Best Headphones for £100-200

[FaradayCaged]

Please no one say "Beats by.."

Any ideas? I have no idea really apart from a few good brands like Sennheisers etc..

Listening to anything from indie to dubstep (have to be bassy).

Cheers

 

[grit]

.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

DT 100s, they are the industry standard.
They will give you the sound of what you are listening to.

 

[gentlegreen]

Until I bought my Quad ESLs, the best sound reproduction I'd ever heard, by a long way, was via Wharfedale Isodynamic headphones which mimicked electrostatics - open back so somewhat antisocial ...

In fact, before I got my Quads - which are effectively room-size open-back headphones, I was all set to make myself some electrostatic phones.

I don't know how much you have to pay for electrostatic phones, but they only cost a few quid to make ...

 

[Addy]

DT 100s, they are the industry standard.
They will give you the sound of what you are listening to.

+1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic-DT990-PRO-Headset-250/dp/B0011UB9CQ

 

[editor]

Grado SR80i. Stunning sound for £110. Wins awards all over the place.

 

[baffled]

After a year of daily use I still love the sound of my Sennheiser IE7s and my only regret is that I didn't spend the extra on a pair of IE8s.

Don't tell the missus but I'm hoping to upgrade in the new year.

 

[cypher79]

Audio Technica ATH-M50's. Well thats what ive got anyway

 

[Badgers]

I know they are not what you are looking for but I am really hankering after a pair of Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones. One of those things that I wanted but could not afford back in the day.

 

[FaradayCaged]

Audio Technica ATH-M50's. Well thats what ive got anyway

I was torn between those and the Denon AHD-1100's.

Their prices are around the same-ish, however the Denon's are on sale on Amazon for £69! Going to op for them definitely. They are £120 in Tesco, £99 in hmv; fucking bargain. Gotta love Amazon.

 

[paolo]

DT 100s, they are the industry standard.
They will give you the sound of what you are listening to.

Maybe there's more than one industry and/or standard.

Sennheiser HD25s have been commonplace in Broadcast and DJing for years. Not the *sole* headset, of course, but you'll see HD25s *alot* in broadcast.

The mk ii's have single sided cable (less clutter), and all parts are modular and swappable. So you don't have to toss them away if you get a cable failure or whatever.

They're a hugely proven design. Same thing for the last couple of decades. In my mind they're the SL's of headphones. It's taken me over 15 years to get to needing a replacement pair. My mate who is a pro sound engineer (broadcast), with full daily use, is still on his first pair.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Maybe there's more than one industry and/or standard.

Sennheiser HD25s have been commonplace in Broadcast and DJing for years. Not the *sole* headset, of course, but you'll see HD25s *alot* in broadcast.
.

I work in broadcast and they usually don't know what the fuck they are doing when it comes to buying sound gear.
I also work in sound production and the dubbing side of broadcast production. It's always DT-100s In the same way you will always have NS10s no matter what your other monitors are.
I couldn't give a shit about DJs, they just play records FFS.

If you are going to spend a ton on headphones, you might as well get the right ones.
If it's just for leisure though, you are wasting your money. Pick up some sennheiser whatevers for £30.

 

[magneze]

Maybe there's more than one industry and/or standard.

Sennheiser HD25s have been commonplace in Broadcast and DJing for years. Not the *sole* headset, of course, but you'll see HD25s *alot* in broadcast.

The mk ii's have single sided cable (less clutter), and all parts are modular and swappable. So you don't have to toss them away if you get a cable failure or whatever.

They're a hugely proven design. Same thing for the last couple of decades. In my mind they're the SL's of headphones. It's taken me over 15 years to get to needing a replacement pair. My mate who is a pro sound engineer (broadcast), with full daily use, is still on his first pair.

Second this. My HD25s still sound brilliant and they're about 10 years old now. The only thing that's gone is one of the ear pad covers this year, which is easily replaced.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Maybe there's more than one industry and/or standard.

Sennheiser HD25s have been commonplace in Broadcast and DJing for years. Not the *sole* headset, of course, but you'll see HD25s *alot* in broadcast.

