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Goldring NS1000's

mitch212k

mitch212k

mitch212k

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hi

thinking of buying a used pair of these for £50. I'll be using them through an x-fi xtreme gamer, having used a pair of 5.1 surround sound zalman headphones. Will I notice a significant difference for music and film watching and are the worth the money? Reviews I've seen so far seem to suggest so but I'm after some first hand experience also!

Thanks
Mitch.
 
They are good headphones, I bought a set for £50 new in an offer recently (discount code from somewhere) I really only bought them for the noise cancelling on a long flight I was about to take. On the flight my wife was borrowing her dads bose quiet comfort 3's and the noise cancelling was pretty much exactly the same so pretty impressive. The sound quality is surprisingly great for noise cancelling phones, it walks all over the bose and produces quite a pleasant sound. The only problem is the sound quality is dramatically better with noise cancelling turned on so be prepared to chew through aaa batteries, the cancelling also introduces a quiet hiss so if your listening to quiet music in a quiet room it may become noticable. For my money they are fantastic but if I were just buying a set of headphones to use at home for gaming and don't care about noise cancelling I'd save some money and spend £30 some beyerdynamic DT231's which sound nearly as good and don't have any hiss or thirst for batteries.
 
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also worth noting that with and without the noise cancelling on these are like 2 different headsets.
noise cancellation also makes everything a lot louder.
definatley worth a look at that price the rrp on these is 150 iirc
 
also worth noting that with and without the noise cancelling on these are like 2 different headsets.
noise cancellation also makes everything a lot louder.
definatley worth a look at that price the rrp on these is 150 iirc
 
A remedy for the poor performance with noise cancelling off is get a decent headphone amp. These things are really current hungry. I've tried a CMOY and FIIO e5 and they both get pretty close to the sound with noise cancelling on. It's not quite 100% there but I'm sure it's nothing that the right amp couldn't remedy.
 
Uriel said:
A remedy for the poor performance with noise cancelling off is get a decent headphone amp. These things are really current hungry. I've tried a CMOY and FIIO e5 and they both get pretty close to the sound with noise cancelling on. It's not quite 100% there but I'm sure it's nothing that the right amp couldn't remedy.
Click to expand...

The headphones are rated at 2 completely different impedences with noise cancelling on and off so that could well be all that accounts for the sound difference.

p.s. your link doesnt work here.
 
WILD9 said:
The headphones are rated at 2 completely different impedences with noise cancelling on and off so that could well be all that accounts for the sound difference.
Click to expand...

That may have an effect. It doesn't tell the whole story though. Like most other active noise reduction headphones, they have a build-in amplifier. It only works when the headphones are in active mode. Looking at the specs, you might expect the 300 ohm active mode to be harder to drive than the 100 ohm passive mode. That isn't the case. Active mode sounds very good, regardless of whether you're using an amp or not. Passive mode is much harder to drive and sounds dull, lifeless, veiled and recessed out of my Sony receiver or straight out of a soundcard (Xonar D2, Xtreme Music or Prelude). With a FiiO e5, CMOY or out of my portable CD player, passive mode is much improved although it still lacks the sparkle and verve of active mode.

I'd really like to try these with a higher grade headphone amp, although I don't have access to one.
 
These are on offer again....

I just ordered a pair, but then cancelled my order. I'm not sure about buying them. Someone change my mind lol :p

I already have a few pairs of open cans and have been after some closed for a while. So these took my eye, but if I bought them now it would purely be on impulse, but at £55 it's tempting.
 
Well, they absolutely destroyed the highly rated Creative Aurvana Live! I tried, which are essentially OEM Denon 1001s. In a completely different league, sound wise.

I'm more au-fait with open headphones generally. I'd rather have the NS1000s than Senn HD595s but an HD580 or HD600 would sway me back in the Senn direction.

Far, far superior to the Goldring DR100s or DR50s. Same drivers as DR150s, which I've not heard.

Would recommend using a headphone amp if you wish to use them in passive mode.
 
Cheers. I decided to re order them before. For the price, if I get them and don't get along with them, I can always stick them on the MM or the bay and hopefully get back what I paid for them.
 
Yeah, I've kept an eye on them at 2nd had prices. They seem to hold the discounted value. You could look at it as a very cheap, or free, trial.
 
Arrived this morning. First impressions are that I don't like them.

First time I've been so put off on a first listen, but I suppose this is down to them being closed which i'm not used to, so I've got them burning in, and I'll have another listen tomorrow.

I do like the design though, and they are well made. Also the noise cancelling is excellent, so if I come to like the sound after burn in, these will most likely become by bus/train headphones instead of using IEM's.
 
If you get the chance, try listening to Dolby Headphone through them. It cures some of the worst aspects of closed-headphone-itis.

What are you using as a source and amp?
 
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They are only going to be used outside the house. I have open headphones for at home.

Either going to be using a Sony Walkman NWZA815 or Creative Zen vision M with a CMOY amp.

I had another listen before I went to sleep last night and they did sound good with some types of music, electronic syuff and classical was great, but guitar's and drums sounded too squashed to what I'm used to. I may come to like them after a few more listens mind.
 
Don't foget the effect of burn in. I wasn't all that impressed when I first tired them but have been blown away by them recently. Not sure if that is really burn in or me getting used to the sound signature. Had a good few hundred hours use by now though.
 
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