I tried some beats wireless at the airport, and was very impressed, but £300???, what do you use/recommend? And how much
Grado sr80. Probably sound better than the beats and a hell of a lot cheaper.
Over ear or in ear? Any other features you want?
Sony MDR V6 a revered 80's classic for good reason. Pretty much untouchable at the price, if you can still find them.
Over ear, wired,no special requirements other than good sound
what do you use/recommend? And how much
Bose QC35. £Lots. Brilliant noise cancelling, wireless or wired, comfortable, superb sound.
Sony MDR-EX650. About £50. Excellent in ear for the money, also work as a phone headset. Comfortable, and sublime sound. According to What HiFi, "From sound, to fit, the EX650s are everything a pair of in-ears should be"
HTH.
(Posted before the above)
I've just taken a punt on some Bowers and Wilkins P5s from the Amazon outlet, £75 delivered. Used but as new condition, apparently. Bit nervous but if they're ok figured I will struggle to do better for the money. If they're knackered I'll send em back.
I've got some Grade SR60s, they sound ace but open backed is no good to me these days; need them to shut noise out as much as to listen to music.
I've just bought these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-4-30i-Around-Ear-Headset/dp/B01K4N1PY2
Nice and simple; no wirelessness or noise cancellation, just excellent sound.
I bought a set of Parrot Zik 3 from the airport, ( I really shouldn't listen to everyone telling me I need to check in early.)
They are awesome!
[url= https://www.parrot.com/uk/audio/parrot-zik-3#parrot-zik-3 ]Parrot zik 3[/url]
I paid £200
Go get your hearing checked. Beats are cheap crap headphones with an awesome marketing department. You could easily get something twice as good for half the price.
Go get your hearing checked. Beats are cheap crap headphones with an awesome marketing department. You could easily get something twice as good for half the price.
I'll argue with that, the current Beats wireless 'phones are apparently much improved over what they were several years ago, I saw a very recent review that was very positive; I'll see if I can track it down on Flipboard.
I've got a pair of wired Beats Solo 'phones I picked up cheap off eBay, knowing I could tweak the sound using an app like Onkyo HF with its 11-stage graphic EQ, and creating a custom curve with a bit of a boost above 2K, and a cut to the bass made them very listenable, I was really quite impressed with them.
Had a problem with the remote on the cable, I need to get a replacement.
My own favourites are canalphones, because they're unobtrusive and they block out a lot of background without needing a power-source, especially if you use the foam eartips or the triple-flange silicon ones.
The ones I use now, after my Shure SE215's developed an intermittent fault, are MeeAudio Pinnacle P1's, which are superb, they don't need any EQ, plenty of deep controlled bass and detailed vocals and top end, and I've got a Shure cable with remote and mic with a Lightning connection to use with my iPhone, there's a DAC built into the cable.
There's also the MeeAudio M6 Pro, which have an almost identical design, but are plastic instead of die-cast zinc, and have replaceable cables, but not CCMX compatible.
They're only around fifty quid, though...
http://www.meeaudio.com/M6PRO-BK
There's a new Pinnacle P2 using a plastic shell as well, they're $99 instead of $199-odd
http://www.meeaudio.com/P2
http://www.meeaudio.com/P1
Not sure if this is the same Beats review, but worth a look:
http://mashable.com/2017/09/04/hands-on-beats-studio3/#E_tIBJFNNiqO
Found this review of the cheaper Beats EP wired 'phones, they seem to be very much improved.
https://www.cnet.com/news/beats-ep-a-beats-headphone-an-audiophile-could-love/
I do remember reading that once Apple got their hands on Beats they were going to re-engineer the sound for a more subtle quality, away from the bass-heavy sound they're infamous for; seems to be working.
FWIW, I really like the styling of the Solo's, they're comfy for extended periods, and with an EQ-tweak via an app like Onkyo HF, can sound really good.
Just had an email from Amazon, the MeeAudio M6 Pro are £36, which is a bit of a bargain for 'phones with two pairs of replaceable cables and a wide range of different eartips, although I favour the triple-flange ones, they're most effective at blocking out noise, like industrial hearing protectors:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SLVB71Q/ref=pe_3193591_212188491_em_1p_0_ti
AKG
Bought my missus some on ear AKGs from Richer Sounds for £50 (def less than RRP).
They're the tits.
Snug fit so get a bit warm after a while, but other than that no complaints.
Sennheiser HD 4.50, noise cancelling, bluetooth, cheaper than Bose with similar features but perform just as well as far as I can tell. Really good build quality, and the battery gets me from Newcastle to South America on three different aeroplanes.
Depends what you want. Outright sound quality? Beyerdynamic T51P for half the price. Stunning headphones and very versatile - equally happy out and about or at home.
Inherited a set of sennheiser hd600. The sound is almost alarming sometimes. Properly immersive. But they're ugly and 250 quid, open backed so annoy everyone else.
