Looking for new headphones for up to €200?

[blabla21]

Hi, guys!

 

I need some help finding new headphones, but I'm really not well knowledgeable in this field. I've done a few hours of searching, but as soon as I stumbled into the audiophile realm I got quickly overwhelmed, so I need some help.

 

Ideally, I would prefer to spend around €150 ($180) or less, but €200 ($250) is the limit only if it's worth it. I listen to a lot of music and watch tons of movies, so I would like headphones which are more turned to this aspect if possible. Noise cancellation is a must!

 

What's most important to me is soundproofing. I live in a noisy neighborhood, so I would prefer not to hear anything outside when I put them on.

 

I just want some good, quality headphones that are comfortable to wear, and sound really good. I'm no audiophile, so I don't care for the best sound quality, just what sounds really good with music and videos.

 

Additional info that might help:

• I'm looking for over-ear, closed headphones, preferably wired, but I wouldn't mind wireless.
• I will use them only indoors on my PC, and for regular use (music, YouTube, movies, etc.)
• I don't play video games as much as I used to, so "gaming" brands can be ignored (unless they're good and within the budget of course)
• A mic. would be welcome, but if it doesn't fit into the price range, then it's not necessary
• Something that has durable materials, because I plan to take good care of them, and don't plan on replacing them for a couple of years

 

From what I've seen, everyone seems to recommend Sony WH-1000XM3, but they're out of my budget where I live (€230+).

 

I live outside the US, so the prices may be different here. Still, if you were in my shoes and had a budget like this, which one would you buy?

[sub68]

Anker soundcore has some wireless stuff that has noise cancelling

[DobertRownySr]

I would suggest the Corsair Virtuoso. 

They have Hi-fi audio(when plugged in via USB-C), and they have good noise cancellation (it's not software noise cancelling, it's just from the ear cups), it's bother wired and wireless.

[blabla21]

I can't find any of these sold as new, only used. Any other suggestions?

[Bowdiddly73]

I am also looking for about the same thing and the choices are endless. I would prefer wireless, other than that, I'm in the same boat as you.

I have looked and read until my eyes bled, but without actually being able to test these things, IDK what to choose. This could be a very

expensive mistake or a great find, but any help from people in the know, would be great!

[rice guru]

59 minutes ago, Bowdiddly73 said:

I am also looking for about the same thing and the choices are endless. I would prefer wireless, other than that, I'm in the same boat as you.

I have looked and read until my eyes bled, but without actually being able to test these things, IDK what to choose. This could be a very

expensive mistake or a great find, but any help from people in the know, would be great!

The easiest way for us to help you out is state budget, use case, preference for closed and open back, if for gaming state what kind of games , if for music state the genres of music you listen to. And state what you generally want in how the headphone to kinda sound as everyone has a different idea of what is ideal.

 

[Tyler_21]

HarmonicDyne Helios or HD560s.

[rice guru]

4 hours ago, Tyler_21 said:

HarmonicDyne Helios or HD560s.

Those are 2 very different headphones. And do not meet any of the requirements

[blabla21]

8 hours ago, rice guru said:

The easiest way for us to help you out is state budget, use case, preference for closed and open back, if for gaming state what kind of games , if for music state the genres of music you listen to. And state what you generally want in how the headphone to kinda sound as everyone has a different idea of what is ideal.

 

But I already stated all those things in the OP?! The only thing that I didn't mention was what type of genre of music I listen to, which I can't say since I listen to everything from time to time. And as for sound quality, I'm afraid I can't be specific about that either since I'm not that well informed about these sorts of things, but I did own Kingston HyperX Cloud and AudioTechnica ATH-M40X before they broke at the hinge, so something along those lines or better in terms of sound quality would be nice.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, I see that you replied to another user, and not me.

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, blabla21 said:

But I already stated all those things in the OP?! The only thing that I didn't mention was what type of genre of music I listen to, which I can't say since I listen to everything from time to time. And as for sound quality, I'm afraid I can't be specific about that either since I'm not that well informed about these sorts of things, but I did own Kingston HyperX Cloud and AudioTechnica ATH-M40X before they broke at the hinge, so something along those lines or better in terms of sound quality would be nice.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, I see that you replied to another user, and not me.

within your budget I wanna reccomend the beyerdynamic dt 770 250 ohm really good for gaming laso very good seal for noise Isolation. dependiong on your motherboard you may or may not need an amp p but if you wanna play it safe I do recommend getting one. something like a SoundBlaster g6, fx audio dac x6 mk2 si pretty decent for the price or you can go really cheap with a ibasso dc03

 

[blabla21]

1 hour ago, rice guru said:

within your budget I wanna reccomend the beyerdynamic dt 770 250 ohm really good for gaming laso very good seal for noise Isolation. dependiong on your motherboard you may or may not need an amp p but if you wanna play it safe I do recommend getting one. something like a SoundBlaster g6, fx audio dac x6 mk2 si pretty decent for the price or you can go really cheap with a ibasso dc03

 

Got it! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I did forget to mention that I have a AsRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard (which has a Realtek ALC898 audio codec), and that I will be using onboard audio, so I'm not sure whether or not it will be able to handle 250 Ohm headphones, but I guess if I buy them, I'll see.

