Looking for some sub £50 headphones

Craig321

Craig321

Craig321

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Joined
2 May 2004
Posts
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Hi,

I'm looking for some sub-£50 headphones for work.

They'll be plugging into a normal headphone jack on a laptop, so nothing special but I do want something at least a bit decent as I normally use Beyer Dynamic DT150s at home with a SBZ soundcard so don't want to get to work and listen to nasty sound.

I found the Sony MDR-V55 which are perfect in terms of price (£37 at the moment).

I may be able to get the Sony MDR-V55s second hand from a guy at work but they're two years old, would new ones be better, how well/badly do they age in terms of audio quality?

Also, I will need to run it on a 3.5mm extension. Can I just get the cheapo £1.50 1-2m cord or do I need to get a decent extension to keep the sound quality?

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
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I quite like my sennheiser HD205's. Why will it have to be on an extension? Much like speaker cables, something that costs a couple of quid will be just fine.
 
abbotsmike said:
Why will it have to be on an extension? Much like speaker cables, something that costs a couple of quid will be just fine.
Click to expand...

My laptop is on my desk to the right of me and can't really go anywhere else which means the headphone cable would end going across my keyboard/mouse area and being annoying, so would like an extension to route it behind the desk and up to the left.

This was assuming I get the Sony MDR-V55 as they have quite a short cable and it's on the left side.
 
Ah, nice, that would be long enough. The Sonys are only 1m or something stupid (friend at work has them) so would only need the extension depending on what I got.

Hmmm, difficult choice. Took me AGES to decide to buy my Beyerdynamics!
 
Sony MDR-V6 or Koss PortaPro.

PortaPro is often found in shootouts with the HD201s and almost always comes out on top, I certainly prefer it.

MDR-V6 is more expensive, similar sound and clarity but slightly wider soundstage and marginally better separation. Also have less rolled/more forward treble.

Headphones aren't affected with age (assuming they are well looked after), Im sat typing this listening to some Parov Stelar with a 37y/o amp and 34 y/o speakers :p But I would prefer either of the above to the 55s.
 
The MDR-V6 are a little expensive unfortunately, don't want to spend too much particularly with being plugged into a rubbishy laptop headphone port.

My old headphones are the HD201s but I'm not sure I could live with a cable on either side these days! You only realise how annoying it is when you get some single side cabled headphones :D

Good to hear they age well. A friend at work may sell me his Sony MDR-V55s so may take up that offer, they're in good condition, seem like quite rugged things.
 
Decent headphones do last. While they're definitely not top of the range, they are still going strong and I must have had them 6 years or more.
 
Porta Pros are open and quite loud so whilst they are some of my favourite headphones you might annoy your colleagues wearing them at work, depending on how your office is laid out and how noisy the background level is.
 
£17 on amazon probably £15 through flubit (if you need a flubit invite let me know and I'll trust you one, basically gets you a discount on anything from amazon)

Monoprice 8323 ($21.59)
I can't imagine how anyone can produce a full-size headphone for $21, much less how they could do so and make one that sounds good as well. But by golly they sure did! If you're looking for a cheap beater headphone that will see duty in a backpack, playroom, or be bashed around in the back of the mini-van, these are your go-to choice.
The one downfall of these headphones is a somewhat uncomfortable fit due to poor padding on the headband. The cable is very long at 10', and is removable from the left earpiece and is terminated at both ends with identical straight 1/8" mini-plugs.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-sealed


HTF600 are also worth a shout (I just sold mine yesterday on the members market for £22.50 delivered, absolute bargain at that price).
 
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Psycho Sonny said:
£17 on amazon probably £15 through flubit (if you need a flubit invite let me know and I'll trust you one, basically gets you a discount on anything from amazon)

Monoprice 8323 ($21.59)
I can't imagine how anyone can produce a full-size headphone for $21, much less how they could do so and make one that sounds good as well. But by golly they sure did! If you're looking for a cheap beater headphone that will see duty in a backpack, playroom, or be bashed around in the back of the mini-van, these are your go-to choice.
The one downfall of these headphones is a somewhat uncomfortable fit due to poor padding on the headband. The cable is very long at 10', and is removable from the left earpiece and is terminated at both ends with identical straight 1/8" mini-plugs.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-full-size-sealed


HTF600 are also worth a shout (I just sold mine yesterday on the members market for £22.50 delivered, absolute bargain at that price).
Click to expand...

Would love a flubit discount please :)

Thank you for all the suggestions all. Going to have a look through now, looks like I had a load of options!
 
flubit invites sent. the way it works is that you simply find the item on amazon and copy and paste the link (URL) into flubit, they then come back and offer you a 6-12% discount on the item usually.

I think it's some sort of tax evasion thing (flubit get the item tax free by reclaiming it as a business expense or something) and the item is bought and sent by amazon themselves.

So flubit are making 8-14% on everything bought through them by reclaiming the tax on the items.

I wonder how it would work if you also tried to claim the same item as a business expense so effectively you reclaim the tax of the price sold through flubit.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
flubit invites sent. the way it works is that you simply find the item on amazon and copy and paste the link (URL) into flubit, they then come back and offer you a 6-12% discount on the item usually.

I think it's some sort of tax evasion thing (flubit get the item tax free by reclaiming it as a business expense or something) and the item is bought and sent by amazon themselves.

So flubit are making 8-14% on everything bought through them by reclaiming the tax on the items.

I wonder how it would work if you also tried to claim the same item as a business expense so effectively you reclaim the tax of the price sold through flubit.
Click to expand...

Do you still get Amazon returns service? or do you have to deal with flubit?
 
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