Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo New "budget" headphones

I've been using Sennheiser HD 202 headphones at work for a couple years and finally got sick of their head-pinching discomfort. (I don't usually wear them for long periods, so it was only an occasional issue.)

I just received by Beyerdynamic DT 235 pair and am really enjoying them. Soft ear cups, less head squeeziness, airier treble (but not too much so) and more solid bass. Superior in every way.

Did you put that book there on purpose?

It was already in that spot on my desk, and the lighting happened to be best there.

Congratulations on the new headphones. I would love to try a pair of Beyerdynamics at some point.

I just see the word "puppet" and it conjures up all these images of you making valuable use of your work time?

Shouldn't everyone have a boxing nun in his/her cubicle?

What is that 'L' on the left ear piece?

It's for Looser. There's a T on the right one.

ha! You mispelled "loser!"

But what's the 'T' for?

Ha! That's what you think.

Tighter.

Whoosh!

For a man of your tastes and one that spends an exorbitant amount on audio gear, the Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm is an incredible headphone. It is almost perfect - excellent build quality,comfortable, tonally accurate, great soundstage. You can't find a better headphone than this at cheaper prices (and I have tried a lot of the budget headphones for comparison).

Perhaps you might swing for the Beyerdynamic Tesla T1

Thanks for the model recommendation. I will have to keep my eye on it.

As for the Tesla T1, at least spending that much on headphones would make me feel like I could spend some money on a headphone amp to go with it. Ha ha.

I continue to be impressed by the new headphones. At $55, they were a steal. I'd bring them home, but I used company money to buy them.

Though I do have a couple (Senn wirelss---awful---and Senn 650's---good as I'll ever need), I almost never use them.

After jazz college, I made a living for while in a road band. Having every inch of my head buried in live R & R (our own and tons of other's), recorded R & R has always been its own beast for me. A great beast a surpising amount of the time, but a different genus.

Anyone who thinks that 1969 Zep concert (pic in link I posted in "Being there" thread) sounded anything like the first 2 records would be mistaken. Lots of artists do, but not R & R. And I'm sure none of you thinks that anyway.

Even the rawest bands sound smoother and slicker on record. I could make a big boring list, but I can hear zzzz's already. Recorded music in-the-room is the closest I can get, or can bear.

Oh, yeah, the point! Music ON my head = rubber on my schwanz. Can I say "schwanz" here?

There's such a thing as company money?

So far, when things break or wear out at work, I'm forced to purchase them myself, or endure the cheapest of the cheap. I've bought my own keyboard, mouse, chair, plastic under the chair, pens.

Did I mention that I work for a company with really great perks? We recently changed from a very ancient ordering system to a more modern one. When I found out I had a discretionary budget of $2500 I could use to buy office supplies, software, computer accessories, books, etc., I put in a few orders right away: battery charger with rechargeable batteries for my wireless mouse, that Puppet book you see in the picture, and the headphones. Don't think I could swing Audiobytes, though.

I'll have a medium double-double please, Peter.

In my country, a double-double only comes in one size, but you can order it "animal style" if you want.

Finally spent some time with the Denon AHD 1001 and the Sennheiser HD 457s. Got to say the headphone experience is interesting ... personal like.

I read some reviews of the 457s which damned them with faint praise. They are more efficient than the Denons. The Denons sound great. I don't mind the Sennheisers either. I'm listening to them through a really low end set up - my old Logitech computer speakers and sub have a jack in the volume/on-off pod.

So far, some Andy Snitzer, Jobim, Bach, Dire Straits, Cream, Enya, more Clapton, Pamela Yorke, and both phones sound really good to me. I think the edge goes to the Denons.

Think I'm going to get the L'il Dot and maybe a step up on phones.

DavidZheZhe usually suggests that if all you are using is low impedance and high sensitivity headphones (<64 ohm, >100db), the best candidate for driving these type of cans is the less expensive hybrid Little Dot I+. If you ever want to dabble into high impedance and/or less efficient (low sensitivity) headphones (which many excellent headphones are), the Little Dot MKIII is the best value of the bunch. The MK III also comes with a pre-amp section so you could also use some M3's in a stereo setup with this.

For a little spring fever! From one of my favorite headphone manufacturers (along with Beyer )



http://www.shure.com/americas/news-events/coming-soon/srh940-professional-reference-headphones

I'm thinking about picking up a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones. Comments? They will be for reference monitoring, and perhaps some vocal work.

The DT880 is a reference headphone. Superb for reference music listening. They are not a totally sealed design for monitoring purposes if that's of any importance but they would work.

If you need a sealed headphone the AKG 271MKII are superb especially for monitoring vocals and are suited specifically for studios with its auto-mute feature. You get different cabling options out of the box as well (XLR, 1/4", 3.5mm). The 271 don't have the bottom end and crazy detail (not the unnatural detail you get from Grados) of the DT880 but they nail the midrange and even more importantly the upper midrange.

Thanks for speaking up. I actually don't want a totally sealed design, because if I do every attempt to record any of my own vocals, I've read that closed cans throw off ones ability to judge their own pitch. On the other hand, I don't want a totally open set either, because they're more likely to be picked up by the mic. I figured the semi-open was the best compromise, as I don't want to buy multiple pairs.

So with that criteria, and also the desire for the linear, reference headphones I can get in the $200 range, is this the pair you'd recommend?

The DT880 (600 ohm) are my favorite reference headphones for listening to music with.

I do love the AKG 271 MKII for judging vocals though. For example right now I am listening to Third Eye Blinds self-titled album on the 271 and they reproduce Stephan Jenkins voice so naturally and beautifully. A lot of speakers and headphones that don't get the mid-upper midrange correct, his voice will sound over nasally and sibilant. They won't accurately reproduce the slight lisp he has either. This is one album I use for reference.

The DT880 is the total package though. The only thing I would be afraid of is sound leaking into mics for monitoring purposes. But if you can prevent that they are the overall better headphone. I do love how the MKII mute when you take them off your head. They are really what you can call a headphone that was made for professional use in studios.

I just got the DT 880 Pro (250 Ohm, slightly more linearly voicing than the 250 Ohm non-Pro). I've only listened to them on the crappy, in-built soundcard on my work PC. But wow, I didn't know there was so many little details in Skrillex's new single "First Of The Year (Equinox)", and I've listened to it more than a dozen times on my Koss clip-ons.

Sure, there's no ear-flapping bass, but the bass information is there, and that's all I really need for accurate monitoring. On the same note, the bass does not distort the highs like it does with the Koss.

So freaking clear.

Very nice! But you forgot to mention what effect they have on the veil.

It is lifted!

Oh, a real head phone amp (the one built into my mixer) makes even more of a difference. There's the missing bass.