A question about headphones

[smearyllama]

I have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 2s. They're great, and are durable.

The only downside is that they're a little pricey (they're probably cheaper by now), and that the battery requires recharging.
The upside of that is that the battery is mostly used for the noise cancellation, which makes them a viable alternative to using earbuds on a long plane ride.
I'm also on my third cord, since I've lost the others several times. This is really my fault though, since I go through long periods of not using my headphones at all.

I recommend them, and they're probably the best headphones I've ever owned.

 

[Zakarath]

I've been enjoying my pair of Audio-technica headphones, they seem to be quite good but most of their products might be a little pricier than other suggestions.

 

[Coraxian]

Don't touch skullcandy, the sound quality of their products is terrible. iPod headphones are also pretty crap.

If you want buds that are high quality but affordable, go with Sennheiser. I borrowed some of my Dad's a while back and I was blown away by the quality (I previously used Skullcandy).

Haven't looked back since.

Sennheiser on my head right now and have had this for over 7 years or so. Afordable quality gear. So I'm backing up this statement.

 

[JochemDude]

Better save some money and buy some decent Sennheiser, They are the best by far in their range. Please don't even bother with Skull Candy or Turtle Beach. Their crap, neither should you believe people who say different. Tonal range may be equal on the overly overpriced ones, but they are made from crappy materials and low quality parts and wiring and thus will break down a lot and sound like shit.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Snip

I've bought 3 pairs of Skullcandy ear buds. All broke within a year.

I've had the same Sennheiser ones for 3 years now, and they sound as good as the day I bought them.

 

[RanD00M]

Don't touch skullcandy, the sound quality of their products is terrible.

That all depends. I've had 3 pairs and they all had good sound quality. However they tend to break down pretty fast if you use them for work and play them loud 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

OT: Sennheiser and Bosch make good headphone mostly at a good price.

 

[Jbowdown]

For this price range I've bought a pair of Ultrasone's Zino lightweights. They pack the 40mm gold drivers found in their PRO-650 cans ($300 closed-back headphones), into this lightweight open-back model. If you want crisp, clear bass, this is what you're looking for within the price range as they sport a frequency range between 25Hz - 25kHz (yes, I just said 25Hz from a pair of lightweights). They retail for $100, but B&H's website is offering them for $53.

I bought a pair after already owning a pair of Ultrasone PRO-750's for professional Audio/Video work (one of the flattest, most accurate can's money can buy right now). The Zino's will blow anything at that price range out of the water and they sound as good, if not better than many $300+ cans for a fraction of the price. The only downside (if it's a downside at all) is that they are open back, so other people will be able to hear your music if you're cranking it pretty loud.

 

[sansamour14]

i got this really good pair of Sonys (well good for the price anyway) they got better sound quality than ipod headphones or those disgusting skullcandies and are relatively cheap at 30 bucks

http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/sony-mdr-xd200-headphones/4505-7877_7-31298963.html

though be warned the cord is uber long so not really portable (11 feet long!!!)

 

[RoboZombie585]

PortaPros. That is all I can really say. For $50 I don't think its possible to find anything cheaper that sounds as good as they do.

Going above $50, pretty much anything by Sennheiser is good, along with Grados (although YMMV on Grados.)

Edit: Just want to make this clear, NEVER BUY SKULLSH*T. Also, If you find some JVC Marshmallows ($10-$20,) you can modify them to sound very good for the money (http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/jvc-ha-fx34-marshmallow-kramer-mod.)

 

[MysticToast]

I've never understood the SkullCandy hate. For the price ($10-20) I haven't listened to a pair that sounded better. Just a couple weeks ago I tried a slightly more expensive pair of Sony earphones and they sounded terrible and they were really uncomfortable.

Also, for being little earphones, SkullCandys have good bass. At least compared to the other earphones I've used.

 

[Jbowdown]

PortaPros. That is all I can really say. For $50 I don't think its possible to find anything cheaper that sounds as good as they do.

Going above $50, pretty much anything by Sennheiser is good, along with Grados (although YMMV on Grados.)

Edit: Just want to make this clear, NEVER BUY SKULLSH*T. Also, If you find some JVC Marshmallows ($10-$20,) you can modify them to sound very good for the money (http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/jvc-ha-fx34-marshmallow-kramer-mod.)

Ha! We're quoting the guys over at Head-FI now! Audiophiles are known for their smoke and mirrors when they talk about headphones and the $1,000 amps they buy to drive them. Most headphones on the market at any price range are EQ'd to mask the inefficiencies of the drivers they put in them. Have you ever seen a pair on headphones that advertised it has 'Super Mega Bass' only to put them on and experience over-driven, sloppy, muddy bass that washes out the rest of the frequency range? It's because the headphones are 'artificially boosted' in the low (bass) and mid-high (vocals) frequencies because the drivers in the headphones can't accurately reproduce a flat frequency range. Just because a pair of headphones have 'bass' doesn't mean it should.
[/end rant]

P.S. The Ultrasone Zino's I recommended a few posts before have better drivers and a flatter frequency response than almost all of the Sennheiser cans out on the market today.