Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Titan on June 30, 2010, 05:15:52 pm
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I'm looking for some headphones, of any style. If they're on or around ear, they need to be compact, or at least not everly bulky. Around ears headphones would have to be very specific, since I have rather large ears. If they're in ear, they need to be bud headphones, not ones like apple headphones that just sorta sit in your ears. Also, they have to have something to protect the cord from getting ripped out (has happened to two pairs in the last year), something like the ring that goes around the base of your ear or something.
Uber sound quality isn't important, as long as they're as good as iPod headphones or better. My primary concern is durability and compactness. I need them to last a while, I use my headphones constantly and can't really afford to be going through Skullcandy's or such. If they're in-ear, they'd need to fit in my pocket with my itouch. If they're on/around ear, I'll just put them around my neck when not using them, so it's less of a problem. But they'd have to be in my backpack during a school day.
My other big concern is price. I'm thinking up to $30, but possibly up to $60 for a pair if it's REALLY worth it.
Do you have any reccomendations?
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Even if you don't care about sound quality, I think you'll have to spend at least $50 or so to get something that will last. All the cheap headphones I've used in the past developed some issue or another within a year.
Also, they have to have something to protect the cord from getting ripped out (has happened to two pairs in the last year), something like the ring that goes around the base of your ear or something.
The best way to avoid this is for the cable to be one-sided and detachable, but I only know of a few headphones that are designed like this.
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How much are they?
I forgot to add, they'd either have to be available at walmart (unfortunetly the only big store around here) or online delivery.
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You mean with detachable cables? I don't know of any in the sub-$50 category. My Beyer DT250 has a cord like that but it's $220 (although it can be found for $150-ish on ebay). There are a few others out there but they're much more expensive.
Look at the stuff listed here (http://www.headphone.com/selection-guide/top-cheap-headphones.php) and see if anything appeals to you. Koss headphones in general are good values in this price range. They have good sound quality for the price, and although they aren't necessary any more durable than other brands, Koss has a nice lifetime warranty, so if yours breaks you can get a replacement at any time.
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As long as I don't sodder them back together like I did to one of my pairs of SKullcandies, not realizing they had a warranty.
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i usually buy the cheapest earbuds i can find, then i get like 3 or 4 sets of them. usually lasts me all year.
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I'm looking at those, and I notice a lot of the cords are long, as in 8 to 10 feet. I need something I can be out and about with.
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I would recommend e-bay. I found some earbuds for about a buck each, bought a dozen, and am still using the second pair in two years. Good quality too, and you won't cry when they go bad.
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i find that theres not a massive amount of quality difference between $3 headphones and $30 headphones, at least in terms of their wiring. whats important is that they are comfortable, and some cheap ones are and some arent. id never spend more than $10 bucks though.
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A $150 pair of headphones will last you much, much longer than a pair of $30 headphones and sound infinitely better. Even a $100 pair like Sennheiser HD 280s will wipe the floor with Skullcandy headphones and the like. Mid-grade headphones in the low triple digits are the most cost-effective improvement to your sound quality money can buy.. Sennheiser, Grado, and Audio-Technica are good brands; avoid Bose or mainstream electronics manufacturers at all costs. Also, unless you absolutely must use earbuds/in-ears for fear of being put on the pillory or something, buy full-sized headphones. They're much more durable and sound better than any compact models. With a pair of decent headphones, the cable will be kind of long so you will want to use zip ties or twist ties to tie up the excess cable length. My last pair of Sennheiser HD 595s lasted around four years despite experiencing a considerable amount of abuse; I'm being more careful with my new ones, which will probably last me ten years.
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Yes, that is mostly true, but it's definitely not a good idea to take $150 headphones to high school, even if one felt like dropping that sort of money on them.
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Nice cans that I own.
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
Current price is about half of when I bought them.
I use them with a Astro Gaming Mixamp for SS gaming or
pretty much whatever.
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Still using the pair of headphones I paid around 5 bucks for about 10 years ago. Yea the mic quit working but I never used it anyway. Also have a pair that I got free from collecting Pepsi caps. Work perfectly fine and have had them for about 2 years now.
