[vonage6591]

I've been looking around for a new pair of circumaural closed back headphones but as with all audio products it's hard to get a real feel without hearing them in person. They'd be mainly for music and the occasional movie so I'm not looking for a 5.1 set. Basically I'm not looking for the worlds greatest pair but I'd like to get something solid for about $100-150, and so far all i've really seen with pretty good reviews is the Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. Any suggestions?

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by vonage6591

I've been looking around for a new pair of circumaural closed back headphones but as with all audio products it's hard to get a real feel without hearing them in person. They'd be mainly for music and the occasional movie so I'm not looking for a 5.1 set. Basically I'm not looking for the worlds greatest pair but I'd like to get something solid for about $100-150, and so far all i've really seen with pretty good reviews is the Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. Any suggestions?

They're a bit more, but I'm a big fan of the AKG-270s. They are pretty hi-empedance, so you need a potent source to drive them. However, they're comfortable for long periods of time and sound good.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/headp...0_2750crx.aspx

[SeanPlunk]

Holy crap, I forgot how expensive headphones can be. I'm skeptical any headphone can really make an MP3 sound all that good though. the quality of MP3 seems to be pretty marginal no matter what.

[SexyLxy]

Sounds about normal.....

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by SeanPlunk

Holy crap, I forgot how expensive headphones can be. I'm skeptical any headphone can really make an MP3 sound all that good though. the quality of MP3 seems to be pretty marginal no matter what.

Good headphones will HIGH LITE how bad an encoded file is because of their spectral clarity and low noise.

I'm listening on Sennheiser HD 265's, which are closer to $100 I think. They're ok. Not as comfortable or clear as the AKGs, but they're low impedance so you can drive them hard with a weak source.

[vonage6591]

Originally Posted by SeanPlunk

Holy crap, I forgot how expensive headphones can be. I'm skeptical any headphone can really make an MP3 sound all that good though. the quality of MP3 seems to be pretty marginal no matter what.

Depending on the bit rate very much so yes pretty much though anything encoded at 256 or higher is indistinguishable from the wave file. Now on some very very very high end setups there may be slight differences but most not even audible

[vonage6591]

Originally Posted by Vettezuki

Good headphones will HIGH LITE how bad an encoded file is because of their spectral clarity and low noise.

I'm listening on Sennheiser HD 265's, which are closer to $100 I think. They're ok. Not as comfortable or clear as the AKGs, but they're low impedance so you can drive them hard with a weak source.

yeah it'd be run off of an old onkyo 5.1 in pure direct or possibly the old carver m-200t have. But if i ever wanted to listen to my ipod on a plane i'd imagine it wouldn't be so great

[CorruptCulture]

Originally Posted by SeanPlunk

Holy crap, I forgot how expensive headphones can be. I'm skeptical any headphone can really make an MP3 sound all that good though. the quality of MP3 seems to be pretty marginal no matter what.

That's why I have nothing but .FLACs on my computer now.

I don't download anything else.

[vonage6591]

Originally Posted by CorruptCulture

That's why I have nothing but .FLACs on my computer now.

I don't download anything else.

I think that FLACs can tend to be a little overkill. Once you get into the 320 kb/s or VBR area of mp3's the differences are inaudible. Yes I know there is less data in the file, however when it truly comes down to the human ear cannot detect the difference especially given the listening environments most of us listen to our music in.

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by vonage6591

I think that FLACs can tend to be a little overkill. Once you get into the 320 kb/s or VBR area of mp3's the differences are inaudible. Yes I know there is less data in the file, however when it truly comes down to the human ear cannot detect the difference especially given the listening environments most of us listen to our music in.

The human ear (good ones) can easily tell the difference if the environmental conditions are good. We're also talking about as compared to a given CD reference. Also depends on the nature of the material. Spectrally and dynamically complex material (like some classical music) does