Best pair of headphones for £300 or less

Absorbentsolid

Absorbentsolid

Absorbentsolid

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Hey guys,I'm looking for a great set of cans that i can use on my galaxy s4 and my pc for under £300.They will be manly for music/movies.
Any help is much appreciated.

Regards Jamie
 
david__001 said:
If I had £300 to spend on headphones, I'd spend it on one of the following:

* Sennheiser HD650
* Sennheiser HD600

If you are on more of a budget, I'd look at the HD598 (the most affordable of all of Sennheiser's upper-range cans) or the HD600.

All of the above are for use in the house.

This is merely my personal preference of course.

Others may prefer units from Beyerdynamic, AKG, AudioTechnica, Denon or Ultrasone.

Bear in mind that at the higher price points for headphones, you will need higher quality audio equipment (including amplification) to accompany them in order to get the benefits of using them.
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Wow they are very nice especially the 650,Can you also recommend any that would also work for phones also,For E.G i have been looking at the Sennheiser mm550.
 
Beyerdynamic DT 990s or 880s would be nice but might be a bit much for a mobile phone unless you got some kind of mobile amp too.

The more mobile offerings from Beyer would be the Custom One Pros and DT 1350s
 
I'm also have a similar budget and it's likely I'll go for HE-400's and import them from the US and hope they come not too far over £300. I was tempted by DT990's but everything I keep reading about them being overly bright puts me off. I'll also be getting an amp of some description though so as others have said take that into consideration and don't expect wonders from a phone.
 
Yeah i have a Asus ROG Xonar Phoebus,And i was just wondering if there was a hybrid set of cans that i could use for pc and mobile :) Or maybe you can give me 2 sets of cans that total to £300.
Thanks for the feedback so far guys!
 
Tachyon said:
I'm also have a similar budget and it's likely I'll go for HE-400's and import them from the US and hope they come not too far over £300. I was tempted by DT990's but everything I keep reading about them being overly bright puts me off. I'll also be getting an amp of some description though so as others have said take that into consideration and don't expect wonders from a phone.
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The HE-400's are incredibly efficient by design (92.5dB) with a 30ohm impedance IIRC, no need for an amp whatsoever. Technically most amps would be a negative due to the damping factor of their high output impedance.
 
AbsenceJam said:
The HE-400's are incredibly efficient by design (92.5dB) with a 30ohm impedance IIRC, no need for an amp whatsoever. Technically most amps would be a negative due to the damping factor of their high output impedance.
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Interesting. Generally from what I've been reading on the likes of headfi they seem to perform better with an amp, if I didn't need one, all the better.
 
Tachyon said:
I'm also have a similar budget and it's likely I'll go for HE-400's and import them from the US and hope they come not too far over £300. I was tempted by DT990's but everything I keep reading about them being overly bright puts me off. I'll also be getting an amp of some description though so as others have said take that into consideration and don't expect wonders from a phone.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't describe my DT 990s as bright :/ I guess if you're concerned about that then the DT 880s would be better as they're more neutral but the 990s aren't bright to me. The 990s are supposed to be the fun sounding headphones so they're a little brighter and have a little more bass than the DT 880s but nothing to worry about imo... Just depends what kind of sound you're looking for.
 
Tachyon said:
Interesting. Generally from what I've been reading on the likes of headfi they seem to perform better with an amp, if I didn't need one, all the better.
Click to expand...

Headfi is very much full of audiophools I'm afraid. You can just look at the headphones specs to see if it needs amplification or not, few do nowadays and those that do don't really have a good reason to any longer.
 
AbsenceJam said:
The HE-400's are incredibly efficient by design (92.5dB) with a 30ohm impedance IIRC, no need for an amp whatsoever. Technically most amps would be a negative due to the damping factor of their high output impedance.
Click to expand...

Most headphone amps are well behaved and designed with low output impedances. Some fail at that but are usually revised, see this article at innerfidelity for an interesting example.

After power output (actually current and voltage sourcing depending on the impedance of your 'phones) this is probably the most important measurement to check on the specs sheet. I wouldn't buy an amp with less than 1/10 the headphone impedance.

Tachyon said:
Interesting. Generally from what I've been reading on the likes of headfi they seem to perform better with an amp, if I didn't need one, all the better.
Click to expand...