 

Also, why 250 Ohm? How much difference is there compared to the 80 Ohm DT 770s?

[rice guru]

1 hour ago, blabla21 said:

Got it! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I did forget to mention that I have a AsRock Z77 Extreme4 motherboard (which has a Realtek ALC898 audio codec), and that I will be using onboard audio, so I'm not sure whether or not it will be able to handle 250 Ohm headphones, but I guess if I buy them, I'll see.

 

Also, why 250 Ohm? How much difference is there compared to the 80 Ohm DT 770s?

in gaming not really much . but overall performance especially for music and everything else the difference in performance is signifivcant enough at least to my ears to opt to get the 250 ohm over the 80.  the 80 ohm can sound congested and bloated in the bass regions and the mids sound a lot more scooped thus dimishing the mids performance of the headphone. the 250 ohm is tighter and a lot more refined opting for a neutral tight bass good mids and slightly better details than the 80 ohm but some people seem to think its a bit brighter which I find personally the opposite finding the 80 ohm slightly brighter sounding that may just be up to the listener's treble sensitivities

[blabla21]

21 minutes ago, rice guru said:

in gaming not really much . but overall performance especially for music and everything else the difference in performance is signifivcant enough at least to my ears to opt to get the 250 ohm over the 80.  the 80 ohm can sound congested and bloated in the bass regions and the mids sound a lot more scooped thus dimishing the mids performance of the headphone. the 250 ohm is tighter and a lot more refined opting for a neutral tight bass good mids and slightly better details than the 80 ohm but some people seem to think its a bit brighter which I find personally the opposite finding the 80 ohm slightly brighter sounding that may just be up to the listener's treble sensitivities

Well, I'm not looking to buy headphones for gaming, so it's not really important if they make a difference there or not. I'll look into the 250 Ohm, but what worries me is that I'll need to buy an amplifier for them, which hopefully won't cost me over €200.

 

Nonetheless, thanks for the suggestion Rice. I'll do a bit more reading and price hunting, and report back on what I've found.

[rice guru]

38 minutes ago, blabla21 said:

Well, I'm not looking to buy headphones for gaming, so it's not really important if they make a difference there or not. I'll look into the 250 Ohm, but what worries me is that I'll need to buy an amplifier for them, which hopefully won't cost me over €200.

 

Nonetheless, thanks for the suggestion Rice. I'll do a bit more reading and price hunting, and report back on what I've found.

other headphones I wanna reccomend if you need something easy to drive is the meze 99 neo if your into pop and edm https://mezeaudio.eu/collections/all/products/99-neo

and the akg k371 if you like particularly stuff like jpop and kpop is what I like for it but is a pretty versatile headphone. its often a miss for north american audio reviewers though. It is a very accurate representation of the harman target response curve which can be very good for most kinds of music. personally it initially got a good amount of hate but I do think its very good and deserves a chance. but if you want something that wont have a lot of bass but has an excellent midrange the akg k361 the cheaper basically the same quality but just different tuning version might be up your alley

[blabla21]

43 minutes ago, rice guru said:

other headphones I wanna reccomend if you need something easy to drive is the meze 99 neo if your into pop and edm https://mezeaudio.eu/collections/all/products/99-neo

and the akg k371 if you like particularly stuff like jpop and kpop is what I like for it but is a pretty versatile headphone. its often a miss for north american audio reviewers though. It is a very accurate representation of the harman target response curve which can be very good for most kinds of music. personally it initially got a good amount of hate but I do think its very good and deserves a chance. but if you want something that wont have a lot of bass but has an excellent midrange the akg k361 the cheaper basically the same quality but just different tuning version might be up your alley

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll look into those ones as well!

[Entropy.]

On 5/7/2021 at 12:56 PM, DobertRownySr said:

I would suggest the Corsair Virtuoso. 

They have Hi-fi audio(when plugged in via USB-C), and they have good noise cancellation (it's not software noise cancelling, it's just from the ear cups), it's bother wired and wireless.

Please dont' claim gaming headsets have "hi-fi audio." Can't name a single one that does. Maybe the Beoplay Portal? Doesn't get super close though. 

[DobertRownySr]

Just now, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Please dont' claim gaming headsets have "hi-fi audio." They dont.

It has 24bit 96000HZ audio

[Entropy.]

4 minutes ago, DobertRownySr said:

It has 24bit 96000HZ audio

Means next to nothing In this context. Set it next to a 400i2020 with a basic schiit stack- or possibly just a meizu dongle, or a hd560 with a dac/meizu dongle. Not going to be a contest. 

[DobertRownySr]

2 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Means next to nothing In this context. Set it next to a 400i2020 with a basic schiit stack- or possibly just a meizu dongle, or a hd560 with a dac/meizu dongle. Not going to be a contest. 

To be honest, I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference anyways, amirite?

