Headphones for guitar?
 

I have an amp with a headphone jack and am looking for some good headphones for practicing guitar with.

I do this all the time.

I use these
Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
http://noisecancellingheadphonesexpe...headphones.jpg
Very good. I don't lose any tone, although the harmonics are not as good as when I play normally. Pretty much any over the ear headphones will do you good.

I'd like to be kind, but I can't say anything but: You ain't heard nothing yet.
These boses are pretty expensive and kicked ass by a pair of 10 dollar Philipses. And I'm being serious. This is with everything that bose does except for their car audio and amplifiers. These are actually pretty good. The rest is just good marketing.

You might want to go for a nice AKG though.
You should probably wonder whether you'd want an open or closed headphone (open if you'd like to year your environment while playing, closed if you don't. They sound a bit different too, but that's taste)

Do you own a pair of Bose headphones?

Haha, that wouldn't be logical :D.
Why would I buy something I dislike?

Where have you even tried them?

If you can really tell me that $10 headphones can compare to them, is kind of throwing me off.

I'm sorry man, it's the thing with bose.
They're brilliant at marketing, but their stuff isn't all that good.
I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad. It's just true.
Same goes with all those thousands of bose 201's, 301's, acoustimass, 3-2-1 systems that people buy. They're not good. I might even call most of them plain bad.
The brand has gotten famous because of marketing, not because of quality.
The only thing Bose made that's really really brilliant is this:
http://hificlassic.dk/billeder/gallerier/bose_1800.jpg

The Philips SHP2000 doesn't actually sound worse than those boses.
I'm really shocked by what the boses cost, because I thought they were around 50 dollars. I didn't really pay attention to that.
And again, I'm not trying to be unfriendly, I just know my way in audio.

Back to headphones:
Budget: Philips
Pricey: AKG or Beyerdynamic
Unaffordable: STAX or GRADO

And (unpopular opinion ;D) forget about affordable sennheisers too.
There's some pretty neat sennheisers, but the AKG's and Beyerdynamics that cost the same are way better.
Sony has some pretty good headphones around 75-100 dollars, too. But I'm not really into those.

And I know it's often a question of taste, but amongst serious audio enthusiasts, everyone knows that bose shouldn't be taken seriously. I'm sorry man.

The deal with Bose is a few things.

One, they've ridden the coattails of the legitimate recognition that they received in the 80's/early 90's for their speakers and amplification systems.

two, the use a lot of signal processing to color the sound of their speakers/headphones so that they sound more dramatic to consumers that are looking for headphones for personal use. I think Bose headphones are good for just listening to very compressed digital music files, but I would never ever mix with them, or use them on an analog system or for primarily analog recordings because they are so biased and inaccurate. I still think they're decent headphones, but They don't sound anywhere as good as the price tag would lead me to believe. Most of what you're buying is a name.

Not everyone has the same opinion. I think they are great, you think they are bad, I think your ears are messed up. Again, where did you use them?
It also depends on what you use them for. It could sound completely different based on person's taste in music. And again, speak for yourself and not EVERYONE.
This is why I voted for you as the worst Argumentalist.

There's always taste man, but if that's all that matters then any speaker or headphone is right as long as it's your taste. I don't agree with that. There's still good and bad.

You might also want to read Satchmo's post as he's completely right, except probably for the 80's/90's part. Bose made some nead amplifiers in the 70's.
They also had the 901 speakers which were rubbish, but came with an external amplifier that made them sound acceptable (still a lot of money for 'reasonable' sound quality).
In the 80's they already went all acoustimass on us.

Edit: Heard them a couple of times. In a shop, at school and at someone's home plugged in to a pretty nice NAD amplifier (he also had pretty afwul B&W speakers, so I guess he also went for the name).

I thought about it and you're completely right; The 601's came out in the 70's.

http://www.limundo.com/slika-Bose-60...192484x640.jpg

By the end of the 80's, Bose was all about their Acoustimass system which was total crap, but sold like nobody's business.

The 601's in my opinion weren't all that brilliant either. They're mainly sandwitched 301's.
They're pretty laid back to listen to, but they lack every bit of depth and detail.
601's are about 100-150 dollars here. AR4's are about 30-40 dollars.
AR3's are about 100-150 dollars, too. No brainer.
I prefer the AR2ax by the way. Three way speaker. They sound pretty transparent for old american speakers :).

Eitherway, we're off now.
The only bose I don't think is awful is actuall the old 901 and the 802, which is a PA speaker. But you pay hundreds of dollars for old 901's and they still aren't better than an AR4. AR4's are value for money :).

Eh... still off.
Headphones.
Well, obviously no bose for me. I'm a pretty big Beyerdynamic fan myself, but then you are talking about $150 and more. I'm not sure how easy Philips is found where you come from, but I think they have some pretty brilliant headphones for 40 to 50 dollars.

Damn you guys know your stuff! I was wondering though the headphone jack on my amp is 1/4 inch. I have a converter will it affect sound quality much if I use that and a 1/8inch headphones? Also if I was going Philips what would be a good idea for around 50 dollars.

If you're not looking to completely isolate the sound of your guitar from anyone else, (eg. someone sleeping or studying in the same room), I strongly recommend a pair of open air headphones. The trade off will be there will be some sound leakage from your headphones, in other words people in your immediate vicinity will be able to hear what you're playing, but the spacial dynamics of your guitar tone will be more accurate to the actual room acoustics that you would experience with a conventional amplification scenario w/o headphones, not to mention, your listening fatigue will be greatly reduced. I would do a search on Amazon for Phillips open air headphones.

Hmm I will definitely have to get some open air headphones than. Thanks

i highly recommend the Sennheiser HD 515s. they actually come with a 1/4" jack on the cord, open eared, and just shy of being audiophile gear but not nearly as pricey.

