Ten... celeb headphones

Really Reg?

So, was this a can't be bothered I'll just make up some ratings piece, or were you paid for these reviews?

Beyerdynamic DT770M monitoring 'phones

The only closed back 'phones you'll ever need - no celebrity endorsements needed, although they will set you back about £150. Good for mixing, mastering and general listening.

For the iPod? A set of Sennheiser in-ear 'phones that cost me about £40.

Whilst I quite liked the look of the Bob Marley 'phones, a lot of the other stuff strikes me as being overpriced rubbish. The cynical might argue that this is pretty much SOP for anything made by Monster Cable.

Beats? You have to be kidding.

I own some Marley cans I got used and they are very nice. But Beats? Seriously? Horrible. All bass. if all you want to listen to is rap and hip hop, then I guess. But Classical? No way, I'm a prog rock fan. I tried some Alan Parsons through them. Sounded like a tin cup and fit your head like a wood vise.

egad

quite happy with my AKGs and the outlay for a quality pair was minimal compared to some of this.

you are not even a real man until you drop your headphones on the floor daily. And the AKGs still work fine, I have damaged my hearing with them quite severely, because you can just keep turning them up and they get more awesome linearly. and they never distort, ever. they also have quite a good amount of padding to shield out the shit awful sound of reality and suffering and the like. even so, i turn them way up so that i cant hear the shit awful sound of my own thoughts.

FFS

Sennheiser HD485s for listening at home. Must be at least 7 years old and sound great.

Sennheiser PX100s when I'm at work or out and about. About £39.

Pack of 10 in-ear phones off Ebay for listening to the radio in bed at night - works out at 37.5p/pair so it doesn't matter if I fall asleep with them on and trash them. One set lasts about 3 months.

Sigh

Never thought I'd see RegHardware turn into a chav dealer bling roundup bazaar.

I wish this whole "headphones as fashion statement" fad would just fuck off. I was in a Superdry shop today* and it says it all that in amongst the overpriced, over-branded, 14-million-variations-on-a-theme tat they are also now selling their own range of (presumably rebadged Skullcandy) cans, available in all the muted earth tones of the rainbow.

* I know, I know. In my defence I was with the missus, and don't worry I was rocking my best coder chic of black combats, black boots, ill-fitting black raincoat and black Front 242 t-shirt. I made the whole place about twenty degrees cooler just by being there.

House of Marley phones

Hi,

bit confused as the Marley headphones are labelled as 'Redemption Song', but the image appears to be of the 'Zion'.

2 questions: Which did you review? and

is it worth the extra 30 quid to get the Zions?

Thanks

A couple of alternatives

I've got five or six pairs of headphones. I use them for tracking and mixing. Not got any super expensive pairs.

Over a hundred quid is expensive for me. I know people that pay around THREE THOUSAND POUNDS. Maybe they know something I don't know. I jolly well hope so. It really does NOT make their music any better.

If you are mixing on cans or even if you want a better experience listening to your music, check out Isone Pro or Redline Monitor, they are both highly regarded in the audio world for when you need to replicate how sounds come out of the speakers (as you would in a mix), but you need to use cans. They use some kind of psychoacoustic jiggery pokery and can be tuned and adjusted accordingly. Once you have tried them you won't be able to go back, for mixing anyway...

Check out this thread for all you wanna know:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/473885/isone-pro-the-best-thing-you-could-ever-get-for-your-headphones-on-your-computer

Funnily enough, I know the guy that started that thread and he is one of the culprits. I'm not sure if it was 2 grand or 3 grand he spent. You think I'm joking? He is an absolutely incredible artist and musician, but he was before anyway.

Anyway.

Ok, I just bought a pair of Presonus HD-7 from Scan and they cost me 33 Quid with delivery. They are superb, better than my high-end Sonys that are an 'industry standard' - they are almost too bright to listen to, this is why you shouldn't believe what other people say, but try them yourself. The Presonus cans look damn cool, are built very solidly and are comfy for long periods. Really amazing for the money.

For 30 Quid inc. delivery from amazon you can get a pair of Sennheiser HD-202s. They have a slight edge over the Presonus soundwise, but are nowhere nearly as solidly built or cool looking. I wear my HD-7s when I'm working in Studio One Pro coz I like to be coordinated and chic. Looking cool is important to me yah!

Which is why you won't see me looking like a right twat on the tube, with people that 'know' pointing and sniggering like beavis and butthead: hjarhag hharhgh he's wearing Dr. Beatz doood..haerhgh aahrhgheahh

Really if you fall for the Monster bull, you don't just need your ears examining but your head too. Remember the trick with the coat hangers. Look it up if you don't.

Now, when I am rich and I know wtf I am doing, I might splash a few hundred or so on a nice pair of cans, but after getting burned by my 'industry standards' I will want to have a damn good listen to them first. Check out the reviews on the HD-202 - you will get the picture.

If you can't stretch to 30 Quid, check out the Koss UR-20s - they are mind blowingly good for 15 Quid. But they don't look 'cool' ;-) They actually sound slightly better than ones I have costing literally 10 times more. And they are SUPER comfortable.

And if you do want a cheap 'industry standard' pair of cans for tracking and mixing - check out the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro - you can get them for about 60 Quid if you shop around. Justin Frankel - the guy that codes REAPER and coded Winamp uses them. 'Nuff said. He's not just cool, he's like (hey eh) totally awesome dood (eh eh)...

And I think he might be able to afford a 3 grand pair of cans, don't you?

It's one of those things where the responses to the reviews are far more useful than the reviews themselves. I've always suspected that these pseudo-luxury brands are overpriced shit and the responses seem to confirm it. They have saved me a great deal of money and that the people who buy them are gullible, vain tools.

Why all the negativity towards Beats?

I listen to them on my daily commute, admittedly they're not mine, generally belong to someone stood 5ft away and spew forth R&B dross but I listen to them nonetheless, I don't really have a choice without putting ear plugs in.

Gotta love the Sennheiser HD-25's

Comfortable to wear, they sound alright and although they aren't indestructible as some people like to make out, the last pair I had lasted for 10 years.

For the life of me I don't know why anyone would want to wear in-ear headphones, hat fanciers maybe?

Klipsch X10 FTW

I have the original Klipsch X10's.

I've never had a pair of in-ear headphones that cancel noise as well as these.

The only complaint I have is that the bass can be a little weak but, considering these are tiny headphones they sound magnificent.

I wouldn't waste money on any audio product that attributed its self to a rapper. You know all that headphone is going to do is boom as much base as possible. As someone who likes my music with other instruments besides percussion I think I'll stick with brands that attribute themselves to high fidelity.

Dr. Dre Beats Solo?

Is "putting my name to some high-priced headphones" the new "spanking the monkey"?