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Hi all- I'm needing to buy some headphones...
Proud dad moment- its for my 13 year old daughter, who wants a good pair of wired ones from Santa, critically "not Beats, Dad, they sound rubbish". My heart swells.
Any recommendations? Wired, £60 or so?
Cheers BB- look good. sadly, the ones in my budget are out of stock, but noted.
AKG are usually a good bet. I have a pair of AKG K451 that are a few years old now. Very happy with the build quality and sound from them and nice and comfortable to wear for long periods.
They may have an updated version by now?
Grado SR60's might be in budget?
I tried a pair of AKG Y50 recently - very good. I want some.
^ what alexxx said - bit of a push to get them for £60 but you might be lucky. About as non-Beats as they come, if Beats are form > function, let's just say Grado don't spend much of the budget on styling!
I like the Grados, look good, but can't see any for £60. I've had good experiences with AKG's in the past, can get them for £59.99....hmmm.
AKG Y50 are great and around £40 - £50. Consistently good reviews.
In ear - Soundmagic E10C. Consistently rated the best budget headphone in What HiFi.
http://uk.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets/aurvana-live
£39, down from £79.
Don't be fooled by the fact they are made by Creative. They use (I think) Denon drivers and sound really really nice for the money.
Reviews (bear in mind they're being reviewed at £80!)
http://www.head-fi.org/products/creative-aurvana-live-headphones
Just a word to say that the Grado's are open backed so whatever she's listening to, you'll be listening to too
Yeah Grados are kinda the anti-Beats and you have to love them for it. If you dig the 'WWII air traffic controller' look they could almost be seen as stylish in thier own way.... almost.
Got my SR 80's on right now as it so happens, they still knock my 3 x the money Bower and Wilkins P5's for 6 in the sound stakes, shame I can't wear them outside the house as they do broadcast far and wide.
Have had Aurvana Live in the past and they were v good too - warm sound but preferred for movies and classical music etc. Still prefer the Y50s they pack a big punch especially for the price.
depends on your budget OP. if youre not looking to spend too much money but want good value for money then the Sennheiser HD 202 is a good bet at around £25
very rich in bass which may be what a growing teenager needs!
i've had a pair of Sennheiser HD 212 Pro for the last 12 years and theyre still going strong and IMO they sound every bit as good as a pair of Beats
http://www.whathifi.com/sennheiser/hd-202/review
+1 for the AKG Y50. For £50 they are fantastic.
Another vote for akg here
SR80s were the first headphones I bought to treat myself around 12 years ago.. they are still in decent condition apart from the foams needing replacing a couple of times and the vinyl headband dying in the sun on the dashboard of the car (now wrapped with bar tape).
I think they are stylish, they look awesome if you're into that thing.
They also sound great however because they are open backed as has been mentioned they may sound worse in a lot of environments (out and about)... I personally upgraded to some Bose Q35s (well over budget) because they were sound cancelling and that makes the biggest SQ difference for me out and about.. you really zone out where you are..
Point being.. if shes on the move then maybe my grado suggestion wasn't great and in ear is the way to go for that budget!?
Oculas are apparently releasing some $49 headphones to "rivel" $900 ones... not sure if they are stand alone or completely bs marketing hype but we'll see..
-1 for the AKG Y50. Set I had went back, bloody awful.
Whatever AudioTechnica model is in the price range I'd say. Or Sennheiser.
theres a set of B&W P3s in the classifieds...not mine I hasten to add
Looked at the P5 & P7 earlier this year and they were pretty decent
I had a search, Coogs, but failed.....sorry.
Oh BTW, while you're here- have a listen to this, think you'll like it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083p88m#play
Sennheiser get my vote.
I had a search, Coogs, but failed.....sorry.
's cool. It's an old thread but it's essentially the same question so I thought might be helpful.
Oh BTW, while you're here- have a listen to this, think you'll like it:
Random! I'm not a huge fan of AS, but I'll have a listen at lunch.
Sennheiser urbanites - I love mine, they're excellent and as clear as my HD580'S that used to cost hundreds. I paid 50 at Richers but you can get them direct from Sennheiser in their sale for 69 I think.
DezB - Member
-1 for the AKG Y50. Set I had went back, bloody awful
Awful how? (Was going to go for some if RHA don't fix my current knackered pair!)
