HeadphoneGuide - SH/SC Wiki

Prologue: Terminology

- Some things you ought to know:

*SNR - Signal-to-noise ratio. Just as you would imagine, this is the level of clean signal to noise coming out of your sound card or portable player. Look for at least 100dB if you don't want audible distortion (usually in the form of a high pitched hiss) when you turn up the volume; 106dB and above indicates an exceptionally clean sound.

*THD - Total Harmonic Distortion. Similarly, this is self-explanatory. View this figure as the amount of originally-recorded sound reaching your ears compared to distortion introduced by your components. Figures of 0.01% and lower are desirable for sound cards, though many "high end" multimedia speakers expect you to put up with figures as high as 3.0% in some cases; with low end ones, figures of up to 12% aren't uncommon. Good headphones are, without exception, lower than 1.0%, and most are an order of magnitude lower than that.

*DAC - Digital-to-analog-converter. This is where your sound is coming from, essentially. A good DAC has a high signal-to-noise ratio and little THD.

*Source - Where your sound is coming from. This can be applied to the unit as a whole (my computer is my source) or to individual components of it (my source is FooBar2000 playing mp3s encoded with LAME VBR -aps via kernal streaming through my M-Audio Revolution 5.1). Context lets you know to which particular this applies.

*Cans, Phones - Headphones, mang.

*Driver - A speaker

*Soundstage - The presentation of the sound in relation to the listener.

*Balance - In sound, this refers to the accuracy of reproduction. A balanced response is accurate, an unbalanced one is colored.

"But Agreed," you say, "you promised you wouldn't use bullshit audiophile words!

*Colored - Simply to what extent, and where, the frequency is altered in reproduction. The important thing to remember is that coloration is really only acceptable within certain degrees; I'd say +/-3dB (or roughly twice/half as much power output) is well within boundaries. I'm not even bothered by +/-5dB, although that's much easier to hear. +/-7 and above is essentially inaudible or overpowering compared to the rest of the sounds being produced, and can lead to fatigue at otherwise-normal listening levels and a poor reproduction of sound. Even the highest end headphones have a bizarre treble response, simply because of the way the drivers have to be tuned to accurately reproduce such a large spectrum of sound. If you look at any graph of the sound reproduction, you'll notice all kinds of dips in the 7000Hz-20000Hz range. This is normal, honest.

*Dynamic vs. Electrostatic - Two types of headphone. Electrostatic headphones require extreme amounts of money to operate, and Dynamic headphones are all I'll be discussing.

*Impedance - An indicator of the amount of voltage and current required to operate a pair of headphones. High impedance headphones (above 120 ohm) require a substantial voltage, while low impedance headphones (120 ohm and below) require substantial current. Most reasonably priced headphone amplifiers are EITHER high current or high voltage. The PA2V2, mentioned elsewhere, is low voltage / high current and so matches best with 120 ohm and under headphones, while a CMoy driven off of a couple of 9V batteries is high voltage / low current and matches best with higher impedance sources.

Section 1 - Upgrade Path: How should I go about this headphone business, anyway?

1. A good source --> 2A. A good amplifier (not always necessary)/2B. A good set of cans (always necessary) --> 3. X

-1. Source

From what does the sound originate? No matter how good the rest of your stuff is, if you're running off a 128CBR Mp3 through a terrible motherboard RealTek AC97 DAC, you're going to get terrible sound output quality. At the least, you owe it to your ears to get the Chaintech AV710. Using "High Quality Mode" outputs the sound through the rear DACs, which have a SNR of 106dB and a very low THD figure.You can get it from newegg at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120103
The Chaintech AV710 is not a fantastic card for anything but listening to two-channel audio, being particularly limited in games and recording. The rest of the DACs on the card are of a much lower quality. I include this recommendation because it is a great card for analog stereo output for headphone listening purposes!

--2A. Amplifier

How is the sound getting to your speakers? Even the shittiest speakers can sound better with a quality amplifier than with a terrible one. Compare the output of a quality sound card, for example, to that of a portable CD player using exactly the same headphones. Both have similar power characteristics, likely enough, so you should easily be able to discern how the poor circuitry and bad shielding, combined with low-quality parts and DACs affects the sound.

Most portable players output less than 20mW. Most sound cards output between 5mW and 30mW. These output levels are simply insufficient to properly drive a good set of headphones.

