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Author Topic: Good Headphone Recommendations  (Read 4131 times)

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Ironman

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Good Headphone Recommendations
« on: November 19, 2010, 11:51:26 AM »
Well with Holiday Shopping season approaching, I wanted to buy a set of new headphones. I love listening to music and I try to keep my music in .FLAC, .WAV, or .OGG formats. Also my laptop has a a great sound card and speakers with 7.1 channel and Dolby Home Theater. So to take advantage those features I want to purchase a pretty good set of headphones to compliment my laptop, that are under 100 dollars. I have earphones and tried canalphones, but they feel uncomfortable and I prefer headphones. I looked a some noise-canceling headphones and audiophile headphones, but they were all too expensive. I head Bose makes great head phones, but they're too expensive in contrast to their features. I heard Sennheiser and Grado make good headphones with good value. Portability is not a concern because I have 17'' widescreen laptop which I don't move around very much. My main concerns are Price, Sound Quality, and Comfort. Any audiophiles in our community with good recommendations? Thanks.


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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2010, 12:17:03 PM »
Hello, but may offer some thoughts.
Buying headphones is a very, very personal thing. It would be hard on me to recommend to you out of white headphones* that you will like. I can just hear what other people say, or I can give you my personal preferences.
Asked what other people think, he could go to a place like CNET or even PCMag and find their current recommendations.
Here's one of them:
http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,1638421,00.asp
Now if I had my choice, he would have to be a lightweight headphone made by KOSS. They have been around for a long time and know how to make headphones or both the industry and the consumer.
http://www.koss.com/
Take a look.

* white headphone, one that has full spectrum and no colonization.

Ironman

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2010, 12:43:33 PM »
I was looking at the PC Mag reviews, and the Sennheiser HD238 looked to fit my needs.

I was also looking at the KOSS website you posted. The Koss HQ is in Milwaukee, WI which is not that far from Chicago, IL and I've seen them do a lot of product testing booths in Chicago. I was looking at the headphones that they offered and there were a couple of headphones that piqued my interest. Some of them where:

Koss Quite Zone QZ PRO
Koss PRO3AA
Koss PRODJ100
Koss TD85

The Quite Zone is a noise canceling headphone that looked good, but I could find any reviews regarding its audio performance. The same goes with the other headsets besides the Sennheiser, I couldn't find many quality reviews. I listen to a wide variety of music from classical, to heavy metal, to rap and hip-hop. I prefer a powerful, but clean bass. I'm also a bit worried about leakage from these headphones. I would like a headphone with not too much leakage.


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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2010, 01:36:16 PM »
Koss Quite Zone QZ PRO
This is a high end professional headphone. Professionals who work is a noisy environment need these. If you have never used this kind of thing before, you may find it physiologically disturbing. You will think you are dead. But if I had the money, I would buy. I want it.

Koss PRO3AA mixed reviews on amazon.
Koss PRODJ100 hard to find an objective review.
Koss TD85  review on amazon.com  some don't like it.

If you want a good Koss under $100 consider:
Koss Pro4AAT Titanium Pro Headphones

They Pro4AAT is very popular with consumers. I would recommend this over the rest as the best value for consumer use. No, I have not used this model, but I trust Koss and I believe the people who buy Koss are discriminating in their choice.

But this is my own professional bias.

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 02:00:39 PM »
I have a very nice pair of Sennheisers but as Geek says, it's very personal.

Geek-9pm


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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2010, 03:06:33 PM »

Ironman

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2010, 03:16:25 PM »
Is it this one?
Sennheiser HD 595 - headphones

Those are very nice, but a bit pricey for me.

Koss Quite Zone QZ PRO
This is a high end professional headphone. Professionals who work is a noisy environment need these. If you have never used this kind of thing before, you may find it physiologically disturbing. You will think you are dead. But if I had the money, I would buy. I want it

I have used Noise-canceling head phones before, but they were used to just keep out external noise. The ones I used didn't deliver music very well, but they did do speech well.

Koss Quite Zone QZ PRO
http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/p?openform&pc^nc^QZPRO

These that you mentioned, do deliver music well? 


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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2010, 05:30:55 PM »
As best as I can recall noise canceling microphones and noise canceling headphones were first used for clear speech communication in places like aircraft cockpits. Lately audiophiles* have become interested in using noise canceling headphones to block out unwanted noise in the environment. This way you could listen to your favorite music while your neighbors in the next apartment are having a party.
Such new market 'phones are high-end music headphones.
However, many audiophiles will rave that open type of headphone is superior in every way. Except, of course, it does not block out ambient sound. If price is a choice, then the open style of headphone would be the way to go. Yet, as I said, some audiophiles believe the open style headphone is superior to the fully enclosed cup. Audio Pros will refute that.

Myself, I do not really need a Pro headphone now. My Pro days are over. Bit I still want one.

*audiophiles, not to be confused with audio files.

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2010, 06:14:29 PM »
I got some Ableplanet noise canceling headphones (kind of a Bose copy) from Woot a couple of months ago, and they do block out most background noise, plus music sounds good.  I wasn't looking for new headphones, but Woot had such a good price on them I couldn't pass it up.

I hate to sound like a shill for Woot, but they have some great deals and I've got in the habit of checking it everyday.  Their moto is "one day, one deal"  They offer mostly electronics, computers, flat screens,  but some times have vacuum cleaners and other odd stuff.


Ironman

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2010, 08:37:36 PM »

*audiophiles, not to be confused with audio files.


lol

I got some Ableplanet noise canceling headphones (kind of a Bose copy) from Woot a couple of months ago, and they do block out most background noise, plus music sounds good.  I wasn't looking for new headphones, but Woot had such a good price on them I couldn't pass it up.

I hate to sound like a shill for Woot, but they have some great deals and I've got in the habit of checking it everyday.  Their moto is "one day, one deal"  They offer mostly electronics, computers, flat screens,  but some times have vacuum cleaners and other odd stuff.

I'll check it out, thanks.


TechFixOrg



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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2010, 01:03:09 AM »
Heads up, I use to DJ and produce. The best way I found to find headphones for under $100 is to read reviews on sets in the $110-$140 range. Most of these will be DJ Headphones. In fact, just Google "DJ Headphones". You will see the Pioneer's, Sony, etc... Once you pick a set use google shopper. I just found the Technics RP-DH120's for $94 and they are $130 on Amazon and MusiciansFriend.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=best+dj+headphones&hl=en&rlz=1C1GPCK_enUS390US396&prmd=ivs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2724051717496420182&ei=Vn_nTJedB8L7lwe_xonUCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CHUQ8wIwAQ#


Ironman

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2010, 12:38:28 PM »
Heads up, I use to DJ and produce. The best way I found to find headphones for under $100 is to read reviews on sets in the $110-$140 range. Most of these will be DJ Headphones. In fact, just Google "DJ Headphones". You will see the Pioneer's, Sony, etc... Once you pick a set use google shopper. I just found the Technics RP-DH120's for $94 and they are $130 on Amazon and MusiciansFriend.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=best+dj+headphones&hl=en&rlz=1C1GPCK_enUS390US396&prmd=ivs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2724051717496420182&ei=Vn_nTJedB8L7lwe_xonUCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CHUQ8wIwAQ#

Thanks I'll check it out!


Ironman

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Re: Good Headphone Recommendations
« Reply #12 on: November 20, 2010, 12:40:04 PM »
Locking Replaceable Cord is really useful!