Best Budget Headphones?
- Thread starter ajwiberg
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
PR Audio
Super Member
Yes, you will get many suggestion. I can suggest Grado SR-60i and/or SR-80i. From Koss, the PRO4AAT. www.wwstereo.com has a nice sale on Klipsch, AKG, and others. Look for their warehouse clearance.
cubdog
banging through drywall
Takstar HI2050
Digitech Pro Monitors
Both of these can be had for well under $100.
There are various models of both that exist under different name. If you do a search you will find a lot of information on both. You can start here in this forum as both have been discussed.
cubdog
Arkay
Lunatic Member
Check out the threads on the Head-fi site about modding the Fostex T50RP headphones. You'll need to spend some time playing around with stuff like plasticine, cotton, etc... to make them sound truly audiophile, and it's an iterative process that --depending on how high you set your standards-- can take weeks of "fun" to finish, but you can get quite good sound with just an hour or two of work. These are one of the most mod-friendly headphones ever, and the sound of the orthodynamic design is tweakable up to a very, very high level. I'm talking $1000 headphone quality sound here, from cans that often can be found for sale online for well under $100, plus a few bucks worth of modding material.
Of course, if you're a hopeless clutz or terribly impatient or just hate doing stuff DIY by hand, then there are better as-bought finds. But if you're the sort who likes to tinker, and you want truly good sound for a cheap price, these probably cannot be beat.
Of course, if you're a hopeless clutz or terribly impatient or just hate doing stuff DIY by hand, then there are better as-bought finds. But if you're the sort who likes to tinker, and you want truly good sound for a cheap price, these probably cannot be beat.
cratz2
Addicted Member
I've been very happy with my AKG 240s for a number of years. They were on sale for $80 about the time the 240 Mk II came out but they seem to still market and sell both versions. They have a fairly open sound, almost remotely speaker-like. They are a semi-closed design so others will have some idea of what you are listening to but in my experience, no closed design headphones sound open at all. They present as if there each ear has a loudspeaker four inches away from your ears. These sound more like the speakers are about 6 or 8 feet from your ears.
The bass is sort of odd... there's plenty of extension, but they are not as bass heavy as most headphones which suits me just fine.
I'm not an expert, but among the sub $200 designs I've heard (ATH-M50, Senn HD280 Pro, Sony MDRV6, Beyer DT770 and 880) I'd definitely take the 240s over anything else for music with the M50s in second place and the Sonys in last. For home theater, I'd lean more towards the M50s as exciting explosions and whatnot are more exciting. The AKG 44s and 77s aren't terrible by any stretch and I have a pair of Senn HD201s that are a little too closed sounding for me, but they are easily worth $20-$25.
Edit: For something in the extreme budget region, several folks are quite taken with the Monoprice 8323 for about $22. Probably not quite the same build quality as the others I mentioned, but at 1/5 to 1/8 the cost, possibly worth it if you are gentle on your gear. The biggest complaint seems to be the headband is solid plastic without any sort of soft material. If you can be creative and come up with a workaround for that, they might be the best deal going.
The bass is sort of odd... there's plenty of extension, but they are not as bass heavy as most headphones which suits me just fine.
I'm not an expert, but among the sub $200 designs I've heard (ATH-M50, Senn HD280 Pro, Sony MDRV6, Beyer DT770 and 880) I'd definitely take the 240s over anything else for music with the M50s in second place and the Sonys in last. For home theater, I'd lean more towards the M50s as exciting explosions and whatnot are more exciting. The AKG 44s and 77s aren't terrible by any stretch and I have a pair of Senn HD201s that are a little too closed sounding for me, but they are easily worth $20-$25.
Edit: For something in the extreme budget region, several folks are quite taken with the Monoprice 8323 for about $22. Probably not quite the same build quality as the others I mentioned, but at 1/5 to 1/8 the cost, possibly worth it if you are gentle on your gear. The biggest complaint seems to be the headband is solid plastic without any sort of soft material. If you can be creative and come up with a workaround for that, they might be the best deal going.
Last edited:
RamblinE
(╯°□°)╯彡┻━┻
The 8323 is not anywhere near audiophile, even in the price bracket. If you're really looking for sonic accuracy and you try the 8323 you'll be disappointed. I was. That's not to say it's not an enjoyable and nice sounding headphone, it's just not audiophile.
A lot of the models covered are already good. Sony MDR-V6. Sony MDR-7506. AT M35. AT M45. Grado SR60/80. Senn HD280.
May I rock the boat here and suggest USED Bose AE2s. I got my second pair for $50. I've come back to these recently after having become accustomed to the sound signature of my AKG K701s. There are a couple of similarities in the sound signature that, while not on nearly the same level as the K701 make the Bose a good option for casual listening on the bus or at school. Built more robustly than the original Triport. Replaceable cord (with a jack similar to some Senns so you wouldn't have to deal with Bose for a new cable if you didn't want to). Very light weight and more comfortable than my K701s, which is saying something. What do I like about their sound? The bass extends deep, contrary to reports claiming that they're bassless. The bass is just simply not overemphasized as many consumer cans like to do. The mids aren't perfect but they could be worse. The treble is only slightly rolled off. A frequency response graph conveys the faults in the mids much more than the actual sound does. It comes across as very neutral.
