Best headphones under 350 euro

[AltarsOfMadness]

Hi. I am looking for new headphones to buy - open back, wired, over-ear. Budget - 350 euro (can be a little more if it's worthy and reasonable). May or may not require an amp to power them (if it does, what amp is the best for that?..)
Great sound quality and comfort - pretty much all that matters to me regarding these headphones.

 

[DVDdoug]

You can sort the ASR Headphone Reviews by price and then read the reviews for the "recommended" headphones.

If you want "the best sound for the money" check out the AKG K371. (Maybe not the "best", depending on what you like, but it should probably be "on your list" of headphones to consider.) (Not open back)

Comfort is a personal thing and you won't really know unless you try them.

You may not need an amplifier. That mostly depends on what you already have, the sensitivity (how loud they go with a certain input voltage), and how loud you want to listen.

 

[staticV3]

For ~350€, you can buy the Hifiman Edition XS or the Moondrop Para.

 

[AltarsOfMadness]

Some additional details: I listen mostly to Metal, rock, jazz - but also electronic, Classical - pretty much anything, really.
I've heard about AKG k371 having poor construction and being rough on the ears for extended listening sessions, hence I ruled those out from my "list".

 

[zonk]

AKG K371 is a closed headphone, as far as I read you are looking for an open back headphone.

Some of the usual suspects are:
- Sennheiser HD560S
- Sennheiser HD600/HD650
- Hifiman HE400SE
- Hifiman Sundara

In general heaphones are something very personal, the comfort is something very important too that has to be considered. Prices and availability can vary depending on your location. In the USA for example the seller DROP offers an Sennheiser HD6XX that can be interesting too.

For me personally the headband of the Hifiman HE400SE is a bit wonky. The Hifiman Edition XS is a bit above your budget and looks like it has same headband as the HE400SE. I personally prefer the headband of the Sundara.

 

[Phorize]

Are you in the US? If so the HD6XX is a great buy.

Otherwise I'd consider the cheaper and in some ways better HD560s

 

[AltarsOfMadness]

Are you in the US? If so the HD6XX is a great buy.

Otherwise I'd consider the cheaper and in some ways better HD560s

I am from Europe.

 

[AltarsOfMadness]

Are you in the US? If so the HD6XX is a great buy.

Otherwise I'd consider the cheaper and in some ways better HD560s

Are HD560s above the hd 600?

 

[Phorize]

Are HD560s above the hd 600?

Its close run and down to preference really. However, without eq the HD560s has better bass extension which according to the Harman research most will prefer. The distortion is lower on the 560s and it takes eq better; when eq'ing the 6xx headphones to Harman bass levels the distortion in the LF is audible at higher spl. I prefer the more spacious soundstage on the 560s. However, both are great headphones at the price. That said, the 560s is cheaper than the 600 in Europe so is the better deal overall. In the US the higher 560s price and great deal on the drop hd 6xx makes it much more marginal IMO. I have both and really enjoy both.

EDIT: amazon.de have the 560s for 160 euro ATM which is a very good price for such as good headphone.

 

[ZolaIII]

Try to find what's cheaper where you are from Sennheiser HD 6xx series old HD 600 will do.
If that's what you want and they do need an amp.
This is HD 560S review (current model) with direct comparison to HD 600 series among others so make sure you read it carefully.

HD560S

back to Sennheiser back to measurements home published: Sep-24-2020, updated: Aug-10-2024 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

It's from @solderdude
I would advise you to take a look for Denon AH-D5200 which are closed back and should be just little over the budget (still you should be able to find them under 400€ mark). They don't need amplifier and are impedance independent meaning pretty much anything will be able to drive them well and sufficient however an amp DAC with good SINAD results for 50 mV load is recommended. They also play well regarding different head sizas and obtained good seal even with glasses. My recommendation with them is to listen on mid SPL from 70 to 80 dB and they will sound fine without any EQ (elevated bass to equal loudness normalisation).

AH-D5200

back to Denon back to measurements home Published: Nov-18-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wig…

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Make sure you snoop around on DIY Audio Heaven and reed!
Best regards and have a nice time.

 

[zonk]

AKG K371 is a closed headphone, as far as I read you are looking for an open back headphone.

Some of the usual suspects are:
- Sennheiser HD560S
- Sennheiser HD600/HD650
- Hifiman HE400SE
- Hifiman Sundara

In general heaphones are something very personal, the comfort is something very important too that has to be considered. Prices and availability can vary depending on your location. In the USA for example the seller DROP offers an Sennheiser HD6XX that can be interesting too.

For me personally the headband of the Hifiman HE400SE is a bit wonky. The Hifiman Edition XS is a bit above your budget and looks like it has same headband as the HE400SE. I personally prefer the headband of the Sundara.

All headphones that I mentioned were on here tested by Amir. Here are the links to the tests.

Sennheiser HD560S: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd560s-review-headphone.29603/
Sennheiser HD600: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd600-review-headphone.23233/
Sennheiser HD650: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/sennheiser-hd650-review-headphone.18774/
Hifiman HE400SE: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/hifiman-he400se-review-headphone.28771/
Hifiman Sundara: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/hifiman-sundara-review-headphone.22529/

I am sure you can be happy with each of them. I would not choose a headphone that was not tested here. The weaknesses in the FR can be improved by the use of EQ to your preferences.

 

[GPJ]

bump