debaserr

Which Sennheiser's are you familiar with?

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Key

Bought some cheap earphones from Office Depot, gotta say, i'm pretty happy with them especially with how cheap they were:


Memorex

PianoLuva4Ever

I wear SkullCandy Hesh 2's

Engine

I've had those same headphones for just over two years. At first I really loved them even though I didn't like the huge size and the plush ear cushions. Living in a warm climate, they are too uncomfortable outside for half the year (great in the cold though). As for noise-cancellation, I chose these specifically for the open-back design because I use them when I'm out walking among traffic so I can at least hear a little bit of my surroundings (compared to an older pair of noise-canceling Bose that seriously blocked out all ambient noise).

But.. they kind of broke. There is now a distinct scratchy hiss in them which I only noticed recently when I was using them with an HDTV late at night so as not to disturb other people. The hiss is less distinct on an MP3 player but it's still there. I'm hoping that I can blame the problem on the 3.5mm adapter that I'm using with them. But I suspect that I blew them out on a guitar amp (along with some of my hearing no doubt).

They still sound pretty good and I still use them but I find them too cumbersome and that damn hiss nearly ruins them.

I really need some quality headphones that are much smaller/more comfortable than the 555s and that won't break.

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Insane Guest

Why the hell does Bose get so much hate? There in IE headphones are great, never fall out, sound is great without blocking all outside sound. I have never bought there over ear headphones but was gifted two pairs, not bad at all. The cables are complete crap though, only downside, super thin. Been trying to find the perfect in ear for under $200, I still question if the ones that do go over are even worth it. I've tried several Sennheiser, Klipsch, and Shure, and the Shure SE215 are by far the best. They might not have the most ideal design, but the sound quality is great. The thick ass cable is a huuuge plus, had them for about a year now and not even a sign of wear or tear.
But by far the best bang for your buck in ear in my opinion is the Klipsch S4, they didn't last me long (cable is trash) but they destroy some of the competition around the $200 mark, for only $60.

misspoptart

I got these adorable pink cityscape shibuya headphones from Philips for christmas after my earbuds sh*t the bed, and I have to say I'm quite pleased. I love the sound quality, isolation, and the fashion statement...they are the biggest, brightest, headphones ever.

I'm happy with them, turns out they're only worth 30 euros or so, which is great bang for the buck I'd say!

I so appreciate the flat cord, they haven't gotten tangled once, and I've been running around and stuffing them in my purse and sh*t. So that's great.

The Bullet

I probably posted in here before, but my headphones have changed since, so I return.


As I said before, I use to listen to Bose OE1s, which I thought were really good and detailed for being as convieniently small and lightweight as they were. The drawbacks were that they had way too much bass (even if the bass itself was superior), and the chord was ultra-short, even if you could walk into any Bose store and get a longer one for $5. Wore them for a few years before they completely started to break down. Eventually, I completely wore out the woofers on them to the point where I would have my iPod EQ on "small speakers" and the bass would still be almost inaudible, which says something when they originally had way too much bass. Wasn't my only problem either. There would be constant cracking sounds in my music. Ocassionally, there would be slight delays between the two earpieces. You get the drift, but they still lasted me a long time.


A replacement was needed. I got a pair of Grado 325s for the holidays that sound awesome. In terms of pure sound, they are far superior to the Bose headphones. The soundstage is way bigger, to the point where I constantly have to question if I'm wearing headphones. The sound itself is much more detailed, especially in the higher end, so that even the softest sounds in my music can be sensed. The bass, which is nice and punchy, is mixed properly, not overly, and there's an extra emphasis on the far high-end/harmonics that's really exiting and makes acoustic music in particular really fun to listen to.

The one area where they fail is that they don't block out sound, period. The music could be playing from a speaker 50 feet away from you. I mean, I know they arn't noise-canceling headphones, but I feel like headphones as a whole are expected to block out noise to some degree. (Or, maybe not. I'm not the biggest audiophile on here, as you can all tell.) Either way, I shouldn't have to crank them to full volume to hear music in a car, especially when these headphones are already pretty loud, not to mention expensive. Laugh at me, but I'm planning to build paper-mache earmuffs over these things (or whatever materials I can get my hands on) and see if it works. If that doesn't, I might buy a special pair of cans for traveling.


And then there's these $50 things that two of my family members have, which I occasionally borrow to double-check mixing my own music to make sure the bass isn't overwhelming on a high-bass system, since my other resources are bass-light grados and bosephones with completely broken woofers.

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Ashir

Some ****ty Skullcandy's. The quality of the headphones doesn't bother me that much.

Cuthbert

Good shout on the Grado's. I considered the SR60i's before buying my HD25's.

Screen13

I can relate to this. Sadly, my classic Jensen 'phones broke on me after 14 years of great service, and I felt like someone who was seriously out of my time knowing that so much has changed when I was shopping for headphones, at least ones I can afford until later. A lot of emphasis has been on Bass, and as someone who's more used to classic and more traditional sounding playback, it was a strange world I entered although I'm sure I will find the perfect replacement pair for my broke Jensens soon.

Over at a bargain store (Note: DON'T ever think about going this route until you're seriously desperate!!!) I caught some reasonable/fair Uniden's with Extra Bass and this is pretty much the case. I can also say that old 60's rock albums do get an extra kick with this kind of headphone as well, but certainly not Folk (Folk-rock, yes, but Folk, no). Before record companies in the US started to use weak vinyl, the sounds were good, and now they have an extra push. Punk is hit and miss with them due to the occasionally low budget ways of recording, but Experimental and Post Punk are great. Collections from the Underground that feature a mixed sound can get frustrating, too, especially Black Metal.

New Wave, something I'm revisiting now due to going back to High School memories, is great through them as well. especially while playing British and European vinyl.

I'm thinking about getting a far better headphone, but this Extra Bass stuff is actually an interesting experience when playing records with the very old (Sanyo 1983!) receiver up to a good amount of Bass plus Bass Boost sound and a ultra fine turntable.