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Cheap (big known brand or not) Headphone recommendations.

L5730

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Apologies if already asked and discussed. I did a little search but got a bit lazy.

Seeing these reviews of Topping, SMSL, FiiO etc. DACs and JDS Labs, MonoPrice etc. headphone amps, it's pretty clear to me that there are some real bargains to be had. Sure a much pricier RME measures better, but what is available sub £200 for a USB DAC + HP amp is pretty awesome.

That is great, and I really appreciate the work that has gone into measuring those devices and discussing the pros and cons of them. There is still something missing from the budget awesome sounding rigs for students or folks who just don't want to spend that much - speakers and heaphones. To some degree speakers (active) have been touched uponb, the JBL LSR series seem favourable, and it won't take much to also see other brands of active near field monitors mentioned. A lot of good sound for not a lot of money, but still pricier than headphones can be.

Do we have much in the headphone offerings that is really any good and budget friendly? Can we form a list with comparisons and the merits of each? Is that a tough task as a major factor seems to be fit and comfort - the former having a large impact on sound, the later how long you can listen to them and ultimately whether you do listen to them much at all?

There seems to be a lot on offer in the ballpark of £100-150.
Sennheiser HD280, Beyerdynamic DT770, 880, 990, AudioTechnica ATH-M50x, AKG 701, 702 ....

I'm still struggling to see any standout models here, well, I suppose if it's restricted to closed-back it's much of a toss up between ATH-50x, HD280 or DT770.
But what about below £100 price point? Anything that really performs well, with good enough build quality*?
Is it the case that once you dip just below the price segment the fall off of what you get is too significant to recommend anything? I mean there are £5 and £10 USB DAC devices, but they just don't deliver like £65-100 gets you.

Oh, yeah and IEMs might offer more bang for buck in this, so feel free to mention those.

A nice discussion could be interesting.

* build quality seems a mixed bag. Breaking joints, failing drivers/wiring, disintegrating pad coatings. The list goes on.
 

Fluffy

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Hard to beat a full over-ear planars for 130$ - HE4XX.

The ATH-M50x is also really good value and very durable.

Is it the case that once you dip just below the price segment the fall off of what you get is too significant to recommend anything? I
Generally yeah. You can't expect having high quality products at all price ranges, there must be a lower bound at some point. Under 100$ I think it's mostly about value more than absolute quality. In the amps and DACs area you can definitely find crap above 1000$ that underperforms compared to 99$ devices. But in the headphone world, my experience so far is that generally the quality tends to scale nicely with price, until the point where diminishing returns takes over completely. It's not to say that a 200$ headphone will always out perform a 100$ one, but I think it's a safer bet to assume that than if you would have compared DACs in those price ranges.

And another thing – while high value for money and cost effectiveness are good things, I don't think we need to exaggerate in the direction of getting the cheapest possible product. There are also things like reliability and customer service that comes with a higher price tag that are important, not only measurements and pure SQ.
 
OP
L5730

L5730

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Can you change the title please? It looks like that for whatever reason you don't want a western brand, but you mention only western brands in your message.
Anyhow the brand exclusion by nationality makes me feel uncomfortable.
Understood, sure thing. Was clumsily trying to say that anything is excepted, eg. lesser known Asian brands. I mean Topping just doesn't show up in local stores, but I think they make good products. I have a Huion graphics tablet, massive bang for buck compared to Wacom.


@Fluffy Yeah, So the £/$/€ 100 ballpark seems like a low level marker for over-ears. Dropping below that on sale, maybe but it's tight to get sound quality, let alone build quality below that. Sure.
I'm not trying to chase the cheapest possible, I am awkwardly trying to feel around what is around for less. I've seen HP for £10, music come out of them ;)

I suppose, unlike DACs and Amps, it's a lot harder to measure headphones. Comfort and fit is a huge part which changes the sound experience, and why opinions can differ so widely on the same model.
 

pozz

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NAD Viso HP50 (if you can find them and Sony MDR-7506 are my suggestions.
 

