Headphones...

Discussions related to music in general.

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Happy Cycler
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Did a search first bla bla blah...

Anyway, I haven't had a proper hi-fi in about 8 years, so I decided to splash out on some new headphones:
http://slamxhype.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Beats-by-Dr.-Dre-Studio-V2-Samurai-Headphones-Japan-Edition-03-570x567.jpg

They cost me a rediculous amount of money, but seeing as I spend at 3 or more hours a day commuting and listening to music, I thought they were a good investment. (then my father-in-law showed me his ¥110,000 / $1300 pair of open ear muffs O_O)

Using high quality headphones have really changed the way I listen to music. I am hearing so much more detail in what I listen to (Palace Posy right now). I tried other headphones approaching a similar price range, but these really appealed to me in the end. I prefer closed ear headphones. I like being able to block out the world. The sound quality is great, but I must admit that the look and style of these Japan only limited release did bias me a bit.

If you use headphones for listening to music, let me know what you use, if it's closed or open, how, when and why you use them.
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Boqurant
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I use Grado sr80 headphones at home. I find them to be extremely well made with very detailed sound quality. Love them.

http://www.gradolabs.com/headphones

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Happy Cycler
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lightsoutnepal wrote:I use Grado sr80 headphones at home. I find them to be extremely well made with very detailed sound quality. Love them.

http://www.gradolabs.com/headphones


I've about those in the past! They didn't have them at the musical instrument shop I went to. I would have liked to try them. Are they suitable for outdoors in noisy places? Or are they more for the sofa and vinyl on the platter.
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Happy Cycler
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Ahh! Did some reading on them and they are indeed open-backed. That is great for a home environment and I would love a pair, but as I said earlier, I can spend up to 3 hours a day commuting for work, so I thought the closed with noise cancel was best for me. It's great if you just want silence, but I've already almost been run over twice by cars so I really have be careful.
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Happy Cycler
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I am currently going through a headphone buying spree at the moment. I literally just bought a pair moments ago.

I have a pair of:

AKG K240's - a good balanced sound, need a lot of amplification to work to their potential though. 55 ohms and above and it starts to get into a lot drive to get the best out of them.

Grado SR80 (open backed) - currently my favourite headphones, use them for general listening, very detailed and accurate sound. If a little bass light.

Grado RS2i (open backed) - Just bought these, very excited to hear them.. I've heard good things.

Also got a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50s on the way after a discussion with Rod in the Random Thread piqued my interest in them again. Used to own a pair, but gave them to a friend who needed some decent phones.
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Happy Cycler
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They say that "open backed" produces supioreor sound. Why is this? I would have always assumed that closed format would be best to absorb sound, but apparantly this is not the case. Why would open formats be better than closed?
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Happy Cycler
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There are a variety of reasons, and with sound its of course always personal preference. But generally, people like open backed headphones as the sound doesn't reverberate so much in the cans themselves; also having the ability to be able blend the surrounding ambience of the room with the immediacy of the headphone itself. They are the two big points I guess.
Sagan: In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Basinski: I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…

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Happy Cycler
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That makes a valid point, but why would anyone want to hear the ambience of their environment if their sole focus is on the music? I'm still confused.
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Must admit, I'd like to try a pair of open-backed headphones. The general 'received wisdom' is they're genuinely better, but being a family man I've never felt able to invest in a pair. Always stuck with closed back and been very happy.

Fugee - next time you're this way I need to check out your Grado's dude. They get nowt but awesome write-ups. 8)
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Happy Cycler
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Hex - I think it just gives a more natural representation of the music, because there is that 'space' between your ear and the speaker. It gives the impression of a 'performance' in the recording I think. Especially noticeable with binaural recordings.

Mex - Yeah, of course! When I move I'll bring them all down with me. You can borrow a pair if you like, SR80s are fantastic for the cash. Relatively cheap at 80 odd quid. Bang for the your buck for sure.

I'll also bring these little numbers with me, apparently these are really good for ambient and acoustic based music. They arrive on Monday.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RS2i-Reference- ... grado+rs2i
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Happy Cycler
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I've gotta try and borrow that pair my father-in-law has. God knows how they sound...
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Cheers Fugee. We need to talk about your spending though young man.... :shock:
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Happy Cycler
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Mexicola wrote:Cheers Fugee. We need to talk about your spending though young man.... :shock:


Oh don't worry I got em much cheaper than that, thankfully.

hexagon son wrote:I've gotta try and borrow that pair my father-in-law has. God knows how they sound...