A good starting amplifier with great portability is the Pocket Amp 2 for $50-$70, offering 200mW of output via two rechargable NiMH batteries (it features a recharging circuit within it, and it charges while plugged in and running off AC). It is able to operate at that output due to its efficient, modern op-amp, which utilizes a high-current/low-voltage design. Very good feature-to-price ratio, and an extremely solid amplifier.

If you're a do-it-yourself'er (or don't mind hitting up EBay), I recommend making a Chu Moy circuit amp, or CMoy Amplifier. These are particularly cool because they fit in a mint tin and are very customizable. They have the advantage of socketable op-amps so you can tailor your response to your headphones if that's something you want to do. Additionally, these typically run off of one or more 9V batteries, so can manage higher voltage swings than the PA2V2, important for driving high impedance headphones to very high volumes accurately. (I can personally attest that the PA2V2 doesn't struggle with 300Ohm headphones like the Sennheiser HD580 at listening volumes, but would potentially begin to show its limitations as you approach very high volumes (say, 96dB+). You really shouldn't be listening to headphones that loudly, though.

--2B. Headphones

Through what do you hear the sound? Even the best amplifier sounds terrible with shitty headphones. A list of headphones I have personally used, in various impedances and price ranges, is found at the end.

3. X

Oh, so you think a good crossfeed DSP would help your headphone listening experience? You're right, it would. Throw in some cash for that... And how about this lovely 32-band weighted equalizer? That'd probably let you tweak your sound with a lot more finess...

As you can see, X is pretty subjective, and you shouldn't even nod towards any of that vast realm without 1) a good understanding of what is bullshit and what isn't in the world of audio and 2) a fat, fat wallet, especially since with a computer sound source there are perfectly suitable DSP options available free-of-charge for every conceivable function you'd want to have, if you're using Winamp or Foobar! The prior steps, however, aren't nearly as subjective, and offer measurable (and very readily audible) improvements to your sound.

The difference between a RealtekAC97 on a low-end motherboard running 128kbps Mp3s through a pair of Radioshack $20 headphones is immensely, immensely different from LAME VBR -aps running through a Chaintech AV710 in HQ mode into even a $50 set of Koss Portapros.

Section 2 - On the necessity of a headphone amp

Headphone amplifiers offer a cost-effective way to bring a weak sound card (or portable) audio signal up to listening volumes.

"But Agreed!" you say, "I can hear my headphones just fine with my sound card!"

If you're pleased with your sound card's output, don't buy a headphone amp. Audio is extremely subjective, and if you like how it sounds, don't bother spending money to change it. Perhaps your headphones are of a low impedance (32ohms) and don't hunger for more voltage to drive them - even so, their current draw would be high enough that you'd likely benefit from an amplifier in order to accurately reproduce bass frequencies.

However, if you're using higher impedance cans (120ohm and above), you're underpowering your headphones if you're running from a weak source.

Transitory periods (literally how quickly - or, in the case of severely underpowered sources, whether - the transducer reaches and returns from full excursion) are optimum when the headphone is supplied adequately with current and voltage. If you're not giving them enough them in one area or another, your sound reproduction quality and accuracy will suffer.

Section 3: Types of headphones

There are four basic types of headphones:

-1. Closed Circumaural
Likely the type most commonly associated with headphone nerds, these are closed (meaning they have a solid enclosure that doesn't allow sound to escape or enter as easily) and encircle the entire ear, with a cushion surrounding the ear to block out sound and seal to the head more effectively.

The primary benefit to this type of headphone is the passive noise attenuation; blocking out the sound of computer fans, air-conditioners, and angry girlfriends can often help to highten the listening experience. In order to create this seal, however, they do clamp comparatively tightly, and depending on the shape of your head and ears they might fit poorly (though this has never been a problem for me, despite the fact that I have a rather large cranium).

The primary drawback is sound coloration and resonance. There is no escaping the distortion caused by having waves bounce around the enclosure, and while different manufacturers address this problem differently at various price points, the fact remains that no closed phone will have an entirely transparent reproduction. That is not necessarily a bad thing; this is one of the many elements of audio that is subjective. Expect slightly slurred bass and midbass by comparison to an open circumaural headphone - in the higher end closed phones, this becomes very slightly slurred.

