Best pair of headphones for iPod

The iPod uses the standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack like almost all headphones and small speakers.

I've heard great things about the Grado SR-60. Maybe there's also a Grado SR-80 or something. Anyway, those are under $100 and apparently very good, although I've never tried them.

I have a pair of Sony MDR-V600 headphones which sound awesome. They are $100 about and probably not worth it compared to others in the 80's or so but whatever. They were an awesome increase in sound from my Aiwa $40 pair.

...well at least with bass, the rest could be imagined but my Sony's definitely handle bass well.

For me, the iPod earbuds are brilliant. I just put my iPod's settings on "EQ - Small Speakers", and volume adjustment off. If the volume adjustment is on, it tends to distort thumping sounds. The small speakers setting also tends to eliminate "s" sounds being over-loud.

I use the buds in public, and I use my A$100 Sony headphones at home. They are the MDRCD380 HiFi Headphones. Very nice! Outstanding bass, outstanding everything!


Dunno, never tried them. I didn't know Bose made headphones. Off to bose.com or whatever to have a look... m.

I have the Grado SR-80s and they are, by far, the best headphones I've heard.

The iPod earbuds seem okay at first, but after comparing them to my Koss KSC-50s there's really no contest. The Koss blow the earbuds out of the water. The earbuds don't seem to have any depth; their sound is hollow and empty. The Koss, on the other hand, are quite powerful for their size and they really allow me to get the most out of my music.

I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD-270s, which are big, fully sealed headphones. The sound is very good in the Sennheisers, but I'd have to say the Koss are closer to the Sennheisers in quality than they are to the earbuds. In fact, if I cover my ears with my hands while wearing the Koss, there's very little difference between them and the Sennheisers.

The main problem with the KSC-50s is comfort. They're clip-on style, which means they are not great if you're going to be wearing them for more than an hour at a time. They can pinch your ears a bit. But once you get used to them they are very comfortable.

I have just ordered Etymotic er-4p in-ear (not quite the same as 'ear bud') earphones from ebay for $205 USD, which is a STEAL. These usually go for $279-330 USD. These are consistently rated as five star 'phones by serious audiophiles. I can't wait! What a nice complement to my cheapy panasonic MP3 discman.

I read reviews about these on iPodlounge, audioreview, and countless other web sites, and read nothing but gushing praise. They go IN your ear, sealing off outside sound (bus noise, train/plane noise, etc) and deliver virtually immaculate, rich, perfect sound. Yum.

AFA Bose Triports, I have used them, as my sister has a pair. Well, she's on her third pair. While they have good sound, esp. for their size and weight (and accordingly, comfort), I'd rate their build quality as flimsy, virtually designed to break. Hard to explain, you have to see them, but a small plastic nub on either 'phone is all that holds it together, and on the headband. The nub breaks, inevitably, and then your phones fall apart.

For such pricey headphones, and something which is designed to be portable, I'm pretty shocked at how easy the are to break. IMHO, this is a major drawback.

Also, while their sound is good, it's not breathtaking. I'd scour audioreview for top rated phones and get some Grados instead (if I weren't getting the heavenly Etymotic ER-4Ps).

But seriously, just about anything is a step above stock earbuds that come with portable players. There's a reason they are bundled as freebies.

The ONLY way to go:

Sony MDR-V700DJ Studio Monitor Series DJ Headphones



Sooo nice.

Frequency response: 5 to 30,000 Hz

(compared to 8 to 25,000 Hz, 18 - 22,000Hz, 25-21,000 Hz - some average ranges you'd typically find)

'nuff said.

Only downside might be heavyness for travel and power consumption, although neither have bothered me, but maybe your needs are different. They fold up quite well and fit in my iBook case with room to spare.

