Headphones - Recommendations Please

[Benicio Del Toffo]

I'm looking at buying my first proper, grown-up pair of headphones.

Was hoping some folk on here could steer me in the right direction(s).

I'll be using them for home use only, 99% vinyl with a bit of CD chucked in.

Price-wise, I'd feel ill if I went over £200, even around the £150 mark would see me having to use money from selling on eBay! But I guess you have to pay for quality.

What do you fellas use to keep your tabs* warm while listening to vinyl then?



(Tabs = Notts for 'ears', as in "Eh, that sherbet meks yer tabs laugh")

[RedX]

Beyerdynamic get my vote. I've had a pair of DT511s since the early '90s and they're still serving me well. In that time I've managed to break the headband and wear out the ear pads and even the thin film of black foam that covers the actual speaker (?) (I was wondering why I was finding black dust in my ears) but all parts are readily available and are easy to replace. That probably makes it sound like they're rubbish and fall apart easily but they're not/they don't - it's just me, Wear-em-out-Wilf

I did 'upgrade' to a pair of Grados once but couldn't get into them and sold them on

[Turboellis]

JBLT450WHT
https://www.yodobashi.com/product/100000001003423304/

about 20 quid ... i think they sound lovely, use them every day ...

not expensive enough are they?

[Kurtis K]

Sennheiser HD25. Classics and very hard to break. Spare parts easily available

[SirSlim]

Sennheiser HD25. Classics and very hard to break. Spare parts easily available

Agreed - been using mine for about 15 years - still sound great (have replaced the ear pads and cable once) - I have this variant on the HD25:

https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/hd25-light

[Benicio Del Toffo]

Thanks for the tips chaps. Funnily enough, Beyerdynamic were always on my shortlist. I've been reading a bunch of reviews and I think I'm narrowed down to AKG K550 and Phillips Fidelio X2 (the latter just edging it on performance), with Sennheiser HD599 as the left-field option.

I love the look of e.g. Meze 99 Classics or Monoprice Monolith, but I've always fallen down on prioritising aesthetics over performance!

So now it's just a case of shopping around for bargains.

[bongolia]

Not heard those particular Sennheisers, but similar ones they used to do were very nice (very comfy and light too) - wish I'd picked up a pair back in 2002 or something when Richer Sounds had them on offer for about 80 quid instead of 200. They seem to mostly just have the Bluetooth Sennheisers nowadays.

The various HD25 models are great for deejaying or using the portable, but wasn't keen on long period usage when I used mine for a month or two at work. the pads stick to your ears and sound could be better.

For a fairly cheap pair I loved the sound of some (discontinued) Audio Technica on-ear ones I have (I botched a cable repair, need to see if I can get someone to fix them). Someone here has over-the-ear ones that look pretty good. Also someone here has been using the wooden Meze model for years, and the cups look amazingly stylish (the headband rather less so)

[Davedave]

HD25s for me, but I got two pairs for free from local record shop when they used to do a loyalty card scheme a couple of years ago.

[bongolia]

my HD25s are British Airways ones! used to be able to get old unused ones on ebay for 25 quid after Concorde stopped flying (they were the in-flight headphones for passengers). Wish I'd bought a few pairs now. They're only the cheaper "HD 25 light" model with two cables etc