Fluffy

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and Sony MDR-7506
I highly contest the recommendation on the MDR-7506 for music listening, even though I've heard it many times. They don't seal well, so their bass response is all over the place and generally pretty lame. They also don't do upper treble very well. They are pretty good as a cheap monitor headphone for vocal recordings, which is their usual usage. Their mid response is pretty natural so that's why they are good for vocal monitoring, but everything else is sub-par.
 

pwjazz

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I can personally recommend the Drop HD58X at $160 and haven't found my more expensive headphones to be a dramatic step up from it. People also recommend the Creative Aurvana Live as a sub $100 option though I haven't heard it myself.

If you include IEMs in your search, at $50 I've found the KZ ZS10 Pro to be incredible work a bit of EQ.
 

graz_lag

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I try to buy only second hand saving easily 50% on the budget ...
My last purchase was for the Beyerdynamic DT100s @ 80 EUR. Amazing value for money!
 

Sgt. Ear Ache

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Takstar Pro82s are my go to budget headphones rec. They sound really good, are super comfortable and they are easy to drive. No amp needed. They are closed back and isolate fairly well so pretty good portable phones too. For about $75...
 

Berwhale

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I recently picked up a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over ears for £80 from their outlet, they're currently £85...

https://en-uk.sennheiser-outlet.com/shops/detail.php?product_id=2845

There are also plenty of the HD5xx range at heavy discounts. All the stuff I have bought from the outlet has been in mint condition (blue plastic protectors still stuck on chrome bits, original cable ties in place, etc.)

I should note that the 4 pole 3.5mm jack on the stock cable + 6.35mm adapter I had lying around would not work correctly with my JDS Atom amp, I had to purchase an aftermarket 3 pole plug/cable (without the in-line mic).
 

JJB70

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Your budget will get you the mk.1 version of the Audio Technica ATH MSR7 if you shop around, they seem to be available new for about £130-140. They are superb headphones, well made and with terrific sound quality.
 

bravomail

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ggl diyaudio for good headphone reviews. They measure them too. Cheap good closed back- Monoprice 8323, Audiotechnica M40x, AKG K550/553, Status Audio CB, Senn 598C. There are much more good cheap open headphones - too many too mention.
 

VMAT4

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Apologies if already asked and discussed. I did a little search but got a bit lazy.

Seeing these reviews of Topping, SMSL, FiiO etc. DACs and JDS Labs, MonoPrice etc. headphone amps, it's pretty clear to me that there are some real bargains to be had. Sure a much pricier RME measures better, but what is available sub £200 for a USB DAC + HP amp is pretty awesome.

That is great, and I really appreciate the work that has gone into measuring those devices and discussing the pros and cons of them. There is still something missing from the budget awesome sounding rigs for students or folks who just don't want to spend that much - speakers and heaphones. To some degree speakers (active) have been touched uponb, the JBL LSR series seem favourable, and it won't take much to also see other brands of active near field monitors mentioned. A lot of good sound for not a lot of money, but still pricier than headphones can be.

Do we have much in the headphone offerings that is really any good and budget friendly? Can we form a list with comparisons and the merits of each? Is that a tough task as a major factor seems to be fit and comfort - the former having a large impact on sound, the later how long you can listen to them and ultimately whether you do listen to them much at all?

There seems to be a lot on offer in the ballpark of £100-150.
Sennheiser HD280, Beyerdynamic DT770, 880, 990, AudioTechnica ATH-M50x, AKG 701, 702 ....

I'm still struggling to see any standout models here, well, I suppose if it's restricted to closed-back it's much of a toss up between ATH-50x, HD280 or DT770.
But what about below £100 price point? Anything that really performs well, with good enough build quality*?
Is it the case that once you dip just below the price segment the fall off of what you get is too significant to recommend anything? I mean there are £5 and £10 USB DAC devices, but they just don't deliver like £65-100 gets you.

Oh, yeah and IEMs might offer more bang for buck in this, so feel free to mention those.

A nice discussion could be interesting.

* build quality seems a mixed bag. Breaking joints, failing drivers/wiring, disintegrating pad coatings. The list goes on.

A good closed back you didn't mention is the Sennheiser HD 569.
 

nhunt

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If it has to be closed back, I would throw the AKG K371 in the mix. I prefer them over the M50x and MDR 7506. They are super comfy. I don't really like on-ear headphones for extended listening.

edit: If closed is not a requirement, I personally would consider saving up for the HD600.
 
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graz_lag

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Hi

HifiMAn fan here ... The HE-400i at $130 is a screaming bargain!

Too late !!!

1571858677436.png
 
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