Buying New Earphones :)

thomson

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This is one for those of you into good audio equipment.
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Iam going to buy a new set of earphones and iam looking for advice on what to go for, price range up to about £100 but preferably a bit less than that.

To give you an idea of the sound quality I would expect, these are what I have just now.
I currently have a sony set, the MDR-V500DJ model which i find for sound they are ok for me but the build quality suks and they have started to crack at certain points, so I wont be going for those again for sure, lol, but as I say, the sound from them is adequit for my needs, so thats the kind of level of sound quality I would at least expect from the new ones.

Most of the time I just listen to the computer through the phones, I.E - games etc and general computer sound , however, I have them connected to a pretty powerfull amp that can give heavy bass and high clarity too, I like to occasionally crank the volume up loud and hear some good quality tunes without the phones farting etc, I hate it when the phones distort when you drive a bit of ooomphh through them, I know the mdr-v500dj models arent particularly brilliant but they are not too bad, so now you know what i expect.

I prefer phones like can's style or like the dj style, you know, big cans tight on the ears for better sound quality and deeper bass etc.

Ive been advised against cordless phones as they supposidly can sometimes get interfierence through them from electrical sources etc, dunno if there is any truth in that though, plus I dont like the fuss of keeping the batteries charged up etc, although iam open to suggestions on cordless if you know better.

So, I would appreciate advice and opinions.

Cheers guys.

:Cheers:

edit ::> can i just add this, whats this iam reading about closed and opened earphones etc, whats that all about ???
 
lol....
Just too busy listening to music..-)
I'd go for Sennheiser, used to sell them in my HiFi shop days and they're still out in front I think...have a look [DLMURL="http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/sound-and-vision/sound/headphones/148647/prices"]HERE[/DLMURL]...beauties...Beyer may be worth having a look at too, their DT990's used to be good, although I thought they tended to sound a bit boxy...Have a look & listen around...Pay a visit to HiFi Corner, see what they have.
Personally I have a pair of Nakamichi phones (yes, the tape deck co'), which I bought about 15yrs ago (sadly they don't make them any more) & they still blow everything else out the water..except Stax..the Rolls Royce of Earspeakers (yes speakers) have look [DLMURL="http://www.stax.co.jp/ENG/products.html"]Here[/DLMURL] & drool..typical UK prices are shown HERE
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Closed & Open...
refers to the type of design, closed are generally the more 'traditional' type of cover the ear with a faom pad round the outside and a solid cover over the rear of the transducer (speaker or driver), open type have a 'vented' enclosure at the rear of the transducer, bit like the difference between sealed box and ported loudspeakers.
Coneventional wisdom is that you'll get a more 'open' sound & better imaging from the open variety but they tend to leak noise to the outside/or let outside noise in...closed types tend to give better bass (not always thou') and remove all external noise.
Closed types can be less comfortable to wear for long periods...
Have listen & compare...
 
Sennheiser or Beyer, sub £100. Think I paid £70 for my Sennheisers. If you're feeling flush, have a listen to Grados as well as Stax.
 
Thanks for all your info guys, appreciate it.

I went into one of them privately owned hifi shops today, the ones that sell all the best of kit.

I had a look around at the various earphones they had on sale, I seen and listend to all the makes you guyz mentioned but the guy who owned the shop kept going on about these "shure" deep ear phones, said that they blow away most sets of cans etc, but I didnt know whether to believe him or not as I couldnt get a demonstration for obvious hygene reasons, they are the ones that you see pop stars on stage or recording studio wearing, you pop them right in the ears and the cable runs behind you ears and down your back.

Anyway, I took a chance on them and after fiddling around with them for a while when i got home, i worked out exactly how to get them right in the ear, they actually have a little nozzle that goes into the ear canal, feckin hell man, they totally blew me away, litrally !!!

They act like and ear plug too, so they block out all outside sound, and the sound, ohhhh man :) you want heavy bass, you can throw as much bass as you want at them, you want lots of clear high pitch sounds, you got it, you want LOUD, you got it, infact you dont even need to turn the volume up as loud as you would need to with ordinary earphone because the sound is delivered right inside your ear.

They are amazing man, iam well happy, the sales guy wasnt telling a lie when he said after hearing these I probably would never go back to big cans, I dont think I will after hearing these babies.

You guys have gotta get some and hear for yourself.

http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/index.html

thanks again guys :)
 
Your welcome m8, glad you got something your chuffed with...I'll have look at the Shure one when I go into town again...might be good for me iPod...
 
lone.gunman said:
Your welcome m8, glad you got something your chuffed with...I'll have look at the Shure one when I go into town again...might be good for me iPod...
brilliant for your ipod or your in home hifi, iam not joking man, if your not impressed and end up sticking your big cans in a drawer then I will be very very surprised.

Iam using them on my home amp, its a very powerfull amp too, its absolutley amazing what these little things pump out, just wait and see, I bet you any money you like that you come back on here and tell me I was right, bet ya :)

Have fun matey :Cheers:

p.s
funnily enough, i just noticed in your earlier post that you said to go to hifi corner, thats were i went man, lol, what a coincidence, eh ??
 
Ihad a go of some bose headphones at the homeshow. Sounded brilliant, but at about £119, they can keep them.
 
dodger said:
Ihad a go of some bose headphones at the homeshow. Sounded brilliant, but at about £119, they can keep them.
yea, most of the time nowdays all the good makes/brands of hifi equipment etc are expensive :(
 
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