Seriously though if you want your hearing to last don't ever use headphones unless you have to. I thank my parents for not allowing me to wear them when I was young. I can still here that dang mosquito sound out of one ear and I'm 41.
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Headphones won't damage your hearing unless you turn them up too loud. If the sound starts to make you tired, fatigued, or uncomfortable in any way the volume is too high. It's easier to damage your ears with headphones than with speakers, but it's perfectly possible to use them responsibly and not get hearing damage. Unfortunately a lot of people don't care about protecting their hearing until it's too late.
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Sorry I disagree. The sound source is too close to the ear. This is why kids loose their high frequency hearing faster then they should. Also blasting music on a stereo at 100 watts and blasting it through headphones at 100 watts are the same but the distance from the speakers to the ear is a lot less. And no one really wants to turn the music down.
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Sennheiser MX-50 yah!
Or any high end Bose with noise cancellation. They really do have to be sampled to be believed. Most large retailer stores feature demo stands now.
I'm currently using some relatively cheap Sony MDR-AS30's.
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Sennheiser HD438. The best I've ever owned. And still the reviews said that they're nothing compared to the hardcore **** out there. They seem to be a bit over $100. That really seems to be within the price range where you get the most bang for your buck.
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Sorry I disagree. The sound source is too close to the ear. This is why kids loose their high frequency hearing faster then they should. Also blasting music on a stereo at 100 watts and blasting it through headphones at 100 watts are the same but the distance from the speakers to the ear is a lot less. And no one really wants to turn the music down.
Putting 100 watts directly through a pair of headphones is insane, headphones aren't like speakers and hooking a pair of headphones directly up to a 100W amplifier running at full blast would destroy them (it would probably blow the speakers too, but not as quickly). Now if you mean 100 decibels in volume, that is way too loud. You should not listen to anything over 90 dB for an extended length of time. Headphones can damage your hearing more at excessive volume but neither headphones nor speakers will damage your hearing at reasonable volumes. Everyone listens to music too loud these days, the only way to avoid long-term hearing damage is to turn the music down. Just because the speakers might give you a bit less damage doesn't mean that your hearing isn't being damaged. Overly loud music is bad for you, regardless of the source.
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A vast majority of my headphone use is computer related; I mostly play music in the car, when driving, and rarely at home. With that in mind, I got a pair of Razer Barracudas. They're full 5.1 headphones, sound quality is excellent whether you're listening to music or gaming, and volume / bass / other **** controls right on the cable is very convenient. I suppose a detachable mic can also be useful though I rarely ever use it. They're a bit pricey but I consider them worth the $.
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I would never buy a pair of headphones from Razer, they make great mice, but they're not a headphone company. Companies like Sennheiser and Grado make headphones as their primary business, they're much more trustworthy than a peripherals company making something outside their normal realm of expertise.
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Sorry I disagree. The sound source is too close to the ear. This is why kids loose their high frequency hearing faster then they should. Also blasting music on a stereo at 100 watts and blasting it through headphones at 100 watts are the same but the distance from the speakers to the ear is a lot less. And no one really wants to turn the music down.
Putting 100 watts directly through a pair of headphones is insane, headphones aren't like speakers and hooking a pair of headphones directly up to a 100W amplifier running at full blast would destroy them (it would probably blow the speakers too, but not as quickly). Now if you mean 100 decibels in volume, that is way too loud. You should not listen to anything over 90 dB for an extended length of time. Headphones can damage your hearing more at excessive volume but neither headphones nor speakers will damage your hearing at reasonable volumes. Everyone listens to music too loud these days, the only way to avoid long-term hearing damage is to turn the music down. Just because the speakers might give you a bit less damage doesn't mean that your hearing isn't being damaged. Overly loud music is bad for you, regardless of the source.
Don't worry about me. I'm usually doing something else while I use them, so they're always kept down so that I can carry a conversation, etc.