The mk ii's have single sided cable (less clutter), and all parts are modular and swappable. So you don't have to toss them away if you get a cable failure or whatever.

They're a hugely proven design. Same thing for the last couple of decades. In my mind they're the SL's of headphones. It's taken me over 15 years to get to needing a replacement pair. My mate who is a pro sound engineer (broadcast), with full daily use, is still on his first pair.

i'm a hd25II man aswell

they take a knocking. i've sat on them a number of times which was a death sentence for all my old headphones but not these

 

[lunatrick]

I know they are not what you are looking for but I am really hankering after a pair of Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones. One of those things that I wanted but could not afford back in the day.

great headphones, not as ever lasting as the HD25's but only on my second pair in 10 years. They are very comfortable and have very good bass response. Bargain these days was well at around £60

 

[gentlegreen]

I bumped this headphone thread - with people on the BT one happy to pay hundreds for BT earbuds and iPhones..
I got grief on there because I want flexibility of wired headphones and a separate Bluetooth receiver / amp - doubtless in a few years' time I will cough up for a headphone amp with DAC and fancy codecs ...

Well I can't understand the good reviews for the Koss portapros - they were HORRIBLE - my Amazon review is titled "kick drum in a biscuit tin".. they're going straight back today.
And there was no equaliser available on the PC via BT and I couldn't fix the sound using Poweramp's equaliser on my phone.
I suppose they might have needed burning-in. Some reviewers say they work for 80s AOR ... but 90s atmospheric D&B sounded worse than a party next door ...
It was a relief to get back to my £7 Panasonics !

Such a pity as the KSC75s are really good - certainly ideal cycling earphones - I seem to have bought NINE pairs over the years - (usually paid less than £15) hopefully I will eventually gather together all the dead ones and make some decent pairs and do some of the mods out there ...

I now want headphones - and perhaps some decent ones ...

I sorely miss my Wharfedale Isodynamics - I wish I even had a dead pair just for the wonder of the perforated magnets and concertina printed coil diaphragms .. I had to wait until I got my electrostatic speakers to hear sound that good again - surely with modern magnet technology they could make some that lasted more than a year or two .. they used them as tweeters too ...

I was fully thinking back to those when first I started accumulating the parts for DIY electrostatics .. I wish I had my dead Wharfedales just to motivate me to try that again - I would certainly model any DIY efforts on those wonders of the late 70s ... and I seem to remember they cost about £20 ! - albeit that was a week's wages for me at the time ...

I fully confess that once I'm settled in France and wanting music in the garden, I will be shelling out for planar cans - even if I have to pay £1,000 or more for them...

How cool would I feel wearing THESE in the park ?
I might have grown a Tom Selleck moustache for the occasion

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

For over the ear headphones I still love HD25's. 20 years, thousands of gigs, and still going for my pair.

For in ears KZ ZS10 Pro.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

i'm a hd25II man aswell

they take a knocking. i've sat on them a number of times which was a death sentence for all my old headphones but not these

Still on my first pair.
Changed the cable a few years back (2016) but still the same band and cans.
Not quite a headphones of theseus situation.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

The one downside is after a few years the bit where the cable joins the cans gets a little loose so you might have to adjust the headphones to make sure they work properly.
Annoying but not that bad.

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't need isolation -in fact I like wondering if the birds are inside or outside my head.
Though sometimes I either thought I heard faults with my bike and other times I missed them
The Wharfedales (and Quads) are all about breath and space ..... to my psychedelically uninitiated late teen brain those cans were a hint of what was to come ....

 

[gentlegreen]

Call me an "audiophile" if you like, but I reckon I can tell the difference between my new headphone amp and the raw output from my Motorola G4 ... even with my teeny Panasonic phones :-
32 ohm 108 dB/mW
Max Input (mW) 1000.0

After that terrible Koss experience I'm wondering if I could usefully mod these £7 phones - they certainly love deep house and ambient D&B

 

[platinumsage]

For over the ear headphones I still love HD25's. 20 years, thousands of gigs, and still going for my pair.

For in ears KZ ZS10 Pro.

