Spec me some good headphones

silverf0x

silverf0x

silverf0x

Associate
Joined
7 Feb 2011
Posts
140
Location
Edinburgh
Hi All,

I have a budget of £50, need a good set of closed headphones. These are for indoor use only, permanently plugged into my PC.
Mainly for listening to music/playing games. Not that bothered if they have a mic or not.

I only have mobo sound, no dedicated soundcard.

thanks
 
Some possible suggestions:

Beyerdynamic DT2xx series (sound quality is a bit subjective to taste some people find them too bass bias)
Sennheiser HD 448
Sennheiser PC 16x series (sound quality is reasonable - good for gaming and most people find them comfortable for long useage)
Goldring NS1000 (some places still do them at ~£50 tho not sure on the quality)
 
Last edited:
ReAPeR101 said:
I recently bought the Corsair HS1, a little over your budget, but WOW simply awesome sound, cant believe the sound from the headphones.

Makes my fatality H800 headset seem extremely cheap and tacky.

There is a cheaper alternative the HS1A

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-004-CS
Click to expand...

thanks.

do you use the HS1 with a dedicated sound card? I read a review that said you erally get the best out of it with a dedicated sound card. I only have onboard sound.
 
I too have onboard sound. The HS1 uses USB input, as where the HS1A uses 2 jack 3.5mm for ears and mic.

The HS1 though has simply brought everything on my PC to life, music/films/gaming, i honestly didnt think that headphones would make a difference. I was wrong.

Live and learn i suppose.

I like my music loud, the HS1 puts me in a world where i want to be.
 
I don't personally rate most creative, logitech, plantronics, corsair, steelseries*, etc. headphones that well, even for gaming tho they are passable there... throw a few tunes like:

Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem
Elk Hunt - Randy Edelman
Die another day - madonna
I'm Alive - Celine Dion
Comfortable Liar - Chevelle
Sieze the day - Cosmic Gate

Through some Beyerdynamic dt990, Sennheiser HD600 or comparable Grado/Denons headphones then try again with a selection of those other brands (mostly gaming headsets granted) and you'll be shocked how much detail is missing even as a non-audiophile. Obviously your not gonna get that kinda quality in a sub £100 set of headphones but you certainly can get a lot of that detail back with careful selection and its certainly possible around the £50 price point, even for gaming it makes a big difference to what you can pick out and the immersion of the sound scape.


* There are exceptions i.e. one set are rebranded Beyerdynamic.
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
I don't personally rate most creative, logitech, plantronics, corsair, steelseries*, etc. headphones that well, even for gaming tho they are passable there... throw a few tunes like:

Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem
Elk Hunt - Randy Edelman
Die another day - madonna
I'm Alive - Celine Dion
Comfortable Liar - Chevelle
Sieze the day - Cosmic Gate

Through some Beyerdynamic dt990, Sennheiser HD600 or comparable Grado/Denons headphones then try again with a selection of those other brands (mostly gaming headsets granted) and you'll be shocked how much detail is missing even as a non-audiophile. Obviously your not gonna get that kinda quality in a sub £100 set of headphones but you certainly can get a lot of that detail back with careful selection and its certainly possible around the £50 price point, even for gaming it makes a big difference to what you can pick out and the immersion of the sound scape.


* There are exceptions i.e. one set are rebranded Beyerdynamic.
Click to expand...

those are a bit out of my price range at the moment, having splashed out on a Hazro.

I need something that ticks all the boxes (doesn't have to be exceptional at them) and theni can upgrade to something else later.
 
Wasn't saying get the Beyerdynamic dt990 or something like that (tho if you can afford them they are worth it :D) just that I used to use some pretty average headphones (plantronics, panasonic, creative, etc.) and thought they were fairly good... then I got myself some HD600s and was blown away by the difference in music, but I kept on using your average gaming headphones for games thinking I wasn't missing much... til I happened to use the HD600s one day when playing COD... I was suprised again how much detail in the audio I was missing before. Now I use a pair of Sennheiser PC163D for gaming which IMO have respectable sound quality, don't cost the earth and are lighter and more comfortable for prolonged gaming sessions than your average audiophile cans.
 
Using a set of ns1000's here, sound quality is very impressive with music and games, for gaming, particularly battlefield bad company 2. I can hear things in game that i never noticed before with cheaper cans.
 
I'd take a risk on ns1000 there has been quality control reports but if you get a goodun you'll be laughing.They are the best cans south of probably £120 the next best bet is probably the shure srh440 £69-99 delivered.

You would need to buy a headphone extension cable for the ns1000 as the cable is very short and the input jack on the phones themselves is narrower than standard if you do end up getting them I would try and source a male to male 3.5mm cable that has a very narrow end.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, but get 1 of the bad batch of NS1000's and you'll have this, like me:
24dg1hv.jpg

20t1pcl.jpg

28homdh.jpg


They are BARELY held together with cellotape, and I don't even treat my PC equipment badly, I usually try and take care of it, this all occurred by putting it on, and taking it off of my head.
 
bleddyn said:
The creative auvana are rebranded denons and are cheaper than there denon counter part so are literally a steal :)
Click to expand...

Hence my footnote :P

"* There are exceptions i.e. one set are rebranded Beyerdynamic."

Tho I hear the Aurvana Live's tho excellent at mid-range are some what lacking in detail/vibrancy at the lower end with somewhat boomy rather than accurate bass and that the drivers produce much better results in open back headphones.
 
Margaret said:
http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Shure-SRH440/

I've had some Shures in the past. Thought they were very poor and not worth the price they cost.

They remind me of Bose.
Click to expand...

I think things have moved on a tad and many poeple rate the shure 440 / 840 and above I wouldn't base anything off of that site tbh.
Can see a few sennheiser hd555 owners over on headfi prefer them to the senns and the senns are pricier they are okay for £70 delivered if you don't want to take a risk on the goldrings.

I think you'll be hard pushed to find a better set of closed headphones for £70 or less than the shure srh440 when disregarding the goldrings.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom