpriced tat.

Good brands include Beyerdynamic, AIAIAI, AKG, audio-technica, Sennheiser, Sony and a few others.

Garry H

Joelsim wrote:

Depends completely on what sort of music you listen to. Avoid Beats like the plague. Overpriced tat.

Good brands include Beyerdynamic, AIAIAI, AKG, audio-technica, Sennheiser, Sony and a few others.

Now i remember, you're the headphones guy

I'm 45, wouldn't dream of using Beats.

Mainly noisy stuff. Metal, punk, classical, opera etc

TheBigBean

I just bought Bose ones. About £140. Overear, famous for being comfortable and have a reasonably standard replaceable cable. They are perfectly fine for me, but I wouldn't pretend to have the best ears.

I also bought a black dragonfly so I have a mini sound system at work which drowns out my colleagues. I'm happy with it.

Wheelspinner

Focal do some nice ones too, from relatively cheap to astronomically expensive (See: Utopia Headphones).

Bowers & Wilkins another personal favourite, although I most like their in-ear models rather than the over-ear ones.

Garry H

Should've said, I'm (practically) deaf in one ear.

I already have a decent set in in ear ones (Sennheiser) which I use for cycling and walking about in.

Garry H

bendertherobot wrote:

Assuming your house is more than £250, how about Sennheiser HD650?

I live in a B&Q shed

BTW, did you post on Gwlad?

pblakeney

Garry H wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

Depends completely on what sort of music you listen to. Avoid Beats like the plague. Overpriced tat.

Good brands include Beyerdynamic, AIAIAI, AKG, audio-technica, Sennheiser, Sony and a few others.

Now i remember, you're the headphones guy

I'm 45, wouldn't dream of using Beats.

Mainly noisy stuff. Metal, punk, classical, opera etc

If you like a bright sound and aren't thinking of using when others are in the room then consider Grado.

bendertherobot

Garry H wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Assuming your house is more than £250, how about Sennheiser HD650?

I live in a B&Q shed

BTW, did you post on Gwlad?

I could not possibly confirm or deny that. 8)

slowmart

B & W P7's. I've had a pair for about 3 years and I've found them superb. Comfortable and great listening.

There's a wireless version now which means I can't vouch for the quality as mine are wired I'd certainly consider another set but the current ones are still going strong.

Bobbinogs

I have some AKG y50s and reckon they are pretty good. Nice sound and comfortable, and great VFM (paid £50 for mine). The style can put a few off but I don't mind (I have the cyan ones) and I think there is a black option if you hunt around:

http://www.whathifi.com/akg/y50/review

bbrap

Maestro GMP 435s, made by the company that used to be Quart (MB Quart). Should be able to get them for less than £200. I still have an older set of the Quart branded ones and they go on forever.

redjeepǃ

Beyer Dynamic DT880's are pretty tasty. They also do a closed version (think it's the 770) that are more isolating. Amazon were selling them for about £100 recently, but they're normally around £200 or so. Go for the lower impedance versions (32 ohms, rather than the 250 or 600 ohms) unless you really want to go down an every decreasing circle of buying special headphone amps etc (yes, I do speak from experience as somebody that built a valve headphone amp).

The Grados are very good and very involving but can be a bit loud for anybody sat nearby.

joelsim

Redjeep! wrote:

Beyer Dynamic DT880's are pretty tasty. They also do a closed version (think it's the 770) that are more isolating. Amazon were selling them for about £100 recently, but they're normally around £200 or so. Go for the lower impedance versions (32 ohms, rather than the 250 or 600 ohms) unless you really want to go down an every decreasing circle of buying special headphone amps etc (yes, I do speak from experience as somebody that built a valve headphone amp).

The Grados are very good and very involving but can be a bit loud for anybody sat nearby.

The 32 ohm is for use with phone/tablet.

The £100 is the pro version, the £200+ version in the consumer which is more comfortable.

redjeepǃ

Fair point. I just figured that the OP would find the 32 ohm easier to use, but didn't know about the two versions of the DT's.

bendertherobot

I have been playing in John Lewis and concluded that the answer is the Bose Quiet Comfort 35.

narbs

Garry H wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Assuming your house is more than £250, how about Sennheiser HD650?

I live in a B&Q shed

BTW, did you post on Gwlad?

Noooooooooo :shock:

crescent

From personal experience, Bose or Sennheiser rarely disappoint. Beats by Dr Dre are very poor, in my opinion - tried several pairs in HMV and the emperor's new clothes came to mind.

joelsim

Crescent wrote:

From personal experience, Bose or Sennheiser rarely disappoint. Beats by Dr Dre are very poor, in my opinion - tried several pairs in HMV and the emperor's new clothes came to mind.

Couldn't agree more.

As I said it all depends on what you listen to, at what quality, and at what point you are on the hi-fi geek level.

If you have a £10k stereo system, as I do, then you'll want some headphones that give every little bit of detail and involvement, if you want some good quality ones that will be decent sounding on your iPhone then Bose are perfect, if you're only interested in street-style and what your teenage mates think of you then go for a pair of Beats - overpriced, poorly-made rubbish essentially.

But it's like everything, you need a good source to appreciate expensive headphones. If you download at lossless/flac blah blah and you have good amplification and a good DAC then a pair of Beyers/B&W/Shure/audio-technica/Grado and the like will be what you want, if you listen to MP3 at 128kbps on your phone then buy a pair for £30.

What I will say though, if you buy a pair of Bose or whatever and listen to MP3 then you may as well buy a very expensive TV and only watch YouTube clips on it.

earth

Grado's or B+W are good options

rick_chasey

earth wrote:

B+W are good options

Nah.

I had the C5s. Well, I had 5 pairs, because they kept breaking.

I'm not really hard on earphones but I do use them a lot, and the cable would break within the year.

They sound great; in the style of what I like.

I've plumped for some cheaper shure se215s (£75) and although there's a definite difference in quality (mainly a bit of buzz at the higher end when the bass is heavy), they're pretty punchy, sharp, the buds are designed exceptionally well and, above all, the cable is fully replaceable!

mrfpb

I've always found Creative Labs products excellent value for money. I have a pair of their sports earphones (Aurvana Air) for running which work really weel and stay on theears well - On rather than in ear phones work well, as they let sound in when running> I can still hear birds singing when running in he woods along with whatever I'm listening to.

My daughter enjoys the over ear phones with USB or regular connections.

Every Creative product seems to give sound (I have a portable BT Speaker and PC speakers too).

http://uk.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets