Do headphones vary in quality?

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#900904 22-Sep-2013 23:49

Since the threads here, and there seems to be some advice going around, I'll throw my hat in the ring. I'm interested in the best passive noise isolation I can get, preferably reasonably flat isolation & driver response across the important human audible frequencies.
Prefer passive to active because I want to block potentially damaging levels of noise, not just cancel outside noise. (please correct me if I have no idea what I'm talking about). These would be for bus use, and would have to block out screaming children, bus engines that sound like a jet taking off, and I'd also like to block lower frequencies.

Would also be interested for opinions on getting some in-ears and some ear muffs to go over them instead.

Been considering getting these, they're cheap and roughly fit the bill but I'm concerned the sound quality will be low.

For reference I currently have a pair of "Superlux HD-668B" which I'm pretty pleased with sound quality wise, but the headband's annoying and the stubby-short-cord has developed a dodgy connector. Plus they isolate basically nothing.

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#900951 23-Sep-2013 07:30

It's difficult to block low frequencies with passive isolation - even -30db foam earplugs can't do that well. You'd need active for that. Those ones you linked to from the safety shop are designed for isolation, I doubt you'd do much better than that.

There are some closed Superlux 662F's on trademe at the moment. Sennheiser 380 might be another option.

NonprayingMantis

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#900995 23-Sep-2013 09:54

are expensive headphones better? depends what you are listening to really.

If you are streaming spotify over 3G at 56kbps, then there is no point buying a $500 pair of headphones IMO. the stock headphones will do just fine.

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#901007 23-Sep-2013 10:11

NonprayingMantis: are expensive headphones better? depends what you are listening to really.

If you are streaming spotify over 3G at 56kbps, then there is no point buying a $500 pair of headphones IMO. the stock headphones will do just fine.

This.

Also don't pay a premium for a personality brand (beats, soul etc).

I'll take the sound engineer expertise of sennheiser over that rubbish any day.

I listen to a bunch of podcasts, some in mono. I don't need $500 sennheisers.

NZtechfreak

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#901030 23-Sep-2013 10:35

Naturally in terms of the audio chain everything matters from source file to playback device to headphones, but it's not true that all high quality headphones make low quality files sound awful. Something like the HD800 will definitely show up all the problems, whereas something like the LCD-2 will tend to be a lot more forgiving. Will the LCD-2 sound better than stock headphones listening to low quality material? YES. A great deal better if you're listening to music (I wouldn't expect that to apply to podcasts). That said, it's not particularly rational to listen to low quality stuff on a headphone like the LCD-2, I mean who wants to listen to a glorious pair of headphones when there is a massive quality bottleneck at the level of the source file?

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timmmay

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#901066 23-Sep-2013 11:01

Curious why you rate the LCD2 as more forgiving than the HD800? The HD800 is most likely a better headphone overall, more accurate, though it's subject to personal preference and you're really into diminishing returns there.

Also if you have HD800's I'd love to hear them, the top Senn's I've heard are the 650s.

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#901145 23-Sep-2013 11:59

timmmay: Curious why you rate the LCD2 as more forgiving than the HD800? The HD800 is most likely a better headphone overall, more accurate, though it's subject to personal preference and you're really into diminishing returns there.

Also if you have HD800's I'd love to hear them, the top Senn's I've heard are the 650s.

It's way each presents sound, you tend to be acutely aware of shortcomings in source files with the HD800, whereas not to the same degree in the LCD-2. It's not really because of their relative technical abilities, I agree you're veeeery far into the territory of diminishing returns by the time you get to headphones like the HD800 and LCD-2. I'm guessing it has to do a lot with treble and instrument separation, the HD800 treble is more defined than the shelved treble of the LCD-2 (that doesn't come without costs though, it has uncomfortable treble energy for some and can be sibilant/strident/etched depending on the listener) and it's much easier to zone in on individual sounds than on the more warm and intimately staged LCD-2.

I don't have the HD800, was fortunate enough to have them on loan for a month or so a while back.

They have a vastly different sound than the 650, I found the 650 slower, darker and more laid back than the HD800. The HD800 destroys them for technical accomplishment and analytical listening, but I think most people would find the 650 a great deal less fatiguing over more than a short listening session. I have a bit of high frequency hearing loss, so the HD800s major liability where some listeners are concerned is an asset for me, I like listening analytically on desktop and I listen to a lot of music that requires good PRaT, so for me personally the HD800 came out far in front.

