Yet another headphone thread

If you've ever looked at some crazy price headphones like say, the Fostex TH900 ($1300) and thought "There is absolutely nothing in the production of that thing that can justify that kind of pricing", weeeeeeell... skip to about 2 minutes.

When they say hand crafted and no 2 exactly the same.. they mean it

Just an interesting thing I came across.

I don't particularly value things like this very much when it comes to my headphones, but knowing this I totally get why some others might pay the seemingly crazypants prices.

As someone who likes building/assembling things, I gotta admire the willingness to hand craft every earcup for every pair that way.

Thin_J wrote:
LarryC wrote:

What's the word on Marshall Monitors over-ears? The online reviews say it's pretty okay, and I was intrigued by the sound of the in-store model. I did not listen to them with the filters off, though. That supposedly makes them sound a lot better.

Never heard that set mentioned, to be honest. I know Marshall's previous attempts at headphones, the Major and Minor, were almost universally panned by audio critics for basically every reason there is to criticise headphones. Supposedly Marshall built both those sets without any input from an audio engineer anywhere in the product development. So they sounded bad and felt cheap on top.

Probably why there hasn't been a lot of talk about a newer pair from them.

*A visit to Head-Fi and some reading later... Marshall apparently hired an audio engineer specifically to work on headphones and the Monitor is much improved over most of their previous efforts. Sounds like they're solid. Nobody seems to care though. I can't find a quality review of them anywhere. No frequency response graphs, no tests, nothing. I found one "review" that read a hell of a lot more like an advertisement.

I'd like to see Innerfidelity or another site like that test them out before I started looking at them as a reasonable recommendation.

Thanks. I went back and talked myself out of buying them.

The normally $50 Antlion Mod Mic is on Massdrop for $34.99+$5 shipping. Normally this is $49.99 at the regular site.

Cathadan wrote:

Then I ordered a pair of the AKGs too.

So did I! Not that that should be a surprise.

They came today.

They're really friggin good.

IMO they equal or best the HD600's for $100 less while also being lighter weight and more comfortable to wear, which is an achievement because the HD600's are already pretty comfortable. I've been A/B-ing them for the better part of 3 hours.

Speaking of which, the AKG K7XX are again available for a massdrop. Depending on if my roommate situation works out for March and if the signup is still around by Friday, I'll join in on the fun. They'll go nicely with my K702s.

Edit: I just went ahead and joined. Interestingly that they won't charge you until the drop ends on March 4th. That's kinda nice rather than refunding you if enough people don't sign up.

I wish I would have come across this sooner. Ordered one. I'll have a pair of K702s and the K7XXs pretty soon, so this will work for one pair and I can hang the other pair with my electric piano which has its own hook.

IMAGE(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41RRd3Hw9lL._SX425_.jpg)

Oh god yes I need that. Ordered.

This will be perfect for my ModMic too. I don't really want to leave it connected to my headphones at all times, but I need somewhere for it to go when not in use. Right now it's laying on my desk and it's just a big cable-y mess, but it could instead go under the desk and hang on that hook on the opposite side of the headphones.

Hm. I need something like that, but that doesn't just use adhesive. I need to be able to bolt it through the shelf I want to put it under. Plus, to be really ideal, I need to hang it a lot farther down below the shelf than that.

I look every so often to try and find something that will work, but I never find anything. I suspect I'm going to have to hit the shop and just make something myself.

One of these days. Maybe in the next month once the 50+ degree days are a little more common and the whole shop doesn't feel like a case of hypothermia waiting to happen.

That anchor thing showed up this week, and it's even more awesome than I expected. It's exactly what I needed. The AKG K7XX massdrop went through, so I'm excited to get those in a couple weeks or however long it takes. I suspect that I'll like the AKG K702s better for classical/jazz and the K7XXs for Rock/Pop, but we'll see.

If anybody's been in the market but hasn't bought in on a mid-high end pair of headphones yet, the HD600's and 650's are $288 and $290, respectively, on Amazon right now.

It's not a crazy deal on the 600's really, those hit $300 all the time, but the 650's don't sink that low very often.

The AKG K7XX headphones showed up today! I tried them out at lunch. They seem to have a little bit more bass to them than the K702s, but it's not particularly noticeable. I was listening to the main theme from LA Noire and thought the string bass sounded a bit more plucky like someone was actually plucking a string versus being a bit more boomy with the AKG K702s. I could have been imagining that though. I listened to a few rock/pop songs and I couldn't really tell. By the time I would pause and switch headphones, my ears just adjust to find either pair normal.

The smooth headband doesn't make a difference to me versus the nubbed. Neither really have much pressure on your head, so it doesn't make a difference. The only other difference other than color is that the foam earpads are a bit thinner and softer.

My opinion: Buy whichever pair you can find cheaper. They're both great.

See, the nubs on some of AKG's headbands are supremely uncomfortable for me. And not like a little bit uncomfortable over time, but like I want to throw them off 10 seconds after I put them on my head. Without the smooth headband I would not have 7XX's and my PC room would still be AKG-less

Glad you like them otherwise though. Can't hurt to have a spare for a thing you really love using.

