Headphones (Recommendations)

[chocky909]

The Monster Miles Davis Headphones are 159.99 from Play.com in case anyone is interested. Half the price of most other vendors. Now I'm tempted...

Watch out. It looks like that price is from a Play Trade seller with no rep. Play aren't selling that item direct.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

That's a new Play trader not Play itself though.  No recommendations yet.

[Crabwalk]

Well spotted, I'll edit the caveat into the original post.

[buntyman]

You can get them for under 40 quid from this reputable source: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.45915

[The Boston Crab]

I emailed that Play trader and they replied in scammers' English. There are shitloads of MD fakes around. The only way you'll get a good deal is through a personal sale on HeadFi or equivalent. My mate got his for 200 quid, flown from the States on a private jet, arrived within 24 hours, bought them off some CEO, who thought he'd lost his SE535 then his assistant found them in a drawer. The bastard, both of them.

[chocky909]

I'm starting to really want a pair of them now. I'm not so happy with my Sennheiser IE8s. I much preferred my Westone 3s but they didn't work with my ACS custom sleeves so I'm selling them. The Monsters sound like my cup of tea but then I'd be wasting £90 worth of custom sleeve that I'd be tempted to get refitted for my new phones so I'd be looking at £250 for the Monsters and another £90 for customs, wasting £90 worth of Sennheiser sleeve and whatever I could get for the IE8s, maybe £100?

It's a good job I'm broke?

[The Boston Crab]

Mine were supposed to arrive today but no cunt in my apartment block would buzz the postie in. Was really really looking forward to them. I've still got my mate's but it's NOT THE SAME.

chocky, is there no way of refitting the existing customs? I'm sure you know the answer to that already, just got my fingers crossed extra hard for you.

[The Boston Crab]

Sweet. They arrived. If anybody wants to see pictures of a load of packaging, stupid carry cases and a million tips...

Bizarrely, they sound even better than my mates out the box. Seems like more drive to them, or maybe I'm just more intent on ruining my hearing.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I once got a pair of headphones from a christmas cracker.

Actually to be fair they were fucking shit.

[HappyTree]

They could be made out of diamonds, gold, adamantium, beeswax, duck feathers, fairy wings, solidified angel tears or even a hug of eternal life from Jesus himself. I still would never use them as they are in-ear phones and they just don't work in my ears. Give me the devil's hooves full closed headphones every time.



Snug!

[chocky909]

So I just splashed $500 on these personalised custom IEMs from 1964 Ears. Garish ain't they?

[The Boston Crab]

Heard they're awesome, they look truly foul. Well done! Best combo.

[Jaffit]

Has anyone tried the Monster Turbine Pro Gold? They look a few steps below those Miles Davis Ones but I can't justify spending that much and I've found a couple of second hand pairs of the Turbine on ebay.

Also whats the leakage like? I'll often be using them in a room full of people so don't want to risk pissing people off.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monster-Cable-Performance-Multilingual-Speakers/dp/B002TUTMXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1306352932&sr=8-1

[HappyTree]

I can see why it would be an advantage for them to be multilingual speakers. That means I can listen to my French CDs, right? :-D

[The Boston Crab]

First of all, there's zero leakage. The Golds are really rather good but very warm, to the extent that the bass seems almost artificially-imbalanced and the trebles are a little frustating. They also lack the natural drive of the MDs, you really need to crank the Golds to get the best results. They're like a less-refined version of the MDs, which is fine, except I think the MDs are worth the money. I'm not so sure that the Golds are. I know the MDs are an extra chunk of change on top of these but the difference in quality - given the lifetime guarantee - is really worth it.

Another thing to note, I listened to the Golds at 20/30 hours or so burn-in. Apparently, they need a good 50/100 to really open up the treble and for the bass to settle down but basically, I just wasn't feeling them that much. If you can rustle up the extra few quid, the MDs are pretty much the IEM pinnacle for a mainstream sound, taut natural bass, midrange beyond anything you'll hear in IEMs and enough airy treble to satisfy almost anyone's needs. Whatever I've thrown at them, they've satisfied me. Six months ago, I was crazy about trying all different sound sigs and thought I'd need a varied collection of IEMs/headphones to satisfy every mood. Then I got the MDs and I've not even thought about trying out another pair. I can't imagine why I won't be listening to them for the rest of my life.

