Headphones advice

[Floyddroid]

Can any of the headphone aficionado's here advise me with regards to acquiring some new (inexpensive ) headphones? I am not a full on headphone user and only use them for late night listening with a turntable via a Little dot valve headphone amplifier. I have a pair of Grado Prestige SR225 which are excellent for monitoring detail etc as you can hear a blue bottle fart from 500 yards through them. No good for protracted listening as i am finding them a little fierce when used will my present set up and would prefer something with a little smoother balance. Any ideas chaps?:scratch:

[struth]

Ones i,m using at moment are nice. You can wear em all day too. Dont take to long to settle down from new so dont prejudge.. can say that about most good phones tbh. They do take time to come bang on song. For money they are tops.

Audio technica... model is in my signature. Come in different colours

[alphaGT]

I bought a pair of Shure 840's I think they are. They are sealed back headphones that fit over the whole ear. I use them for recording live music too, so they serve two purposes. Open back phones have great qualities but they are also loud to everyone else in the room, and not good for recording. These have excellent bass, smooth treble, I enjoy just listening to music, both from my preamp on the hi-fi, and also plugging into my phone. Believe it or not my Apple 6 can push them to decent volumes. I use them for picking bass notes out of songs I'm trying to learn. And they do that very well. On recordings that the bass is recessed, I can hear deep enough to tell exactly what notes they are playing. And for just casual listening they are great, not overly sharp, very pleasant for long listening sessions. And I paid like $299, a few years back. They even came with new ear cushions in case you wear the first pair out. Great all purpose 'phones.


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[Light Dependant Resistor]

Can any of the headphone aficionado's here advise me with regards to acquiring some new (inexpensive ) headphones? I am not a full on headphone user and only use them for late night listening with a turntable via a Little Bear valve headphone amplifier. I have a pair of Grado Prestige SR225 which are excellent for monitoring detail etc as you can hear a blue bottle fart from 500 yards through them. No good for protracted listening as i am finding them a little fierce when used will my present set up and would prefer something with a little smoother balance. Any ideas chaps?:scratch:

I think the number one point with two qualifications is comfort and sound quality. I would look carefully at the headband design that effort has been
made by the manufacturer to give you good comfort for long periods. I have found AKG 701's offer both, but they can be a bit pricey.
I agree with Grant that the Audio Technica range offer good performance. The ATHM50S looks a good pick. Also Sennheisers
their 451 model looks to be good. If you can stretch the wallet to the AKG701's they may well be your best purchase ever.

Cheers / Chris

[Stratmangler]

How good a headphone amp is the Little Bear?
You might be better served by getting a better headphone amp.

[Floyddroid]

If i listened to them a lot then i probably would. However, i don't. It is only rare occasions i wish to listen to new records on my old jap TT without disturbing the missus that i use it. I had a Beresford and didn't like that so i sold it on. The Little dot was a cheap as chips and sounds ok.
.
How good a headphone amp is the Little dot?
You might be better served by getting a better headphone amp.

[clarkey555]

I have been using beyer dynamic dt 770 pro 80ohm cans for years and love them heartily recommended.
Btw brilliant work on ARFM keep them coming dude

[CageyH]

For occasional use, you will be hard pushed to beat a pair of these - https://www.thomann.de/gb/superlux_hd_681_evo_bk.htm?ref=search_rslt_Superlu x_297902_0

What is there not to like at £25?
Sure, the build quality is not top rate, but neither is the price.

[Ian7633]

I've been using a pair of Sennheiser HD650 phones for a while and I find it difficult find fault with them. From the excellent sound to being extremely comfortable they are the best phones I've ever had. They aren't exactly low cost but they do come up on ebay quite regularly.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

For those reading thinking headphones and amps are a hit and miss affair, it is because of the
no standard existing on impedance for headphones - they can vary from 20 ohms to hundreds of ohms
Amplifiers to drive headphones have to accommodate differing headphone specifications.
and some are good at that, others not so good. Generally valve amps are good at driving
higher impedance, but a lot of other factors apply as well. For instance the anode voltage
applied to a valve - its coupling be it transformer or capacitor etc. A solid state
using fets or mosfets suggests to me to be the best all round design.

Might have to design one, and see

Cheers / Chris

[RichB]

I really like those cheap AKG they sell in Richers. On ear design and a pair goes in my work bag. Travelled all over with them.

For more critical listening I have some Audio Technica ATHm50x. They can get a bit uncomfortable after a long while but maybe that's just my massive noggin.

For the money though both the AKG and AT offerings at that price are worth a look.

[Floyddroid]

Thanks for that Pete. Good to know someone is listening ,
I have been using beyer dynamic dt 770 pro 80ohm cans for years and love them heartily recommended.
Btw brilliant work on ARFM keep them coming dude

[rigger67]

I really like those cheap AKG they sell in Richers.

If you mean the AKG Y50 at £39, I would heartily agree :

http://www.k55.ch/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/y/5/y50.jpg

I use them when I'm on the go or on holiday - the closed back design doesn't annoy anyone sitting next to you.


For home use, I prefer Grado myself and run a pair of SR80s through a dual mono headphone amp and they sound stunning :)

[alcarmichael]

Another vote for Sennheisers, I have the HD 600's and love them. A smooth listen, nice and warm but with plenty of detail, this combined with great comfort means I can - and do - happily listen to them for hours on end.

As previously mentioned though, they are open back so might not be any good if you intend to use them in the same room as another. Also not sure what you class as inexpensive, compared to the AKG's above they're certainly not, compared to HD800's they definitely are!