Headphones on a budget.

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DrabbleB

New member
I have budget of between £50-£100 (that's $81-$162 US /// $80-$160 CAD) to buy some new headphones. I have ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card, so no problems there.

I've done some research myself, Sony MDR-V6 seem to look like a pretty solid option, I've also had a chance to use these as my sister owns some already. I've also looked at Sennheiser HD 515/518, but these seem to have a narrower freq range, however I don't know how important that really is. ( I know the human hearing range is only meant to go up to about 20kHz anyway.)

I'm not an expert on headphones AT ALL, hence I'm here asking for advice. Any help will be very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your time. :)
 
I personally would go for the DT770's, but that's because like Pexon, I own a pair :p, and would thoroughly recommend them, great value and built like tanks. However I do know someone with the AKG K271 MKII's, and he loves them and when I used them I found they where quite comparable to the beyers but the high's where rather muffled
 
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Tomtom565 said:
I personally would go for the DT770's, but that's because like Pexon, I own a pair :p, and would thoroughly recommend them, great value and built like tanks. However I do know someone with the AKG K271 MKII's, and he loves them and when I used them I found they where quite comparable to the beyers but the high's where rather muffled
Click to expand...

Pexon doesn't own a pair... His broke :p

He did recommend for me to get them though - and I can say he did make a great choice! :)
 
Considering I ripped them apart and had a go at resoldering them, they won't take them back. I spent a whole day tinkering with them trying to get them back to life, but the right driver still wouldn't work. The left one worked no issues though :(
 
With that decent sound card invest in some studio monitor headphones even low end ones. Treat your ears.
AKG's, Berringer.
 
Deejeta said:
Berringer.
Click to expand...
Nooooooooo


crying_in_the_corner.jpg
 
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>OL#RK#K$K:OPLLLOLOLOL Behringer in charge of quality

Also implying that Beyerdynamic aren't suitable for monitoring. They make, in my opinion the best cans under 150 and their highend Tesla range are widely regarded as some of the best 500+ GBP cans on the market. If you want TRUE monitoring cans, get some Fostex T50RP (like I'm wearing now, with a flat sound), trust me you'll get bored very quick. A can with a little coloured sound, like the HD518 and DT770 will be ace. The bass is nice and tight with good extension, mids are there and the treble isn't too piercing, it levels out awesomely after some burn in time.

I can't recommend AKG, plastic and comfort are my main reasons, I don't own/ haven't owned a pair so I can't really pass comment. I am happy to stick with Senny and Beyer. You will not find a better can under 150 than the DT range from Beyer, unless you amp then up and stick 'em in a 1000 quid DAC.

One last note, I prefer my humble HD239's to my Fostex, the sound is much more, 'fun' and lively, don't get flat cans unless you are very clinical with your music or are in the studio, in my opinion, of course.
 
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Audio-technica are worth looking at. I've been using their ATH-M40fs cans for ages, and I love them. Nice flat, wide frequency response and a good build quality - had a pair for about 10 years before they fell apart, then went out and got another pair. Best of all, you can pick them up for about £55 if you look around.
 
PEXON said:
>OL#RK#K$K:OPLLLOLOLOL Behringer in charge of quality
Click to expand...

To be fair mate, Behringer are ok for speakers in a low end cost efficient PA System, treated fairly they will last. (And with your foot through them they might sound good!)

I've read a lot of good things about Audio-Technica, and if nothingspecial's pair lasted for 10 years with a price tag of £55 I think it would be definitely worth looking into them. The ATH-A700X looked very good and had some decent reviews. If you don't mind the plastic look into Denon's gear, particularly the AH-D1100's but they are sadly know to break on the headband.
 
Denon have gone all WTF with their new range, also, there is NO bass on the low end ATH 700's
 
The OP was about a budget set of headphones. Budget.....
Being a musician and having gone through dozens of headphones over the years. You dont get stratosphere quality for under $200 AUD.
I personally cant stand the coloured sound non-monitor headphones reproduce.
I personally have a nice set of AKG K601's and I wouldnt ever own a set Berringer cans. But for someone on a low budget ($50 AUD) I think they are pretty good.
 
Budget set headphones make no sense with an STX. STX is a great card and all, but the benefit / gain ratio is really off if you buy a significantly more expensive card than what your cans are.

The amp makes all the difference. I have myself a pair of MMX 300's (was on sale around here, long time ago) which are pretty much DT 770 Limited Edition + Mic. I only have a xonar DG - these are 32 ohm cans so it's more than enough.

If you want open headphones, I'd take a look at DT 990 Pro, if you want closed cans, I'd take a look at DT 770 Pro. I like the sound on my cans and I've never really tried any "higher-end" headphones from other brands, so I can't really consider myself all that well informed.

Open headphones have a better soundstage but they are, well, open.
 
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