What about open backed over the ear or on ear in this price range?

 

[BristolEcho]

Call me an "audiophile" if you like, but I reckon I can tell the difference between my new headphone amp and the raw output from my Motorola G4 ... even with my teeny Panasonic phones :-
32 ohm 108 dB/mW
Max Input (mW) 1000.0

I don't think it's all about money, but I don't think you're going to get amazing sound from over ears in the £30-40 range. I know that's not what you're specifically saying now, but I did think that when you said you'd bought them. That's not to say you can't get a good sound, but I guess it's always going to be a bit limited.

 

[gentlegreen]

I don't think it's all about money, but I don't think you're going to get amazing sound from over ears in the £30-40 range. I know that's not what you're specifically saying now, but I did think that when you said you'd bought them. That's not to say you can't get a good sound, but I guess it's always going to be a bit limited.

But people rave about portapros but to my ears they're shockingly bad.
I suppose I could have had a duff pair.
I handed it over at the sorting office and Amazon gave me a refund straight away.
I wonder if my one star review will get approved ...

I'm a valve amp and electrostatics person (albeit I acquired them when they were a lot cheaper - though by the same token I was never wealthy) and once I'm settled in my new home I may well spend serious money on cans.
My dream is a well-detached place with a barn so I can have my own private rave...

 

[BristolEcho]

But people rave about portapros but to my ears they're shockingly bad.
I suppose I could have had a duff pair.
I handed it over at the sorting office and Amazon gave me a refund straight away.
I wonder if my one star review will get approved ...

I'm a valve amp and electrostatics person (albeit I acquired them when they were a lot cheaper - though by the same token I was never wealthy) and once I'm settled in my new home I may well spend serious money on cans.
My dream is a well-detached place with a barn so I can have my own private rave...

Ah of course I forgot you sent them back. Who raves about them? I've scanned some reviews and of course for the price range they might be really good, but it recognises that they are limited. I've had some great buds in the £20-50 range, but they really don't compare to the sony's I bought during lockdown. I'm far from an audiophile by the way I don't even get a lot of it.

We are constantly on the look out for detached bungalows to rent so I feel your pain!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

What about open backed over the ear or on ear in this price range?

I’ve never owned a pair as I don’t have a need for them - headphones for me mean isolation, and open backed ones just don’t give that.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I bought a pair of B & O a year or so ago on offer and they're pretty good. Very comfy.

I'm no audiophile but they work well enough for me.

 

[danski]

I use a pair of AKG K702 to make music (that I never finish).
They are semi open, have a fairly flat response and are very comfortable.
They don’t hype, exaggerate or flatter.
They might not be best suited to normal listening but then again, if you like how they sound....



I also have some sennheiser hd25. They are also excellent.

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm now looking very seriously at the Philips SHP 9500s - £95 and not the "improved" SHP 9600s where they apparently added bass I probably don't want at the expense of comfort, and sorted "sibilance / graininess" at the expense of openness ...
I only hope my jug ears will actually fit inside the pads ...

I may feel a little self-conscious walking to the park wearing those

I don't think it warrants upgrading the little £25 headphone amp to a Fiio external DAC though - perhaps one day when I have all my music in FLAC on one portable device and much more expensive headphones ...

I have always been something of a Philips / Mullard -ophile.
I nicked a motional feedback amplified speaker from the junk bin at work, but sadly it appears to be dead.
I loved my first CD player - Philips 14 bit - one of the original players - until I bought my Quads and heard other CD players and suddenly it sounded like sandpaper ...

 

[gentlegreen]

I should have bought some decent headphones YEARS ago ..
It'll take some adjustment though.. my apologies to all the music makers who put so much effort into "stereo" and "bass" ..
With my £7 earphones, I was doing the work myself ...

I can't believe these are only twice the price of those nasty Koss phones ... people I know spend twice as much as this on earbuds ...
These are BIG headphones though and I felt a little self-conscious walking through and then home from the park wearing them - but doubtless that will pass ...

It's a relief to not have to watch any more headphone reviews and trying to work out if I would perceive sound quality the same way as a millennial described it.