Etymotics are another story. They don't need to go so low as 5 Hz because they are inside the ear canal. Basically the closer the speaker is to the ear, the less you need to pump the bass. The pressure in your ears due to the plugs provides the bass. Regular headphones demand that they throw more volume at the problem of producing bass. The real problem is that we aren't really supposed to hear bass as much as feel it in our bodies. Headphones only imitate real life bass. Live music is so exciting because it flows through us. Headphones thumping our eardrums is no substitute. I'd wager Etymotics are best (I've not tried them) but if they aren't your style and you promise to take it easy on the volume, Sony MDR-V700DJ is still the best.

Grado's sound awesome, but are too doggone big to walk around with IMHO. I feel like a doofus with those big cans on my head as I go down the street.

Also, the biggest gripe I have with most headphones, relative to my iPod/earbuds is that the cables are always so dang long.

The iPod earbud cable length is perfect for the iPod. They just don't sound that great.

That said, I got a pair of Sennheiser PX200s (cause I wanted a closed 'phone). Around $50. Awesome sound. Very portable - they fold up into a little case. Considering I'm gonna be using them with a very small portable device, portability in the headphones is key - to me.

Now, for home use, I'd definitely look at the Grados, bigger Senns, or large Sony's. Just not something I want to shove in my pocket.

Also, with the bigger headphones, it might be a good idea to get an in-line amp, but that's just one more thing I'd hate to have to lug around to get good sound.

Check out www.headphone.com

I like walking around with a pair of old skool cans on my head. I think it makes me look cool. Personally, since I got used to the grado sr-60's I never use anything else. You can find them for around $60. That leaves $40 for another pair or not so big 'phones if you want to work out or something with your iPod.

Ideally you'd go some place and try them out.

I know there are other factors besides frequency response, but personally that's my baseline judgement factor.

Look around and you will not see headphones going down to 5 Hz or up to 30,000 Hz. The most opprobrious online headphone dealers will tend to hide these statistics, so look deeply. In a store, ask to see the box or pamphlet. It's your right as a consumer. Also look at the manufacturer's website for the stats. They tend to be better about showing them since they are obligated to, whereas dealers aren't.

Frequency response tells you how low are the lows and how high are the highs. Other stats are important, but this has the most dramatic effect. I'd wager that other statistics become less an issue (such as loudness or what point they distort) if you can hear a satisfying range at lower volumes.

I praise the Sony I mentioned particularly because I work in a 15x15 office with 6 other people, AC and phones, plus 6 computers humming and usually 2 people playing their own music softly through their computer speakers. Hell. Also I take the commuter train (the Amtrak kind). Between those 2 environments, I needed good over the ear headphones plus higher highs and lower lows than I might need say if I was jogging by a river or laying in the hammock out back or in my den.

It's a very personal choice, also depending on the type of music you listen to. I really love bass and and find that I don't need to crank up the volume as much as with other headphones.

Aside: I often play music with the earphones more on my sideburns and not on my ear, so I can hear discussions around the room yet have personal music playing. This lets me turn it up a bit more. Yeah we are geeks.

Re: Etymotics via ebay: Please tell me you are buying some fresh earplugs. You could easily get an ear infection if you use someone else's.

Misc: I tend to not like actual "noise cancelling" headphones, I'm too aware of the slight sounds they make. Granted it's minute compared to the noise they do cancel, but I'm picky.

Grados: Look cool. Wish their site actually sold them But I collect headphones so I'd get them to merely augment the Sony's I have.

Big Cans: Yes but these Sony DJs are snug at least. I bet you could excercise with them, but why get all that sweat on such nice headphones I do feel like a dork with big headphones but then I look at the cool homeboy 2 seats up with the same pair and think "no, it's just me that is a dork, the headphones rock and we know it" No, I don't own Sony stock...)

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Take care of your ears and take it easy on the volume!

Some people don't like them, but really, no one can recommend a better value for the money than the Sony MDR-EX71s.

I love mine to death. They sound awesome to me, and I'm not going to pair up my very portable iPod with a pair of huge studio cans while I'm riding on the MTR or walking down the street.

Yeah, I know but I don't care I have too many almost-deaf friends with painful tinnitus. Me? I used ear plugs when I was a rocker. Now I keep the volume at 50-75% depending on the settings. It's not fun to be deaf. We can't enjoy music with our eyeballs, although music videos are nice to look at.

