Looking for permium over-the-ear headphones

[Yazad]

Hey,
I want to purchase some really premium headphones that are either over-the-ear or even on-the-ear headphones. My budget is $300. I was thinking of betting beats, but I know you can get much better sound quality from headphones that cost less...so I came to you, the audiophiles I don't mind how knowledgeable you are on sound and headphones, I'll be happy to check out your opinions. I'm looking for comfortable, attractive headphones with a great build quality, good isolation, tons of bass (without sacrificing performance n other genres), i would prefer headphones that aren't powered (e.g. i don't want beats studios or one of the Bose models that both require batteries to be used), and of course A PREMIUM SOUND. One last thing, I am willing to spend a little bit more than $300 dollars as I can wait for the price to drop or look for good deals.
Thanks in advance

[CrowdAds]

[JK98]

A few questions. Are these for outside use, or only for use inside with the air conditioning on? Headphones that isolate well are closed headphones, and those tend to make your ears hot with extended use(especially if they have pleather earpads. Those with velour are less sweaty). Will these be powered by a home stereo or a portable? For use with a portable, something around 32 ohms would be best, while if it only for use with a home stereo, you might want to consider one with a higher impedance. The Beyerdynamic DT770 for example comes in 4 varieties, either 32 ohm, 250 ohm, or 600 ohm, or the older 80 ohm. I think the 32 ohm variety replaces the 80 ohm one. The 32 ohm DT770 is almost double the price of the 250 ohm one(at least in the US- $300 vs $170). Another interesting headphone to consider is the Sennheiser HD380 pro. I suggest these closed headphones for indoor use only, especially when it is hot outside. To wear outside in the heat, if you want great bass and great isolation, you should consider buying an iem.

[Jack4L]

$300 is a lot of money, there are lots of great sets to go for in that price rage. The main 2 sets that come to mind are the Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro and the Denon D2000.

The DT770 Pro are the old school mainstay basshead headphones, the Denon D2000 are the newcomer that does things a bit differently. With the 770's you get a lot of feel from the bass, and the D2000's have less but overall the sound is a little more even, I doubt any DT770 owner would ever switch to the d2000's because of their bass. However bass driven music will always have the low end, and you will always hear it, the DT770 can go a bit overboard on some music the D2000 works better with more variety.

Both sets are extremely comfortable, although the DT770 have the edge in my opinion with the velour pads and they also isolate more. The D2000 feel more "Premium" with their metal and leather- the DT770 are the more "Professional" set with replaceable parts, and more rugged build.

The price on both hovers above the $300 price point, the DT770 can be got for a myriad of prices, anything from $170 to $320 and these are all basically the same headphone but technically different. The $170 ones will need a headphone amp, for most portable music players, the $200 versions will work fine out of most higher end players like Cowons, but may need a little amping and the $320 versions will work fine out of anything. The main differentiater on these headphones is how easy they are to drive, look for their Ohm rating. Large sized headphones are usualy from 20+ ohms and a decent player can usually do 20-80 fine, above that your probably going to need a headphone amp- but once you have one of those you can basically go to 600ohms and not worry about anything other then the battery on your amp running out The savings on the 80ohm versions could be a worthwhile risk, you'll still have enough money for a decent headphone amp if it doesn't work out, but like you said you dont want to be tied to a battery on your headphones and this would basically be the same thing.

Now I've personally seen both the most expensive DT770 and the D2000 at arround $250, heck I even bought the D2000 at that price- so the prices right now may not be ideal. Its still a better deal then a set of Dr Dre's. Although I will concede that if you can get the "pro" versions for a decent price they aren't bad- a decent price is $100 though so not much chance of that happening. Even though i've read some positive reviews of people buying them for that much off dealextreme, that's a bit more of a risk then I would want to take.

Anyway those are just 2 of my own personal picks. I dont have many others because I haven't tried all the possible other sets out there :P My views are about as biased as anyone's that's only tried a few sets out of a wider selection so take it for what its worth.

[sideways]

What is your use pattern? It's always better to ask what the best solution for the intended use is. You'll get better answers because people can recommend stuff you might not have though of. For example the "premium sound, basshead, " headphones for on the go use are different from the ones for home use.

Oh yeah, and who are you calling audiophile. That's just rude.

Feel free to read the guide in my signature.

[mbamg]

I'd suggest starting from the $100 range. I find that much more reasonable than paying $300 for a pair of headphones when you don't even know what exactly that you're looking for. Even lower would also be great since you can find some decent quality headphones below $100 these days. Sound appreciation is an acquired taste - most people don't really know how much they're missing out on until they put on something slightly more expensive than their stock earbuds. From then on, it's simply buying different headphones to discover different aspects of sound and reading tons of reviews about them. Once you've had enough experience and knowledge, you'll have an idea of what you really want from a headphone. That's when you spend the big bucks to purchase something that you can fully appreciate.

[aimran]

The Sennheiser HD 600 is $315 on Amazon.com right now and is regarded as one of the best headphones under $1000.

[D-R0CK]

Try the sennheiser HD280 pros, you just can't beat them at the price, and if you don't know what you really want out of headphones, i agree with mbag, start at $100.00 especially since you just can't go wrong with sennheiser, not above $50 at least. Beats are simply some of the best LOOKING headphones out there today, but senn's are among the best SOUNDING. The point of beats is to amplify bass, the point of sennheisers are to clarify and accurately reproduce sound.