--2. Closed Supra-aural
This is a fairly uncommon design, but has a following. This headphone is supra-aural, which means it rests directly on the ear, usually with some sort of foam or padding protecting the surface of the ear. Like #1, it also has a closed back; expect similar drawbacks and benefits, although to less of an extent on both ends, as it doesn't create as complete a seal. The primary sound difference here is that of immediacy; in other words, how close the sound is to your ears. Circumaural headphones present the sound slightly away, making for a more distant soundstage (many compare this to being in an audience), while supra-aural phones are much closer (commonly spoken of as being in the studio). This is one facet of the Sennheiser vs. Grado comparison; Sennheiser tends to have a farther soundstage than Grado, while Grado phones tend to present the sound as a very close mix, almost as if it were in the middle of your head.

3.Open Circumaural
This indicates the headphone has an open enclosure, which allows sound to escape and to enter, but also doesn't constrain the driver's movement, allowing for a more accurate reproduction. It also doesn't suffer from resonance problems. The best sounding headphones in the world in terms of accuracy of reproduction and lack of distortion are open headphones. Open, circumaural cans provide a very comfortable listening experience, especially if you are in a quiet environment.

Sennheiser's higher end HD cans are all open circumaural headphones.

4. Open Supra-aural Open headphones with a supra-aural design. These have presentation characteristics of supra-aural phones with the transparency of open enclosures. Aside from their unique sonic characteristics, there are some who find them to be very uncomfortable for extended use, as the foam-covered driver rests directly upon the ear (with only a minimal foam ring surrounding the driver for comfort) and tend to heat the ear as time goes on. After-market pads, for Grados and Sony headphones, can alleviate much of this discomfort.

Grado's headphones are almost exclusively open, supra-aural headphones.

Section 4. Smaller!

Aside from the aforementioned options, there are also canalphones, earbuds, clip-on supra-aurals, and in-ear phones.

Canalphones fit, as you might expect, in the ear canal. These typically provide extreme levels of noise isolation, and higher end ones can reproduce the entire spectrum of audible sound vividly and with clarity. Comfort can be a problem with mass-market sets, but there is also a subsection of the market specializing in custom-molded canalphones.

Earbuds are small drivers that fit in the "cup" of the ear, but do not protrude into it. These tend to be lacking in frequency response, but their ease of use can make up for that in situations where that is an issue.

Clip-on supra-aurals are pretty much universally bad headphones. They are simply a driver in a lightweight enclosure that clips to the ear. They tend to be uncomfortable, difficult to keep in a constant listening position, and as far as I know there aren't any high end ones around. These usually come with portable CD/Mp3CD players. There is only one exception that I can find to this general rule: Koss makes a clip-on supra-aural that uses the same driver as their Porta-Pro headphone, often regarded as one of the best values in consumer-level headphones around.

In-ear phones are small drivers that slide inside the ear but do not enter the canal to any significant degree. These are mostly out of style, anymore, but essentially filled the same niche as clip-on supra-aurals do now: low-quality headphones that appear "stylish" and come packaged with low-quality portable CD players. Note that the in-ear phones made by Shure and ER are of a generally high quality, with top end options producing what many people consider to be the most accurate sound available (for, of course, top end prices - the Ultimate Ears custom-moulded model costs roughly $900).

5. Enough about that, time to talk turkey!

Since many people wonder which headphone type to buy at any given pricepoint, I'll throw a few options out there. Remember that audio is very subjective beyond the hard facts of reproduction capability, so what I like and what you like may very well differ. The best way to be sure about your purchase is to let your ears decide - go to a store that offers some different headphones for sale and test them out yourself with a recording with which you are intimately familiar. The reason for that is so that you have a ready basis of comparison, and won't get caught up in the marketing department's trap of "choosing songs which emphasize the good traits and minimize the bad."

1. Under $20

You're looking at very cheap headphones. However, it's still possible to get a "decent" pair for this price: look towards the Koss KSC-75, clip-on supra-aurals using the highly-acclaimed (for the price) PortaPro drivers. Benefits include not needing an amplifier and portability; drawbacks include comfort issues with many people thanks to their clip-on nature.

$20-$40
Here, the primary contenders are the Koss PortaPro, with an exceptionally nice response for the money you pay (though an emphasis on bass that might turn some off), and the lower end Sennheiser headphones (PX100, HD212, HD457) that introduce you to the "laid back" Sennheiser sound. Note that they aren't particularly fantastic examples of that sound, just the tip of the iceberg; at this price, you're not going to get great headphones. In fact, the HD212 are somewhat of an off-character headphone, as they emphasize bass heavily.

