Audiophilia

[Grim]

Rave: Had an officemate buy me a set of Audio-Technica SJ1s from Japan. They look nice and are comfy. I got the black one.

Rant: The white one would've rocked though. More importantly, they unfortunately sound a bit tinny.



EDIT: I'll probably end up selling these, and investing in a really good pair like Sennheisers or even a Grado.

[Fox]

Go for the Sennheisers. You definitely won't be disappointed. I also heard that the "Skullcrusher" model from Skullcandy is pretty good as well.

[Sforza]

EDIT: I'll probably end up selling these, and investing in a really good pair like Sennheisers or even a Grado.

Those AT's look like SJ5s. Is there a new model of those out?

About Senns, the better quality models usually need headphone amps if you're going to listen to them on a portable player (because of the bigger drivers).

All Grados are open back headphones which allows sound to leak in, so they're not useful in public. Everyone has aircons in this country so that's a bother too.

Arguably the best portable headphones right now are the ATH-ESW9A


I have a pair of Grado SR80's (they're awesome) if you'd like to try listening to them sometime. For gaming and sound isolation I've been using ATH-m40fs. For portables, I use the ATH-FC700s. The FC700s were surprisingly good for their price.

On my to buy list now are Denon's AH-D5000 and AKG 701s

Edit: I'm a bit of a headphone geek.

[Grim]

Thanks for the suggestions Jake! I think I'll take a listen to your SR80s when we have a meet. They look pretty damn sweet. I might go for the SR60s though - they're cheaper by a bit.

I don't think the SJ5s were refreshed. The SJ1, SJ3 and SJ5 models have always looked alike as far as I can tell.

I like the Sennheiser models because they produce this rich, dark bass sound without losing the details in the midrange. Plus, they can be used out in the world - a bit of a requirement for me.

I've seen the AKGs before, but they look a bit too big already for my taste. Ha!

[NiX]

Thread split. Hope you gents don't mind.

[Sforza]

Thread split. Hope you gents don't mind.

AHHH. I think Rick's dad and uncles should post here

Oh and ipod amplifiers suck But I use one.

[NiX]

LOL yeah Rick's dad is HARDCORE. Seriously. Precision angulation of soundwaves in their living room. It's insane.

[Sforza]

LOL yeah Rick's dad is HARDCORE. Seriously. Precision angulation of soundwaves in their living room. It's insane.

That's why I use headphones instead. Same quality of sound for 1/10th the price, if you don't mind not having 5.1 surround

[Grim]

Know of any good places which carry the Grados? I've never seen them in any of the shops here.

Targeting to get these two for the moment:
Grado SR60i
Sennheiser HD 448

[Lord_Leperman]

Know of any good places which carry the Grados? I've never seen them in any of the shops here.

Targeting to get these two for the moment:
Grado SR60i
Sennheiser HD 448

There's one in Powerplant mall, in one of the audio shops on the top floor near the cinema level. Forgot the name of the shop, but my dad mentioned that they do sell Grado headphones.

[Sforza]

Know of any good places which carry the Grados? I've never seen them in any of the shops here.

Targeting to get these two for the moment:
Grado SR60i
Sennheiser HD 448

You might be interested in Alessandro MS1i too? They're still Grados, something in between SR80 and 125s.

http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6253122

The price listed there is pretty good already, but you have to order soon I think.

[Grim]

You might be interested in Alessandro MS1i too? They're still Grados, something in between SR80 and 125s.

http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=6253122

The price listed there is pretty good already, but you have to order soon I think.

I just looked at this very item last night. I'll give it a thought.

Thanks Rick!

[Goat]

Must get my hands on one of these. I need something more portable though (although they seem portable enough already).

[azuriel07]

Go for the Sennheisers. You definitely won't be disappointed. I also heard that the "Skullcrusher" model from Skullcandy is pretty good as well.

Any other SC's with bass amplifiers? SK pro looks good.

[Sforza]

I'm obligated to say this because of the thread's title.

Skullcrushers are crap compared to almost anything by Audio Technica, Sennheiser, Denon, Koss, Beyerdynamic, AKG and even Sony.
Strong bass might be their selling point, but there's a big difference between quantity and quality.

Instead, try any single one of these;
Senn HD-280 or ATH-m40fs/50, ATH-ES7, ATH-FC700, Koss Porta Pro, AKG 27i or AKG K450.
A Grado SR60 would really beat them all though, if you're willing to go open back.

Closed back headphones generally come with good bass. Added bass can be done by either buying a headphone amp or adjusting the settings on your music player.

...Just, don't buy Skullcandies. Ugh. While bass on the Grado's have this warm, rich sound (despite being open back phones), the Skullcrushers sound like shooting your ears with a shotgun.

Edit: I usually test bass on headphones by listening to stuff by the Black Eyed Peas, Nas, Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige.... the usual