What does he have? I really want to try PS1000s but they are 2 grand. I wish to know what 2 thousand pound headphone sound like, surely there is a point of diminishing returns with technology.
Last edited by fujee on Sat Jul 26, 2014 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sagan: In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Basinski: I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…

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Happy Cycler
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fujee wrote:Hex - I think it just gives a more natural representation of the music, because there is that 'space' between your ear and the speaker. It gives the impression of a 'performance' in the recording I think. Especially noticeable with binaural recordings.

Mex - Yeah, of course! When I move I'll bring them all down with me. You can borrow a pair if you like, SR80s are fantastic for the cash. Relatively cheap at 80 odd quid. Bang for the your buck for sure.

I'll also bring these little numbers with me, apparently these are really good for ambient and acoustic based music. They arrive on Monday.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RS2i-Reference- ... grado+rs2i


Holy shit! They look like serious muffs. There is no way I would have go away with buying those, ya know, wife, kids and shit. I thought I was going to disembowled coming home with what I bought! But you guys are fucking audiophiles.
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Happy Cycler
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hexagon son wrote:
fujee wrote:Hex - I think it just gives a more natural representation of the music, because there is that 'space' between your ear and the speaker. It gives the impression of a 'performance' in the recording I think. Especially noticeable with binaural recordings.

Mex - Yeah, of course! When I move I'll bring them all down with me. You can borrow a pair if you like, SR80s are fantastic for the cash. Relatively cheap at 80 odd quid. Bang for the your buck for sure.

I'll also bring these little numbers with me, apparently these are really good for ambient and acoustic based music. They arrive on Monday.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/RS2i-Reference- ... grado+rs2i


Holy shit! They look like serious muffs. There is no way I would have go away with buying those, ya know, wife, kids and shit. I thought I was going to disembowled coming home with what I bought! But you guys are fucking audiophiles.


Lets hope they deliver, I did get them for cheaper though thankfully. I don't have to support anyone at the moment so I can warrant a purchase like that, but I can totally appreciate that if I did, i'd never be able to do that. Getting in all my audio purchases in this year, before I return to study and become poor as hell again. I wouldn't say I am an audiophile per se because I can listen to lower quality recordings contently, but I can definitely hear the difference between good recording/technology quality and bad.
Sagan: In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Basinski: I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…

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fujee wrote: I really want to try PS1000s but they are 2 grand. I wish to know what 2 thousand pound headphone sound like, surely there is a point of diminishing returns with technology.


go read 'Perfecting Sound Forever' by Greg Milner. Quite the opposite. :wink:
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Happy Cycler
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Looks interesting, might hold off on any purchases for a while though :wink:
Sagan: In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Basinski: I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…

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Happy Cycler
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So it's been about 6 weeks since I bought these. I must give a caveat to anyone who is concidering buying a pair.

1 - They are amazing headphones.
2 - They are rubbish headphones.
3 - They are amazing headphones if you spend a lot of time noisy areas.
4 - I cannot recommend them for DJ'ing, nor can I say the opposite.
5 - The closed environment properties of them suit me well due to me sometime commuting 3 hours a day.
6 - I forgot to charge them last night, so I used my normal iPhone earbuds today. I have mostly been listening to Beck's latest album recently and I picked up on details I hadn't with my headphones (upper harmonies and such.).
7 - If you are walking with suit shoes on, there is a reverberation.
8 - These headphones suit me well for my outside world, but I would not recommend them if you are using headphones for inside enjoyment.

Was it money well spent??? I love them because they shut out the world, the sound repro is great (highs could be better) and they do immerse you. I would really try before you buy and decide what it is you want from your listening experience.

Album shopping this week! Cutting it low though because I just bought the new Zelda game. (Games are really expensive in Japan, much like music...)
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Bumping the thread. I'm looking into buying some good headphone monitors somewhere between 150/200. True representation is what I'm after, not some beefy bass or whatnot.

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Sennheiser HD280 pro.
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