The Headphones Thread - Page 19

I dont think vwap makes them anymore but hey - here is a suggestion...

Try to find replacement pads for the Sennheiser HD-414 headphones. They will fit the Grados. Then - cut a hole roughly the size of a quarter in the middle with a good quality hobby knife. Press down with the quarter and cut around it from the "inside" out.

You can buy flat pads from www.ttvj.com

yeah... i am actually really happy with my purchase. it was down between ER-6 and the EC-2 but i went in the ER-6 favor because of some reviews I read.

ER6 is not bad...I personally find it too analytical and thin on the bass. It is better than a LOT of other stock options and is a darn good earphone. My ears just prefer the E2 because I need some bass. The E3 is even better because it doesnt have the boominess of the E2 and has a more natural sound. THe E3 is a sort of hybrid E2 and ER6 if you will...

how are the HD 280 pros in terms of jazz, blues, classical ?

HD-280's are nice but they can be quite "shrill" with the wrong source. Besides...at that price point you have better options from the Grado stable. They do isolate a LOT but they have a very tight grip on the head.

One side coiled cable is a plus

Sonically they are very good at what they do. Good dynamics with tight bass which can seem a little light but you get used to it and start to appreciate the speed and accuracy.

But as any closed headphone goes - cavity resonance and harmonics become a issue with high res recordings and lossless formats...you can hear the difference between an open and closed headphone with ease under perfect conditions with the right amplification.

I recommend the phones with a few reservations but I have no doubts that you will find them satisfactory.

I just find open headphones too open as in my parents and roommate hate me for them. lol

Heh I can imagine. Yes you can consider these :-

Ultrasone HFI-650 Track Master...there is one on sale at www.headfi.com for $100.00 I think...super cheap...

Sennheiser HD-25 - $200.00 retail but can be found for $150 - $170 online...AWESOME closed headphones

Sennheiser HD-280 of course...

AKG K-271

all nice choices...

This HeadphoneMania guy sure has an attitude problem doesnt he?






















just messing with you guys...

I'm gonna try the HD414 pad mod later this week, I'll post my results when I'm done.

Ok, I don't feel like reading through 25 pages of headphone conversation, so what can I get for $50-75 anything good? I need headphones when playing at night

Grado SR-60
Koss PortaPro 2
Sennheiser PX-100
Sennheiser HD-280

All good choices...comfort = HD-280 but others are also quite comfy.

And I'll add a recommendation for the Shure E2 if you need sound isolation.

Great thread. Very informative. Just received my Shure E2c's today. 72 hours from headphones.com order from MT to receipt in CO. Nice. Bought them for the office chaos, where I'll try them next week. Both the medium foam or rubber inserts fit comfortably and snugly, though I get much more sound blocking from the foam. The adhesive earwax covers are a bit of a pain. Had to use tweezers. Don't see why ear wax will get in unless you're an oozy type, or why a cutoff toothpick and thin cloth wouldn't clean them. I get hiss when plugging them into my Sager 8887 but not my MP3 player, but it doesn't bother me. I'll be using them in a desktop at work. The cord is pretty short. Barely goes from me down my back and to the lappie sitting back on the desk in desk. Think it's 5 feet. I'll need an extension at work.

EDIT: Got a 6-foot extension at Radio Shack. At the office they cut out about 75-80 percent of external noise, but not all of it. I still wouldn't drive, bike, or jog in traffic with them on.

hi I was about going to pick up a pair of Senn 212 Pros, but happened across the Senn EH series and was wondering how they matched up? (Senn EH 250 and 350) They're aroudn the same price range... is the same true of performance?

I plan to use it mainly for games and music (hiphop, trance, rock)

Thanks!

I have a pair of ER4S earphones. Previously, I had the ER6's, which were amazing, but once you get to hear the ER4S, you will never want to go back. The noise isolation is great, however, prepare to be hit by cars when crossing streets, and missing phone calls I got a brand new pair for $190s. They have never ceased to amaze me.

hey gsferrari is back!!!!

I bit the bullet and bought a good set to enhance my listening quality...

My Shure E3c earplugs arrived today... and even with the dinky AC97 sound on my Gateway laptop and WMP, I could tell a big difference in the mp3s I encoded directly and the ones I transcoded from vorbis a while back (something I haven't noticed before). At home with my Audigy 2-ZS soundcard, the difference was even more pronounced.

So... I'm presently re-ripping my entire CD collection into Vorbis format and changing from WMP to Winamp so I can listen to them.

My ears are loving me My CD-Drive is hating me

I'm just jumpin into the middle of this...

I haven't read the whole thread (come on, 26 pages!!!) only the last 2 posts and neither of those are related to what I'm gonna say but the title of the thread suggests that what I'm gonna say is relevant and I searched for something about what I'm gonna say and didn't see it so hopefully what I say is a meaningful contribution to this thread that I haven't read even 0.01% of.

