Best reference headphones under £100

dacads

dacads

dacads

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Hi all

Looking for a pair of headphones that will be used for vocal tracking and mixing songs, so they will need to be neutral and precise. Good noise isolation and minimal leakage is also a must.

Have Narrowed down to the following two choices so far:
AKG k550 MK2 (k553 pro in U.S. I believe)
Lindy HF-100

Any others i should be considering? Have looked at the usual ath m50x, mdr7506 etc but the above two seem to appeal most.

Guess I could order both and see which I prefer, in terms of sound though I think there'd be little difference.
 
I would take a look at the ATH-M40x. Basically a cheaper M50x that performs as well if not better than their more expensive sibling.

You could use the money you save to buy a pair of Brainwavz angled pleather pads which will massively improve the comfort of the headphones (the stock pads are a bit rubbish).

Isolates well and no leakage, especially with the upgraded pads. I use them mainly with my gaming PC but also for tracking and checking mixes, when I don't want to use IEMs.
 
Nice wasn't aware of those.

The 40mm drivers actually a good thing as i know the m50x has a slight bump in the bass range.
 
Not really upto speed on the Sony MDR series but they are the ones most people I know who are into audio engineering and that kind of thing swear by at that kind of price range.
 
rids57 said:
If noise leakage and isolation is paramount, what about using IEMs?
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Hadn't thought about them and tbh I prefer headphones due to their durability and it feels like you're getting more for your money, but I know that's not necessarily true :p

Also wouldn't there be a slight advantage in terms of space and soundstage with headphones?

What IEMs do you recommend? I'd like to avoid the ones you have to wrap around over your ear, if I decide to go down this route.
 
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thing is, the ones that wrap around your ear are more comfortable for long sessions as there is no weight on your ear canals and they also eliminate microphonics from the cable, so are quieter.

My current favourites are Brainwavz B100 which cost £50 on the rain forest and are comparable to headphones costing well north of a hundred.

ps. they are also extremely comfortable
 
Might consider those, I have some brainwavz r1 and could do with an upgrade tbh as they're average at best.

Maybe it is IEMs I need in my life again!
 
Rroff said:
Not really upto speed on the Sony MDR series but they are the ones most people I know who are into audio engineering and that kind of thing swear by at that kind of price range.
Click to expand...

The MDR-V6 are well-deserved classics in this price range. Even better if you replace the stock pads with some Beyerdynamic EDT 250 V Velour ones. Can be difficult to find new now though. The newer MDR-7506 is very similar but a little more bassy and not quite as clean apparently.
 
dacads said:
Might consider those, I have some brainwavz r1 and could do with an upgrade tbh as they're average at best.

Maybe it is IEMs I need in my life again!
Click to expand...

If cable down is an essential then the 1More E1001 triple driver takes some beating at £100. With a dynamic and two balanced armature drivers they really are silly value and are easily available from the rain forest and they may even have their own UK based site.

Above those come the LZ-A4 (£150 ish plus import duty) but you'd have to buy from the far east, somewhere like Penon Audio, because they aren't available in the UK as far as I know.
 
Just discovered the Lindy HF-100, are also known as Studiospares M1000 which are sold for £65..

Must be at least 4-5 different rebrands lol
 
Managed to bag the Lindy HF-100 for £40 off eBay ;) Apparently only used twice.. come with spare earpads anyway so all good.

Also there is a 20% sale at Brainwavz.. so B100 could also be had for £40 ;) Maybe that's what I was supposed to buy:eek:

We shall see.. I know I won't be disappointed with either choice.
 
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