It depends what your using it with. Most headphone outputs are up to the job with efficient headphones, but most line outs (PC soundcards) are NOT.
 
AbsenceJam said:
Headfi is very much full of audiophools I'm afraid.
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It could well be AJ but you have to expect that to a degree when it comes to something like audio and folks wanting to, or believing they can get that end game quality they're after, birds of a feather and all that. At the same time I'm not going to outright dismiss what I'm reading and when I can't physically audition something I find the forums quite invaluable when it comes to helping me decide my next purchase.


joeyjojo said:
It depends what your using it with. Most headphone outputs are up to the job with efficient headphones, but most line outs (PC soundcards) are NOT.
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I plan to use them from my pc which currently has an xfi xtreme music card, think it was one of the original cards in the xfi range, I can't honestly remember. Just what you had written there was pretty much the conclusion I'd came to, and that an amp would be beneficial to the setup. I currently have Alessandro/Grado MS-1's which work great straight from the card but I wasn't expecting the HE-400's to work just as well that way.
 
To be fair you wouldnt want to be walking about with 300 pounds headphones on in the street youd make your self a target.

Sennheiser have been widely regarded as the rolls royce of head phones for quite a while, all the best audiophiles swear by them for their true to life sound reproduction.
 
scotsdragon said:
To be fair you wouldnt want to be walking about with 300 pounds headphones on in the street youd make your self a target.

Sennheiser have been widely regarded as the rolls royce of head phones for quite a while, all the best audiophiles swear by them for their true to life sound reproduction.
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Rolls Royce? Well I guess that all depends on your budget... I doubt their sub £100 headphones are regarded as any kind of elite super headphone :P

Like most things, you get what you pay for and there's plenty of manufacturers out there that make very good headphones. My personal preference tends to lean towards Beyerdynamic but I wouldn't say they're better than any other brand. I like their subtle styling and the fairly neutral sound they produce.

You just need to find a company that makes a product you like and in order to do that you'll need to read around and ultimately try some of these products.
 
Tachyon said:
It could well be AJ but you have to expect that to a degree when it comes to something like audio and folks wanting to, or believing they can get that end game quality they're after, birds of a feather and all that. At the same time I'm not going to outright dismiss what I'm reading and when I can't physically audition something I find the forums quite invaluable when it comes to helping me decide my next purchase.


I plan to use them from my pc which currently has an xfi xtreme music card, think it was one of the original cards in the xfi range, I can't honestly remember. Just what you had written there was pretty much the conclusion I'd came to, and that an amp would be beneficial to the setup. I currently have Alessandro/Grado MS-1's which work great straight from the card but I wasn't expecting the HE-400's to work just as well that way.
Click to expand...

The HE-400's are more sensitive than the MS-1's and the impedance is about the same. So if they're fine... ;) There's really not anything more to it than that.
 
Phal said:
Rolls Royce? Well I guess that all depends on your budget...
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Yep, if I were to list "Rolls Royce" headphones they would probably be Stax SR-009 (£3695 :o), Audeze LCD3 ($1945), Ultrasone Edition 10 ($2749) etc...

To get back on topic - in the sub £300 area there are several good choices, the main decision to make is whether you want to use them in noisy environments. If you do, something closed is best (AKG K550, Sennheiser Amperiors, Beyerdynamic DT1350...), otherwise something open (HD600/HD650, DT880/990, AKG K702, Grado SR80i...).
 
Or if you were feeling adventurous and want something closed, perhaps a second hand pair of Beyerdynamic T70p headphones. The retail on these is still out of your £300 budget but there's some second hand stuff on Ebay at around the £250-350 mark. If the Tesla drivers in my T1s are anything to go on, the T70s should be nice :)
 
PapaLazaru said:
Spending £300 on some cans to listen on a Galaxy is a waste of money. As for your PC, do you have a soundcard?
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This!

If you're listening for short periods of time and on the go i'd recommend the Soundmagic E10's. They're exciting, punchy and great fun. More than well worth the money!

If you're at home and want refinement i'd go with the the Senny HD650. They'll last a lifetime and never bore you.

If money were no object and you want refinement without limit i'd consider something special like the Grado RS1. I've owned a pair and nothing will come close to an an eargasm like them!

For use with a mobile device, the Soundmagic E10's are your best bet. You'll be grinning on your way to work while Beats users are all looking glum!
 
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