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Thread ID: 123245	2012-02-13 06:48:00	Speaking of headphones	Metla (12)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1258955	2012-02-13 06:48:00	In a previous thread I asked for headphone recomendations. I ended up buying 2 pairs as I wanted a set to takeaway with me immediatly and I wanted a "quality" set that needed to be ordered in. I ended up buying a set of TDK St-150's. I paid $40 from the junkhouse, they are available for $20 from Mightyape. At $40 I consider that I got ripped, $20 is good value for money. Initial impressions are they are cheaply made junk. They aren't overly loud, aren't uncomfortable but certainly not what I would call a comfort set. Bass is good in that it gives the audio some bottem end without changing the music to harshly. To my ears they don't blow me away but they do the job. Granted I was listening to Mp3's on a douchebag iphone so who the hell knows. The cord is long (always a positive in my book, easy to shorten when required,lets see you make a short cord longer) they are light enough to wear while exercising and stay on your head. I used them while running, gaming, and watching movies. I would recommend them......at $20 The second set I bought are the sennheiser 515 for $130 Initial impressions are they are cheaply made junk, they certainly have 2 or 3 cents extra plastic in them then the TDK's but nothing about the materials or construction screams quality. More like weak, flimsy, tacky. They are however much more comfortable, due to a couple extra pieces of foam and the over the ear cup which taking into account my huge stick out ears they done very nicely. Audio wise, I'd call em crap. They bleed sound making them useless if anyone else is in the room and they are barely loud enough to block out casual conversation. Hell, my 4 year old son came and sat next to me so he could listen to the music, and when he talked I could hear him clear as a bell. Audio was weak and tinny. I got better results when plugging them directly into my amp and fudging some settings. The amplification meant I could push them a lot harder and to their merit they didn't distort too badly even when playing Rust in Peace at a level beyond their capabilities. Still, nothing great about them. Not something I'd recommend. Useless for my requirements. If I want everyone else in the room to be annoyed by what I'm listening to I'll just use the speakers....	Metla (12)
1258956	2012-02-13 07:36:00	Senns HD555 are good, you can pick them up on trademe for <$100. They have an open design which means sound will bleed (like your ones). They are a bit on the plastic-y side but are very comfortable and have very good sound for the price. Also, there is a mod you can do (pull a bit of foam out from inside each earcup) which makes them identical (in sound) to the HD595 model.	forrest44 (754)
1258957	2012-02-13 07:37:00	Get a pair or Grado headphones. Any of their range, they start at about $180. That's if you don't mind open ear headphones. I brought a pait of Grado SR60's, one of the best purchases I've ever made.	pine-o-cleen (2955)
1258958	2012-02-13 07:40:00	Senns HD555 are good, you can pick them up on trademe for <$100. They have an open design which means sound will bleed (like your ones). They are a bit on the plastic-y side but are very comfortable and have very good sound for the price. Also, there is a mod you can do (pull a bit of foam out from inside each earcup) which makes them identical (in sound) to the HD595 model. Cheeky sennheiser, putting in a bit of foam to cheapen the sound. Cheeky as.	pine-o-cleen (2955)
1258959	2012-02-13 08:53:00	I'm not planning on purchasing a 3rd set, I'll use the TDK's, the sennheisers can go on the junk pile until I do my next trademe clean out. Not a brand I'd buy again.	Metla (12)
1258960	2012-02-13 09:37:00	What are you using as an amp? Not just plugging direct into PC....?	Alex B (15479)
1258961	2012-02-13 10:18:00	What are you using as an amp? Not just plugging direct into PC....? Talking of amps... I did notice a definite increase in sound quality, moving from running on a line out (on a good quality card) to an actual headphone amp. I was actually quite surprised, the line out sounds somewhat mushy/not that well defined in comparison. Not sure how much difference it would make a cheap pair of headphones, but interesting to note your TDK's sounded different Metla Must be something with the impedance matching or something... is anyone knowledgeable on this?	forrest44 (754)
1258962	2012-02-13 12:46:00	I'm not a big fan of headphones so I can't recommend any, but I can comment that the output of most soundcards and built in audio is a compromise at best when driving headphones and will never be perfect. It's a line level output designed to be fed to an amplifier that through common usage became a dual purpose lineout / headphone jack so manufacturers made it dual purpose, but it lacks the power to drive headphones properly even so and does most likely have an impedance mismatch in most cases which will effect the frequency response. On top of that there's a simple human perception thing that is often overlooked, louder sounds better. I once read a very well researched article about the net effect of oxygen free speaker cables and high quality cables with gold connectors that concluded that the actual effect was the same as turning up the volume knob one step because all they do is reduce the signal loss a fraction, it explained that extra volume is usually perceived as better quality by listeners.	dugimodo (138)
1258963	2012-02-13 18:49:00	I'm not planning on purchasing a 3rd set, I'll use the TDK's, the sennheisers can go on the junk pile until I do my next trademe clean out. Not a brand I'd buy again. You can never have too many headphones. Buy, buy buy!	pine-o-cleen (2955)
1258964	2012-02-13 18:58:00	While on i have been looking for some to listen to the comp, and watch telly on, on the comp as well, cos i cannot wear ear bud ones, and the loop over the ear ones fall off in competition for my hearing aids, i need a pair that goes over the whole ear and cuts out all outside noise, i dont care if they hear it, and i do not want to pay the $100 zone, im happy with $20 - 70 price bracket if can give me any ideas... Thanks beetle :)	beetle (243)
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