Best Headphones (Recommendations wanted)

[BlindnCynical]

My headphones came in yesterday, havent had much time to spend with them but ill compile a review sometime this weekend. Initial thoughts are they look great, the chord is long but i was expecting that (i couldnt imagine having the straight cord.), feel like a really solid pair of "cans" (look im already an audiophile). Only song i have listened to was No Quarter - Tool, i hit play random song on my phone and thats what popped up , It sounded great. These are refurbished so im not sure if i still need to "burn in" these or not... is there a way to tell?

Tricky to tell because you don't know what parts were replaced. That is why I don't go with refurbs. Not knocking the purchase at all. I am just not comfortable not knowing exactly what was replaced. Bottom line, if you enjoy them that is all that matters. In terms of burn in specifically, only time will tell since they are not brand new. If they sound better and better the more you listen to them, then most likely they haven't been burned in.

Yea i figured that was the case, I thought the same thing but since they were only $70 and this is really just for casual use i figured NBD. It did come in retail packaging and looks 100% new. More to come.

[bigboy55693]

Burning in eh? Never heard of it until now. Read just one FAQ from that Head-Fi website and the idea seems controversial at best.
Not being a true audiophile, but being a scientist I would have to say that the idea makes logical sense. Could I appreciate the difference? Maybe yes, maybe no...

Maybe there is some better information out there on the subject. Got any good sites for that?

I would expect audiophiles to have "scientifically" researched this idea already.

Pink noise, sine wave sweeps, static... any tracks out there that rotate sound sources to touch all the "burn in bases"?

[M0G]

Burning in eh? Never heard of it until now. Read just one FAQ from that Head-Fi website and the idea seems controversial at best.
Not being a true audiophile, but being a scientist I would have to say that the idea makes logical sense. Could I appreciate the difference? Maybe yes, maybe no...

Maybe there is some better information out there on the subject. Got any good sites for that?

I would expect audiophiles to have "scientifically" researched this idea already.


Pink noise, sine wave sweeps, static... any tracks out there that rotate sound sources to touch all the "burn in bases"?

Yes and No. The idea of burn in is to get the headphone to it's ideal state. Like breaking in a new glove so to speak. It is absolutely a controversial subject amongst audiophiles. In my personal experience, I absolutely can hear a difference after 30 hours or so, depending on the quality of the headphone. For a cheap set you will never tell the difference. I am not sure if any significant scientific tests have ever been done on the topic. Again to me it makes logical sense. The headphones settle in, the inner components loosen up and they reach a peak performance level. I have experienced this phenomenon. Some of it depends on the listener's ear. Not every person will notice a difference. I am in the Burn in camp. I HAVE heard the difference and amongst the audiophile community more people lean to the Burn in, or break in side of the debate.

[basejumper]

^ sounds like hocus-pocus to me.

[hellboy]

The logic behind it seems sound. The question is would most people notice?

[M0G]

The logic behind it seems sound. The question is would most people notice?

On a good set of headphones, imo, absolutely.

[MobileVortex]

I dont know why i remember this. but the Audio-Technica M50x Headphones are currently $99 on woot, today only.

I have a pair of these and the sound is great.

http://www.woot.com/offers/audio-techni ... _gw_dly_tl

[THE1TRUEMOG]

I dont know why i remember this. but the Audio-Technica M50x Headphones are currently $99 on woot, today only.

I have a pair of these and the sound is great.

http://www.woot.com/offers/audio-techni ... _gw_dly_tl

Probably the best set of cans I have owned. I have had more expensive pairs but the ATH-M50s are the ones I always go back to. They can stand toe to toe with pairs that cost hundreds more. Yeah if you wanna drop $500 or $600 there are slightly better cans out there but in my opinion the difference in sound quality isn't worth the additional $400-$500 bucks. Hell you can drop over a grand on a set of cans easy but for me, the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X is the perfect set of headphones.

[brewdog123]

if you are on a tight budget, nothing compares to these headphones (for the price) $16.00!!!!
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8323
i have a pair. not top of the line, but a great deal, read the reviews on the site
I think they are easily on par with a $60-100 pair of headphones for 16$

[tys0n]

Recently got a pair of Sony WH-1000X M2 and am very very impressed, fuck wires.

Set me back over $320 though, still better than RRP

[tys0n]

Recently got a pair of Sony WH-1000X M2 and am very very impressed, fuck wires.

Set me back over $320 though, still better than RRP

LOL these were actually garbage compared to wired headphones, after a week I went back to my audio technica ath-m50x.

Got a A&K AK Jr. in the mail today and have been using it as a DAC to drive my m50x, night and fucking day, they always needed a little bit of extra punch.

[hellboy]

Thanks for the followup review Tyson. I contemplate wireless headphones frequently, but haven't made the plunge yet.

In the meantime I'm rocking a set of FiiO F9 Pro Hybrid In Ear Monitors which I'm pretty happy with. My only real criticism (and that's one of IEMs in general) is that they're not super comfy. Sound is great though, and that's the main thing.

[basejumper]

.
Just came across these...

[tys0n]

Looks gimmicky as fuck also no audiophile I know would recommend wireless.

[UndKeineZwEier]

I don't want an AI telling me how my music should sound!!!

[basejumper]

Looks gimmicky as fuck also no audiophile I know would recommend wireless.

I believe you can also plug in via cable.

[basejumper]

I don't want an AI telling me how my music should sound!!!

Looks like you can turn it off.

[hellboy]

Al has some great opinions I bet