Rank your headphones / headsets thread

Sennheiser MX550 Streetwear - Out the box they are unremarkable, with a tight well defined sound but nothing special... which kinda sucks if you use them with an mp3 player or similiar... but hook them up to a PC with a good powered soundcard or a pre-amp and they come into their own, with bass thats crisp but with a decent satisfying depth and thump, rich mid-range and a tight crisp high end, turn the power all the way up and they'll take it with no distortion. Seriously impressed - they cost <£20 and I've not used anything that can beat them thats less than 10x the price and much bigger drivers.

Sennheiser PC156 - Great headset, comfortable with good sound quality.

Some ancient Philips ear bud jobbies for about £10-15 - had em like 10 years and they are still going strong - sound quality is respectable. Not the most amazing headset ever but they've been troopers.

Used a bunch of headsets that I can't even remember the name of from plantronic to denon - but none have impressed me as much as the above 3.

EDIT: Honorable mention: gainward soundXplosion 5.1 - not the best sound quality - but the first (and possibly only to date) 5.1 headphones that presented a convincing surround audio scape - I believe the Razer HP1 uses the same design under license but it doesn't quite work as well on those and they cost like 3x the amount.
 
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Home:
Denon AH-D5000
.
.
.
.
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Sennheiser HD595
(Beyer DT100)

Away(work):
Denon AHC 710
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Denon AHC 551
.
.
Sony MDR EX90
Sony MDR EX75
Sony MDR EX71
Sony MDR EX32
Jvc HA-FX34
.
.
Bose in ear

Gaming:
Razer HP1
.
Medusa 5.1

All the above phones i still own and kept in various cupboards/drawers . :D
Also in order of sound quality..to my ears
Home = D5000s are in a league of there own (sound and comfort)
Away =AHC710s still impress me everyday with there sound and fit( use the sony EX tips for a better seal)
The AHC551s are also excellent when you have the correct seal

P.S. :eek: looks like im a Denon Fanboy...
 
AntiHeroUK said:
Goldring DR-150s - better soundstage for gaming
JVC HA-RX700 - prefer for music
Click to expand...

I'm vaguely interested in the JVC HA-RX700, having heard good things about it on various forums. Are you saying you'd rank the DR150s higher overall? What are you using as source and amp for both of them?
 
Source is an Asus Xonar D2, amp is a cmoy from the bay. Really comes down to personal preference as to which set you prefer. I did find that the Goldring's soundstage is more open, whilst the JVC's have a bit more kick :)
 
Would like to add soundmagic pl30 to this list absolute bargain of the century for £15 delivered from hong kong.

Better sounding than my old mylarone x3i which says quite a bit.

Will probably order a few more pairs for future use / backup I am that impressed.
 
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Ultrasone Pro 750 with Moon Audio Blue Dragon cable for home setup (run through DAC and valve amp),
Etymotic Er4p for portable use.
 
Just a reminder guys - this has to be a comparison.

It'll only get included in a compiled list if you have a direct comparison.

Started putting things into Excel last night. But coming up with a realistic ranking system could be tricky once we get some contradictions. I'm working on it.
 
AKG 240s
Grado SR60
.
.
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Koss Porta Pro
Goldring NS1000 (the creaking sound made by the plastic lets these down. If anyone knows a mod that will sort that out I'd love to hear about it :p otherwise these would be my favourite)
Beyerdynamic DTX900
.
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MylarOne X3
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Shure E2C
Sony EX-85(with mod)
Sony EX-90
.
.
.
.
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Speedlink Medusa 5.1 Headset.
 
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Grado SR325's - Great sound, home listening only though realistically and I prefer speakers personally when I'm at home. Borrowed a friends to try and wouldn't buy my own.

Grado SR80's - Nice sound at a reasonable price, I don't usually use big headphones (speakers at home and IEMs when I'm out) but I have a set of these I use occasionally. Maybe a little uncomfortable to wear for a long time.

Westone UM2's - Fantastic sound for IEMs, really tightly controlled bass and great detail. Best IEMs I've ever listened to but not worth the extra cash over...

Westone UM1's - My day to day favourites, most of the good points of the UM2's just less strident bass. Reasonable price and very comfy.

Etymotic ER6i - Good quality, very clean but sounded cold to my ears, neither as comfortable to wear or listen to as the UM1's though for me.

Shure E3c's - Improvement on the E2c's but not much else for me.

Shure E2C's - Seemed alright when I had them, every other IEM I've ever used since has ****ed all over them.
 
Guys - for the list I'm compiling - do you think it's fair for me to take a stab at guessing what some models might be if people can't quite remember the exact model (as D2000s above)?

By the way - Ad - I'm not going to automatically push all the headphones you mentioned above 'headsets' in general without further justification. If you want to quote your post and then name and shame individual models, feel free though.
 
I only have a pair of Sennheiser HD 205's - not bad for sound quality, a bit tight if you have a normal/large sized head.
 
Plantronics 777 5.1 - Pretty impressive surround performance. Sound clarity is spot-on however the bass is slightly weak but thats easy to sort out. 8.5/10

Saitek Cyborg - Best surround sound i have had so far, clamped really tight on my head though. Then one of the cans snapped off when i was about to put them on my head.... not good. 7/10

Creative Fatality - Last headset i used before the plantronics, found the bass overpowered to mask weak performance in relation to clarity. Not particularly comfy either. 5/10

Sony MDXRD200 - First speakers i used on my comp. Pretty poor in all respects. 4/10

Phillips SHC2000 wireless - Thought it would be an idea to get wireless for when listening to my hi-fi. These were dirt cheap so i can forgive them for pretty low audio levels, shouldn't have expected anything else. 3.5/10
 
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