I hope everyone remembers my old headphone thread in oot.

HEADPHONES!

Anyway, when 2p2 went down, i went and checked out my old headphone board. HEADFI

I realized i missed headphone stuff quite a bit. I also saw a shiny new pair of awesome headphones that AKG had recently released. Needless to say, I bought them after i found them for $244(they retail for $499) So I present to you, the AKG K-701:



I thought this would be a good place to have people discuss headphones to use while playing poker online, flying on a plane, riding a bike, walking around at school, sitting on your living room floor in front of your stereo and etc. I know a good deal about headphones AND headphone amplifiers as well as 2 channel audio systems in general. If you have questions and/or need for recommendations, ask away, I will be here!

Hey PITTM,

I recently bought a pair of Etymotics ER-6i ear buds, which I think sound incredible compared to all the [censored] earbuds I've listened to before. I've heard you recommend buying amps before but would I really notice any improvement when listening to mp3's that were ripped at cd quality?

(btw, for anybody that rides a motorcycle and listens to music, these earbuds are incredible. They fit very nicely under a full face helmet, block almost all wind noise and allow you to listen to your music at a reasonable level so you don't [censored] up your hearing. They also came with 4 different sets of ear pieces so you can pick the ones that fit you best. Highly recommended.)

PITTM,

I'm in the market for some new earbuds. It seems like the Shure ones are the clear concensus pick.

So, here's the question. Speaking to a relative non-audiophile, how would you characterize the difference in experience between the e2c ($70), e3c ($150), e4c ($200) [amazon prices]?

I owned a pair of Er-6s about 2 years ago. I had a problem with their lack of bass and somewhat tinniness and sold them to another head-fi member. I certainly saw the many benefits though and i know tons of people love those things.

As far as an amp goes. I have the absolute PERFECT amp in mind but its probably a bit too expensive. The Ray Samuels Tomahawk($295):



It is designed for IEM's(in ear monitors) like the ER6's. FWIW, the amp i have is the ray samuels hornet, which is almost identical cosmetically but was designed with full sized headphones in mind. For me, Ray Samuels blows other amp makers out of the water. The only other makers even in the same league are Tyll Hertsins of Headroom and Phil Larocco at larocco audio. Ray just finished making what looks like a piece of art and what is now probably the best consumer headphone amp in existence, the B-52($5,350):




I have tremendous respect for Ray's work and think it is the best in the business.

All,

Some are able to distinguish between the frequencies and others can't. When you've found two sets of headphones/ speakers you can't tell the difference between, that's where you settle for the less expensive option.

I've read those complaints about the Etymotic's sound before, but from what I've read the concesus seems to be that they are more comfortable then Shure's.

I've never used either, but I know my dad replaced his e2c's with ER-6's due to the e2c's not being comfortable and he is really happy with the swap.

Yeah, at this point that's a little more than I'm willing to spend on an amp but maybe sometime in the future when I'm looking for a new toy. Thanks for the recommendation.

$5k? Holy [censored]!

el d,

I must preface this by saying out of the 3 headphones you mentioned, i have only heard the e3c. However, from the many reviews i have read, the e4c is the best of the lot and separates itself quite a bit from the e2c and e3c, since as far as i remember it has two drivers, while the other pairs only have one..

However, while you state that shures are the consensus favorite, i do disagree somewhat. If i were going to buy a pair of IEM's, i would either get the shure e500(new headphone, ridiculously awesome and expensive) or i would go with Ultimate Ears as opposed to Shures. My friend has a pair of Ultimate Ear's Super.Fi 5 pro's or whatever theyre called and i think they blow the shures out of the water. The sound is super crisp, the isolation is great and they fit better in my ears than the shures have.

For anyone wanting to listen to headphones and lives near the bay area, the head-fi international headphone meet would be something to check out. It is in San Jose, CA this year at a hotel near Bay101, i forget if its a doubletree or what.

I have the E2C, decent sound, but they break all the time. I've been through 4 pairs in the past 2.5 yrs. I do abuse them though, so I'm sure that's contributory (working out, smushed in a book bag, etc.). I bought a replacement plan for the second one, even though Shure does include a 2 yr guarantee. I'm just too lazy to send it out and prefer just going to the store and picking up a new set.

I don't have experience with the other Shure earbuds though so I can't help you compare.

I'd really like to hear opinions on normal headsets in the 150-300 range though. I'll be looking for a pair soon.

This amp is only 4k but it is GIANT and quite a beast, I have heard this one too:

dude, both motorcycles and earbuds are bad for your hearing.

