Be Excellent To Each Other

My Sennheiser CX-300s have finally bitten the dust and I'm tempted to get some proper headphones this time around. What's the best sort of thing I can currently get for <£100? I have always gone for in-earphones before, so I pretty much have no idea what is good and what is not. I'd prefer wired for better sound quality and they must have a 3.5mm connector.

For out and about or big ones for at home?

If you'd asked a while back I'd be recommending the Klipsch Image ONEs I'm using right now that are fantastic - they were £65 on LivingSocial instead of £130.

This isn't useful. Sorry.

Wait! They're £80 on Amazon!

Ideally I'd like some that would be useful for both. Although I could always get some cheap in-ear ones for out and about if necessary.

What's good about them? I notice they work with Apple gear, of which I have an iPad and that's it.

I've sworn by Sennheiser PX100s for years. For out and about.

The inline controls don't work with my first-gen Touch, it's newer-things-only. Probably iPad is new enough.

They're comfy (my ears don't overheat even after hours of use, which other people in the office seem to suffer from their other brands), well built, the cable is a pretty reasonable length, they come with a hard case, big-plug-adapter, plane adapter, go over my (admittedly fairly small) ears rather than perching on top, are fairly good at blocking sound out, don't leak too much, and - most importantly of all - sound fucking brilliant.

I'm comparing them to Sennheiser CX300s (which are pretty good but too bassy and very hissy, and fairly shonkily built) and Koss Porta Pros (which don't sound as good as these and are on-ear rather than cupping, so leak in and out massively).

What were those ones Chinny used to always recommend?

The reviews here are pretty much bang on, lots of graffs and shit too:

http://www.headphone.com/

What they say is good is definitely good.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50's sound really good, I may get a pair of them when my current ones die.

They like the Klipsch (3.5 stars based on a higher price), so I must concur.

Shame they seem to be over £100.

Fuck headphones, just do what the kids do and play your banging choons through the speaker on your phone, innit.

Only a smidge looking at Google Shopping. eBay bargains always good for stuff like this, get it cheap via Hong Kong.

Comparing the graphs at Headroom, the ones Bik recommended look alright too, especially if you can get them at an ultra bargain price like he did. RRP is kinda steep though, they're not worth that. The Klipsch seem to be a little nasty in the high end with harmonic distortion and average response. Their overall response is a little slacker than the Audio-Technica's, so won't sound quite as "tight". TBF, the Audio-Technica's are studio monitoring headphones, so they're going to be me accurate. The Klipsch phones look more portable though, which probably makes them more suitable for your usage.

Actually, these look better than the Klipsch ones, if you want something cheaper:

#tabs">http://www.headphone.com/headphones/gra ... i.php#tabs - Grado SR 60i

Good balanced frequency range, not too bad square wave response (punchiness/tightness), lowish high freq harmonic distortion, v good isolation. Subs Bass probably a little poor, if that would bother you. Look damn good though for the dollar.

"Sorry, no Grado Labs product shipping outside USA due to manufacturer restrictions!"

Also they leak sound as they're supra-aural. I don't want to be the noisy one on the bus for a change.

Yep, they're open so more likely to piss off old ladies. The "not outside the US" thing ain't a problem though as you can get them imported off ebay.

The Klipsch are supra-aural too (apparently), but only leak noticeably at higher volumes - that's probably more to do with them going over my ears though. Unless the Grado ones aren't closed back?

I don't understand pupil's complaints about them; music is sounding much more detailed and cleaner than ever, whatever the frequency, even from 256kbps AAC - presumably this means I've listened to completely shit equipment my whole life (not far off the truth, though I've worked on it the last 5 years).

These look great, but unfortunately don't appear very portable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-5 ... 817&sr=8-1

I think there's always going to be a trade off between size/weight and sound even if you spend megabucks.

I'm now wondering whether to get those and spending £25 on some in-ear ones.

Don't get me wrong, mate. I'm not dissing yer cans Like I say, good value at £70 but the RRP is too steep since for the same RRP you can get the Audio-Technica's which perform much better. Their performance is about on par with the Grado's, but are about 50 dollars more expensive RRP. All depends what myp can find cheap atm, I'm just giving a few options. I've got some fairly pricey sennheiser's at home for studio usage so I know what really good sounding headphones can sound like, there is a massive difference.

Yep, basically. Portable headphones are never gonna sound really great, but massive monitoring headphones are not very portable and make you look like a prat hipster if you wear them on the bus. Trade off, init.

Win win for Myps there.

In that case I may just get in-ear and cans and keep the latter at home.

I was more going for expressing a Joe Earwax opinion than taking offence. I wouldn't have spent £100 on them, but for £65 I reckon I've got a solid bargain - music sounds far more ace, my ears don't hurt and the office noise is cut out! So for £80 I'm happy to recommend them.

To be honest, I reckon that you should get something reasonable but cheap for out and about, then save up the pennies for some studio quality cans for home use. You don't want to spend too much on out'n'about ones, I consider them almost disposable. You will end up snagging, yanking and dropping them. I go for PX100s because: they have great sound quality, they are reasonably resilient, all the sets I've had have lasted about a year. Oh and you can usually pick them up for around 30 notes. And although open backed, they don't leak noise very much.

not to mention that a lot of the big cans aren't really supposed to be driven by tiny MP3 players, needed a separate amp. Which means batteries. And you look like a twat.

I got a set of SkullCandy cans for my Birthday to use in the office, and they're superb. The design is about as loud as they are, though, so I'm not sure if you'd want to wear them out and about.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004 ... B004P1HW8I

One customer review, one star.

For out-and-about headphones (and in-open-plan-office headphones), I also value a canalphone design that cuts out background noise without you having to turn the music up to drown it out.

My Sennheiser CX-300s were great for this. You can barely hear anything even when you haven't got any music playing.

My mistake, they must be terrible

I have these. They RRP for £150, but I got mine for £60. They're fucking gorgeous.

You sometimes see Fanny Wangs for under £100. The styling is quite divisive, though.

Fanny. Wangs.

Grado 60i's at home and Wangs for out and about. Do this and you will feel happy and fulfilled.

Best wishes,

________

They look a lot like the Beats by Dre headphones.

Hur, hur. Fanny Wang

I want to buy them for the name alone, but they look ghastly.

These are currently £50 on Black Friday.

GOD BASTARD DAMMIT.

Ta, just ordered for an xmas gift

And I have Sennheiser PC230, also from http://www.iheadphones.co.uk/

Haven't had one of them for a while.

Any recommendations for good earphones with external noise-blocking rubber thingies?

Sennheiser CX300s seem to be popular, what of the Skullcandy or Ministry of Sound varieties?

My set by JVC are fantastic, and cheap.
I'll link you when I get to work, or you can search the forum for me saying "JVC".

Here you go: http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-HAFX1X-Xtre ... 211&sr=8-1

Hooray for Beex for somehow knowing what I was looking for before I do. Also, the nice chaps at Amazon have just given me 2 quid credit towards MP3 for buying those earphones. Yay! all round.

A quality purchase, sir. I'm really tempted to buy another pair, just in case something goes wrong with the set I've got. But that seems a bit daft