$200 headphones, what do they do?
- Thread starter CyCloned
- Start date
who the hell wears headphones? I can think of two acceptable times, when you're on public transport (planes subway ect) or while working out.... Why do all these kids have them with them 24/7 like they are on their way to the studio.
Whoa, whoa, whoa there missy....just because we let you girls have a social group doesn't mean you can stop makin' sammiches.
wink:
I wear them on the train ride in, the walk from there in, off and on when I'm coding, the trip home, and the coffee shop on weekends if I'm coding there.
wear earbuds all the time at the office when I'm doing something repetitive and want to try and drown out the elevator music.
I've been meaning to look into this more but haven't got around to it. I know there are a lot of systems out there that claim to have lossless transmission over wireless but I don't know how reliable their claims are.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I wear headphones to drown out the office. It's handy, and they're visible, so it's a nice cue that I'm not looking to be bothered.
Here are a couple of options for wireless headphones; one's a bit more value (but still quite good) while the other is higher quality and still a good deal.
Creative WP-350 ($55)
Sennheiser RS 160 ($131)
If you're looking for a balanced sound in an entry-level audiophile set of headphones, these are the pair I have:
Shure SRH840
Amazon.com: Shure SRH840 Professional Monitoring Headphones (Black): Musical Instruments
For casual listening, they're a bit heavy, and not particularly attractive when worn.. But they work very well. I lucked out and got em on sale for about $160.
The Bose noise-canceling headphones that were mentioned in another post are very nice -- not as much from a sound quality perspective, but the active noise canceling is some of the best out there and they are VERY comfortable and light.
To answer the OP's original question I guess, stepping up to that price level ($200) gives you something which is overall better than a $12 pair of earbuds. And by "better", I mean that audio reproduction will be clearer and (often) more balanced (no distorted audio due to cheap drivers) and also the ability to reproduce a greater range of frequencies (highs and lows) audibly. Of course, the source matters too; good headphones won't make a 96k encoded MP3 sound any better. But for a decent to good source, better headphones allow you to hear a lot more than cheap ones would.
As a note, that price range is considered "entry-level" in terms of high quality headphones.
If anybody out there is interested in learning more, check out head-fi.org. When I started doing research into headphones I was constantly visiting this site. There's a huge community of people there passionate about high-quality audio, along with other resources like gift guides, product reviews, etc.
Shure SRH840
Amazon.com: Shure SRH840 Professional Monitoring Headphones (Black): Musical Instruments
For casual listening, they're a bit heavy, and not particularly attractive when worn.. But they work very well. I lucked out and got em on sale for about $160.
The Bose noise-canceling headphones that were mentioned in another post are very nice -- not as much from a sound quality perspective, but the active noise canceling is some of the best out there and they are VERY comfortable and light.
To answer the OP's original question I guess, stepping up to that price level ($200) gives you something which is overall better than a $12 pair of earbuds. And by "better", I mean that audio reproduction will be clearer and (often) more balanced (no distorted audio due to cheap drivers) and also the ability to reproduce a greater range of frequencies (highs and lows) audibly. Of course, the source matters too; good headphones won't make a 96k encoded MP3 sound any better. But for a decent to good source, better headphones allow you to hear a lot more than cheap ones would.
As a note, that price range is considered "entry-level" in terms of high quality headphones.
If anybody out there is interested in learning more, check out head-fi.org. When I started doing research into headphones I was constantly visiting this site. There's a huge community of people there passionate about high-quality audio, along with other resources like gift guides, product reviews, etc.
I second the Shure brand. I'm on my second pair of noise-isolating ear buds. I had the first pair for about 5 years before I started wearing through the cord where it went over my ear. On the new ones, the cord in that area is noticably beefier so they fixed that problem. They are super comfortable and block the noise just like wearing a set of ear plugs. I once kept them in for 6 hours straight on a plane to Europe and had no discomfort. The sound is great as well - very deep bass and crisp highs. Mine are the 315 ear buds.
If you're looking for high quality sound without breaking the bank, I'd also recommend Audio Technica as a brand. I have the ATH-M30's and it's a really high quality headset.
That being said, yes Beats by Dre are extremely overrated as far as sound quality is concerned. They do look cool though
I have the same ones and agree they are great.
I'll add another vote for Sennheiser. I have a pair of HD280s that I like a lot. They do a great job of blocking out external sound, and since they go around the ear rather than on top of the ear (i.e., they don't press on your ears) they're really comfortable for long periods of time.
A key element that I haven't seen mentioned yet (sorry if I missed it) is the quality of the audio source you're listening to. No headphones can make your 160 kbps mp3 sound great, and I've actually noticed that nicer headphones make low bit-rate music sound worse to me since they can better-produce the compression artifacts.
A key element that I haven't seen mentioned yet (sorry if I missed it) is the quality of the audio source you're listening to. No headphones can make your 160 kbps mp3 sound great, and I've actually noticed that nicer headphones make low bit-rate music sound worse to me since they can better-produce the compression artifacts.
I've been looking at gaming headphones for the Xbox One, as my son has them on his Christmas list. Haven't found any that have been released yet, but some of the prices on those top $200 by a ways.
Exactly, why don't they just put the boom box on their shoulder? I'll tell you why, kids these days are lazy. They don't want to lug around a 40lb boom box on their shoulder. Well boo hoo! That's what we did and we liked it!
/End fake old guy rant