Anyway, the Sony's come with a 1/8th inch plug as its attached plug, same as the iPod requires, but they also have a threaded end that lets you screw on a well designed 1/4 inch adapter. It's not clunky in my opinion, but integrated. Thankfully it's not 1/4 inch with a screw-on 1/8th inch So, my 1/4 inch adapter just sits near the stereo at home, unused mostly. But it's good for watching movies at night.

Regarding settling on one, by all means ask and explore. I'm always interested in seeing all the alternatives out there. I've seen some here that intrigue me despite them differing from some of my needs or specs.

I don't know if I could ever rationalize paying more than $50-$60 for a pair of headphones, and that sounds like a lot right there!

I sympathize, but if we buy an iPod we're talking $200+ to begin with...

And the headphones are the most important thing standing between you and the music. Well worth it to me.

Think of it as buying an Apple studio display and then wearing a welder's mask when you use it. Ok maybe sunglasses is a better analogy...

Funny I was going to say "stick to a $100-150 range and you should find a good pair from almost any company" above but decided to edit that.

I'm not rich but when I buy I want it to last 5 or more years. And my prior headphones lasted well beyond that. Sony's kinda like Macintosh in that it's more expensive but when I move on to a newer one the old ones are still good. I then pass them down to my mom or friends, who love them even if they not brand new.

(I've only had one complaint about any Sony product: My stereo's remote is missing a button to choose TV as the intput method. So I actually have to GET UP to change from CD/radio/tape to TV. so lazy)

The ER-4 or ER-6 are both amazing...
http://www.etymotic.com/

NeilyB

They are tempting. But they cost as much as an iPod Not that there's anything wrong with that...

One this is certain, higher quality headphones means you'll want to use AAC encoding from now on, and weed out MP3s for MP4s in your collection. MP3 doesn't cut it except at the higher compression. But save disk space and use AAC.

the ER-6 is $139.00, a bit steep but damn worth it

Whoa. On the suggestion of someone at www.head-fi.org (an excellent place to talk about audio with audiophiles), I removed the pads from my KSC-50s. Now they're comfortable and the sound quality is excellent! Better than my Sennheiser HD-270s (which are not thought of very highly by the crowd there because they're too boomy). Highly recommended! They're only like $20 or something but for the money they rock.

EDIT: Upon further use of my padless KSC-50s, I'm hearing stuff I never heard in songs I like. In "Within You Without You" by the Beatles, about 2/3 of the way through, you can hear one of them whispering something near the end of an interlude. Before, I only heard someone whisper "two..." and then the music picked up again, but now without the pads I heard quite a bit leading up to it. Also, the fact that I can pick up a significant difference means something because I'm not the type of person who can normally pick up on slight audio differences. For example, MP3 encoding over 160 kbps sounds just fine to me, but some people can't even listen to 320 kbps MP3s, they have to use the uncompressed CD.

I keep hearing a lot of good things about the Shure E-2's also. I haven't been able to try them myself, but they are an in-the-ear isolating type of bud for less than a hundred.

cylon: check these reviews:
http://www.audioreview.com/Headphone...9_2750crx.aspx
The look cool and apparently sound pretty decent, but I'd get the ER-6 for $30 more.

johnq: The ER-4Ps are brand new. That's why at $225 (shipping) they are a steal.

AFA the sony DJ headphones: BEWARE: You want a pair of 'low impedance' headphones, DJ headphones are (surely?) designed to be plugged into an amp, and thus are likely to be high impedance.
What this means: even at the highest volume setting music will be too quiet.

That's why I got the Etymotic ER-4P instead of the ER-4S (that, and you can get a cable that turns the P into an S). I will be plugging these into a discman and someday an iPod.

AFA dropping mad coin on phones, I'm not rich (far from it!) but these puppies will last me years and give me (a music junkie) tremendous pleasure. Also, I'll likely be using these on the bus daily and I don't want 'noise cancelling' headphones for a variety of reasons (batteries, sound quality, clunkyness), so the 23db drop in external noise supplied by the etys is a major feature. It allows you to keep them at a low volume levels even in noisy environments, saving my precious ears.

