UKC

Hello All

My daughters birthday is coming up and she wants a good pair of headphones ie over ear ones.
I'm happy to spend a fair bit but don't just want to go for the big brands ie Beats just because they are popular, I'd rather focus on quality and durability.

I know nothing about headphones, does anybody have any good suggestions? I've been looking on What Hi Fi and a few other places but would like some first hand reviews/ideas.

Thanks in advance

Jason

In reply to jasonC abroad:




I don't know why the fashion is Over the ear these days, I remember it was all about getting tiny small ones, and the over ear ones were for geeks and nerds.

Beat are utter utter turd. Hyped up turd. I am sick of hearing people bleat on about them. Utter shite. And the arseholes that wear OverEar headphones, and especially Beatz to the gym, are total arseholes and it takes every ounce of self discipline not to smash the barbell around their stupid heads.

SennHeiser are alright.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

I'm pretty chuffed to have picked up a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2 on eBay tonight. A friend showed me his last week and the sound and noise cancelling blew me away.

I tried a pair of Beats yesterday, and they were bloody awful.

If you could be tempted by in-ear headphones, then I definetley recommend RHA. Designed in Glasgow and with a better price and sound than most big names, plus great customer service too.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

If choosing headphones, then you can't go too far wrong by checking out what Richer Sounds are selling on their site.

If you are upping your price range then you are not going to be disappointed by what you choose from them.

http://www.richersounds.com/

Audio technica ath m50 are the best you can get for around £100 in my opinion. I use them for tracking in my home recording studio and have no desire for anything more expensive for this purpose. For mixing they perhaps don't quite cut it for extremely precise EQing, but for general listening they are easily more than good enough.

To get the best out of them make sure to listen to music in wav or flac format or similar. Mp3 kills dynamic range and adds nasty harmonic content

Edit: beyerdynamic dt 990's are a very close second for me in the price range and the difference between them is more personal preference. Slightly scooped mids in the beyers spectrum but they are also slightly comfier

In reply to Bootrock:


I currently use Sennheiser 600 for music listening, but AKG K701 for reference.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

My daughter just asked for these ones. She had a pair of Sennheisers that cost a *lot* more but likes these ones after testing them in a shop.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NBR6QKC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s0...

She seems to take the headphones everywhere she goes which means they get a lot of abuse compared to headphones that stay in the house and are more likely to get damaged or left behind somewhere. Also, a lot of the time they'll be used somewhere like a train where blocking background noise is more important than how good the reproduction is.

In reply to Big Ger:


Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean by 'for reference'?

In reply to jasonC abroad:

I use a pair of Bose ae2's, around £120 I think. They're nice and light, and the sound quality is excellent. I've just replaced the foam surrounds, good to know I can get spare parts.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Asked a very similar question here myself recently after daughter asked for some Beats. Long story short got her a pair of Grado SR325. She wears them daily and I haven't heard any complaints. They get great reviews and are WhatHiFi's best headphone sub-£300 again this year.

In reply to Fraser:


I think it's the Dewey Decimal system.

In reply to Fraser:


I do a bit of music production, just for fun and my own pleasure*.

Reference headphones have a flat, or neutral, response so do not, as some headphones do, attempt to boost bass , treble or vocal sounds.



*Definitely only for mine, everyone else runs a mile from it.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Good question, easy answer - AT MH50s
Cheers
LD

In reply to Big Ger:


Ah gottcha, cheers.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Sennheiser are really the best , I have 6 year old Sennheiser HD 25-1 II's and they still sound perfect and have taken a lot of rough handling.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Personally, I'd shy away from bluetooth headphones for the moment. Not many devices have upto date codecs to get the best out of your music. And if you are going to spend fair few pounds, then you will get more for your money if you choose one with a cable.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Grado SR80. Fantastic detailed sound but they are open-backed, meaning others can hear what you are listening to. If sound leakage is a problem, I recommend Beyer DT770 Pro 80 ohm, which are closed back. They still manage to retain an open sounding rendition of the music yet wouldn't disturb others.

Both would work well on mp3 players.

Like speaker drivers they would need a bit of 'breaking in' initially, so the new moving parts get loosened up for the best sound.

Both are about £100.

In reply to AllanMac:


Amazing value for the money, but due to their flatish response I'm unsure as to whether they would be good for a young person who may want more bass.

In reply to jasonC abroad:

Thanks to all that replied, I've just brought some Marshall ones, which my daughter seems to think are good.
Plus we live in Hanwell, where the company was started, so we feel a bit of loyalty.

I was going to go for some SennHeiser ones otherwise.

Thanks

In reply to all:

Possibly a bit cheap for all you Audiophiles but I've been really impressed with my AudioMax bluetooth headphones. £45 for rock solid bluetooth and a battery that lasts days. A good choice for younger or careless children perhaps.