Need a good set of "over the ear headphones"...

wwotr

wwotr

Active Member
Im looking for a set of headphones for my Vintage system, I'm putting together.
I grew-up with "Over The Ear Headphones" and would really like to stick with them. I like the feel/sound.
That being said, price is a factor.
I'd like to noit go over $200.00 USD.
Now I've seen some "Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones",
(I know they'll be WELL OVER $200.00.

So could anyone point me in a paticular direction.
My system is an all Pioneer, but the headphones don't have to be.
I do have some hearing loss (high Frequencys) in one ear if that makes any difference.

Roger
 
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Headphone help

It will help people steer you in the correct direction if you tell us what kind of music that you mostly listen too. That will help us make good suggestions. So we know to be talking about open back, semi-open, or closed back. Also you may want to include how you are driving them. As some cans sound way better with a separate headphone amp. Also you should note if these will be for only home use or if you are traveling with them as well. And also are you only in the market for vintage headphones or are modern ones okay? Disregard the below information if you are after vintage phones.

I will list a few that I feel are good value cans inside your price range though.

Audio Technica ATH-M50s: These are wonderful all around headphones. I think they do an awesome job at replicating accurate neutral sound. The bass they have is realistic and tight. Not boomy and muddy. These can easily be found for less than $150. Easily driven from everything from an iPod to your home stereo.

Sennheiser HD 558: Very nice open back headphones in your price range. New for $180 on Amazon, or there are several used pairs in "like new" condition for around $100. If you listen to a lot of jazz or vocal music these sound great. These sound good with a lot of other styles of music as well open-backed headphones typically standout with jazz and vocal music though.

Grados SR 225i or 125i: Grados makes some wonderful sounding headphones. With their open backed design they really sing pretty. Only flaw with them IMO is comfort. These definitely take some getting used to with the on-ear design. Also some people find the bass to be a little underwhelming.

IMO as well stay away from the Bose noise cancelling ones unless you do a lot of airplane traveling. I have a set of the Bose QC-15s and they block out noise very well. However I do not feel they play music nearly as well as the Audio Technica, Grados, or Sennheisers. Plus they are over twice the price. I have the Audio Technica ATH-M50s and modded Grados to compare them to.

Hope I helped you with a place to start. If you have any questions feel free to PM me as I am bad at checking the different threads that I post on.

Take care and good luck in the hunt,
Josh
 
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I recently picked up a set up ve 6000s and they are fun enough. I almost took them back because of sibilance issues but they seem to have "broken in." I would not call them hifi but they outdid (IMO) all the studio headphones and consumer headphones in their price range (Seinheiser, pioneer, etc.) They are a bit bass heavy (but I like that in cans). I ultimately bought them because I wanted them for work and despite their flaws I figured they would be the best for fatigue....They are active and actually image halfway decent. Logitech has always been good bang for buck mid/lowfi.
 
Thanks Josh!
These headphones are going to be powered
by the Pioneer amp in my sig below.
(I'm just putting this set up together).
I listen to mostly "Classic Rock"
Lots of Van Halen (not Van Hagar).
;) AC/DC, foghat, zeppelin, CCR ,
Night Ranger etc.

Roger
 
For maintaining a vintage feel you could look into some AKGs. (EDIT: Grados will give you that feel too, now that I think about it some more)

The AKG K271 Mk II and the AKG K240 Mk II fall into your price bracket.

A vintage pair of AKG K240 Monitor headphones (600 ohm) from someplace like BT or Ebay would work very well with your Pioneer but not so much with a portable source like a cellphone or iPod.

I haven't heard the above mentioned headphones, except for the K240 in passing, I just like the brand and figured a mention is warranted. A user here recently purchased the AKG K272HD, which is a lux'd up version of the K271 and had this to say about it http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=484360
 
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I would definitely also agree with the AKG recommendation. They are wonderful cans as well. I have only had experience with the K240s that sell for around $70 bucks right now. They were amazing. The only reason I replaced them with the ATH-M50s is that they needed more power than an iPod could deliver.

BTW the ATH-M50s I have are silver. Certainly not a completely vintage looking set. But they are silver. I know how much everyone around here likes silver gear :D

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...46579&sr=1-1&keywords=ath-m50+limited+edition
 
I run Alessandro Music Series One's mostly. I have access to others like Koss Hv/1lc's etc. They are made by Grado. They are light, comfy and they don't overheat your ears like closed phones can. I like the voicing better than my others.
 
