Best Headphones?

[Optrix]

Ok so i'm a bit of an audiophile, i suppose that we all are if we have an iPod, but the question is how far do you go, when it comes to headphones.

I was a little disapointed with the apple headphones, there distinctive and the sound wasn't bad, but the little plastic v thing where the one wire comes out as 2 leading to the ear buds, well one of the plastic covers started to come lose and exposed the wire, so i've stopped using them.

At the moment i'm using a ?60 pair of Bang and Olufsen Headphone and i'll tell you they rock, like a big rocky thing! The sound quality is really great. The only thing that lacks is that they don't block out external sound, but i can live with that. Plus i've nearly been run over enough times while listening to my iPod, with a pair of headphones, where you can still make out the sound of cars etc, so one that blocks them out would be too dangerous for me!

[ozzyo99]

Budget choice (sub ?50): Sennheiser mx500
High price: Shure e2c

I love my Senn, and they dont isolate too much. The shure ones isolate a hell of a lot.

[Optrix]

I also have a pair of Senhieser headphones, the MX 400, i got them from Richer Sounds for ?20 and they rock, however they feel a little cheap.

Plus they can't beat the durability of my metal and kevlar B&O headphones.

Nice to see another audiophile though. I mean whats the point in having a gadget like this if you don't have a decent pair of headphones, but then again, there's no point going overboard.

[ozzyo99]

To be honest mate, id call myself a gadgeteer and a music fan :). I enjoy my lifes soundtrack, and the iPod aids me with that. But to be brutally honest, no hardcore audiophile would listen to MP3's or other compressed formats in their current state, as quite simply there not audio perfection. However they are a great compromise for people like myself.

I know what you mean about the 'cheap' feel of the Senn, but bang for buck they give one hell of a lot of bang. Ive never been a fan of Sony headphones to be honest cause i find them too bass happy and can often leave the music sounding murky.

Anyhow, some suggestions for yourself if you havent done so already, download Volumeboost and mp3Gain and run it on all your music files, it will help your overall sound problem possibly without the need for new headphones. But there again it might not...;)

[Optrix]

Cheers for the info!

Back to what you were saying about mp3 not being pure enough, i note that you ocasionally get bad copies and stuff, but really when it comes to it when you get a good mp3 rip (i prefer iTunes 192 mp3, didn't want to use AAC cos i was worried about conflicts between both formats) you really can't tell the difference.

I mean the human ear is only so sensative, ok people have slightly different ranges, but you cant really tell between CD and a 192 - 320 mp3 can you? I suppose in this case its all down to the speakers at the end of the day right?

[SlutMonkey]

Get the Grado SR60s. They rock.

[chadlewis76]

I second the SR-60s. Not only do they sound great, but they've never become unformfortable for me after wearing them for long periods of time. I have them on all day during work.