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Hi all I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions for headphones for portable use around the $100 range? I'm mainly going to be gaming with these so soundstage is a great plus. They don't need to be super accurate, but definitely on the fun side. I'm primarily looking at the M40X as the M50X were way too closed in for my tastes but I really want to know what other alternative headphones are out there that fit my budget. Also they need to be portable enough that I can toss them into my bag without taking up too much space!! If I need to sacrifice some SQ for build quality I don't mind. I'm currently using Fostex T50RP MK3s but they're just too bulky to carry around all the time but sound and work fantastic. I've also got AKG K553s and while the soundstage is amazing, they're just too bass light for fun and I always have trouble getting them to seal properly on my head, especially on the go. Plus attached ridiculous cable makes them not very portable friendly. I know there are the Takstar Pro82s available but I'm just not sure of their durability against the M40X. If I had the budget I would love to get a pair of Sennheiser Momentums but they're just too much out of my budget and I need some headphones that I won't feel too bad throwing them around. I've got Fidelio X2s I use at home and ideally I would absolutely love to have something that has similar sound signature, but probably next to impossible to get in a closed back set, especially on something portable and around $100. Also I can't stand on-ear headphones if my above collection was any indication haha I appreciate any help or input!!

Hello LTT forum! I'm really, really new (if you couldn't tell). Well at least I'm new to the forums, I've been a fan of Linus' videos for at least a year now. In fact, he's one of the main reasons that I was inspired to make the following review: Okay, I just now realized that the thumbnail looks like the ones that LTT use. Umm... This is my review of the Mad Dogs from Mr. Speakers, which is a very interesting set of headphones that you probably won't have heard of (or heard) unless you're interested in the high-end audio game. Nevertheless, somebody has to review them! Anyways, this is my first video of this type, and I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys! I'm open to suggestions/critique, and I'd appreciate any input that you'd have for me. Thanks all, especially Linus, Luke, and the rest of the team over at LTT for being so awesome!

While Mayflower Electronics' naming scheme is precisely as graceful as a flying brick, their Objective2 + ODAC combo unit is certainly more useful than said adage - unless your motive is in fact to kill someone and/or be disqualified from a paper aeroplane contest with the social label “monumentally stupid”. Certainly, my unit spent the first month of its life as a flying brick on it's trepidatious journey from Murica to Straya, however, and thankfully, far from the optimal dimensions and strength characteristics of a common house brick, it arrived in good condition, as packaging was excellent. As fascinating as the science of house bricks is, I'm not silly enough to spent about $330 on a brick, especially seeing as I wanted to spend the $330 on a box that makes sounds, and, spoiler: it does, and much more effectively than a brick. In tandem with my Objective2 + ODAC combo unit I also stole one of Mayflower's Fostex T50RP headsets, with the “Version 1” modification configuration, and that was about $150. Included in the box with the O2 combo unit is a gold plated USB to Mini USB cable from Monoprice, and an American power supply by Triad. Alternative power supplies are available directly from Mayflower, however it isn't an option on the purchase page, and being used to proper power supplies being included with my purchases, I was caught out. This is one area in which Mayflower Electronics must look into including the right power supply in the box before sending it off, especially for obvious international orders, or at least add the option on the purchase page on their website, rather than an obscure accessory page buried behind menus. If you are from Australia/ New Zealand (or in another country that uses the AS/NZS 3112 socket) this power supply will work with your combo unit: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP3059 The Fostex headphones ship with their stock 3.5mm to 6.5mm cable (with lock in connector design), and Mayflower again offer a replacement 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, however alike the power supply it isn't an option on the purchase page, and for a 3.5 male to male cable it's bloody expensive. It's a strange thing that these cables are included at all, seeing as Mayflower knows that these stock cables aren't compatible with their own amplifier products, and indeed the O2 combo unit, and in the end it just makes the whole experience jarring and not user centric at all. I opted for cable from Voso instead, and used a sharp blade to carefully strip away the housing on the right angle end until it fit into the headphones. Interestingly the straight connector end is already fine enough to fit straight into the headset, so you'll have this option with this cable as well. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VOSO-3-5mm-Male-to-Male-90-Deg-Right-Angle-Audio-Jack-AUX-Connect-Cable-2M-AU-/200852989734?pt=AU_Electronics_Portable_Audio_Accessories&hash=item2ec3c56726&_uhb=1 HARDWARE Starting with the combo unit, it's precisely 1 Australian house brick's width across, about half a Swedish house brick high (or half a Germanic house brick with the rubber feet included), and a little longer than two average Danish house bricks are tall. A brushed aluminium enclosure wraps around the two circuit boards inside, with essential connectors jutting out somewhat evenly through the front panel. Three of the four screws holding the front panel on were silver, with one being black, which is either the worst aesthetic design choice in the universe or a sign that my unit met the bottom of the screw draw in the Mayflower workshop. Either way, I knew going in to this that it wasn't going to be the best looking thing in the world – if I wanted that I would have purchased a 12th Century Iranian glazed mud brick to admire – Besides, it compliments my mirror. Centre of the front panel is a red LED which is awesomely uninstrusive, and doesn't distract you from the screen when the unit is in front of you, unlike some peripheral electronics in my vicinity (it starts with A and ends with udio Technica and is a microphone, grrrr). The Fostex headphones looks roguishly nice, sort of noughties television with a splash of copper hot water plumbing. I'll make the point of not rambling on too much about the headphone's aesthetics as they spend most of their life out of sight. Also there's a big picture of them at the top. In terms of the modification, it mainly involves clay being packed into the T50's baffles (baffles are components used to prevent interference between sound waves generated internally from waves outside of the earpads) and a bit of foam/cotton thrown about inside to dampen the relatively open design of vanilla T50 headphones. The modification essentially (and I should mention effectively) snuffs out corrupting external noises and adds a bit of punch to the bass and treble ends of the spectrum, at the expense of clarity in the mid ranges (because the driver simply has less space to wobble about in). Keep in mind these headphones have an RRP of $110, so you need to decide if this modification alone is justification enough for the $70 price hike. SOUND REPRODUCTION and INTEGRATION In terms of how these products sound, their whole purpose for existing, well, the answer is quite simple. Bloody awesome. When used in tandem, details and clarity through the breadth of the sound scape is very good, and very impressive in the bass end. The O2 amplifier has an inaudible noise floor, and no noise or corruption occurs throughout the amplification range. The ODAC component spits out noticeably clearer sound than my on-board audio, however more modern motherboards may not leave as much of an impressive improvement. It is undoubtedly a massive improvement for me, however. The unit only ever reaches a slight warmth, and as it is a completely solid state design, it can be left turned on 24/7, so it really is a hassle free addition to any audio setup. As for the headphones they work exceptionally well for their price. They sound amazing, even when powered through my phone (albeit nearly on max volume due to the impedance) and are definitely worth the purchase price. I've found they really come into their own when crunching through complex music, especially the heavier lumbers of metal and core music, and work well at ironing out the individual notes due to the supreme clarity of the headphones. The headphones are quite comfortable also, surprising given the rather daunting looking headband. The pleather earcups induce a bit of sweating which I wasn't used to, coming from cloth pads, however it isn't severe at all. As the size adjustment on the headphones isn't staggered, they do move about and change size throughout a few hours of use, tending to rest only when the top of the earcup makes contact with the top of your ear, and this is probably due to the weight of the headphones, however again it is only a marginal issue, and certainly not a reason to deter purchase. FINAL WORDS Wrapping up, these are two truly excellent products, let down only by boring, utilitarian names and an insensitive purchase page on the Mayflower website. Mayflower Electronics, luckily has an incredibly helpful and personal public relation attitude, and it's for this reason that I think these issues will be handled appropriately, and hopefully wholly resolved in the future, preferably without the need for flying house bricks to be involved. Keep in mind that these are hand made products, and will appeal more to tinkerers and modifiers more than your mainstream Beats commuter who is solely concerned about the consistency of the finish on their aluminium headband. If you are a DIYer and music/audio enthusiast and appreciate unique punctures to the severely disillusioned audio marketplace then this product is for you. I am very happy with my purchase and each of these have well and truly earned a space on my desk. Right beside my 12th Century Iranian mud brick, of course. p.s. Some brief ideas which I'd like to see from Mayflower - 3.5" and 5.25" faceplates/ internal bay versions for the ODAC+O2 combo as well as tripod screw threads being drilled into the bottom of the chassis.