Logitech UE6000 is solid.

ue-6000-headphones.jpg
 
I should have mentioned that I'd prefer
Volume controls on the headphones themselves.
Also this is stricky for home stereo
And not any type of phone/IPod.
Roger
 
Check out Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. Unless you're outside in public you shouldn't need noise cancelling headphones. <$100 (Guitar City usually gives you a 10% discount). Look and feel of vintage phones. Good luck.
 
The UE6000 plays in passive mode as well. You can also use a standard 3.5mm cable without the inline remote if you desire.
 
BrocLuno said:
I run Alessandro Music Series One's mostly. I have access to others like Koss Hv/1lc's etc. They are made by Grado. They are light, comfy and they don't overheat your ears like closed phones can. I like the voicing better than my others.
Click to expand...

OOH.
I like the Silver model.
Are these still avaliable and if so.where?

Roger
 
Zeppellin said:
I would definitely also agree with the AKG recommendation. They are wonderful cans as well. I have only had experience with the K240s that sell for around $70 bucks right now. They were amazing. The only reason I replaced them with the ATH-M50s is that they needed more power than an iPod could deliver.

BTW the ATH-M50s I have are silver. Certainly not a completely vintage looking set. But they are silver. I know how much everyone around here likes silver gear :D

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...46579&sr=1-1&keywords=ath-m50+limited+edition
Click to expand...

DAMN...
These are sweet too!

;)

Roger
 
Any chance these come in Silver?

Roger



Zeppellin said:
It will help people steer you in the correct direction if you tell us what kind of music that you mostly listen too. That will help us make good suggestions. So we know to be talking about open back, semi-open, or closed back. Also you may want to include how you are driving them. As some cans sound way better with a separate headphone amp. Also you should note if these will be for only home use or if you are traveling with them as well. And also are you only in the market for vintage headphones or are modern ones okay? Disregard the below information if you are after vintage phones.

I will list a few that I feel are good value cans inside your price range though.

Audio Technica ATH-M50s: These are wonderful all around headphones. I think they do an awesome job at replicating accurate neutral sound. The bass they have is realistic and tight. Not boomy and muddy. These can easily be found for less than $150. Easily driven from everything from an iPod to your home stereo.

Sennheiser HD 558: Very nice open back headphones in your price range. New for $180 on Amazon, or there are several used pairs in "like new" condition for around $100. If you listen to a lot of jazz or vocal music these sound great. These sound good with a lot of other styles of music as well open-backed headphones typically standout with jazz and vocal music though.

Grados SR 225i or 125i: Grados makes some wonderful sounding headphones. With their open backed design they really sing pretty. Only flaw with them IMO is comfort. These definitely take some getting used to with the on-ear design. Also some people find the bass to be a little underwhelming.

IMO as well stay away from the Bose noise cancelling ones unless you do a lot of airplane traveling. I have a set of the Bose QC-15s and they block out noise very well. However I do not feel they play music nearly as well as the Audio Technica, Grados, or Sennheisers. Plus they are over twice the price. I have the Audio Technica ATH-M50s and modded Grados to compare them to.

Hope I helped you with a place to start. If you have any questions feel free to PM me as I am bad at checking the different threads that I post on.

Take care and good luck in the hunt,
Josh
Click to expand...
 
wwotr said:
OOH.
I like the Silver model.
Are these still avaliable and if so.where?

Roger
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you mean the Alessandro MS2's. Unfortunately, they run for $300, and are on ear rather than over ear (but you can get cushions that make them over-ear).
They are very pretty. :D

Magnum-2.jpg


alessandro_ms2.jpg


Unfortunately, very very few headphones these days have volume control on the headphone itself.
 
Hi all.
Yes I started this Thread and I'm STILL researching Headphones.
The good news is that my Financial situation
has improved somewhat, so I'm looking at a higher end Headphone.
I have found (but not listened through),
a set, and I'm wondering if anyone here has
them and can tell me (personally) and Pros/Cons with them?
They are the Sennheiser Momentum Headphone.

It comes with 2 cords, and one of them,
you can use for accepting calls through your headphones,
while listening to LP's/Music.
That in itself is not THAT important to me.
What is important is, when using the inline volume switch,
does that switch work for "Calls Only",
or can you actually adjust the Sound Level
of the record your listening to?

Roger
 
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