The Headphone Thread
- Thread starter General Zod
- Start date
PromisedLand
Master of Corgis
- Sep 3, 2013
- 729
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I just got a pair of Bose IE2 in-ear phones to replace the Apple earbuds, since they sound like garbage and fail every 2 months like clockwork.
I like them so far.. great sound and response. I didnt get noise cancelling, since I have my Bose QC2s for airline travel. Anyone use these for any length of time? I'm wondering how well they hold up over the long run, durability and sound-wise.
I like them so far.. great sound and response. I didnt get noise cancelling, since I have my Bose QC2s for airline travel. Anyone use these for any length of time? I'm wondering how well they hold up over the long run, durability and sound-wise.
labarum
Cotton Candy Collector
Sorry, late to the party...I need to check out the lounge more often.
I just went through this same thing when my headphones for work went kaput.
Price was a large factor for me at first, so I tried out the Monoprice 8x23s that are so high rated on amazon. They are the best over ear headphone you can get for under 30 dollars. But that is not to say even close to the best quality/price ratio. The highs and the lows were both rolled and were a step back from my skull candy in ear cheapo ones.
I tried the Monoprice in ear monitors that are also really highly reviewed on Amazon. For 10 bucks, I love them, but as mentioned previously they have a strange form factor and I find them to be good mostly for people with big "ear holes" for lack of a better term. Great sound though.
Finally ordered the Audio Technica ATH-M50s off of ebay for 100 bucks, and have never looked back. They are in my opinion the best quality/price ratio. Everything sounds fantastic. If you are on a short budget, BUY THESE. I listen to metal most of the time and you get spoiled instantly. They don't look amazing (like a standard black headphone) but they feel great for wearing all day long.
After doing all the research and trying out multiple multiple headphones on the "higher end" of stuff, I agree with Zod on his choice. The quality shift is definitely there, but generally you're at the 300 dollar range by now, so it didn't work for me this time around. The VMODAs are hands down the sickest looking, feeling, and sounding of the higher range. They come with a hard shell case, removable cord, and the list goes on...
I would like a report back from you Zod on the Airplane/noise cancelling performance of the VMODAs. the ATH-M50s didnt fail at it, but they did not do amazing against the large dull hum of an airplane engine, trying to hear all of the intricate bass stylings of Mercy Falls.
The song I used for all my testing was "Move the chains" from Ashes of Ares. It has a pretty quick guitar, bass, and vocal chain. I also feel like using newly recorded/produced music is better, you can hear different nuances easier it seems like.
I just went through this same thing when my headphones for work went kaput.
Price was a large factor for me at first, so I tried out the Monoprice 8x23s that are so high rated on amazon. They are the best over ear headphone you can get for under 30 dollars. But that is not to say even close to the best quality/price ratio. The highs and the lows were both rolled and were a step back from my skull candy in ear cheapo ones.
I tried the Monoprice in ear monitors that are also really highly reviewed on Amazon. For 10 bucks, I love them, but as mentioned previously they have a strange form factor and I find them to be good mostly for people with big "ear holes" for lack of a better term. Great sound though.
Finally ordered the Audio Technica ATH-M50s off of ebay for 100 bucks, and have never looked back. They are in my opinion the best quality/price ratio. Everything sounds fantastic. If you are on a short budget, BUY THESE. I listen to metal most of the time and you get spoiled instantly. They don't look amazing (like a standard black headphone) but they feel great for wearing all day long.
After doing all the research and trying out multiple multiple headphones on the "higher end" of stuff, I agree with Zod on his choice. The quality shift is definitely there, but generally you're at the 300 dollar range by now, so it didn't work for me this time around. The VMODAs are hands down the sickest looking, feeling, and sounding of the higher range. They come with a hard shell case, removable cord, and the list goes on...
I would like a report back from you Zod on the Airplane/noise cancelling performance of the VMODAs. the ATH-M50s didnt fail at it, but they did not do amazing against the large dull hum of an airplane engine, trying to hear all of the intricate bass stylings of Mercy Falls.
The song I used for all my testing was "Move the chains" from Ashes of Ares. It has a pretty quick guitar, bass, and vocal chain. I also feel like using newly recorded/produced music is better, you can hear different nuances easier it seems like.
I just bought a pair of Sol Republic Jax earbuds - they are not anything an audiophile would touch, but they sound really good for $40 (a bit bass heavy) and don't irritate my ears. I was tired of the $15 Sony cheapo that I wear to and from work, and this is a nice change.
My testing track is usually "Into the Great Nothing."
My testing track is usually "Into the Great Nothing."
I've owned a pair. I think you'll find that they're very well made and will hold up quite nicely. The only concern is comfort. Everyone's ears are different, and as with any IEM, your mileage will vary.
I never got a chance to check those out. But from everything I've read, you're correct on the quality/price ratio. I've never read anything that was anything but glowing about ATH-M50s.
Agreed. After flirting with $400 headphones, I found that these were the clear winner and I'm very happy with my decision.
Admittedly, I'm a nervous flier. Truth be told, when I told my new doctor how much Xanax I require to get on an airplane, she looked positively horrified. So between the drugs and the nerves, I'm not sure you'd want to trust my opinion. That said, I did not notice plane noise (keeping in mind that I tend to play them fairly loudly in general).
As a side note, I bought the XL ear pads from the V-Moda web site (which turns them into more of an over-ear than on-ear). Not only are they WAY more comfortable, improve the sound stage, but it also provides for a bit more sound isolation. So my opinion isn't based on the way they come stock.