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/audio-technica-ath-fc700a.php (http://www.headphone.com/headphones/audio-technica-ath-fc700a.php)
These look somewhat like what I'm after. They don't seem to be extremely durable, but I generally take care as much as possible. It's just accidents happen, I guess. Cord is 4.5 feet, and it's only ~2.5 feet from my pocket to my ears when I'm standing, so there should be some slack incase something does happen. That said, I've also taken to dropping my iPod inside my shirt (or between my shirt and jacket) and pulling it out the bottom, so the wire isn't swinging everywhere. Anyway, I'm gonna look into them more, but any opinions..?
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I would never buy a pair of headphones from Razer, they make great mice, but they're not a headphone company. Companies like Sennheiser and Grado make headphones as their primary business, they're much more trustworthy than a peripherals company making something outside their normal realm of expertise.
Well, I'm not really an audiophile. I just need them for movies, gaming, etc. As far as I can tell the sound quality is excellent, at least for me.
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Using Sennheiser HD-555's around here. I bought mine for about $55 "refurb" through Amazon. I didn't get a retail box but they were literally brand new; a small scratch was the only flaw, but even the cord was never unwrapped. They sound fantastic with proper amplification and half-decent through lower-quality sources. I'd, personally, never spend more than $500 on one pair of headphones, especially when fantastic cans like AKG K701/K702's go for $250. That said, why not something like Koss PortaPro's? They're not the most durable headphones, but they're basically top audio quality for $30. Koss's warranty is fantastic and has been for 25 years now; if your headphones break, toss them in an envelope/small box and Koss will replace them for US$6. So even if you end up sitting on them, they'll replace them for the price of cheap Wal-Mart headphones.
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The headphones were probably recabled; many mid-high grade headphones are designed so that the cable can be replaced.
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Actually they do make headphones capable of 100 watt output or at least they did back in the 80's.
I'll stick by my any headphones are bad. I only use them for testing when people are asleep.
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I'm using a pair of canalphones from Creative. I only use them for my iPod or at night.
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The headphones were probably recabled; many mid-high grade headphones are designed so that the cable can be replaced.
Why bother recabling? Maybe on HD-600/HD-650's, but not on HD-555's. And I have used headphones with removable cables (AKG K702's). I find the connector annoying.
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shrink tubing is your friend. you can make any hackishly repaired wire look professionally spliced.
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Probably gonna go for these.
http://www.jlabaudio.com/product_info.php?products_id=12
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The headphones were probably recabled; many mid-high grade headphones are designed so that the cable can be replaced.
Why bother recabling? Maybe on HD-600/HD-650's, but not on HD-555's. And I have used headphones with removable cables (AKG K702's). I find the connector annoying.
Annoying? The HD-650 connector is strong enough that you have to really try to get the cable out. It won't come out just from an accidental tug.
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The headphones were probably recabled; many mid-high grade headphones are designed so that the cable can be replaced.
Why bother recabling? Maybe on HD-600/HD-650's, but not on HD-555's. And I have used headphones with removable cables (AKG K702's). I find the connector annoying.
Annoying? The HD-650 connector is strong enough that you have to really try to get the cable out. It won't come out just from an accidental tug.
Excuse me: the K702's removable cable is a *****. It's a mini-XLR connector that sticks out about 2" from the bottom of the left can. You throw your head over to the left side and the connector is hitting your shoulder and that side of the headphone is slipping up your head. I'm not saying that it's not strong, I'm not saying that it's not useful, but as a businessman and inventor, I find the bulk of the connector used to be a negative aspect of those particular headphones. I love the sound and, other than the connector, they've very comfortable.
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Some removable cables out there do have excessively long connectors, but I would still take that any day over a hardwired cable. Such cables have to be the single most common cause of headphones failing over time. My DT250's connector comes down about 3/4" below the headphone, which throws off the look a bit but is not long enough to be noticeable while wearing it.
There are surprisingly few headphone companies that get these basic ergonomic issues right. There are many high end headphones out there that sound great, but which I would not consider buying due to their annoying cable design. Any cable that is two-sided or hardwired is unacceptable to me, and ideally it should be coiled as well.