*Legion* wrote:
Jonman wrote:

iPhone 6. I have a reasonable pair of Sennheiser buds, but the lack of inline controls and mic is a bummer. I also have a cheapass ($15) pair with inline controls/mic, but the sound quality is atrocious. Fine for podcasts, not even worth bothering with music.

I'm basically looking to fuse those two pairs together, presumably through eldritch alchemy.

Get the Sennheisers that do have the controls and mic. $23 on Amazon. Or there's a whole mess of other ones from Sennheiser if you want to step up to something more expensive. Pretty much anything with a lowercase "i" at the end is what you're looking for.

Or cast out the wicked evil that is earbuds and get the PX100 IIi's with the controls and mic.

First, I want to thank Jonman for leading the way for the rest of us normals.

Second, how is the noise leak on the PX100s?

My iPhone earbuds have gone the way all my previous iPhone earbuds have gone: inline controls stop working and one side loses all bass. So I have the same question as Jonman—on-the-go headphones with inline iPhone controls—but I'd prefer on-ear, or over-ear if that's portable. I thought my budget would be $40-50, but it looks I should be open to $80-100.

I use (loud, bass-heavy) music to shut out the rest of the train/world, but while I'm a miserable misanthrope I don't want to be rude: no one else needs to hear what my wife describes as "not even music". Is that a point in favour of in-ear headphones, when portability is also a consideration? Or is the PX100 or something similar viable?

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

I'm not sure if they were mentioned elsewhere here, but I splurged on some Sennheiser Momentums a few months ago and I absolutely love them.

Those are purdy.

Sennhiesers are so great. I still have a pair of HD555s that are as good as they day I bought them (~a decade ago now more like 7 years). Recently I wanted a non-through-ear option for gaming, so I went ahead and bought a pair of Audio Technica m40x on a recommendation from a friend.

Really nice sounding pair of headphones and pretty damn comfortable. I really like the fact that they're monitors, getting that flat response actually really helps in hearing the nuances of gaming audio rather than being blasted with bass. Highly recommended, and quite a reasonable price at AU$150 (even better since I got them for AU$99 in Japan :P).

MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style.

Any opinions on the AKG Y50? They seem to be pretty well-reviewed for closed-back on-ear portable headphones with inline controls (I think those are all my criteria). I'd prefer something closed-back since they'll be used for 3 hours a day on the bus and train, and I want to block out commute noise and don't want to bother others with my noise/music.

Gravey wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style. :)

I disagree on the sound. For $50, they're at least decent, and portable. Years ago I had a set.

I agree they look very different

MannishBoy wrote:
Gravey wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style. :)

I disagree on the sound. For $50, they're at least decent, and portable. Years ago I had a set.

I agree they look very different :)

You can always go with the legendary KSC75's for a similar sound and much cheaper

Citizen86 wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Gravey wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style. :)

I disagree on the sound. For $50, they're at least decent, and portable. Years ago I had a set.

I agree they look very different :)

You can always go with the legendary KSC75's for a similar sound and much cheaper

These are the same sound as the KSC75's. I pointed him to these because he said he had to have the cable remote. The KSC75's don't have that, hence me not recommending them.

MannishBoy wrote:
Citizen86 wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Gravey wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style. :)

I disagree on the sound. For $50, they're at least decent, and portable. Years ago I had a set.

I agree they look very different :)

You can always go with the legendary KSC75's for a similar sound and much cheaper

These are the same sound as the KSC75's. I pointed him to these because he said he had to have the cable remote. The KSC75's don't have that, hence me not recommending them. :)

Show's how closely I pay attention

MannishBoy wrote:
Gravey wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

If you want on ear but still portable, you can go with the iphone control Porta Pros for relatively cheap.

In addition to sounding like a worksite toilet, those certainly have a distinctive style. :)

I disagree on the sound.

Sorry, I meant their name sounds like a portapotty company.

Gravey wrote:

Sorry, I meant their name sounds like a portapotty company.

I got the jab and was going to say something, but then got distracted and didn't submit the post

Thin_J wrote:
Gravey wrote:

Sorry, I meant their name sounds like a portapotty company.

I got the jab and was going to say something, but then got distracted and didn't submit the post :P

My bad.

They're the originals were kind of the budget wonder for a long, long time. And IIRC, they have a lifetime warranty in case you're hard on them.

I had the individual ears versions that clipped around the back of your ears instead of having a band.

I just want to say this thread is hazardous.

I should have seen the link for the Sennheiser MM30i, said thank you, and turned around.

But I spent all yesterday evening reading headphone reviews, almost settling on the Sennheiser Momentum On Ear, for more than twice the MM30i and three times what I initially planned on spending.

Haven't ordered anything yet, just have to convince myself that in-ear is what I actually need for commuting, or who knows where I'll end up. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

If they're comfortable for you In-ears are more convenient, easier to keep with you when traveling, and generally cheaper. If you're looking at something specifically to wear while staying mobile they're the best option.

I love me some headphones and the Momentums are supposed to be really good but based on what you're saying I'd still go for IEM's of some kind.

It's like you've fallen down the rabbit hole but still have a handhold on the edge.

*pokes hand with stick*

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/40osuDBl.jpg)

Even as someone who carries a lot of crap with him all the time, I couldn't imagine lugging headphones around over IEMs. I love my [OOP] IE8s.