Looking to buy first headphones ever

[Alex94z]

Okay so i have recently decided to look at headphones to use, mainly for my computer but also would be great if i could use them with my phone when im out and about (although this isnt a must). I am clueless when it comes to headphones, highs lows mids ohms what have you mean veryy little to me and even after extensive time trying to learn about it all i still feel like i need someone that knows what they are talking about to help me pick the right ones especially if i am planning to spend £100-250.

With openback / closeback if i were to buy headphones for multiuse to use at home and outside i would definately want closeback especially for places such as uni so that id be able to listen to music without disturbing other people, however if someone pointed out some great home headphones openback would be cool.

I listen to a bit of everything when it comes to music, the only music types i dont really like are heavy metal, pop music, drumb and bass etc. i also do a lot of gaming, although please know that i am not interested in a gaming headset or a microphone. I am also curious as to whether i should invest into a soundcard for my PC if i am spending a lot of money on headphones to get good results from them, i have a Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3 motherboad and im not sure whether or not the onboard sound is good enough to support a decent pair of headphones. As i previously stated i dont really want to spend any more than £250 on headphones although i would class a soundcard out of the budget.

ANY AND ALL REPLIES ARE MUCH APPRECIATED

 

[ksham]

One of my favorite pair of headphones even now is the VMODA M100. It has a bit of a burn in period but the soundstage on it is just really good. It has heavy bass, which if you don't like bass, it's not the headphones for you. It isn't fully closed and not fully open. There are a few slots for airflow and that really helps its sound signature. That said, unless you are playing really loudly, no one can hear the music leaking. There is leakage but usually very minimal unless you listen to music at very loud volume.

The only bad thing about the M100 is that vocals with piano do not work too well on it. Especially some female singers who hit some very high notes with bg music being only a piano or some simple guitar. It's not terrible sounding, but it just sounds very loud and lots more sound leakage in that case. I never like those songs much so it's not a problem for me. That's about it. It can play everything else very well.

 

[Alex94z]

Thanks for your fast reply, i have since looked at many reviews of your suggested headphone on Youtube and have found them to be on offer for £185 at the moment on amazon. Ive also heard in reviews now that the M50x are a great all rounder set of headphones, what i want to know is do the m100 punish you for listening to music, songs which are not bass heavy, or do they only shine when you listen to music with deep bass like hip hop and dubstep etc ?

 

[americanaudiophile]

You should definitely give these a listen:
http/www.grado.co.uk/
You can get a real audiophile quality headphone and not have to listen to music around the faults of the headphones. They have a few models in your range.

 

[ttimberlak443]

I've always enjoyed Sennheiser and Shure. I've used Sennheiser HD280 Pro's, HD558's, HD595's, and some others that I can't remember. Over the years I've used Shure E2's, E3's, E4's, E5's, SE215's, SE315's, SE535's, and again, some others that I can't remember.

All of these are great. For open accoustics, Sennheiser makes some great stuff. Their HD series is mostly open, and they sound pretty good. With the Shure's, I'm still using a pair of E5's (although they are old and on their last leg) and I could not be much happier with them in terms of sound. I am a big fan of their IEM's.

The SE215's make most users happy. They are relatively comfortable, have a detachable cable, and they sound good too. I will probably be picking up a pair of these for myself when the E5's finally give out.

Just recently I listened to a pair of Ultimate Ears heaphones. I don't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure they were the UE6000's. I was impressed with them, especially compared the the JBL's and Audio Technica's right next to them. They had a very fun and balanced sound. They go over your head and are closed. A lot of people don't mind that when they are out and about, but I prefer to have in-ears. That is just me though. On a side note, I seem to remember these headphones having a built in amp (so they do want batteries even when plugged in), but that would eliminate the need of getting an amp for them if you want to power them all the way. Keep in mind, though, I did only listen to these for about 5 minutes.

I know I didn't really give an exact answer, but headphones seem to be a matter of preference. But hopefully you can take a look at some of these suggestions and narrow down your search.

 

[ksham]

what i want to know is do the m100 punish you for listening to music, songs which are not bass heavy, or do they only shine when you listen to music with deep bass like hip hop and dubstep etc ?

They work for all kinds of music. I listen to all genre of music other than death metal, emo, and screamo. But I don't really like listening to high vocals on the M100. Other than that, I have no issues with the M100 on different genres.

Sennheiser is a good brand and their sound quality is good but the majority of their headphones are built very poorly. They break with little abuse.

 

[Alex94z]

Guys thankyou all for your time in helping me chose some headphones. I chose the V-Modas 100 as they had a tonne of great reviews by people on youtube and had very high ratings. i was initially concerned that they would be geared more towards just bass lovers and would do little justice for other types of music however it looks as though it does all music very well but obviously has very tight and good bass. I ordered them on amazon for £185, for some reason the white colour was £65 cheaper but there was only 1 left in stock and after buying them they went back up to £250. I am looking foward to having them delivered tommorow and starting the burn proccess, some guy suggested up to 80 hours jazz music with mid volume. Should i invest in a soundcard / amplifier or do these headphones work great as they are with standered motherboards and mobiles? again thankyou for your time and helping me chose.

 

[ksham]

You can always buy the sound card later. Test it out after the burn-in period. If you are not satisfied with onboard sounds, then buy a sound card. Yeah, it takes a while to burn in. Once it's burned in, it is so good. The soundstage on the M100 is fantastic. My advice, pick 5-10 tracks of every genre that you listen to and create a playlist on your media player. Then plug in the headphones and play away. Just let it sit there playing. You don't have to listen to it. Heck, use an ipod or another computer to do that. In the meantime, focus on something else. Obviously, you can listen in to feel how it sounds. It still sounds great before the burn in period, but afterward, it really becomes very clear.

But it's best to pick 5-10 tracks of every genre that you listen to (or at least your favorites) and just put them on repeat all.