Besides, compared to Shure E5c ($500) (Yum!) or Precision Labs Challenger Pro 6500 ($750) they are great value for money... for me

Eh? What brand of crack are you smoking? All the headphones I've looked at have power handling rated in mW -- less than 1W. I haven't seen a pro amp that puts out less than 100x that. Plugging headphones into an amp would probably make you go deaf about a tenth of a second before they explode (literally).

Edit: I've used Sony's DJ headphones and they go a lot louder than I need them to, and without any extra gear too.

I recently walked into a Bang & Olufsen store and tried out their headphones. I must say that these were the most comfortable earbud-like headphones I've ever hried, and the sound was unbelievable! I couldn't believe my ears, and it felt like they weren't even in. They are $160, which seems like a lot for earbuds, but I they were so good I almost bought them on the spot. I guess I'll have to wait until payday... \

Whisper, take my word for it... many (high end) headphones are high impedance, like, eg, Etymotic ER-4S. Which means 'loud enough' volumes CANNOT be achieved with low power amps from CD discmen and iPods. If someone buys high impedance headphones with the intention of using them with a portable, they will be sorely disappointed with their expensive investment.

PS... you can circumvent this with a portable amp... but the extra batteries, hassle, and cost suggest this should probably be avoided (unless you really are an audiophile!).

edit: Whisper, notice that virtually all amps have a 1/4" stereo headphone jack socket.

I've looked at hundreds of amps and never once have I seen a headphone jack on one. Just two input channels, two output channels, and two volume knobs. Are we talking about the same thing here?

Edit: You're talking about Home Theater amps, right? I was talking about Pro Audio amps. Two different beasts. The Stereo 1/4" jack to which you refer doesn't amplify the signal (or not much, anyway).

I know you are not looking for another set of earbuds, but...
Have you considered Sony's MDR-EX71SL.

Super comfortable, you don't even feel them, since these things are inserted right into your ear canal, they won't fall out. They sound fantastic IMHO, and u can get them in white on eBay.

:-)

No, I think he's referring to headphone amps. They do exist, and in fact, they're supposed to make headphones sound a LOT better. There are even portable amps you can get for on the go.

This site is amazing and will help you to figure out what you want to get. I live by mt Sennheiser HD 280 pro's. I totally reccommend headphone.com to anyone who is looking for some really good headphones.

$330 earbuds?!?!??!? The hell you people have money to throw around or somethin????

Those Sony V7000DJ are dope...was thinkin bout gettin some but then again I want some earbuds for my Sony walkman...and I already got some old skool cans that I use with my computer too.

Anyone know if these are any good??? http://www.audiocubes.com/product_in...5218c3bf4cd823

Whisper, man you are exasperating. If you don't know what "High Impedance" means, you really don't know much about headphones, audio, and amplification. Type some search terms into google or something.

There is an amp in an iPod, but it does not produce enough power for high impedance headphones to sound reasonably loud. Period. Thus, you will need low impedance headphones (for any portable player), which DJ-specific headphones are likely not. WHy not? Because DJs spin records, and the signal out of a record player is unbelievably weak; it requires amplification.

AFA headphone amplifiers, here's a bunch. Cool, yet I can't really see using one enough to justify the cost. They suck batteries too of course.

The Sony's are low impedance:

Sony MDR-V700:
Impedance: 24 ohms Ê

Typical impedance for headphones is around 75 - 150 ohms.

Etymotic ER-6 Isolator:
Impedance: 48 ohms

Sennheiser HD 497:
Impedance: 32 ohms

Mac Man,

Impedance is usually explicitly stated in the specs, look for a number with "ohms" after it, or sometimes using the Greek omega symbol.

Mac Man,

Well yes, but we don't know what 1337_5L4Xx0R is calling a high impedance headphone. He hasn't said what is bad/good/best.

Longer post forthcoming....gotta work, sorry