Headphones

[Ty Burna]

Just a bit ago I got my hands on my two pairs of new earphones I ordered. It let me to thinking about how much one could be willing to spend on a good set of earphones or headphones. Nowadays the popular brand are the Beats Audio championed and owned by Dr. Dre. This lead to a number of other artists like Ludacris and RZA to release their own self branded headphones. Now obviously these type of headphones are tuned more the bass heavy music such as hip hop. As a certified hip hop head, I love headphones/earphones with some massive bass to them, so I usually jump at headphones with that capability. But is it really worth spending $300 on a set of headphones like that? I say no personally and I'm going to outline what I have currently that adds some serious sound to my earphones I just purchased and going over the various headphones I have.

Last month I had a purchased a set of Meelectronics SP51 earphones. These were great, the bass was fantastic and what made them really awesome in my eyes was the ability to change out the back ends of them, allowing more air in and fine tuning how much bass you want. They cost around $50 on sale and that's unusual for me to spend that much on a set of earphones. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find them for a month since they were misplaced or fell out somewhere. Downtrodden, I went and looked for a cheap replacement and on eBay Meeletronics had a two pack of their M9 Gen 1 earphones for $15. What a steal. Cnet has already labeled the best budget earphones out there today and there's a reason for that. These have just a shade less bass then the $50 set I purchased last month. The cables are standard, and the plug is incredibly small which is great. On their own I used my standard bass testing track Bass Cannon by Flux Pavilion. I then took my Fiio E5 headphone amp and paired it with the M9's and tested again. This small $20 amp just upped the sound quite a bit from the already impressive baseline test I ran previously. I can actually feel the vibration from the earphones. So for $27.50 I have a set of earphones with amplifier that can outperform the $90 Beats earphones. That's over $60 in savings with better performance.

I can also pair this headphone amp with my $20 set of Sennheiser over the ear cans and get some quality performance as well. Unfortunately the Sennheiser's are starting to degrade. I've had them for a few years now and have probably taken some damage here and there. I'm likely going to replace them soon with a set of Meeletronics HT-21 for $20.I know it seems like one big ad for Meeletronics but they have released some the most impressive earphones I have heard in some time at a budget friendly price as well.

Overall with the increasing portable headphone amp field, it's easier then ever to get a great sound without breaking the bank and buying into a name brand set of headphones. I know not all of you listen to bass heavy music and would prefer a more crystal clear balanced sound and I wouldn't disagree with you.

What kind of headphones do y'all use? Do you have any recommendations for what someone in the market for a new set of headphones/earphones could look into?

This does involve music but I'm looking at the tech side of the equation just based on equipment. We could go really in depth with this and discuss the type of equipment audiophiles use to produce the most natural sound possible, but we're looking at some ridiculous prices as well.

 

[Lowdown]

I can't even count how many pairs of headphones I've purchased over the years. While I'd like a pair of Beats or Bose phones, a couple years ago I bought a nice pair of JVC headphones from Walmart.

http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HAS160B-L...qid=1346444808&sr=1-3&keywords=jvc+headphones

They cost me 20 bucks, and as you can see are cheaper on Amazon. Though it doesn't have noise cancelling functions, they are loud depending on what you're listening to. They come in various colors as well. I highly recommend them if you're on a budget.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I go through headphones real fast. I'm on my fourth pair this year. I honestly have no clue why I go through them so quickly.

Right now I have a pair of Koss sound isolating earbuds that I got for $25. I think I got them at Walmart.

I would like to get a pair of Beats, but to drop $100 on headphones is a lot. Plus I'm afraid I would wear them out quickly.

One brand I get a lot on the cheap is Marshmallow by JVC. They are usually in the $15-20 and they come in all colors and they are super comfortable, but the cord is about about eight inches shorter than most so I am always exposing the wires and things like that.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Bose IE2 In-Ear headphones are legit the only headphones I'll use. I actually lost my pair somehow a few months ago and splurged $100 on a new pair. Sound quality is unbelievable, but most important, and this is the reason why I'll only use them, they actually stay in your ears.

Not once when I'm doing cardio at the gym will I need to re-adjust. The most aggravating thing to me about earphones is how they'll get loose/fall out/etc. It's totally worth the price for me to not have to worry.

If you're at the gym 4-5 times a week like I am, those are the way to go.

 

[LigerBomb]

For day to day use I wear the over the ear, closed-back Audio-Technica M50 that I run through a DIY portable amp housed in an old candy tin (plans can be found all over the net on how to build them and fine tune them). It runs off of two standard 9v batteries. The amp uses the Grado RA1 chip and is in the style of a Chu Moy pocket amp.
The cans are monitors (@ a low 38 ohms impedance, hence the dual 9v amp) so the sound is very clean without any artificial EQ interference/bass boost.

 

[CH David]

I prefer using my headphones now when listening to music. Over the ear headphones are what are used in radio, and it gives you a better ability to hear yourself than just on the ear headphones or earbuds. The headphones I use I got cheap at FYE, and it is because I was low on money. But they are really solid for what I need. I got a pair of Wicked Reverb headphones. The music when I'm listening is great, you hear it a lot better than in speakers or earbuds. More clear if you will. It's not as great as Bose or any of the bigger brands, but they do a damn good job for what I need them to do. Maybe down the line I'll pick up some Bose or Sony, but until then, Wicked is getting the job done well.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I most likely spent around 500 dollars in school on headphones. I was a huge music fan and still am, I like heavy bass, and that's what made me buy my headphones that I have now.

I have a pair of Skullcandy skullcrushers with a bass amp on it. They run about 45-50 bucks. But I got them on sale for 35.

They aren't the loudest headphones I've ever had. I like that though, I remember being half deaf through school because of some of my headphones.

The only bad thing is the lack of total noise cancellation. I found with buds that were soft and went into your ear killed all the noise outside of the headphones. But what they lack in that department. They make up in another, I can put my headphones on loud, and hear the song perfectly like a radio, without them being on my head.

Not the best headphones. But I like the hard hitting bass, and the sound quality is good.

 

[Slash-LN]

Right now I'm using a pair of Sony headphones that I picked up at Walmart for $60. They have a switch on the side for a bass boost and sound really good. They go over the ear. I like them so much I use them when I record. They are probably the best sounding headphones I have used but I don't usually spend a lot of money on headphones.

I had a pair of Vic Firth headphones a couple years ago that I really liked. They were originally $80 but I got them on sale at Guitar Center for $40. They were over the ear headphones and sounded really good but my dog chewed them up.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

I have a 15 dollar pair from Target I've had for about a year there pretty good. I would like to buy some Skullcandy ones have heard there great but I can't stand headphones going over my head I prefer just jamming them into my ears and I'm good to go. Problem is only one store that I have seen sells Skullcandy headphones that just go in your ears and they were 25 bucks, Which means sticking with the 15 dollar ones I currently have.