Anyone with an external Ipod amp?? I think this may be the key to getting great sounding audio out of an ipod with Shure 530s. Even with the best earbuds you can buy and having WAV files, it just doesn't sound good enough imo.

What exactly does an amp do?

Increase the quality?

hummm i bought the etymotic er6-i's, and the sound is great apart from an apparent lack of bass. anyone have any recommendations for earphones within the same price range but with better bass?

I have heard the Ipod's amp isn't very good so when you want to push the audio a bit, the quality degrades. I don't listen to mine too loud, but I think I can hear when the Ipod is pushing too much and as a result I get these bad sounding highs. I haven't listened to an Ipod with an amp before, so I'm not sure if that would fix my problem.

Not sure why you guys dislike the Bose Quiet Comfort 3.

I've been using it for a couple of days now and I must say, it's awesome.

Could u guys tell me what it is that these headphones not worthy of buying? Apart from the insane price of course.

To put it very simply, there are much much better options for less. But even if you want to ignore the price tag, Bose has a pretty bad reputation amongst any true audio fans because their products just don't perform that well. Are they horrible? No of course not. They just aren't that good, and they are expensive.

It's one of those situations where if you have nothing to compare it to, you think they rock. Then your buddy hands you his 70$ Sennheiser 280's, and you realize they aren't nearly as good as you thought they were.

LOL, was gonna say, try on a pair of HD280's they probably block more sound than the Bose.

Like what?

I'm looking for some noise-canceling headphones myself; willing to spend a few hundred, but cheaper would be better obviously as long as I'm not sacrificing too much quality. Will be used only for itunes quality, basically...

I mean, a quick search of this thread answers this repeatedly, but these two come to mind.


Sennheiser HD280's (or anything they make which is closed)
Beyerdynamic 770's

Sorry; all I see is a bunch of pages with dozens of brands and models. Thanks for the help!

The HD280s look nice, just might pick em up.

Any thoughts on the iluv i903s? (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...86&catid=11172)

I'm not familiar with headphone specs or anything, but $200 noise-cancelling with bluetooth sounds nice...

Actually cnet says they're under $100, but futureshop says 2 bills

You might be right, but the Bose headphones just look so awesomeeee

Not sure if this will get any love here because they're pretty inexpensive, but I just picked up a pair of the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 open headphones.. and I'm pretty much floored.



http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-A...4885304&sr=8-1

The best part is, they are only $100. These are widely praised on head-fi, so I took the plunge.

Now, keep in mind, these look ridiculous. They are huMONgous, and they are gold and purple. If you can get past that, you're rewarded with what is said to be the best soundstage for any headphones up to several times the price.

I previously owned the Beyer DT770, and actually much prefer the AD700s. It's true the raw slam of the bass in the Beyers is missing in the ATs, but there's still more than enough bass for my tastes (for full disclosure I have the bass boost lightly enabled in my soundcard properties). The mid-range and highs absolutely trounce the Beyers imo, partially no doubt due to the ATs' open nature. No contest over all, and my coworker, to whom I sold the Beyers last year, agrees. (Note that at no point did I use a traditional headphone amplifier with the Beyers, just the headphone jack on my receiver.)

Another nicety is the headphones' low resistance: 32 ohms. I plugged them into my iPhone, and while they got plenty loud enough, it was clear they weren't being driven to their potential. I plugged them into the headphone-out on the receiver hooked to my computer and it was night and day. The clarity is outstanding.

Maybe the AKG K-701s are better. The Sennheiser HD650's are almost certainly better. But those cost several times as much and require even more of an investment in the form of an amplifier.

If you are in the market for a nice set of headphones around $200 or less, save yourself a Benjamin and pick these up from Amazon.

Yikes!! So much over-my-head info on here but this seems to be the place to ask... and if this has been asked and answered, sorry.

I have the basic Apple Ipod white eadbuds for my Ipod. After about an hour of wearing they start to hurt my ears. So I got thinking about better headphones. My dilema is do I get earbuds or headphohes?

Pros and cons as I see it:
Earbuds
pros - very portable, easy to wear at the poker tables and on errands.
cons - pain for long sessions, fall out easily (that tilts me)

Headphone
pros - high comfort, stay on
cons - not portable, look stupid with full headphones walking around, at the gym, or at the supermarket

Another question is noise cancelling. The one thing I do like about the earbuds I have now is I can still hear everything at the poker table. I like the idea of noise cancelling while flying to Vegas, or just grinding online but won't NC hurt me at the live tables?

Final question is... if the answer is to try different ones out and go with what feels good, where do I go to do that? I can't imagine my local electronics store has all the models out to try on. Plus something skeezy about putting on headphones that other people have tried.

Thanks!

I think im ready to get soem decent earbuds but I want to wear them when i do cardio and i'm worried about sweating all over a nice pair, am i being a worry wart?

I have a pair as well and highly recommend it. Really, really comfortable (doesn't hurt ears and they're light).