Here goes:

BOSE TRIPORT HEADPHONES ($150 USD @ BestBuy)

I got myself a pair of New In Box Bose Triport headphones for $135 USD on eBay.

Here is my review:

I look at three things when I evaluate headphones:

Sound Quality, Comfort, Durability

Sound Quality:
The sound is amazing. I play 3d games and want the 3d sound effects to be as good as possible and these cans deliver. When there is no action in the game, I take note of the silence, because the Triports have very little whitenoise playing through, although occassionally when nothing is playing I can hear my hard disk or cdrom drive spinning. Also the headphones do a good job of keeping external noise out. I have a noisy computer and I have to sit right next to it but with the headphones on I don't really notice, especially if there is music or game noise playing through the headphones. Once I switched to these headphones I noticed an immediate improvement in the quality of the sound played through my computer. It was much crisper and clearer sounding than before. With these headphones on, I can hear little details in the games I play that I missed out on before, like footsteps from far away, or an enemy toggling his gun from auto to single fire... you know, the "really little details". My music is much nicer as well, and DVD audio is excellent. The bass on these headphones is very good. Its not like having a subwoofer from a regular speaker set but very good nonetheless. These little guys can also crank out a ton of volume. Once I got these headphones I had to turn my volume on every program down to almost nothing. If I put them on my desk in front of me and crank up the volume on the computer I can hear sound almost as loud as if I were using normal speakers.

Quality Rating: A

Comfort:

These headphones are some of the most comfortable I have ever tried on. I can wear them all day long (quite literally) and only after 10-12 hours do they start to feel uncomfortable, and even then after a 30 minute break I can put them on again for a long stretch. The muffs are designed to fit around your ear rather than on your ears. So your ear is literally contained (unless you have HUGE ears!) within the muff. The soft black gasket around the muff is very soft. It conforms to the shape of your head creating a comfortable and leak-proof seal. The end result is that your ears don't get smashed by the cans. The headwrap piece has a nice range of adjustability to it. Also, it is padded with a somewhat hard foamy material. The headwrap if adjusted to be very tight, can be somewhat uncomfortable but when adjusted properly fits snug and comfortably. Personally, I also like the fact that if for instance I have just gotten ready to go somewhere and my hair is all nice and pretty, I don't have to mess my hair up by wearing these over-the-head headphones. I can just adjust the headwrap piece to hover about 1/2 inch over my head instead of on it, and the headphones still stay on just the same, and don't threaten to fall off. Also, the headphones are very lightweight, so you won't fatigue your head or neck by wearing them for long stretches. In fact, after a few minutes you forget you are even wearing them. The Triports come with an already longish cord (about 6 or 7 feet, from memory) as well as an optional extension cord of about 5 feet. So it is doubtful that the cord being too short will force you too close to what you are listening to. These cans are so comfortable I often wear them even when not listening to anything, just to block out house noise and the noise of my computer. They are very comfy.

Comfort Rating: A

Durability:

What good are a pair of cans if they just break in a week? These headphones don't have that problem. Their appearance certainly makes them look somewhat "cheap" but that they are not. The spring in the headwrap is strong but flexible. The earmuffs are lightweight but sturdy. The Triports come with a little bag for safe transportation, although if they got sat on or something there may be a risk of bending the headwrap part. I have dropped mine several times but they haven't broken. The ultimate test for me was when on more than one occasion I forgot I was wearing them and very roughly backed my chair out of my desk (I put my feet on the wall and pushed off like Dilbert!). Well, I was quite surprised as my computer got yanked out of its cabinet halfway and the headphones remained on my head. This was how I broke my last set of Antec Lansing headphones... the cable was yanked out of the headphone by the force of me getting up too fast. At any rate, these Triports have a STRONG cable! I have accidentally yanked them several times and they are still intact with no damage. Also, if you have the extension cable inline then likely it would act as a safety measure because your headphones would just pull out of the extension cable instead of getting stuck in whatever they are plugged into.

Durability Rating: A-

I don't know if theres any more to say. If there is, it is nothing but good. These headphones are really excellent. I like the sound and they are comfy, and I don't worry about breaking them, either. All around they are a good value. They are expensive, yes, at 130-150 USD, but it is worth it. These headphones will deliver high quality sound for as long as you take decent care of them. I can see myself still using these headphones 5 or even 10 years from now.

If you are thinking about spending more than $50 for a pair of quality headphones, search around for a good deal and spend a little extra for these... you won't regret it, I'm cheap as all get out and I sure don't.

Everyone I have let try these headphones out has only one word to say:

WOW.

Bose is so expensive for what they give....

Fostex T40 PQ seen on DVD The Beach Boys:Nashville Sounds by everybody that sings including firt Gal Lorrie Morgan singing "Don't Worry Baby" if the headphones are good enough for the Beach Boys they're good enough for me. I now own 7 sets bought from www.sweetwater.com