So what do you think are the best headphones out there?

[prefectimo]

  Well, that really depends on money and usage. For example, the best sounding earphones I have heard that were open-ear portables would definitely be Koss Porta-Pros, no doubt in my mind, $30AUD headphones that are some of the most well-rounded sounding and also have a very nice frequency response range and doesn't bottom out on or deep bass or go too sharp on those high notes.

  That said I am not a fan of in-ear design at all, I use my iPhone headphones but that is because I killed my last pair of Porta-Pros and don't have a short enough cable for my AKGs, in-ear ones cause me pain after extended usage, for others they may feel wonderful but I am not a fan.

  Which brings me to my prefered headphones for PC/music/reference usage, my AKG K702s. They are nice feeling; very neutral, none of that boom boom bass unless I want to EQ it that way (which I don't); soft and loud; and are well made and quite flexible. Only issue I have had is I need to buy a shorter cable for them so they can be more portable. Either way they sound lovely through a good soundcard/headphone amp. Problem is that that costs money, I got this pair and my sounds card cheap, total cost: $613AUD.

  As I said: money and usage.

 

[Elemental]

well, i don't own them, but i have no doubt that these are the best headset money can buy right now purely because they're a flagship audiophile grade headset made by one of the most respected audio manufacturers in the world with enough custom engineering to make high-street equipment look like kinder egg toys.
http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/home_en.nsf/root/private_headphones_audiophile-headphones_500319

however, i would recommend getting the biggest drivers you can purely because it lowers distortion
the new corsair headsets have a very good power delivery across most ranges, but the actual headsets are rather flimsy
my friend and i both have corsair headsets and the bands broke on both of them in under a year
the structure is rather weak, but the sound engineering is impressive for the price-point
if you take good care of them, they may last longer

the ones i intend to buy next are:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/263

i have been doing allot of research on them and apparently due to the open backed nature of headsets like this the sound quality is vastly improved at lower levels meaning less distortion in quieter sounds and more crisp highs

possibly not the best for gaming, due to it's sound leak but it's a crime not to have an audiophile set plugged into my sound card ( asus stx )
also it doesn't have a microphone, but as anyone who has tried a shotgun mic set-up will tell you that's possibly a good thing, the tiny carbon / condenser mics in headsets are universally terrible anyway

My god the HD800 are fucking beautiful, better find a job quick!

 

[Lev The Red]

i generally buy skull candies. i think the particular ones i buy are called "inked." they're pretty comfortable, have good sound quality, and are only about 15-20$. i've tried other brands, even other types of skull candies and none feel or sound as good. even the expensive ones. i've tried Beats, and i cannot imagine paying a minimum of 80$ for them.
before i used skull candies, i used JVC gummies. they're cheap (5-10$), fairly durable, and their sound quality isn't terrible, but wearing them is like trying to fit a brick in your ear.

 

[James Swinton]

I'm using a pair of Bose QC 15. Very good headphones depends how much you want to spend they cost £300. (not sure what that is in dollars)

 

[Scarim Coral]

Out from my personal experiences (I have bought alot of head/earphones since they keep breaking all the time) I think maybe the Sony and Philips are the best well depend how much it cost.
If they cost over £30 they should last a while but honestly I have yet encounter a good earphones where the wires near the sockets does not break at all (seriously this is a major issue design team, fix it)!

 

[RandomHer0]

I burn through headphones like no other, at one time or another I have owned Bose, Phillips, Sony, Beats, Skull Candy, and a few no name brands.

I got a pair of beats over the holidays last year and I cant find a bad thing to say about them. They have a consistently rich tone, and have one of the most solid constructions out there. I find Sony and others to be a bit subtle on the bass side, and even heard rattling in my last pair of Bose over hear cancelers.

Skull Candy is complete shit, broke a total of three pairs before that went through my head.

But if you want Cheapness to equal quality, best to look at Phillips. Cheap as shit, and the over-ear and in-ear versions produce nice tones with decent sound cancelling for the tag attached.

 

[Sp3ratus]

Behold the Audio Technica ATH A900:

Spoiler: Headphones

Super comfortable, with very large earpieces(?), amazing sound and a great and punchy bass. Best (and most expensive) earphones I've ever had. They might not be the best in the world, but for the price and the quality of you get for it, I heartily recommend it.

EDIT: Oh and happy 500th post to me. Almost forgot about that.

 

[loc978]

errr.. I have an old Plantronics headset.

but no headphones are comfortable to me, at least not for more than an hour or so.

As for sound quality, the best I've heard is from an old Koss Pro 4AA. It's my roommate's, and he does some fairly serious audio work.

 

[Sebass]

Gonna join everyone else here and say that skullcandy is shit. I had one (skullcrusher) and I enjoyed it but it was my first pair of headphones and I like a heavy bass. It broke relatively fast though.

Second one was a Sennheiser of about the same price (50?) and specifically looked for a bassheavy type (HD 212 pro) and the soundquality wasn't even comparable. The bass was less heavy but it was REAL bass instead of that gimmicky 'vibrate-bass' on the skullcandy. That one lasted quite a while longer but eventually the plastic headband broke because the removable ears were a structural weakpoint. I still use them sometimes tho.

My last headphones that I bought and which I'm using right now are the Sennheiser RS 160 and they're AWESOME. Cost me 100?, something I would've considered excessive for headphones, but I'm happy I did it. Alot less bass but the soundquality is wonderfull and most importantly: they're wireless. It's sort of gimmicky but it's great for when you're watching a movie on your desktopmonitor at night and lying in bed. Also, the fact that they're never janked from my head when I stand up (VERY irritating) because the cable got stuck behind something is heavenly.

Wired headphones in the same pricerange as wireless ones will always be better but this Sennheiser series (RS 160, RS 170, RS 180) doesn't use FM frequency like most headphones but the 2,4Ghz band (like WiFi) instead. The advantage is that the quality is always optimal and you won't hear static noise. There are some downsides tho: since it uses the same band as WiFi you will sometimes have interference when they operate in the same channel and the WiFi will be blocked. Also the quality of signal won't deteriorate as you go further from the source but remains optimal untill you go to far and it drops completely. The RS 160 base has unfortunately a much shorter range than the RS 170 or the RS 180.

 

[Rnr1224]

klipsch image S4.

 

[thylasos]

The ones I can replace easily in any town centre for £6 and carry at the bottom of my pockets without noticing them.

No fancy plastic-going-round-the-back-of-the-ear stuff, just a pair of headphones.

 

[The Lugz]

My god the HD800 are fucking beautiful, better find a job quick!

better had, you'll need a £150 sound-card to go with it, and a library of flacks to get the best out of it and soundproofing for your entire world so you can relax in audio perfection ^^

 

[ToxicOranges]

Well, I'm not allowed to say, "Duh, mine are the best EVAR", but I personally own the V-Moda Crossfade LP - and I f*cking love them. I could wear them all day, playing all not, bass is fantastic, and everything else sounds alright too!

Anyone curious as too what they look like - becuase I think they are the most gorgeous headphones I've ever seen!

Spoiler

 

[Wintermoot]

I used to have SK Low Riders but when the second pair broke down I switched to a white Sony ZX300 it has great quality and look really nice

I used some kind of gaming headset at my PC