Anyone have any experience with sennheiser mx w1s? Thinking about getting a pair but can't find too many reviews online.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite...transid=502494

I decided as long as I was upgrading my home headphones, I might as well upgrade my portables as well, so I picked up these Shure SE530s:



...for a song.. $275. I got the Music Phone Adapter as well so they'll work with my iPhone.

Just received the Shure SE530's they really are something special, even out of my mum's 2G ipod touch. My iAudio7 is getting posted back to me soon plus I ordered a Sansa Clip, so I can evaluate soon on better source material. I'm listening to "Moby: Play" for the second time in a row right now, which is something I never do I have massive ADD. The punch (bass!!!) and accuracy of these things is amazing!

I was pretty nervous, because I have not particularly liked ANY headphones or semi-decent IEM's before, but the high resale value of these convinced me to try. BTW make sure you order the old yellow foamie inserts from Shure, MASSIVE increse in sound quality! Process detailed here in this great review. Oh and make sure to encode your music losslessly or at least at very high bitrate, huge difference with these they reveal everything!

HERE is my 2 cents. i am a touring sound ingineer fwiw

best headphones hands down sony 7509 http://www.proaudioreview.com/article/956

they sound good, get really loud, and isolate very well

best in ears are any ultimate ears molded in ears

they have 1,2 or 3 drivers and you have to go to an audiologist to get the moldings done ($700-2000 total cost)

http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimat...rearphones.php


also do not but from shure.

they are manufactured by Westonehttp://www.westone.com/

and if you buy from westone, you get them without the shure logo, but for 20% less

Im not a big fan of in-ear headphones they seem to fall out a lot! I had the pleasure of using my friends Sennhieser HD-25 MKII and can highly recommend them although they maybe a bit pricey at £150 but worth it imo. They do a coiled and non-coiled cable version in a couple of different lengths and most of the parts are replaceable.



Very Ivey esque!!

I have a few recommendations, for various use cases:

Exercise: The V-Moda Vibes are excellent for running/lifting, because they aren't terribly expensive, and the woven fabric cord just never tangles or gets in the way as typical vinyl cords do. They also sound great, and have models for your iPhone for answering calls, etc. if that's what you use (obv. they have headphones for regular iPods/mp3 players too).

Office: The Grado SR80s are great for an office setting where you *want* to be able to hear some ambient noise (if someone is trying to get your attention, for instance). They also sound fantastic, are a pleasure to use, and are not ridiculously expensive.

Ultimate: If you've got the coin, get the Ultimate Ears LE customs. These are custom molded for your ears (you go to an audiologist to have a mold taken), and can be customized completely in terms of color, graphics/logo, frequency response, etc. They never fall out of your ear, never are uncomfortable to wear, because they are molded specifically for your ears. They also sound absolutely fantastic. Only downside is resale value is nil, and people can't borrow your headphones (which is probably a good thing, really).

Example UE LE customs:

http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimat...lery/index.php

...enjoy.

i got these earphones thanks to this thread~

I LOVE THEM Comparing these to my ipod earphones has been pretty fun. I actually get annoyed now when i have to use my ipod earphones instead of these babies

Bumping this for some advice please. After two years I just realised my $15 pair of Koss UR10s (I'm hoping no one has ever heard of this brand) could use an upgrade. I know next to nothing about headphones but have been doing some research over the last few days.

My main use is going to be on the computer at home (and occasionally in an iphone, but still at home), often for several hours at a time. Primarily for listening to music (lots of diff types), but def watching movies/tv with them as well. Not using for gaming at all. So I've decided to go with the open type (as its just for home use and I've read open>closed for sound quality), something that is non-amp driven and comfort is definitely an important requisite. My budget is prob round $350AUD.

Narrowed it down to either Audio-Technica ATH-AD700($220AUD), Audio-Technica ATH-AD900($349AUD), Sennheiser HD555($160AUD) or Sennheiser HD595($250AUD). These four seem to be at the top end of the open, non-amp driven headphones but I keep reading mixed reviews and recommendations about each brand.

Audio-Technica seems to have the edge in comfort, quality for music but lack bass compared to the Sennheisers. The Sennheisers are apparently better for watching movies because of stronger bass, and vocals apparently sound better compared to the Audio-Technicas. Lot of people swear by each brand. This is all from the reviews/forums I've read.

Any advice is appreciated and if there is some other model/brand you can recommend fitting my needs I'll def take a look.

Thanks for the help!

I haven't used most of those headphones, but I heard the HD-555's and was very disappointed. My Grado SR-60's for $60 were considerably better.

Also, the HD-595's will probably need an amp to sound good.

Guys,

I am going to Europe for a couple weeks and want in-ear headphones with a mic for my ipod touch. Any recommendations? I want the mic to make calls over Skype while using wifi. I waited and waited and now I leave in like 7 days, so I would prefer to buy in store (Fry's and Best Buy near my house). How are the new apple $70 earphones with mic? Supposedly they are decent quality. Any recommendations appreciated. I am not an audiophile but just want something decent/solid.

thx