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A/V Headphone recommendations

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Spraduke, 25 Jan 2018.

  1. Spraduke

    Spraduke Lurker

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    Hi,

    I am after suggestions for portable wireless headphones. I currently use some wired sennheiser in ears but find the cable a faff so tend not to use them. Looking for something with reasonable life span that I can throw in a bag and won't cost a fortune (<£100). Not too keen on complete over ears as I use them at work and need to hear colleagues if they ask for me.

    Any thoughts?
     
  2. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Whatever Grado fits within your budget if you want to hear through them. Then get a set of the super comfy huge airy pads.
     
  3. dosmel

    dosmel What's a Dremel?

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    Audio Technica ATH-SR5 is another decent headphone that is not too pricey.
     
  4. edzieba

    edzieba Virtual Realist

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    Sony SBH-80.
     
  5. yupson

    yupson What's a Dremel?

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    Do you have a budget for this? If budget is not a constraint, i recommend Beats Solo3.
     
  6. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    sonicgroove and Vault-Tec like this.
  7. Mister_Tad

    Mister_Tad Will work for nuts Super Moderator

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    My mrs had a set of Beats in-ears bundled with a phone a while back, and they were actually half decent. Not £80 decent (and she eventually replaced them with some SE215s, at the same RRP, which really drives home how overpriced they are), but I don't think they're universally trash.

    That said, I still wouldn't let friends buy beats...
     
  8. MiNiMaL_FuSS

    MiNiMaL_FuSS ƬӇЄƦЄ ƁЄ ƇƠƜƧ ӇЄƦЄ.

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    Anything by SoundMagic.

    Do not buy Beats, awful awful sound quality - I'm amazed that anyone on a tech forum would ever consider them!
     
  9. Spraduke

    Spraduke Lurker

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    Bought RHA650 Bluetooth. Oddly they were £30 cheaper at dixons at Manchester Airport than amazon. So far so good.
     
  10. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    I know the OP has already bought something but I'd like to add:

    Don't be tempted by BeyerDynamic Byron BT bluetooth earphones - they sound absolutely fantastic but my son is on his third replacement set. He doesn't abuse them either - they just don't last.
     
  11. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    4 out of my 5 pairs are fake and yup, that would be spot on. In fact, not only are they built better but they also sound better :D Often using tighter drivers for more controlled bass.

    I didn't notice the OP said wireless, so I guess it would be pretty difficult getting a pair of Grado. I don't use wireless so really I have no idea.

    They're not all trash no. They are all too expensive, though. You are paying for Dre, quite literally.

    The best sounding headphones they make are the Studio and Studio 2. I only bought mine because they are noise cancelling, and I didn't have a pair at all. Which was annoying on long car rides and etc. I did get them cheap though (£100 or there abouts) and they do review very well, even from What? Hifi.

    Then I have my Powerbeats Detox. The headband is falling apart and so on from heavy wear but I love them. They sound ridiculous, but about six months ago I figured out that if you connected them up to a very powerful amp with a pre amp there to just to drive up the line and then play bass tests? it was almost like being back in my car audio days. They literally make your whole head buzz hahaha. Great fun :D and at absolutely no annoyance to any one.
     
    Last edited: 1 Mar 2018
  12. Spraduke

    Spraduke Lurker

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    My normal preference is for cabled everything because wireless is always a compromise. But with headphones (I stick with in ears for portability) I found the cable to be a faff. It always got tangled or caught on clothing etc (especially on planes where I spend a chunk of time). Since I've had these I've used them far more than my wired headphones. A nice touch is that the back of the earpieces are magnetic so that they 'clip' together when not is use to prevent them falling off (with the neckband it forms a lanyard). They do infrequently 'drop' for a fraction of a second which I'm putting down to bluetooth issues.

    One strange observation I made was that music sounds good on them with my phone but when I tried to use them with CSGO on my Dell all-in-one (just to test rather than a need) - the sound was atrocious - no base, echoey just a mess really. Not sure if its a game issue or the bluetooth chip on the Dell compressing it to hell. I will investigate further when I'm not swamped with work and kids!
     
  13. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Last edited: 1 Mar 2018
  14. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    That's the problem with plain old tap water, if you get the more expensive stuff there's no wetness involved. ;)
     
  15. Mister_Tad

    Mister_Tad Will work for nuts Super Moderator

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    I leafed through a What Hi-Fi recently (don't worry, I didn't directly feed them, part of a free Readly sub) and found myself thinking, is there anything these guys don't like? Pretty much every review ended with 4 or 5 stars.

    I thought I would peruse the reviews they post online and I found something interesting.

    5 Star: 661
    4 Star: 677
    3 Star: 259
    2 Star: 62
    1 Star: One. Yes, One - https://www.whathifi.com/clarity/cube-2/review

    So "okay" is about as bad as it ever gets, and 80% of everything they've ever reviewed is either very good or excellent.
     
    Last edited: 1 Mar 2018
    yuusou and Gareth Halfacree like this.
  16. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

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  17. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Oh I know G. I learned about that many years back. For speaker wire I used to used 240v solid mains cable (100% copper, who can argue !) and for RCA Tandy used to make a set for £12 that was every bit as good as any £250 set. It's like every hobby, there are plenty of useless things that cost a lot of money that people will buy and swear they make a difference.

    They do half decent reviews when it comes to SQ though, so for any set of Beats to score anything reasonble on there they have to be at least half decent. The rest? they pretty much laughed them off.
     
  18. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    "They only lie to me some of the time, so that's OK!"
     
  19. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    haha every magazine back then thought they could tell the difference between a £20 cable and a £200 cable though. Some people will still swear blind to this day that they can.

    https://www.pocket-lint.com/headpho...-smart-sounding-ultra-long-lasting-headphones

    http://www.wired.co.uk/article/beats-studio3-wireless-review

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/25...-3-wireless-headphones-review-noise-canceling

    They generally review very well but I only mention the WHF? review because they are a little more picky about this sort of thing. IE - fashion accessories. However, I have about 25 pairs of headphones and I am a extremely fussy listener being that I'm on the spectrum and I like mine. They are not the best pair I've heard, or even own (Grado are much better but also much more expensive) but they do sound very nice so long as you leave the EQ flat and don't mess with anything.
     
  20. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Yes, and What Hi-Fi is one of 'em, which is why I wouldn't buy it for bog paper. That "best digital cables under £50" piece of rubbish I linked upthread is from 2017, not 1907.
    More picky?! 80% of everything they've ever reviewed is either good or fantastic. That ain't picky, that's "keep the advertisers happy," that is.
     

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