Are they for "at home" listening or on the move?

Do you have a budget?

For at home listening it is hard to beat the Sennheiser HD600's or HD650's. I have heard the 600's and was mightily impressed (our very own Peter owns a pair). The 650's were meant to supercede the 600's but they are available side by side and the prices overlap. Shop around as the prices vary wildy, currently it seems anywhere from ~£150 to ~£300 - in the past I have linked to prices as little as £130 for the HD600's, I wonder if the poorly performing pound has resulted in the general increase in price.

They seem to be universally highly regarded as one of the very best.

They are for at home listening. I am looking for comfort and ease of getting on and off - good sound of course. Budget probably up to about £250 (QC3 price).

Having owned both the Bose QC and the A8's I found myself using the Bose due to the noise cancelling feature when outdoors and the fact that I found them far more comfortable than the A8's.  Sound quality from both are adequate, the bose offers more bass but lacks any clarity and the A8's offer a neutral sound in my opinion.   Build quality favours the A8's by a mile, the bose QC's lasted approximately one year before slowly falling apart and I'm not rough with my equipment.  To be honest I would recommend you look elsewhere for headphones.

propaganda wrote:

They are for at home listening. I am looking for comfort and ease of getting on and off - good sound of course. Budget probably up to about £250 (QC3 price).

Even though I haven't heard the others you mention I would buy the Sennheisers without question. They've been around for ages and there seems to be very little debate about the perfomance. There is always Grado I suppose (Peter I believe has compared both) but I would think you will be thrilled with the Sennheisers.

Agree with Puncher. I have the entire B&O range of headphones but use some Grado RS-1s downstairs and Sennheiser HD600s in bed. The HD600s are in my experience slightly more to my taste and are a lot more comfortable. You can also use then lying on your side in bed which you cannot do with the Grados! To be frank, the B&O headphones are not a patch on either of these. I find the Form 2s uncomfortable due to the metal head band (I have a big head!!) and although the Form 1s are better and also sound better, they are just not as well rounded or detailed as my other headphones.

I would strongly recommend HD600s.

For outdoor use the A8 are a very good option. My A8 now lasts for about 5-6 years and now it seems that they have lost a little bass compared to brand new A8s.

For home use I agree with the others. Your ears should listen to some serious headphones from:

- Sennheiser
- Beyerdynamic
- AKG

And if you want to personalize your headphone have a look at the Beyerdynamic Manufaktur:

http://www.beyerdynamic.de/en/home/products/manufaktur.html

Great stuff!

Agree with the A8s - have a few pairs of these and are superb for on the go. Bass light compared to headphones though.

I have the A8s for 6 years or so. For listening at work to my Ipod, they are my favourite due to clarity.

I am not shure if statement is still valid, but there was a time when many Apple Stores offered both, the Bose Triport and the A8 and had them on display for comparison. I did just that and preferred the A8s.

Just a word of warning, if you use them outside, or on a plain / train the A8 will disappoint and you are much better off with one that cancels noise or at least creates a "seal" when plugged into you ear.

http://www.shure.com/index.htm

I use the shure LC3 for that (not available anymore) which I found out are utterly crap for my needs since they only sound great when they fit perfectly and the cable is too heavy, it pulls the plugs out of my ear.

I think it helps if you write how you will be using the headphones, for example the Bose QCs wouldnt work for me as I would wear them sleeping on a plane and they restrict head movement.

Cheers

For Headphones, If I were you I would look at the Grado Headphones. They are very good value for money. Considering your budget, the Grado Prestige SR125 Or the SR225 would be up your piggy bank.

And if your budget can stretch a bit more, what about the Grado SR325i. Or maybe a Stax Basic system. Can't remember what model it's called?

Good Luck

Shane