$50-$100

You're opening up the playing field considerably. In this range, you're looking at Grado SR-60 and SR-80 for supra-aural headphones. They don't require an amp and have excellent sound reproduction for the price with a very punchy presentation, slightly emphasizing the bass and midbass. These are considered great headphones for rock and metal, but their presentation might be fatiguing for classical or other more laid-back styles of music. For that, you can look at the Sennheisers in this price range: HD485, HD497, HD515 for open circumaurals and the widely-respected HD-280 for closed phones. The previous three are more "Sennheiser-like" in sound reproduction, soundstaging more like the higher end Senns and offering similar sonic qualities (though not with a comparative level of fidelity).

Other options enter here, as well, such as Audio Technica and AKG - Audio Technica are Japanese imports, and as such are difficult to demo unless you've got a friend with them, but they're all good-to-excellent quality headphones in their respective types (I am especially fond of their Art series "monitors," which are similar to HD-280 but with a more balanced response in the bass and midbass). AKG make excellent cans as well.

This is where your wallet starts to hurt at the sheer number of options and potential directions you can go!

$150ish

Here, you've got a few different options: In the Grado camp, SR-125 fits this pricepoint. It is generally considered to have a less fatiguing presence than the SR-60 and SR-80, without sacrifing the punchy, dynamic output. This is also the last place you'll see a Grado for a long time, budget-wise.

Sennheiser offers a couple of excellent cans here, the HD-580 which were once the top-of-the-line Sennheiser phones and sound like it, and the HD-550, a more modern design with a wider soundstage to emulate a theater- or concert-hall presentation.

AKG, as well, contributes a set of cans to this bracket: AKG K 271. These are closed circumaurals, but they sound very different from the previously mentioned HD-280, and their build quality is higher. (Thanks user Gayfag!)

Above that pricerange, you ought to check out a better, more complete resource. Speaking of which...

What's a better resource for individual headphone properties?

I highly recommend http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-budget/ -
www.Headphone.com's by-budget guide as, aside from their snake-oil claim that even solid-state amplifiers have a burn in period, they are a very good resource with informative descriptions of all of their products, including frequency graphs where available. They have a definite hard-on for Sennheiser, but they sell many headphones and provide accurate statistics about them all. Also, this wouldn't be complete without a mention of http://headphonereviews.org which may not be that big, but the average reviewer there knows something about headphones.

6. Okay, that music listening stuff is all well and good, but all I really do with my headphones is play games! What should I consider?

Many of the same qualities to look for for music apply to games as well. However, as member RetardedPimp added, it's especially important for games with 2-speaker positional audio (FPS games, in particular) to have a soundstage wide enough to easily differentiate between the sources. Grado, with their inside-your-head presentation, are less effective than Sennheisers or Audio-Technicas (or, for that matter, any number of phones with a more distant driver) when it comes to stereo image differentiation.

Other than that, the quality differences still apply - if you want to hear the gun report as crisply as possible and footsteps to be undistorted, you'll want more expensive headphones than $6 Wal-Mart plastics!

7. User Viivac's Addendum: The High End

What's all this about headphone amps? I got a great surround receiver with a headphone jack right here!

The main reason headphone nerds buy headphone-only amps is because with a headphone amp, the focus is on the headphone jack, not the speaker outputs. By this I mean that you can buy a $2000 receiver and the sound output of the headphone jack could still sound like crap. Headphone jacks are usually an afterthought in any regular amplifier and therefore the electronics operating it is (sometimes very) sub-par.

This is why there exist so many different headphone amplifiers and why there is a market for them. There's a huge range of headphone amplifiers, ranging from the CMoy costing $60 (see above) to amplifiers costing thousands of dollars. The basic things to remember is that the circuitry operating the headphone jack in these amps are usually vastly superior to regular amps and therefore yields much better and clearer sound.

What's solid state?

Lots of things can be said about this. I'll be brief. Solid state (or SS) is an amp which reproduces sound by the means of transistors. This usually makes the sound more balanced and neutral. The sound reproduction is more faithful to it's source (ie, the CD or vinyl) and by many enthusiasts considered rather sterile, "cold" and over-analytical. What people mean by this is usually very opinionated. The vast majority of headphone amps are solid state.

What's a tube amp?

The opposite of solid state is tubes. When purchasing a headphone tube amp, the first thing is so remember that this ain't neutral. If you like maximum details and as little fluff as possible in your sound, don't buy a tube amp. Tube amps colorizes sound quite a bit and gives it a "warmer", "fuller" edge, sacrificing some detail for a lush and fatter sound not too concerned with details but more with getting everything out in the open. Again, this is opinionated and will be discussed by audiophiles until the end of time. I will leave it at that.

