Quality Headphone Recommendations

mks2005

mks2005

mks2005

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Hey,

Looking to purchase a pair of fairly high quality headphones.

- Primarily for listening to music.
- Will occasionally be used for music production. (I have studio monitor speakers which I use primarily so this isn't ovely important.)
- Needs to be OK for gaming, not overly fussed if it's not amazing though.
- Budget: £80-£150 or there abouts.

Was looking at the Grado SR125, which seem like a safe bet.

Any insight/recommendations are much appreciated.
 
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I wouldn't buy Grado for gaming. Soundstage is narrow, the thin/bright sound wouldn't be ideal for games and they're uncomfortable for extended use. The cable isn't very long either.

I used to own the SR80s and while they were great for certain types of music, they don't suit a wide range of music. They very much suited my favourite sorts of music and hence I very much enjoyed owning them, stuff like Radiohead, Muse etc, but with stuff that's more warm and mellow they don't perform as well and they can be too sharp for classical.

If you've used Grado before, you like the sound, and they suit your music, then they're a good choice for music, but I still wouldn't think the thin sound and lack of comfort would suit games.

Sennheisers have a warmer sound but I never really been a fan of Sennheiser, a little bit too warm and soft for my tastes, but I can see why they're recommended for classical. I guess they don't suit my music.

Btw if you do go with Grados it's worth knowing they're overpriced in the UK so you don't really get what you pay for. The answer is to buy the Alessandro modified grados instead (you order them straight from Alessando) which are oddly better value than the Grados. Alessandro MS1 or MS2. MS2 for around £170 delivered are the same as the SR325i which IIRC cost about £250.
 
Thanks for the reply.

I may not go for Grado then. Can you recommend any models similar to the Grado SR125?

I was looking at the Beyerdynamic range, which I've been recommended to try.
 
What do you mean by music production? If you're going to be tracking anything using mics then you'll have to consider spill from the headphones, so closed headphones would a better choice. If you're not then open headphones are generally regarded as being more comfortable to use for extended periods of time.
 
mks2005 said:
Hey,

Looking to purchase a pair of fairly high quality headphones.

- Primarily for listening to music.
- Will occasionally be used for music production. (I have studio monitor speakers which I use primarily so this isn't ovely important.)
- Needs to be OK for gaming, not overly fussed if it's not amazing though.
- Budget: £80-£150 or there abouts.

Was looking at the Grado SR125, which seem like a safe bet.

Any insight/recommendations are much appreciated.
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How do you like your music reproduction? Do you like it forward and upfront. Linear and meutral and clean sounding or do you prefer a tonally warm or dark headphone.

For music I use Rs-1's and Senn he90's for games playing and watching movies I use Audio Technica's and the senn he90.

Fish99 is right about the grado presentation for music. Grados have a typically less soundstage width and the depth perception is 2d.

They are popular due to the fact they have very energetic treble which makes it great for rock. But some people have found this can prove a fatiguing listen. The way to get round this is to use flat pads or to reverse the bowl pads that come with it.

What does this do? Well by doing this you take a little of the treble off. Increasing bass. Sounds like an ideal solution, doesn't it.

There is a downside to this. By doing this you decrease the soundstage width even more. Also bass becomes more evident with more bass impact. By this I mean you feel it slightly more than using the pads that are supplied.

You can easily alter the sound slightly without any cost.

If you have a set of grado's from the 125 upwards they come supplied with what's known as bowl pads. Just reverse them. I.e pull them off and stick them on the "wrong" way round.

But yet even though this might help alleviate some of the sound issues one thing remain certain. No matter how much people try some people can not get use to the way grado's sit. they rest on your ears and the pads are a little abrasive. It not like a senn where it surrounds your ears but sits on top.

Also there a different Grado's.

There is (takes deep breath) sr40, sr60, sr80, sr125, sr225, sr 325, sr 325i, Rs-1, Rs-2, Hp-1, hp-2 hp-3, Ps-1, sr 100, sr200, and the latest model gs-1000

As for allessandros Ms-1, ms-2, ms-2i, ms-pro.

Some of the above have ceased production and are very desirable and rare.
 
mks2005 said:
Thanks for the reply.

I may not go for Grado then. Can you recommend any models similar to the Grado SR125?

I was looking at the Beyerdynamic range, which I've been recommended to try.
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I'm not sure what you mean by music production, but for listening to music get a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro's. They're closed cup, and sound absolutely amazing. I got them for ~£95.
 
Thanks for the great replies!

Just to clear things up, my "music production" consists of electronic music production in my small, home studio. Like I said, primarily my studio monitor speakers will be used, but perhaps if I wanted to create late at night I'd use headphones.

A friend has recommended: Beyerdynamic DT 990 (the non "PRO" version.)

From what I can tell, this seems like an ideal model for me. I've located it for £120, and I think I'm gonna buy.

I'm not making a bad decision, am I? :)
 
mks2005 said:
Thanks for the great replies!

Just to clear things up, my "music production" consists of electronic music production in my small, home studio. Like I said, primarily my studio monitor speakers will be used, but perhaps if I wanted to create late at night I'd use headphones.

A friend has recommended: Beyerdynamic DT 990 (the non "PRO" version.)

From what I can tell, this seems like an ideal model for me. I've located it for £120, and I think I'm gonna buy.

I'm not making a bad decision, am I? :)
Click to expand...

Id check on head-fi forums tbh they got a proper headphone forum there, a lot more would proberly find the DT-880s more popular definatly run a few searches on there/google headfi forums

Theres a lot more questions u gotta ask yourself like will these headphones be "open" or "closed" ? Open tends to sound better but leaks noise/Closed sounds good but keeps noise isolated so doesnt disturb.

Then u gotta find out if your just plugging them into an Amp or hi-fi or headphone amp ? certain cans wont work if you just plug it into say an ipod or x-fi output...

Headfi will have those answers, personaly id consider Senns HD595-650 range (top end open) and for closed the Audio Technics A900/Beyer DT-770-80ohms are popular :)
 
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