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Thread: New Headphones

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    New Headphones

    Since the Sony ones that came with my MP3 player died a few days ago I have been in desperate need of a new pair. Basically I want them to be ear-buds and <£10. That is all.

    Ta very muchly.

    Edit: Budget can stretch

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    Re: New Headphones

    How about this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...&condition=new
    I am not sure if people make 'fakes', but I'd expect Amazon Jersey to sell the real thing.

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    Re: New Headphones

    I've said this to many friends. Try some better buds, you won't be able to go back to the crap one.

    To the point that my face naturally smile whenever I'm listening to music on my triple.fi, which is in real sense enjoying the music.

    Doesn't need to be a big jump. Doubling up your budget every time you replace your buds
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    Re: New Headphones

    @ £219 a pop i ask myself how many times you have doubled your budget when buying new buds.

    Thats crazy money for a pair of earbuds, crazy. Madness.

    The budgy was set at <£10 - perhaps these?

    Was it strictly buds your after, if so perhaps these @ £30?
    Last edited by PeteSmith; 11-03-2010 at 10:16 PM.
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    Re: New Headphones

    Get the cheapest pair of Sennheisers you can afford.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-C...8342284&sr=8-1

    Unless you're really, realllly tight you can stretch to £15?

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    Re: New Headphones

    Quote Originally Posted by PeteSmith View Post
    @ £219 a pop i ask myself how many times you have doubled your budget when buying new buds.

    Thats crazy money for a pair of earbuds, crazy. Madness.

    The budgy was set at <£10 - perhaps these? Was it strictly buds your after?
    I started off £3 no-name stuff, then £10 Philips stuff, £30 Sony over-the-ear clipping one, £60 for Etymotic ER6i which I went through 2 pairs and gone to UE Super.Fi 5 also for £60, Etymotic hf2 for £80 and finally the pair of Triple.fi 10 for £130 when I was back in Hong Kong this summer.

    Speaking of which I am surprised I broke the Ultimate Ears cable in 3 months and replaced it with a very nice cable called Aurora (made in China, £80), that improved the sound quality another notch. Hope this will last me another 2-3 years (owing to the replaceable cable) at the minimum.

    I've to admit the jump in quality is getting less impressive now so I probably won't put up my budget anymore.
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    Re: New Headphones

    Quote Originally Posted by arthurleung View Post
    I've to admit the jump in quality is getting less impressive now so I probably won't put up my budget anymore.
    Well just in case you do decide to take another giant leap into the realms of insanity perhaps you might like to consider these.
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    Re: New Headphones

    Quote Originally Posted by Whiternoise View Post
    Get the cheapest pair of Sennheisers you can afford.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-C...8342284&sr=8-1

    Unless you're really, realllly tight you can stretch to £15?
    That is pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Cheers

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    Re: New Headphones

    As far as I know, the Creative and the Sennheiser CX300 are based on the same driver though, so should sound similar/the same. Not sure how much of an upgrade the CX300-II brings.

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    Re: New Headphones

    Quote Originally Posted by PeteSmith View Post
    Well just in case you do decide to take another giant leap into the realms of insanity perhaps you might like to consider these.
    I bought a pair of Shure E4cs a while back and don't feel the need to upgrade for more quality. I find my early mp3 rips really don't do them justice.

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    Re: New Headphones

    Tell you what, the creative ep 630's are great and well worth the price (i paid £5 from amazon for mine). The cx300's arent bad at all but build quality seems poor, my friends all have had theirs break and so did i, under a year and eventually i decided to get some different buds since i went through 2 pairs. I got the razer protone m100's, they are better than the cx300's and build quality is far superiour IMO, unfortunately mine just broke at the connector after a year and now im just replacing the 3.5mm jack to reuse them .

    Only £15 at play.
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    Re: New Headphones

    No matter what how high end you go for your 'main' I don't think it's such a bad idea to have some bang for buck cheapies that would not be too heartbreaking if it breaks. I don't really want to take my Westone UM2 to the gym so I am I've also been asking about something cheaper to complement them (I'll most likely go with what the suggested Klipsch X1 for £20).

    To be honest though, having tried IEMs up to the range of the Shure E500/530 (£230?), I've come to the conclusion that high-end IEMs aren't for me. They are great when isolation is required (e.g. on a plane), but at the same price, I find myself preferring the sound of good full headphones.

    Still, since getting the AGK K701, I am done in terms of upgrades for a long time though. Next upgrade, if there is one, would be one of those.

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    Re: New Headphones

    Quote Originally Posted by TooNice View Post
    .... I find myself preferring the sound of good full headphones.
    As do I. But lugging my Stax electrostatics, with the separate control box, about with me connected to a portable MP3 player looks a bit daft.

    I tried a couple of Etymotics (ER5/ER6 IIRC), but ended up with Shure E4cs. If you're particular about your music, then good in-ear units really are worth it, if you can afford it, IMHO. But these are way outside the budget in this thread, so I'll leave it at that.

    Last time I looked at units at about the budget required was several years ago, and for the price, the Sennheiser MX500 took some beating. I doubt they're still available but I've yet to be disappointed by Sennheiser.

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    Re: New Headphones

    With IEMs, i think the bang for buck probably stops at the Shure SE110s. They're not so expensive as to break the bank, but they're a massive step up from normal buds. They lack the bass you get with other earphones, but I suspect that's mostly a case of people not really appreciating them. Generally there is this obsession with a booming bassline, but once you start listening to a speaker that doesn't let it muddy the mids you'll wonder why people want bass so much. If you want bass, get a set of cans.

    The Shures have a nice response, they don't distort until above most people's comfort levels and for the price point the mids are basically unmatched.

    Once you start going above £150, I don't think it's really worth getting IEMs any more. Headphones offer, in general, a better sound stage (i.e. the invisible stage inside your head, cheap phones will make the sound seem squashed) and are nicer to listen to - debatable. Also, once you hit £150-200 you'll start to get fast decreasing returns on your money, especially if you haven't got an amp. If you can afford to get a portable headphone amp or a DAC then fine, but then you're not the sort of person that worries about £200 on a set of phones!

    Sticking with Shures, i'm about to order a set of Shure SRH440s - cans rather than buds, the reviews seem generally very favourable, plus the price is right

    I know i sound like a sales rep for them, but they've been great to me. They replaced my old set for free when the cables broke and i've been happy with their phones ever since i bought them. I'm slowly weaning my girlfriend round to them, massive step up from iPod buds!

  16. #15
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    Re: New Headphones

    I've got some CX300s and I'm impressed with them (not edition II though). They've been rarked about a bit too and survived.

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    Re: New Headphones

    Have to say, impressed with Amazon once again. Ordered X1 last Friday and received it today on the free postage. Will try the headphones later.

    @Saracen: Point wholly taken, but given that I am probably doing something else when I am out and about, I can deal with 'less' details/soundstage and so on. Only exception is when I am taking a long flight/train ride (when are they going to build a high speed trains in the UK), but that's only applies every few months for me. The Westone UM2 are actually based on the Shure E5 drivers, so classes as upper-mid end, yet it's still quite far off from upper-mid end full sized cans.

    Given that a modest £15-20 Koss headphone give at least 80% of more expensive Grados cans, I think it makes sense (assuming limited budget) like to find something that's similarly good value amongst IEMs (if it exists), and go for the best I can afford for use at home.

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