Sennheiser urbanites - I love mine, they're excellent and as clear as my HD580'S that used to cost hundreds. I paid 50 at Richers but you can get them direct from Sennheiser in their sale for 69 I think.
i need to replace the pads on my hd-212's but i'm also considering getting a new pair...those look good but im also tempted by the hd-215
http://www.trustedreviews.com/Sennheiser-HD-215-headphones-review
"[i]In ear - Soundmagic E10C. Consistently rated the best budget headphone in What HiFi.[/i]"
I've had two pairs of Soundmagics, and both failed in exactly the same way - the glue sticking the two halves of the body together went soft and no longer stuck.
A shame, as I really liked their sound and I don't know what to replace them with !
Richer Sounds have good range and they also have clearance section which includes open box, ex demo & refurbs.
For closed back, on ear, non-wireless......AKG Y50 £49 & Sony MDRXB950 £59 both get 5*ratings but the Sonys are very low stock.
http://www.richersounds.com
John Lewis will price match and have wide range online; their price for Sony above is £55 and another Sony for about £50.
Superfi are worth look.
As they're for a teenager - accidental damage may occur so I would be l weighing up length of guarantee and customer service reviews/performance in the mix.
I have the bluetooth version of the AKG Y50 and find my self using them far more than my Sennheiser Amperiors as bluetooth is incredibly useful for wandering about untethered to wires, there's no doubt the Amperiors sound much better but the convenience of the AKG Y50 Bluetooth wins out.
If you want to treat your daughter my Amperiors are for sale in the classifieds 😉
The Marley range are very good for the money. I have some and I pop them on every so often instead of my main listening pair (Beyerdynamic T90's) for a change and theft don't disappoint.
[i]Awful how? (Was going to go for some if RHA don't fix my current knackered pair!)[/i]
The bass was completely shite. I tried to get on with them, but when I compared to a £30 pair of Philips bluetooth headphones my mind was made up. It was like the bass was squashed and restricted. Nothing sounded good through them. The AudioTechnicas (M50-X, I think) were a revelation in comparison.
subjective innit. i have some AKG y50's and think they're great. always have. tried a few in super and they're what i ended up with. brought them on a whim after losing my others on the train. was quite pleased when i got home and read loads of good reviews. see if you can try some. they might not be for you. f'instance i cannot stand sennheiser. bloody awful things. flat as a pancake to my ears. some people love em. they don't get a good rep for nothing.
I really don't believe it can be subjective - it has to be that I had a duff set! Nobody could accept the sound I heard through those Y50s! NOBODY!
^Maybe a bad set? I tried some out in Richer Sounds for long enough to test a few EQ settings and different genres of music and found the bass to be really good. Will try another pair before deciding though, thanks for the heads up!
I'll second the soundmagic e10. Got them following the what hi-fi reviews and couldn't be happier. I found I noticed a lot of little tweaks to songs I never knew existed with the seinheisers before them!
Also, they are over 2 years old and still going strong despite a lot of gym use and averaging maybe 4 hours a day at work.
Thanks all- I'll shop tonight....must see if I've been a good boy this year myself, some excellent recommendations here 🙂
Also, they are over 2 years old and still going strong despite a lot of gym use and averaging maybe 4 hours a day at work.
You've a way to go to catch up with my headphones. They're Aiwa "Pipe-Phone" in-ears that I bought when I was at college. That would've been circa 1989. They've been caught on things, yanked out of my years countless times and are still going strong. Never replaced them because I've never found anything that sounded better.
Regarding in-ear canalphones, these are excellent for the money:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MEE-Isolating-Earphone-Universal-Microphone-White/dp/B00DDPZ5MW%3Fpsc%3D1%26SubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-ipad-uk-21%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB00DDPZ5MW
For a low-profile design, the bass is amazing, and they fit flush into the ear, so if you should go to sleep with them in, there's no pressure in the ear if you're using the longer triple-flange tips, which are my preferred type; they seal the ear so much better than any of the other types.
If you can pony up a little bit more, then these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MEE-Earphone-Replaceable-Universal-Microphone-Clear/dp/B00SLVB71Q%3Fpsc%3D1%26SubscriptionId%3DAKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q%26tag%3Dduckduckgo-ipad-uk-21%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB00SLVB71Q
Very similar to the Shure SE215's, but much cheaper, and that goes for replacement cables, too.
I've got a couple of pairs of the cheap Sports, and I can vouch for them unreservedly; I've not tried the Pro's, but I've got a pair of the cast zinc Pinnacle P1's, which are the same design, and are fantastic, but then they're £180 so should be!
I don't think there's much to criticise about the Pro's for the money.