While there's been more than a few Bose headphones copied and sold on Ebay and CL I have yet to see a copy of the AE2.
A lot of the models covered are already good. Sony MDR-V6. Sony MDR-7506. AT M35. AT M45. Grado SR60/80. Senn HD280.
May I rock the boat here and suggest USED Bose AE2s. I got my second pair for $50. I've come back to these recently after having become accustomed to the sound signature of my AKG K701s. There are a couple of similarities in the sound signature that, while not on nearly the same level as the K701 make the Bose a good option for casual listening on the bus or at school. Built more robustly than the original Triport. Replaceable cord (with a jack similar to some Senns so you wouldn't have to deal with Bose for a new cable if you didn't want to). Very light weight and more comfortable than my K701s, which is saying something. What do I like about their sound? The bass extends deep, contrary to reports claiming that they're bassless. The bass is just simply not overemphasized as many consumer cans like to do. The mids aren't perfect but they could be worse. The treble is only slightly rolled off. A frequency response graph conveys the faults in the mids much more than the actual sound does. It comes across as very neutral.
While there's been more than a few Bose headphones copied and sold on Ebay and CL I have yet to see a copy of the AE2.
ScaleAutoArt
Super Member
FWIW I just purchased a pair of the HD280's....will report back impressions. I have heard they get better as they "break in"...not sure that's for real or not
Just spent about an hour listening to a few LPs through my little tube amp and the sound is impressive right out of the box. "Sonic Accuracy"...it's got it for a bargain price. There is a seller on eBay where you can snatch these up for a song.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SENNHEISER-...adphones&hash=item1e764e5c43&autorefresh=true
Just spent about an hour listening to a few LPs through my little tube amp and the sound is impressive right out of the box. "Sonic Accuracy"...it's got it for a bargain price. There is a seller on eBay where you can snatch these up for a song.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SENNHEISER-...adphones&hash=item1e764e5c43&autorefresh=true
Last edited:
I have been on a bit of a headphone adventure lately and have tried several of the models mentioned above. I went through the Audio Technica ATH-M30,M40fs, and M50. I also tried the Sony MDR-V6, and Grado SR-60i along with some cheap JVC FLATS.
I ended up stretching my budget in the end by 30.00 so I could get the ATH-M50's. To me they do just about everything very well. After that I would have stayed with the ATH-M30's when they are less than 50 on Amazon. Third would have been the Sony's. While well judged for the most part the bump in the midrange became a bit to much after awhile. However this headphone responded the best to EQ adjustment compared to the others. So with that in mind it can sound much better. They have outstanding bass and come in second in this department however they don't have the extension or power in the lower bass that the ATHm50's have.
The JVC FLATS where an impulse buy from a review about them being decent for 12.00. They really are quite good for the price.
Hope this helps.
I ended up stretching my budget in the end by 30.00 so I could get the ATH-M50's. To me they do just about everything very well. After that I would have stayed with the ATH-M30's when they are less than 50 on Amazon. Third would have been the Sony's. While well judged for the most part the bump in the midrange became a bit to much after awhile. However this headphone responded the best to EQ adjustment compared to the others. So with that in mind it can sound much better. They have outstanding bass and come in second in this department however they don't have the extension or power in the lower bass that the ATHm50's have.
The JVC FLATS where an impulse buy from a review about them being decent for 12.00. They really are quite good for the price.
Hope this helps.
neobop
Well-Known Member
I love my modded Fostex T50RP, but they need a bit of power to sound their best. Looking at phones in the < $100 range, the
M-Audio Q40 looks outstanding.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_M-Audio&ci=12572&N=4220238605+4291352492
M-Audio Q40 looks outstanding.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_M-Audio&ci=12572&N=4220238605+4291352492
Designdweeb
Super Member
The Grados are still considered a best buy in the price range. The designs are 20 years old and look it, because they are, and they still sound soooo good, they are a classic. An amazing design accomplishment.
Last edited:
MorbidToast
New Member
Stock? Koss ProDJ100, though they need a bit of power behind them to shine.
Modded? T50rp.
Modded? T50rp.
RamblinE
(╯°□°)╯彡┻━┻
KRK KNS6400 too?
MorbidToast
New Member
Haven't heard them so I wouldn't know. There are other suggestions like the Philips Uptowns, but the DJ100 is my staple for budget cans. Then it's the 598.
I'm not a huge fan, they're good to lend out to friends who've recently discovered Beats, but I'm not nearly as enamored with them as I was once.
I just saw them listed earlier in the thread and threw that out.
