Advice for a headphones noob, please :)

[D_Brasted]

Hi,

I'm looking at purchasing a set of hi-fi headphones, but I have very little experience/knowledge with good ones. I'm looking to spend no more than £50, although I could be pushed a little for the right product...

A friend of mine has the Sony MDR-7506, which are about twice my budget, but that's my current "reference" for "good headphones" - something with somewhat "similar" sound and build quality would be nice.

I'd appreciate a quick rundown on the different things I should be looking for e.g. impedance (is high or low better, and why?), closed/open/semi-open back (advantages/disadvantages of each?), Sound Pressure Level, Total Harmonic Distortion...

Thanks very much.

Regards, Dominic

 

[Sol]

There are millions honestly .

I think the Grado SR60s/SR80s are up there in the lower price points but it depends on what you want. They are pretty uncomfortable in standard setup.

Impedance just affects how much drive the headphones need for optimum output, higher ones mean you'll probably want an external amp although for £50 or so you should be able to get decent ones that do the job without amp requirements. The open/closed etc is to do with isolation mainly I believe. If they are closed then you don't hear so much of the outside world and vice versa. Open are generally better for SQ although you can obviously get perfectly acceptable closed and semi open ones too.

I don't know if the technical information will be essential to your purchase, not in that price range anyway. If you can, try some out because purely based on opinions you may be disappointed.

The SR60s are cheap and cheerful. Thinking of buying some SR80s myself but was tempted to get some Beyerdynamic DT770s.

 

[swampy]

hello all...long time posting!

grados are very good for the money

i had sr-80s first, got bitten buy the grado sound ... very good with rock pop ...the bee gees! ... its got a detailed upfront sound

no boom bass

build quality not the best .....dont go around droping em !

let them wear in ......sounds better after 6 months

sounds good with no amp unlike a lot of headphones (i use just an audiolab amp

very light on the head, headphone sits on the ears
anit that bad comfort...well worth it

i had the gold grado 325i before,, sold them as to heavy....im a member of the "head-fi" and have hf-1 grados now and sr60s

grado-sr225 are the best value grados.....

i have the sennheiser 280pro and hd-595 and rate grado much better .
280 pros are total rubbish, use the hd-595 for gaming , has a large soundstage

grado sr80s are worth paying more for
you wont regret it!

ps i dont really like the bee gees

 

[fish99]

I've been down the Grado route and eventually decided I wanted a more open/wide sound and moved on to AKG. The Grados were also pretty uncomfortable and they're overpriced in the UK. With the right music (something fairly intense and thumping) the sound is excellent though, but they're not all-round performers, with the wrong music (classical, acoustic) they can be too bright.

Stuff like impedence and sensitivity, well it depends what you're going to plug them into. If you're gonna use them with an MP3 player, you want low impedence and high sensitivity. Don't get 600 ohm headphones unless you're going to buy a headphone amp. If you're going to plug them into your PC, I would stick with 150 ohm or less.

I can definitely recommend AKG as a brand over the other makes I've used (like Sennheiser and Grado). Sennheiser are great with classical but the ones I've used were a little too warm and soft with rock/electronic. If you like being able to hear all the different parts of the music clearly then I'd recommend AKG.

I'd also recommend open back for sound quality and circum-aural (ie they don't rest on your ears) for comfort.