broke down headphones

[peacocks]

I just tripped over the wire that led from my excellent headphones to my shitty little boombox and the whole thing crashing down, breaking off the wee silver knob that inserted into the boombox hole and now no sound travels from the boombox to the excellent headphones!  

they were the big wonderful kind that went all the way around my ears and made the music swoosh through my brain.

I know they probably weren't the best, and they were old... so what kind of headphones would you people recommend me asking my roommates to get me for christmas?  or more simply, what kind do you all use?

[shatteredfan]

There is a fairly new kind of earbuds out. Usually earbuds are uncomfortable and fall out all the time but there is a new type that is a cone shaped rubber so that they go further into the ear and the rubber is really soft so they are super compfy. My drummer uses them to hear the click and no matter how hard he rocks out, they never fall out. I love em because they have great sound and I find them the best for blocking out background noise. 8)

[SPACERACE]

www.headfi.com
www.headphone.com

It really depends on what you're looking for. You want big, portable, cheap, nice, analytical, musical, bassy, thin? So many choices, it's really absurd.

I have Grado SR60s, which are Grado's lowest end model. They go for about $60 and are great cans. No soundstage to speak of, and some people think they're a bit bright, but they're musical as all get out. Be warned, though, they leak a lot of sound, and keep nothing out, so they require a quiet environment. Also the comfort is hit-or-miss depending on the shape of your ears; they come with the "comfy" pads (meaning flat, no hole, rather than other Grado offerings, flats (flat, hole in the middle, and slits, more bass, less of a veil. Not made anymore, but available for about $30 from a guy named Todd) and bowls (bowl shaped, hole in the middle- screechy-ass highs, not reccomended. Standard on everything but the SR60.) Nice also because they don't need an amp to sound their best. I tried a Headroom Airhead and Total Airhead for a bit, and neither made a huge difference. Even a Gilmore that I tried at a recent Head-Fi meet (yes, I go to headphone meets) didn't make a big difference.

Other than that, I have Shure E2s, which are the professional model of the E2c. There is absolutly no difference, other than that the "c" is more expensive. They're canalphones, meaning that they go fairly deep into the ear canal, and that they're small enough to fit in a small pocket, even when in their little protective clamshell case. They have 2 different tip styles, in 3 different sizes each. One is a foam ear plug type of thing, and the other is a simple silicon plug. They sound nice: more bass than almost every other canalphone save professionally molded ones (i.e. Sensaphonics, Ultimate Ears, etc.), although some say too much; slightly recessed treble. These retail for about $70 or something, but you can get them at Guitar Center for about $55 if you haggle. Also some places online. These also have the same amp-independency as the Grados. There's a bit more of an improvement, but it's still not neccesary.

Other nice ones? AKG K501s, which I do not own but wish I did. Demo'd them at a shop in Cambridge using OK Computer. Holy shit. Soundstage up the ass, and mids and highs so goddamn delicate and balanced that I felt I could grab them and shoplift them. The bass wasn't anything I'd want for heavier music, but then I wouldn't listen to any of that on them. They also leak just as much sound as the Grados. About $190 online. Also, they really need a decent amp to sound good, which makes them impractical for most people.

The most popular closed models are Sennheiser HD-280s, Sony V6s (the only decent Sonys other than the R10, which is $4000 (yes, thousand) and the CD3000, which is $300), a lot of Beyerdynamic models, AKG K271, the two reasonable Ultrasone models, and the Audio Technica A500 and A900. Those last two are popular as hell, and for good reason. Relatively cheap, and supposedly they sound great. Like a "little brother" to the CD3000, which is renowned for it's massive soundstage. Only available on the Japanese market though, so they need to be ordered via www.audiocubes.com, which sells all manner of awesome electronic gizmos from Japan.



Go read Head-Fi. It's basically more of the same, only wicked extensive, and most of the people there are pretty helpful.

Headphone.com is Headroom, one of the most venerable headphone dealers around.

shatteredfan, there are a few like that; you sound like you might be talking about the Etymotics. If they're black and ugly, they're ER-4s, and if they're clear and smaller, they're ER6s. Both are pretty nice, if analytical. That's really the only reason I'm not a fan. There's also the Sony EX71, but I doubt you're talking about that.

[chronoaug]

I hate earbuds. Not just that they're uncomfortable but because i don't like the thought of them. Plus, what if someone wants to hear what i'm listening to? I know i feel akward when someone gives me their earbuds because they want me to hear something. I wish i took some from the tv production room when they were throwing them out. The big ones are where it's at.

[SPACERACE]

Don't buy earbuds.

Or if you do, buy Sennheiser MX500s. They're really the only decent model.

[WhereTheSlimeLive]

I'm not a fan of any phones that must be inserted.  My Grado SR60s are pretty sweet.  Like reese said, they were uncomfortable at first, but then I got new pads, and they were softer on the ears.  They rule for jazz, IDM, and best of all jazz IDM!

[peacocks]

yeah I want the big ones like pilots wear... or like john cusak in high fidelity... mmm dreamy... I hate sticking things in my ears and all the cheap other ones that come with the portable little cd players suck big time and always get ruined.

thanks for the site though reese.  I shall check it out.  

[SPACERACE]

I'm not a fan of any phones that must be inserted.  My Grado SR60s are pretty sweet.  Like reese said, they were uncomfortable at first, but then I got new pads, and they were softer on the ears.  They rule for jazz, IDM, and best of all jazz IDM!

What kind of pads did you end up with, those Sennheiser pads?

I've still got my comfies, but I've cut them to be basically old-school Joe G. flats, just a softer material. Opened up the mid and high end a bit, for better or for worse. I also removed the SR60 tabs for a little more airflow through the grille (and so that they look like Allesandros), and stuck faux fur on the headband.

Looks mad bling now.

[WhereTheSlimeLive]

I saw them in hi-fi store, I'm not sure what they are called, but the guy said they would make my phones more comfy.  Do you have people always asking if those are antennas on the side.  Which is silly question when there are those gigantic chords hanging out each ear.

[Keith from TTIKTDA]

I hate Earbuds, and I hate headbands.

Clips for life!

[Steve]

Koss Porta-Pros.  Cheap and they sound amazing.

[milly balgeary]

since i gotta throw my two cents into everything, i had these $100 sony headphones that were great. but my favorite ones ever came with this mini disc i bought, like a sony one, in one of my workout phases. forget the minidisc. the headphones RULE. i don't even know what you would call them but you can do virulent things to them, and they still grin at you when you reach for them again!

[JamesSchneider]

I am in love with my Bose Triports. They sound amazing, and they're really excellent for trans-atlantic flight.

[milly balgeary]

before you BUY make sure you stick them up your ass and play some drum and bass on your walkmen. or have your doctor sew them up in your colon. you need to find out how they would sound internally as well as externally.

[Bernard]

Have you considered attempting to repair your existing headphones?