Just wait a bit, save up the extra cash and get the MDs. The Golds and Coppers are very good but for the money, they're closer to the low-mid level than to the MD level.


Edit: Just realised I've had them for four months and yet I still look forward to hearing every new album through them. They're an absolute joy.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Anyone care to recommend some quality value-for-money isolation cans? Please.

[Whellybob]

 

Anyone care to recommend some quality value-for-money isolation cans? Please.

I've had the same pair of Sennheiser hd-280 pro's for about four years and think that they're awesome for the money.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Might check them out. If you were to walk by a working jackhammer would you still be able to hear your music without turning up?

[Whellybob]

Might check them out. If you were to walk by a working jackhammer would you still be able to hear your music without turning up?

Hmm, this is difficult to answer. Given that the pads on mine need replacing, and that they have done for quite some time now, I'm not sure I can give you a conclusive answer on this. They would definitely help. What's more is that they do contain noise quite well too, so you can get away with things being pretty loud before becoming the antisocial tinny drone sort.

Another thing to consider is how powerful the device you're using to drive them is. I love the balance on them because I'm not a particular fan of bass-heavy EQ's. But they do struggle with anything resembling bass in my ancient mp3 player. If they're not driven properly then they can be a little 'thin' but otherwise they are very well balanced.

[Jaffit]

Thanks TBC I think you might just have convinced me. I mean I do have that cash spare in my savings and I deserve a treat after the year I've had but it's scary parting with that kind of cash for headphones.

One other thing, I don't listen to jazz does that matter? I listen to a mixture of old 60s/70s psychedelic rock, hip hop and dance music (dubstep, drum and bass).

If I do build up the balls to buy the MDs I'll be buying them new, sounds like there's loads of fakes around. Is Amazon a safe place to purchase, providing it's direct from Amazon?

[Jaffit]

I've had the same pair of Sennheiser hd-280 pro's for about four years and think that they're awesome for the money.

Yeah I've had that HD280s for about the same amount of time and they are absolutely rock solid. I wouldn't wear them outside the house though as they are enormous. I use them at home for mixing and they've never caused me any problems.

[HappyTree]

Thanks TBC I think you might just have convinced me. I mean I do have that cash spare in my savings and I deserve a treat after the year I've had but it's scary parting with that kind of cash for headphones.

When I am faced with similar decisions in life my mind casts up the memory of a friend of mine I had in the south of France. We were sitting at a café on the Cours Mirabeau. The early morning sun was streaming down through the gaps between the awning and the leafy plane trees that lined the street - that, incidentally, featured in one of the "Papa, Nicole" Clio adverts [nb]Yes, that is Vincent Cassel playing her boyfriend.[/nb]- and we both tried to feed our way out of drunkenness from the party we had not long vacated with a Gallic attempt at a full English breakfast. He perused the drinks list and ordered a bottle of champagne.

I expressed my surprise at his foolhardy expenditure, to which he simply replied, "Qualité de vie!" with one of the most self-satisfied grins I have ever seen. I looked around at the idyllic setting, thought about my life, weighed up the pros and cons and realised he was right. Sod it all, we were having champagne at 8am and we didn't care!

[The Boston Crab]

Lovely story, HT :)

One other thing, I don't listen to jazz does that matter? I listen to a mixture of old 60s/70s psychedelic rock, hip hop and dance music (dubstep, drum and bass).

If I do build up the balls to buy the MDs I'll be buying them new, sounds like there's loads of fakes around. Is Amazon a safe place to purchase, providing it's direct from Amazon?

Sorry, I missed this reply! I don't know how...