I've got my eyes on a set of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0s at the mo - I cannot abide the plastic styling of most headphones these days. I had a brief listen recently and they seemed great...
Countzero, I have to argue against your defence of Beats.You description of using an app to 'tune' them goes absolutely against quality. The quality is in the music from the musicians and the producer, who spent a lot of time with very fancy equipment making the music sound the way it should. It's highly unlikely that your tuning of 'their' music is going to be as good quality; its probably not as the artist intended. The job of hifi equipment is to faithfully reproduce the music from source, as accurately as possible.
Of course you're entitled to do whatever you want. But to me your post agrees with the previous post unfavourable to Beats - you're also typing unfavourable things about Beats headphones.
Love my Sennheiser Momentum 2.0's.
Bluetooth, noise cancelling, rechargeable, wired too if you want, that they apparently sound better with
Their sound still blows me away and I've had them for 2 years.
Waverider, I've got a whole shitload of headphones of various types, a number bought as a result of favourable reviews, like Etymotic ER6i's, and found many of them to be seriously lacking in one way or another, the ER6i's had very little bass, others had poor midrange, and I found that using an app like the Onkyo HR player allowed me to adjust their deficiencies to suit the music I play, and you're completely missing the point, it's the 'phones that have an issue, [b]not[/b] the music, I'm using EQ to return the sound to how it is intended to be listened to, ie without over-extended bass and poor top-end and mid-range, flaws which Beats 'phones have been quite rightly criticised for.
My Pinnacle P1's require no EQ at all, neither do my UE TripleFi 10 Studio IEM's, but Apple EarPods usually get a little tweak to their top-end, to give a bit more 'sparkle', and my UE SuperFi 5's need a bit more bass, but they're a single driver canalphone and fairly cheap.
I've learned quite a lot over the years about studio recording techniques, how EQ is applied when mastering for vinyl, etc, and I know a well-produced album when I hear one, and one that's been heavily compressed to make it sound louder through shitty little phone speakers, and I know a good pair of 'phones when I hear them - I just wanted a cheap pair of folding 'cans', I like the look of Beats, I found a cheap pair on eBay, I was perfectly aware of their deficiencies and knew I could use free technology on my phone to adjust the playback to get them sounding the way they should sound, something that is being done with the newer Beats, if you take the time to read the reviews of the latest Solo 3's and even their cheapest 'phones.
I also used to sell hifi equipment once upon a time, and still have a £2500 turntable upstairs, although it's electronic speed controls has gone on the fritz, sadly.
So I do have a clue.
In case you missed it, here's a review of one of the latest Beats 'phones:
https://www.cnet.com/news/beats-ep-a-beats-headphone-an-audiophile-could-love/
And here's a review of the Studio 3 wireless noise-cancelling 'phones:
http://mashable.com/2017/09/04/hands-on-beats-studio3/#E_tIBJFNNiqO
It would appear that notice has been taken of the rightful criticism of their poor audio quality, which, as I pointed out, I was perfectly aware of, and made allowance for, knowing I could do something about.
£40. Do what they're supposed to
Depending on where I am listening:
Bose QC20 in ear noise cancelling
Beyer DT880 (600 ohm ones)
Sennheiser M2IEG
Sennheiser HD202 (not very often now, but great for the price)
All awesome for what they are used for.
I recently wanted to upgrade my rubbish headphones. Tried out 5 pairs in audio t in Bristol. Decided on the momentum 2.0 which I loved thought they were better than the b&w's
I use Shure SE315's inner ear ones at home and they are excellent.
Some large Beyerdynamics here. Like any hifi though, go listen to some and see what suits your music, listening and what is comfy on your head. Also with big cans think about an amp, fiio user myself. Also if using out and about think about sound leakage and it's affect. Open backed cans can sound great but you aren't the only one listening!
@nn - what BD's do you have? I have the T90's which I love and tried the T1 gen 2's which I was disappointed with.
Currently use Hifiman HE1000k v2's as my main cans with a Trilogy 931 amp. Bloody lovely 🙂
T90s. Got richer sounds to price match a deal I found, it clearly hurt a bit. They are very nice, great clarity and sound stage yet warm. For comparison to speakers I have mordant short avianno 6 floor standers, the t90 sound is similar but far clearer and detailed without losing the warmth.
Anyone got a valve amp? They look the nuts.
I got some Pioneer in ear something or anothers at TK Maxx for £12 which (to me) sound fine.
However My Bose QC15's are a different thing altogether. Different flippin price as well!
Oh yes, I forgot my original Bose quiet comforts. Some say bose sound is poor, well it's warm and easy to listen too and the NC is incredible, if you're in a noisy environment they are hard to beat.
For travelling Shure SE215 are very good and block out a lot of background noise, but they're not active noise cancelling.
I also used to sell hifi equipment once upon a time, and still have a £2500 turntable upstairs
I used to work in a bike shop and have a £3000 bike
Doesn't mean anything 😉