paranoid p
so i've been wanting to get an audiophile level headphone (well at least , sort of. i just want good sound quality) Up till now i've been looking at the Sony MDR V6 but i hear the Superlux 668b is also good , and the Monoprice 8323 as well for its price. I tried asking /g/ but they only really made it worse , they recommended the Koss portapros and the JVC HARX700 (and then ofc started arguing. as usual.)
What does yahoo recommend? Any audiophiles here that could help? Anything else you would recommend?
I listen to music mostly but i occasionally like gaming as well.
What i listen to: Guns N' Roses , The white stripes , The Raconteurs , The dead weather , Nirvana , Soundgarden , Scorpions , The offspring , Mastodon , Megadeth , Metallica , Testament , Baroness , Deadmau5 , Noisestorm , Noisia , Skrillex , Wolfgang Gartner , etc etc etc. Anything like what i mentioned counts.
I won't be using a dac or an amp. Thanks in advance
Answer
Looking at your music selection, the obvious choice is a Grado SR60i or Grado SR80i. They are the unassailable rock and metal champion. Not bad for electronic music too.
If you want closed headphones (isolation from outside noise but don't sound as good as open), I'd look into the Shure SRH440 or Brainwavz HM3.
Koss Portapros are also very good for their $30 price tag too, but Grados will totally destroy any of those headphones you mentioned for rock or metal music.
Looking at your music selection, the obvious choice is a Grado SR60i or Grado SR80i. They are the unassailable rock and metal champion. Not bad for electronic music too.
If you want closed headphones (isolation from outside noise but don't sound as good as open), I'd look into the Shure SRH440 or Brainwavz HM3.
Koss Portapros are also very good for their $30 price tag too, but Grados will totally destroy any of those headphones you mentioned for rock or metal music.
What are the best headphones for under $100?
Macro
Taking only sound quality and build quality into consideration. Cosmetics, portability, etc are not an issue for me. I just want amazing sound quality that will last me at least 3 or 4 years.
Ideally under $100, but I would consider something up to $150 if it's leaps and bounds better than anything I can get for under $100.
Also wanted to add they are purely for music listening. Nothing else. I want flat response and a wide frequency range.
Oh that's another thing, no headphone amp. I will be plugging them straight into my laptop or ipod.
Answer
I would suggest the Audio Technica M50's and the Creative Aurvana Live's.
I don't own either, but I own the Denon d1001's which are supposed to sound very similar to the CAL's (they're from the same maker). I find them to be nicely balanced, so you'll probably like them. A lot of people seem to prefer the M50's, which are also described as a good all-around pair, but stronger than the CAL's when it comes to bass. I don't think you can lose with either choice. And you won't need an amp with either pair.
A wide frequency range doesn't matter unless you're listening to analog recordings. Also, the equipment itself has to be capable of producing those ranges.
As for flatness of response, I don't know how to interpret response graphs, I get the feeling it requires somewhat of a trained eye. A perfectly flat response wouldn't sound flat to the human ear (e.g. white noise), because of how our brains work. So a pair of headphones with what looks like a flatter response (to the untrained eye) might actually sound less flat. Also, freq. response isn't always important because when headphones are used with an amp or a dac, the amp/dac has a sound signature of its own, so people can often match their headphones with a contrasting amp to balance them out. For these reasons, I haven't paid much attention to graphs as of yet. Usually I can get an idea of a headphone's style of sound from hearing what people say.
For more info (and any audio question in the future) you can check out the head-fi.org forum. I'm pretty new to audiophilia, those people know a lot more.
I would suggest the Audio Technica M50's and the Creative Aurvana Live's.
I don't own either, but I own the Denon d1001's which are supposed to sound very similar to the CAL's (they're from the same maker). I find them to be nicely balanced, so you'll probably like them. A lot of people seem to prefer the M50's, which are also described as a good all-around pair, but stronger than the CAL's when it comes to bass. I don't think you can lose with either choice. And you won't need an amp with either pair.
A wide frequency range doesn't matter unless you're listening to analog recordings. Also, the equipment itself has to be capable of producing those ranges.
As for flatness of response, I don't know how to interpret response graphs, I get the feeling it requires somewhat of a trained eye. A perfectly flat response wouldn't sound flat to the human ear (e.g. white noise), because of how our brains work. So a pair of headphones with what looks like a flatter response (to the untrained eye) might actually sound less flat. Also, freq. response isn't always important because when headphones are used with an amp or a dac, the amp/dac has a sound signature of its own, so people can often match their headphones with a contrasting amp to balance them out. For these reasons, I haven't paid much attention to graphs as of yet. Usually I can get an idea of a headphone's style of sound from hearing what people say.
For more info (and any audio question in the future) you can check out the head-fi.org forum. I'm pretty new to audiophilia, those people know a lot more.
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