Basically, with every genre I've thrown at them, they've sounded as good as anything I've heard. They're probably best with jazz, classical or acoustic but that's as much about the ambience of live recordings as anything else. I've cranked plenty of SebastiAn through them and they're easily fast enough to handle all his scraping chopped vocals and distorted bass stubs. Dubstep sounds fucking enormous because they're quite a bassy phone at heart and there's so much punch and texture to the low end. As for psychedelic rock, well, Animal Collective sound insane through them.

And yeah, buy new, buy direct from Amazon. Genuinely, if you don't love them, I'll give you the money back.

[Jaffit]

Well I took the plunge and they arrived from American Amazon this morning - £100 cheaper than UK Amazon too!

First impressions are they sound as lovely as described by TBC. Impossible to resist the urge to just plow through your itunes library trying all different genres and quality of recordings. First thing that's struck me is the bass. Unbelievable for an in ear monitor, I used to think my £50 Shures were as good as it gets but these piss on them from a great height. They have a really warm sounding mid range as well which is great.

They certainly expose poorly recorded material (i.e. my own tracks) and bring to life stuff that's been recorded well. I've found acoustic music just gorgeous to listen to, you can really hear the picks on the guitar and the ambiance in the room. Electronic music is just as good but in a different way, everything sounds super sharp. The few jazz albums I have (a couple of Madlib's jazz excursions) sound brilliant even though I have no real love for the genre I can still appreciate the instrument separation that these headphones bring to the fore. Was pleasantly surprised to find a double Miles Davis CD included in the box so I'll definitely be giving that a whirl.

All in all I've no regrets about parting with the money. Sometimes you should just enjoy the things you enjoy the maximum and these headphones certainly help you do that.

Out of interest what earbuds are you using? I've gone for the smallest black round rubber ones but I'm intrigued by those funny shaped flange ones. I don't think all this wax in my ears helps with the fit.

[mook]

hello.

does anyone know of a toggle switch (or the like) for headphones that will enable me to switch between listening to separate sources? for example headphone out on my effects processor and say a laptop?

ta...xx

[Utter Shit]

I have a question for you more educated folk - I would dearly love to have a great pair of headphones and genuinely wouldn't mind spending some serious money on a pair, if it wasn't for the fact that every pair I have ever bought, which must be around the twenty or thirty mark, has stopped working within a year or so. 90% of the time, the sound starts to go from one ear, then eventually dies out completely and I have to get a new pair.

What am I doing wrong? Because of this problem, I've never dared buy a really good pair, but is this the problem - the cheaper you get, the less durable they will be? I decided to test that theory last year and bought a slightly more expensive pair (nothing compared to what you lot buy) of Sennheisers which were about £30 from HMV - I got some kind of insurance for an extra pound which means I can take them back if they break, and lo and behold they died the other day after about nine months.

So yeah...advice? Is there something I'm doing wrong with the way I treat them, or is this just standard and you have to take the plunge on an expensive pair? The ones I always buy are in-ear buds, I don't think I'd really want one of those massive pairs although if they are more durable I could potentially be convinced.

[mook]

do you wrap the lead around your iPod or whatever? if you do it can bollocks up the connection to the jack plug.

[Utter Shit]

Not particularly, I probably do sometimes without thinking but not as a matter of course. It's incredible to me that I'm reading about people still getting use of headphones they bought ten years ago.

[HappyTree]

You must be doing something to the cable, it's not really that normal for this to happen so quickly and so regularly. Maybe you bend it when you put the iPod or whatever into a pocket? Maybe an L-shaped jack would help?

I had a pair of 50 quid Sony headphones for ages, used them all the time on an extension lead from the hifi. They eventually failed with the stereo cutting out but yes that was after about 10 years. I now have a more expensive pair of Sonys (see above) that are wonderful and are in that very same extension lead. I use cheaper ones for the iPod on the move and they have the L-shaped jack that keeps the wire from being bent.

[Utter Shit]

Maybe I should look for L-shaped jack ones then...are they particularly common though? :(