Sometimes I see pictures of headphones with funny colors on their cables. Is black passè now?

What you are looking at is a recabled headphone. Many people choose to recable their headphones and cables they buy do not necessarily come in black. By recabling a headphone, I mean the cables which goes from the drivers at each side of the headphone (in most cases) running from the can to the amplifier.

Why do people recable their cans?

Usually people choose to recable their cans to get something better sounding than the stock cord. There are several cord manufacturers which claim their cables brings forth a new quality in headphones and some of them may be right. This subject is heavily debated by audiophile people as some feel cables make no difference whatsoever and those who believe cables are a large part of the picture.

Most headphones are not made for recabling and as such you will need a soldering iron, a bit of patience, careful fingers and preferably soldering experience. Other cans, like some Sennheisers (the HD650, HD600 etc) are built for this purpose and if you own one of these cans, you can just pull the cord out of them with a simple grip.

I'd like to close this question saying that recabling a headphone is not something you should try yourself if you have never touched a soldering iron. Also, people generally never recable low-end and mid-end cans. When you get a headphone above the $200 mark, then most people will start to talk about cables for them, but not before you reach that watermark.

Some popular cables are the Equinox, Cardas Zu and Moon Audio types.

As for if it makes any difference, that's up to you to decide.

Interconnects? Is that like the Internets?

Interconnects is the bullshit audiophile word for the cable which goes from your source to your amp.

There exists so many interconnects (hereafter called IC) of different quality/build/cost it is mindboggling. Again, this is so heavily debated many audiophiles tend to ignore the question if cables make any difference outright. If you are still interested, I won't go into technical details, but will suffice to say that I at least hear a difference between some cables.

IC's range from $2 a metre to tens of thousands of dollars a metre. Cables are however nothing you should concern yourself with first. Getting a decent set of cans is priority 1. After that, sources, amps and cables gains relevance.

Some popular choices in the headphone world is the Grover UR series of IC's, Oritek X-1, the Cardas series of IC's and Meier Audio RCA-RCA.

What are some high end choices when money concerns are (somewhat) optional?

First of all you should decide whether you want to go dynamic or electrostatic. Some choices in the dynamic world are the Sennheiser HD650, Beyerdynamic DT880, Grado RS-1/PS-1, AKG K1000/K701. Just to give you some indications of price here, the DT880 I would guess is around $250 while the Grado PS-1 is $1400, so the range is rather large.

Enough of the newbie stuff, let's talk about the heavies.

In electrostatic is where it's at. The top high-end starts here and it's mostly led by Stax. An old Japanese headphone manufacturer of many years, they build pricey electrostatic headphone systems, usually matching both headphones and amp together.
These are actually somewhat affordable if you are willing to spend a few thousand dollars.

The Sony R10 is also kinda affordable, although it is not for general sale anymore.
Same with the Sennheiser HE90, or "Orpheus" as it is called. This is a limited edition headphone system, including both cans and amp. To get these babies, you will want to shell out something between $6000 to $10000.

As for amplifiers. You can get high end headphone amps for $800-$1000 although the fun doesn't really start before you get into the balanced amp market. You can get a nice balanced amp for $2-3000 stock. Then comes whatever upgrade you can order, which can usually amount to a few more thousands of dollars depending on your sonic needs.

8. User Reviews

"
user wixard
Sony MDR-7506 / MDR-V6

One of the industry standards in the music and TV world, the Sony MDR-7506s / ~$90 (same drivers in the MDR-V6s, but absolutely under no circumstances are they to be confused with the MDR-v600s [which present a very different sound]) are a popular choice for closed circumaural headphones. They're made to be as flat as possible as far as frequency response, and they do a good job of it. They manage to pump out a little more low-end than most other choices in this price range, without the low-midrange being muddied significantly. They also have a very low impedance (24ohm), so they are much easier to drive without a headphone amp if you have a portable or other component that hurts for power. The highs and high-mids are a little harsher and "grainier" than your average Sennheiser, which some people would call "less pleasant" and others would call "more revealing" depending on whether your headphones are for leisure listening or critical listening."