Price range? My old amp, the Portaphile X3 is only 109.

FWIW I mostly use the foam ear pieces rather than the rubber flanged ones and I think they're very comfortable. I have often worn them for up to 5 or 6 hours at a time. I haven't tried the shures.

yeah, i used the rubber ones. the foamies were damaged in transit and i never got to use them.

Yeah, I'm already very conscious of the effects of motorcycling on hearing. I always wear some form of ear protection when motorcycling and I think you're crazy not too. Obviously if you listen to your earbuds at ******ed levels they're going to damage your hearing too. If you use them at a reasonable level, then you're not going to damage your hearing.

The main reason I bought the ER6i's is because they provide something like 30dB of isolation and I can therefore listen to music at a very low level underneath my helmet. ie. they serve as hearing protection as well as sounding great.

Thanks for you concern though

Yeah, that's much more reasonable, thanks.

This HAS to be either the Sennheiser HD580 or the HD595 depending on whether you want amped or unamped. The HD580 has been my home headphone for a few years and they can be had for ~200 new and around 100 used.

Amazon sells the HD580 for $150. I think I'll be picking up a pair.

Also in that price range is Grado. I've always found them to be uncomfortable. But many people swear by them. Amazon sells them too. Here's the $150 model: http://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige-SR-...5486&sr=1-9

i really really dislike grado's a lot. I have heard pretty much everything in the grado line, sr-60 through RS-1 and ive even heard the old PS-1s and stuff. They all sound horrid imo. The HF-1, a grado phone that was made exclusively for head-fi members sounds okay as it has a wood chamber, but i honestly think grados are the worst of the big name headphone companies. Just take a pair apart and realize the construction is thin, cheap plastic put together with glue with cotton balls stuffed inside and youll say "hmm, this looks like a jr. high kid built it, no thanks". thats about how i feel.

I have a pair of E2Cs as well - they started shorting out all the time about a month ago (about a year and 2 months after I got them). Mailed them to Shure (without receipt), got a replacement back via UPS a week later. I like them a lot..just hoping this pair doesn't crap out like the last ones did.

I love my Beyer DT 880s.



http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DT880/

those are awesome! My good friend has a pair of beyer 880s. they are dreamy with a good amp.

One thing to keep in mind about the K701 is that it really needs a quality amplifier to sound it's best. To be honest every headphone I've heard benefits from quality amplification, but higher impedence phones particularly dependant on the amp. If you're just going to be using a standard headphone out you might find something like the Sennheiser HD-595 to be more to your liking.

In regards to the earbuds or IEMs, the Etymotic er-4p are the best sounding IEMs that I've every heard. My second favorite would be the Etymotic er-6i. I know a lot of people love the Shures but IMHO the Etymotic sound signature is much better and the Etymotics are far more comfortable.

I made a post in OOT a couple weeks ago about getting a new pair of IEMs. There have been some developments since then, but I do think I've identified the best contenders in the $100-$200 price range.

First, I'll say that I ended up ordering a pair of Shure E4Gs from DigitalEtc via Amazon. They were supposed to arrive some time between April 5 and today and I just found out today that they haven't even shipped yet. So, I've e-mailed to try to cancel the order. I hope I can cancel. This whole thing is killing me, as I've had to use a big, bulky, crappy pair of Panasonic headphones with no isolation whatsoever this whole time and it's sucking hard.

I'm now thinking that I just want to go get a pair of the JAYS d-JAYS for $99. I'm also flirting with getting a cheap pair for a month or two until I can get a pair of JAYS' new q-JAYS.

Here's how my list currently stands, in rough order of preference:
1) JAYS d-JAYS - $99
2) Shure SE210 - $149
3) JAYS q-JAYS - ~$180 + a cheap (Koss "The Plug," JVC Marchmallow, etc.) hold-me-over until I can get them in May/June
4) Shure E4g - $180
5) UltimateEars Superfi.5 Pro - $190
6) Etymotic ER-6i $70
7) Etymotic ER-4P $150

If I go for the q-JAYS, I might also be able to convince my wife to go in on something like a pair of ER-6i with me for $70, use those for a month or two, and then she'll take them when I get my q-JAYS.

Here are a couple of reviews for the d-JAYS and q-JAYS, for those who haven't heard of them before.

My OOT post:
Follow-up post:
I'm no longer worried about buying on Amazon, as I've been able to offload my $90 Amazon gift card for $90 cash.

Have you ever heard the chance to check out a Singlepower amplifier? IMHO Mikhail at Singlepower is the absolute best in the business.