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#901187 23-Sep-2013 13:05

Sounds about right. If you end up getting any fun headphones to review let me know if you can share, I'd see if I can review for my website.

stevenz

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#901964 24-Sep-2013 15:31

If nothing else, don't use the manufacturer-provided earbuds out of respect for those around you. Pretty much all manufacturers other than Apple provide IEMs rather than earbuds now. IEMs go into the ear canal rather than perching at the end of it.

A cheap pair of 3rd party IEM's (e.g. Logitech or Sennheiser) or over-ears will have (often dramatically) better quality and not enforce your music preferences on the unsuspecting public.

You can get perfectly respectable sound for $50-$100 or you can go mental and spend fairly serious money. Logitech's "Ultimate Ears" range have some good options for some reasonable pricing.

I jump between my Sennheiser PMX-60s (discontinued everywhere except the UK apparently), Logitech 400vi's and Phiaton MS400s. None of them were particularly expensive and for portable use are all a huge improvement over any of the OEM buds I've tried.

I did have a pair of Sennheiser Momentum's which sound\look fantastic, but were a bit small for my ears unfortunately. JB tend to have them on special.

Please don't buy "Beats" as they're overpriced plastic junk.

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#901966 24-Sep-2013 15:40

The apple ones that I have always had were iphones or ipod were rubbish. The sound quality was actually good, but the rubber and cables broke down very quickly, and very often one headphone stopped working. ALso if I left them in a drawer the cable would be all sticky and the rubber perished, so they are not made to last. You get what you pay for.

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#901967 24-Sep-2013 15:47

I bought an el-cheapo pair of logitech UE 200vi from Harvey normans - down from $50 to $25 i think.

Was very surprised how good they were -- bass is a little weak but compared to anything else I've bought for that price it is rather amazing. More expensive earphones from say sennheiser will have better bass response.

Regarding noise cancelling, i've bought cheap sony noise cancelling, and bose noise cancelling (both over the ear type) .The difference is huge. Bose is awesome. I also just bought the bose noise cancelling earbuds too - unbelievably good.

Personally, I think there is generally a difference between cheap and expensive earphones. But, the best pair of cheap earphones can still beat the worst expensive pair -- if that makes sense .

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#902177 25-Sep-2013 07:21

stevenz: If nothing else, don't use the manufacturer-provided earbuds out of respect for those around you. Pretty much all manufacturers other than Apple provide IEMs rather than earbuds now. IEMs go into the ear canal rather than perching at the end of it.

If your music is so loud people more than a meter away can hear music from earbuds it's too loud and is damaging your hearing.

surfisup1000: I bought an el-cheapo pair of logitech UE 200vi from Harvey normans - down from $50 to $25 i think.

UE are a good brand, bought by logitech a few years ago. I had the UE5Pro extra bass, dual drivers in that thing, they were awesome until the enclosure broke after a few years of light use.

stevenz

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#902178 25-Sep-2013 07:27

timmmay:
stevenz: If nothing else, don't use the manufacturer-provided earbuds out of respect for those around you. Pretty much all manufacturers other than Apple provide IEMs rather than earbuds now. IEMs go into the ear canal rather than perching at the end of it.

If your music is so loud people more than a meter away can hear music from earbuds it's too loud and is damaging your hearing.

When the airbuds are leaking around 1/3 of the sound, it doesn't take much volume to make them annoying to the person sitting beside you on the bus.

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#902182 25-Sep-2013 07:38

Yep agreed that is annoying.

PaulBags

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#902325 25-Sep-2013 11:02

stevenz:
timmmay:
stevenz: If nothing else, don't use the manufacturer-provided earbuds out of respect for those around you. Pretty much all manufacturers other than Apple provide IEMs rather than earbuds now. IEMs go into the ear canal rather than perching at the end of it.

If your music is so loud people more than a meter away can hear music from earbuds it's too loud and is damaging your hearing.

When the airbuds are leaking around 1/3 of the sound, it doesn't take much volume to make them annoying to the person sitting beside you on the bus.

Slightly off topic. Mostly what I hear music wise on the bus is some idiot using the loud speaker on their phone, instead of any headphones. Or the bus driver having the radio on and up loud enough that I can hear it with my headphones on.

Also, cheers for the advice & suggestions. I'm going to order those earmuffs later today, when I get paid. Fingers crossed.

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