[blabla21]

Hey guys, apologies for bothering you with my indecisiveness yet again, I've spent some time price hunting for all the headphones I thought would be worth a buy, and these are the results:

• Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm - €135
• Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm - €140 (will need to buy an AMP)
• AKG K361 - €105
• AKG K371 - €140
• Shure SRH840 - €115
• Meze 99 Neo - €200

 

All of them fit the budget so the only thing that prevents me from making a choice are the minor nuances when they are compared against one another. I have to admit, no matter how many reviews I read or the details of each of these headphones, I can't seem to make a decision since all of them look so similar

 

I'm not particularly well-versed in sound quality, so whether some headphones have good bass, midrange, the treble doesn't really mean much to me because I can't go into a store and test them out to notice the differences between them before making a decision on which one I should buy, so I have to make sure that the ones I get will be a good choice.

In your opinion, out of all of these, which one would you take if you don't do any professional / studio editing, mixing, etc. and would mainly use them for your everyday purposes at home (music, movies, video clips)?

 

On 5/9/2021 at 10:55 PM, rice guru said:

snip

Rice, I'd also appreciate your input on this.

[B9Scrambler]

@blabla21 I was just about to toss the Meze 99 Neo into the ring. I use those as one of my daily sets alongside the AKG K553 Pro (original, not the new version with a removable cable). The 99 Neo has a solid all-round signature that doesn't really specialize in anything in particular. Going against your requirements, passive isolation is pretty average so you might have to raise the volume to counter outside noise. I also find the stainless steel bands that float above the headband can sometimes make a ringing sound while walking, though that's gone away over time with my pair. On the other hand, dang they look good

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by B9Scrambler
resize image

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, blabla21 said:

Hey guys, apologies for bothering you with my indecisiveness yet again, I've spent some time price hunting for all the headphones I thought would be worth a buy, and these are the results:

• Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm - €135
• Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm - €140 (will need to buy an AMP)
• AKG K361 - €105
• AKG K371 - €140
• Shure SRH840 - €115
• Meze 99 Neo - €200

 

All of them fit the budget so the only thing that prevents me from making a choice are the minor nuances when they are compared against one another. I have to admit, no matter how many reviews I read or the details of each of these headphones, I can't seem to make a decision since all of them look so similar

 

I'm not particularly well-versed in sound quality, so whether some headphones have good bass, midrange, the treble doesn't really mean much to me because I can't go into a store and test them out to notice the differences between them before making a decision on which one I should buy, so I have to make sure that the ones I get will be a good choice.

In your opinion, out of all of these, which one would you take if you don't do any professional / studio editing, mixing, etc. and would mainly use them for your everyday purposes at home (music, movies, video clips)?

 

Rice, I'd also appreciate your input on this.

770 80 ohm compared to the 250 ohm more pulled back mids, muddied more uncontrolled and slightly harsher sounding than the 250 ohm 770 which is cleaner more neutral and more refined but needs an amp, I like this for old school hip hop or generally well produced music that does well with lots of bass. Akg k361 is good if all you want is mids and treble with a bit of bass response but is not at all the highlight of the headphone I like it for female vocals and classical and orchestral stuff. The akg k371 is differently tuned for a more accurate Harman neutral sound which is bassier slightly less brighter sounding headphone I like this best for k pop and j rock more Asian style music. The Shure srh 840 to me is boring and presents nothing of value to my tastes but it's a good monitoring headphone and certainly good for music I would just much rather have a akg k371 or DT 770. And the meze 99 neo is just bassy fun casual listening I love that thing for EDM, and modern hip hop.  Personally the ones I would take out of all of these is probably the DT 770 250 ohm cause the wide soundstage is great for immersion for movies and the meze cause I listen to alot of hip hop and I do really enjoy it for hip hop as well.

[MidnightCrashB]

So maybe a less popular suggestion from a non-audiophile:

My personal preference would be the Bose QC35II. I have been using this headphone for the last 3 years and it is still my favourite.

 

the Good:

- I personally like the ANC, its not the best out there but its really great;

- Works well with win10, mac, samsung/ android phones

- wireless

- incredibly comfy, from occasional use i now wear these 8-10 hours a day without much trouble

-good battery life

- great call functions (which was not a requirement for me, but i like the added bonus) 

- wired listening for the moments battery runs out

- multiple device connections

 

The Bad:

-Micro-USB is from last century and the provided cable is useless

- Bose app is absolutely useless and would not recommend (but i use the headphones without the Bose app) 

- older model

- there have been speculations that the bose updates made the ANC worse to promote the Bose 700s but I have not experienced this

 

Overal:

This is my favourite headphones not because their the best(I also have the Sony Whmx4 which have much better noise cancelling) but because they are a great pair overall and have flexibility. I have not had experience with the other headphones in the list so cannot provide a compare. But if I would be listening to music and watching movies(so not using them for Gaming), these would be my go-to headphones. I don't know if your neighbourhood is a constant construction site but these block out a great deal of noise.

 

Additionally with the current discounts i think these can be found between 180-200 euros on Amazon Eu.