I like their products. I have a paid of the HD Tracks that I've used at the gym forever.
As I was doing research on headphones, I began reading a bit about DACs and amps. However, after doing a bit of digging I decided I didn't want to spend the extra money. Then I stumbled upon a review of the JDS Labs O2+ODAC Combo (DAC/amp).
http://www.metal-fi.com/jds-labs-o2-odac/
Apparently there was a blogger who made a lot of waves in the Hi-Fi forums a few years back. He wrote a lot about the idea of objective audio quality and suggested that people who were paying thousands of dollars for audio equipment were getting equipment that was no better than equipment that cost a fraction of the price. He apparently went on to put out charts and graphs that backed up his claim and wound up with a great deal of notoriety. As the story goes, he eventually put his money where his mouth is and created a design for a DAC/amp combo, that was free for any manufacturer to take and build. A number of manufacturers have since turned his designs into commercially available products. However, what really intrigued me was the reviews. I couldn't find a single review that wasn't absolutely glowing. It seems the only debate is whether the O2+ODAC Combo is as good as equipment that's 2x the price or 6x the price. I ordered one today. I'll report back once I've had a chance to play with it.
http://www.metal-fi.com/jds-labs-o2-odac/
Apparently there was a blogger who made a lot of waves in the Hi-Fi forums a few years back. He wrote a lot about the idea of objective audio quality and suggested that people who were paying thousands of dollars for audio equipment were getting equipment that was no better than equipment that cost a fraction of the price. He apparently went on to put out charts and graphs that backed up his claim and wound up with a great deal of notoriety. As the story goes, he eventually put his money where his mouth is and created a design for a DAC/amp combo, that was free for any manufacturer to take and build. A number of manufacturers have since turned his designs into commercially available products. However, what really intrigued me was the reviews. I couldn't find a single review that wasn't absolutely glowing. It seems the only debate is whether the O2+ODAC Combo is as good as equipment that's 2x the price or 6x the price. I ordered one today. I'll report back once I've had a chance to play with it.
Have you had a chance to play with this ?
I was also looking at Modi DAC
http://schiit.com/products/modi
And Magni amp from schiit audio
http://schiit.com/products/magni
Both will run $90 less than JDS Labs product so not that much difference.
Metal66
Member
I have a pair of Skullcany Navigators that I use with my iPod and a pair of Koss that I got free in an exchange for my old Koss headphones breaking. Koss headphones are quarenteed for life.
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
Necro-thread!
I just bought a pair of the Monoprice 8320s for travel purposes. I'm definitely keen to see how good they really are at that $8.02 price point.
I used both. First I ordered the JDS product, than the Schiit stack. I could not hear a difference with either. However, that may have more to do with my headphones. They are designed to be driven by portable audio players and don't require much power.
As I have a severe hearing disability, I have to use headphones that provide as close to natural sound as possible, so I recently purchased a pair of V-MODA Crossfade M-100 Over-Ear Noise-Isolating Metal Headphones for music listening and a pair of Sennheiser RS 170 Digital Wireless Headphones for watching TV at night. The V-Moda's are like nothing I have ever heard, amazing sound and so natural.
An update on those Sol Republic Jax earbuds I bought - the wire next to the plug gave out after ~4.5 months, only able to get sound in both channels if I held the wire in a very limited spot. They don't get *that* much abuse - my ipod is usually either on my desk, in my pocket while walking to/from work, or in my bag. I've used cheapo Philips/Sony headphones for years without that issue; usually the earpads disintegrate first. My boss let me exchange them out for the same thing, so I didn't have to mess with finding the receipt to file a warranty claim. If these crap out again in less than six months, then I guess I'll go back to Philips. 
Agreed. That's why I went V-Moda as well.
Interestingly, Sony gets excellent reviews on some of its sub-$100 earbuds.An update on those Sol Republic Jax earbuds I bought - the wire next to the plug gave out after ~4.5 months, only able to get sound in both channels if I held the wire in a very limited spot. They don't get *that* much abuse - my ipod is usually either on my desk, in my pocket while walking to/from work, or in my bag. I've used cheapo Philips/Sony headphones for years without that issue; usually the earpads disintegrate first. My boss let me exchange them out for the same thing, so I didn't have to mess with finding the receipt to file a warranty claim. If these crap out again in less than six months, then I guess I'll go back to Philips.
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
In case anyone was wondering, they actually sound quite good. Way better than eight dollars of good for damned sure. The only issue I have with them is that none of the included pad sizes will get the bastards to stay in my unevenly sized ear canals, but I can't fault them for that because I have that problem with ALL ear inserts that aren't foam or wax.
Jamie... not sure how much you're looking to spend on a replacement, but these are the best, most comfortable (by far) earbuds I've ever owned:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IN6UREC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]Beyerdyanmics MMX 102[/ame]
My latest headphone (primarily for gym use), is the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR10RBT-Bluetooth-Wireless-Headphones/dp/B00FJISZ8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422551606&sr=8-1&keywords=MDR-10RBT"]Sony MDR10RBT Bluetooth Wireless Headphones[/ame]. They're extremely comfortable, sound great, and look fantastic. They blow away the Beats Studio (BT) and they're half the price.
Yeah, that's way too much for me. I'm looking for something under ~$40. It's just my ipod for walking to and from work; I don't want crap, but I don't need high end.
