A/V Headphones £200

Its coming around to christmas again and the dreaded question i get is "what do you want" i have been told im the worst to buy for because i have everything.... within reason.

I can't think of anything technology wise i really would like so im considering some new over ear headphones my budget being around £200 with me chipping in to that

I quite like the reviews of the Ath-M50 but im wondeirng is there anything better out there for my money? not necessarily picking the most expensive headphones to the top of my budget but something that will last long and sound great

I've just got into music production so i would be using them for that

I listen to all kinds of music mostly Electronic music being House, Trance, Techno aswell as all kinds of sub genre of metal

preference is over the ear and noise cancelling

 

I still love my Sennheiser PC-350, but I am not an audiophile and don't see the need to ÜBERBASS!!!!! Great sound, comfortable for extended periods of time (I wear glasses so this is a massive bonus), over ear and they do tend to lock out external sounds to the point that I need someone shouting at me before I notice anything.

 

A set of Ultrasone HFI 2400s would have been ideal but you want closed backs so probably a set of GermanMaestro GMP 450s should be in budget plus they are techinically studio headphones so would be better suited to production.

 

Thomann sells AKG K701 @ £161 : http://www.thomann.de/gb/akg_k701.htm

The M50 are nice cans too

Edit : didn't read the kind of music you listen to ... maybe the AKG won't be the best choice.

 

Was in hmv other day they have denon, seinheiser and beats.... Denon were amazing

 

I would suggest a pair of denon d2000 or beyerdynamic 770

 

Due to the genres of music you listen to. I would get the sehn hd 25 or the dt1350 athough they are not over ear (I highly doubt there is a headphone in the price range that are better than those two for Electronic) Also look on this fourm http://www.head-fi.org/

 

www.head-fi.org is where you need to ask. AKG 701 no good as they are only good for classical music. If you want rock/metal headphones you go for Grado. But techno I have no idea.

 

AKG 701 for classical only .... you kinding me I hope . I have them and they can handle far more gender than classical. But they are not the best for Electro (no "deep bass", but very accurate and fast bass). They just need a headphone amp to really sing @ 100% of their potential.

 

No no no no NO!

Please get rid of this assumption ASAP, because it is simply not true. Classical music may be where the AKG K70x shines because of their superb soundstage, however that DOES NOT mean they are not suited to other types of music. Mainly though, it depends of the individuals preferences. For example, I prefer my AKG K601 (similar to the K701's but not as bright or detailed) for listening to rock over both the Beyerdynamic DT880's and Sennheiser HD650s. The Sennheisers were the most well suited to rock out of those 3 but I couldn't get on with the poor bass extension, narrower soundstage, and poor comfort when wearing them for extended periods (I'm spoiled since the AKG's are by far the most comfortable headphones I've ever tried). The AKG K701 is often recommended for monitoring in quiet environments for their very neutral sound, however they really aren't suited to electronic music at all, so I wouldn't recommend them based on that.

For closed headphones I'm not really sure, the Beyerdynamic DT770's might be worth a go, but I would steer clear of the Denon D2000 as I've heard bad things about their build quality.

TL;DR - there is no accounting for personal taste when recommending headphones.

 

I am just going by what I read on the head-fi forum. I think what they mean is that there are much better choices for rock/metal, and you guys just said you wouldn't use the AKG 701 for electro or rock so...

 

I use them for rock ... but not for electro . Do not trust what you read, especially in audio field. The best review is the one you can do yourself. Grado's were very nice in the past, especially with rock music, but they didn't really improved and you can have better cans now (K601 as mentioned).

 

Ultrasone HFI-580 would be great for house/trance and it has a good seal so it should keep the backround noise to a minimum.

sound quality and comfort wise both would be superior but neither can compare to m50/HFI-580 in terms of noise isolation.


and if you can try to demo the headphones before you buy, everyone has a different idea of a perfect sound so you might end up disappointed...

ps. found a review comparing M50 & HFI-580 HERE

 

I've got M50s and love them to bits. I use them for mixing and recording almost every single day and they just get even better the more I wear them in. Beautiful clarity for the price.

 

Thanks for the review comparison!

The 580s happen to be another pair i was looking at....

Ughhh im finding it difficult now to start with i had no idea what i wanted now i have too much

 

Beyerdynamic DT-880 Premiums get my vote. Can be had for £205 these days which is a bargain. I have the DT-770 and DT-990's too, so if the budget ends up being a little less, go for the DT-990's.