"
User closeenough
Beyerdynamic dt231Pro

These are the headphones I've been using for the last three years. They cost about £40 or $70 and are a closed back supra-aural type. They have a fixed plastic headband that only functions as a spring, as it has a sprung ribbon cushion which automatically adjusts to your head. The earcuffs are fuzzy, removable and washable. They are surprisingly light for such large headphones, and they have a very long cable. It's long enough that you can walk back to your record boxes without taking them off when you're DJing. This is a bit of a pain in the neck when you're out and about- I use an elastic band to secure a little bundle of it, which makes things more convenient. The earcups articulate where they meet the headband, and they are extremely comfortable to wear all day.

They're not the most sensitive headphones in the world, but I find I can reach an acceptable volume level at about two thirds of an iPod, with a full iPod of power being unacceptably loud. My ears aren't particularly sensitive either, as years of motorcycling have definitely taken their toll, so I would say that these headphones are plenty loud. They do benefit from amplification, though, as the iPod can't really drive as much bass through them as I would like.

The sound from these headphones is surprisingly bassy for such a small closed-back can, though the level of isolation from the background is not as good as with a circumaural type. With music playing, though, you can't hear anything at all from outside. They have a precise midrange, with the tight sound only starting to blur towards the top end of the response curve, which tails off to about -3db at 18kHz. The rated response of these headphones is very pessimistic, and I have found that they reveal detail that was missing even on the ER-5s I tried in their stead.

These headphones are well suited to rock and electronic music, but it's on harp and woodwind sounds that they really excel. There's nothing they do that really tires the listener, and they're almost impossible to provoke into sounding bad, being as they are miraculously free of resonance and buzz. They deal well with complex sounds.

If you want a super-isolated, super-loud headphone, these aren't for you, and they certainly don't fit in a pocket, but for all that, they're lovely to listen to. A future classic to rival Beyerdynamic's old and worthy dt100."

"
User Viivac
Beyerdynamic DT990Pro

You can find these in the $150-$200 area. Despite having the highest production number of any Beyerdynamic headphone, they are not their flagship headphone. That honor lies with the DT880, but may change in the future as Beyer has announced changes in their lineup for 2006.

Let's first get it out of the way, these babies needs an amp. They have an impedance of 250ohms which means they are very resistant and a portable player will not be able to drive them at all. The good news is that headphone amps are relatively cheap, and you can also use the phones connector on your existing surround receiver/integrated amplifier if you have one. These cans are open circumaural, which means they cover your whole ear but do leak sound due to their open nature.

The first thing you should know about the 990 is that they are considered "fun" cans. What I mean by "fun" is that they in no way try to be balanced (neutral). They colorize the sound just like they want and have been built so make sure you aren't after neutral reproduction of sound as you won't find it in these cans. The sound itself is a little more forward sounding than Sennheisers, but that is not always the best. The highs and mids tend to be colorized a bit by the boomy bass. Yes, these cans are very bass-heavy, which is not strange as they are the open version of the closed Beyerdynamic DT770-80, the king of bass.

Basically, if you want some open bass-heavy cans, these are very good with excellent sound reproduction across the entire sound spectrum. They do suffer a bit from being rather dark due to the bass. If you compare them to say, a Grado, the sound is like night and day. So make sure you try them before you buy them!

The DT990Pro is an excellent starter can in the high-end spectrum of headphones but they do need an amp, so make sure you have this before buying."

"
User Ndkchk
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro

After having AKG K271s closed cans for a year or two, I decided to get these for something smaller. I paid about $150 for them new. They are in-ear phones, which means they provide incredible isolation (my roommate can practice bass right next to me and I won't hear a thing if I've got music playing) and they can be driven by anything.

The sound, for the most part is quite nice--not as good as the 271s, but I was listening to those out of an AV710 and these out of crappy onboard laptop sound, which may contribute something. The bass is slightly better than the 271s, which wasn't that great, but could be better still. The mids and highs are also quite nice, and the headphones don't let music get muddled at all. The soundstage sounds a bit smaller than the 271s, like you're sitting right in front of the band.

Unfortunately, they really don't fit in my ears all that well. They came with four different sizes of silicon tips and one set of foam tips. Of those, the foam were the most comfortable and sounded the best, but they don't last very long. As someone on headphonereviews mentioned, they either don't get a proper seal and sound bad or sound great and, at best, are noticeable. I can't wear them for much more than an hour without them starting to feel uncomfortable.

If you are lucky and they happen to fit in your ears perfectly or if you don't mind buying more foam tips every so often, these might be great headphones for you. As for me, I'm probably going to move up to the Etymotic ER4S or Audio-Technica ATH-A900.
"