The 515s are, especially compared with other sennheisers, pretty good value for money.
You still have to like the pushy, bassy sound sennheisers produce.
I think most sennheisers are very tiring to listen to.
The only one I've liked so far was the cheap ass Manhattan. That's actually pretty good :).

Using an adapter should mean a decrease in sound quality, but I can't say I really hear it. I wouldn't be too bothered about that. I must say though that most more expensive headphones already have an 1/4" plug. There's also adapters that go from 1/4 to 1/8" :)

xEMGx won't concede defeat on this s_k as he has invested 300 quid in a pair of headphones, which you are telling him suck!

This. I highly recommend Grado headphones over anything sennheiser. the SR60i headphones in particular are about the best value for money headphones on earth. Open air type headphones, very neutral, balanced sound quality. Perhaps a little dip in the midrange compared to the best of the best, and the SR80's have bigger bass, but for the price they absolutely cannot be beaten.

Also, RE: Bose - I work for a UK Hi-fi company, and I will weigh in on the side that says Bose gear sells on the name alone. They are great at marketing, but I've seen and heard a lot of their equipment and headphones and haven't been impressed at any point, particularly not with acoustimass or their much vaunted clock radios, which sound terrible!

I made the same mistake with a $900 Vincent preamp/poweramp combination.
And I'm happy to admit that it was utter crap and I lost $400 selling it :D.
Glad I got rid of it. Crap got kicked out of it by my 2x15 watt Tube amp :D.

I've never really heard a Grado properly.
I used their Red Cartridge for years and I do know they should be taken seriously. But their headphones are way out of reach for me, financially.
So I'll just stick with AKG and Beyer and hope for a miracle.
I mean, my DT990 was $1 :).

They really made some brilliant amplifiers back in the 70's.
And that's really it.

I own a pair of mid lvl bose bookshelf speakers and they sound ****ing amazing. They cost about 200 each and sound better than any of the previous ones I have had. Although its probably has alot to do with the bomb ass Yamaha receiver as well.

Sorry mate, the reason they sound good is that your previous speakers were awful.
The Boses don't sound good. They're probably 201's or 301's (as you call them 'mid level').
Compared to a lot of (affordable!) speakers, these boses are well... Bad.

oYour totally right, because you know exactly what speakers iv owned, and you yourself own a pair of these 301's and have put them in a soundtest against comparable brands speakers.

I spend my entire day listening to loud music through many sets of speakers, so pardon me if I think you sound like a jackarse blindly calling them ****ty.

I don't need to know what speakers you've owned to know the boses aren't good ;).
And yes of course I've compared them. How else would I know that they don't sound good?

And I'm sorry for sounding like a jackass, so let me put this differently.
There's a lot of speakers way better than Bose (any bose, really), even for smaller amounts of money. Klipsch and Wharfedale have some very nice speakers for less money.

It's not like I try to make you feel bad. I just know my stuff man. Can't help it.
If you don't want to believe me, see what guitarbizarre says. Bose is all about marketing.
If you don't want to believe him, just google 'don't buy bose' and find out.
My English isn't good enough to explain it to you properly, but there's a lot of information on the internet about this subject.
Audio enthuisiasts have been trying to convince people not to buy bose since the late 70's.
It's been like this for years now.
Please google and see that I'm not just some idiot with crappy ears ;).

Indeed they are all about the marketing. That is besides the point. So is Gibson and Fender yet I still swear by there products like many others. My dad owns a similar watted and priced Boston Accoustics set, as well as Polk Audio set. We have tried them all to see which we liked better in the same small room with he same reciever and found the Bose set to have far better clarity even at higher volcumes.

Also with a ****ty receiver that is not made for your speakers they will not sound good. Maybe thats what the problom is?

This argument seems the same as the one I come across when Hardley Davidson is being talked about. They are a company that runs ENTIRELY off brand name and brand recognition. Do I agree with that? No not at all. But do they make fantastic bikes that feel like none other? Yes they do and I will admit that.

Bose speakers sound great. They may be overpriced as your saying (I actually agree with that) but to sit there and blindly say just because they are bose they sound awful is a load a youknowwhat.

Edit: My father also owned the 5 speaker surround sound Bose set and they sounded ****ing epic. Clear as can be at ANY volume. He returned them because he didnt think they were worth the money. He admits though they sound incredible, just not 1200 dollars incredible.

You might want to check out my sound rig. It's not like I don't know how to test stuff properly :).
I can't tell you to hear something different than what you actually hear.
I'm glad you like your Boses. But I can't help but think they sound bad. Not even for the money, just plain bad. You could blame me for that, but you might want to try something else next time. That's your choice.

I'm off to bed now. It's 3:42am here.
Enjoy your music and good night.

Fair enough, to each his own. And im not saying you dont know your audiophile share ;)

Hm, I was off to bed.

One more thing: I don't know Polk audio or Boston Acoustics.
All I know is that word goes they shouldn't be taken too seriously.
I don't know if this is true. There's a lot of Tannoy haters too and I love my SRM10B's.
Bose though is commonly known around audiophiles to be utterly bad. And I have to agree. The 901's and 802's are quite allright, but really overpriced.
If you didn't live thousands of miles away I'd love to invite you to have a listen to my speakers here.
It's not that I don't respect your choice, I'm just very sure about this one and I want everyone to get the most out of their music. Cause that's what we're here for.

Doesn't change the fact that quite some people here are listening to music via their laptop or PC speakers :(. It's sad.

Well, off to bed now. Goodnight!

bose???
 

i think all what lone misfit has is bose that is why he's so biased. honestly we can afford that bose but we are musicians so we hear the difference ...

Big edit - Didn't notice this was a bumped thread. ****ing 15 post spammers...

And he doesn't even have correct grammar...