Headphones died, looking for new ones

[Kinpatsu]

Just what the title says. After nearly 5 years of use, my dear ATH-M20x decided it was time to go, so I'm in need for something new.

 

Don't really want to spend too much if I can, as long as I can get something that sounds good and has good build quality. I can spend up to £300/400, but I'd really rather keep it low if possible.

 

Main usage would be gaming (no genre in particular, especially nothing competitive though I do play some MW2 every now and then) and Discord calls, but also listening to music (same as games, no genre in particular). As long as they sound as good as the M20x, that's fine for me. Even better if they do sound better. They would also be plugged all the time to my PC (don't have an amp/DAC, but I can get one if needed and fits the budget)

 

I have never tried open cups before, so I'm not sure how they sound/how much other people can hear, but I don't live alone and I'd really rather other people didn't hear what I'm listening to, so I guess the only choice is closed cups.

 

Other than that, I just want something comfortable (the M20x aren't really the best at that) and, especially important, the cable has to be replaceable. Definitely not looking for gaming headsets or anything with a microphone included, I already have a good external one.

 

Any tips on what I can get? Thanks

[Shimejii]

Open ear you can really only hear someone if they are within like 15ft of you. If there are walls and such around you, they wont be able to hear anything.

 

Have you tried repairing the headphone first? Seeing if theres a cable loose or something like that? Generally do your best to see if its a simple fix, could always ask Audio technica for support. 

 

Other then that headphones are a very hard thing to compare unless you have a LOT of experience trying them out. I like my HD 6XX with my FIIO K5 Pro DAC AMP. Some people prefer very specific things with headphones, and if you are sensitive to clamping pressure, ear cup material, you may have to try them on first at a headphone store. 

[Kinpatsu]

2 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Open ear you can really only hear someone if they are within like 15ft of you. If there are walls and such around you, they wont be able to hear anything.

 

Have you tried repairing the headphone first? Seeing if theres a cable loose or something like that? Generally do your best to see if its a simple fix, could always ask Audio technica for support. 

 

Other then that headphones are a very hard thing to compare unless you have a LOT of experience trying them out. I like my HD 6XX with my FIIO K5 Pro DAC AMP. Some people prefer very specific things with headphones, and if you are sensitive to clamping pressure, ear cup material, you may have to try them on first at a headphone store. 

Thanks for the reply. Guess I could give a try to open ear a try if the sound leak isn't that audible. What I'm mostly afraid of is that other people could hear almost as much as I hear

 

I haven't tried to repair them yet because they still "work", as long as I don't move too much and put the cable in certain positions, and until I actually replace them I still need them to work since I only listen to audio from those. I think I have an idea about what broke, but until I get a replacement I'm not going to touch them.

 

I know that headphones are something very subjective, but sadly I don't have any way of trying more models firsthand outside of actually buying them.

[8tg]

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro’s, 80ohm ones so you can plug em in whatever, and then the service to have them modded for replaceable cables.

990 pros for the open back option.

They don’t sound as good as the 250 ohm ones but you’d want something like a basic desktop dac/amp or a high end dongle dac/amp for that.

 

Open back headphones are absolutely audible to others nearby at higher volumes, keep that in mind. 
The general advantage of an open back design is better soundstage, while closed backs levy their design for better lower frequency response. ie bass

 

Without going through all that, ATH MSR7b’s

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/ath-msr7b

These are kinda the entry level non-consumer tier of what you already have. 
These I don’t think will be any more comfortable than what you have, a little bit with simply better materials but in their design they’re very similar. The DT770/990’s are what I recommend for long term use comfort, they’re super soft. Though going that route for what you want would ideally involve an amp and a mod.

[mtbboy1993]

I would not get any of those, as they have major construction faults, they use plastic in areas where the plastic will fail. The use of brittle plastic, plastic that can't handle bending, at places where plastic will be bent.

So far best construction and low cost is Philips Fidelio X2HR. The pics show my second pair.

They have replaceable 3.5 cable. the cable is 2 meter long I think.

When new the headphones are quite secure on a 59cm head, but if you do heavy head banging they will move.

 

Metal arch, and rings near the cups, the cups are plastic, but robust enough, but the stress areas are metal. So it won't fail by wearing it too much or taking it on and off too much.

 

They have served me well for about 3 years, and still going strong.

I've dropped them sometimes, I only got a small nick at the edge of the cup.

The pads started tearing, at the inside, where it has some rubbery, plasticy material. But you can buy aftermarket pads.

Like these: https://dekoniaudio.com/philips_fidelio/replacement-ear-pads-philips-fidelio-x2hr/

But I've not tried them yet.

The eleastic band wore out 1 year ago. but also fixable. You can remove the glued on R & L caps, they are secured with soft adhesive. might fall off on their own.

I was satisfied with this headset, so i bought a second pair for use with my smartphone, and another for my dad.

Audio quality:

I listen to a lot of rock, blues, rock blues, metal.

The audio is great, I can hear everything clearly, bass guitar is clear, guitar too, and hear cymbals well.

I even noises on recording that I would not hear with regular gaming headphones, like mouth sounds, sound of touching instruments, someone talking in the crowd, or various noises during recording like some random interference noise.

 

With gaming head phones I always had to turn down the bass, and turn everything else up in equaliser. not with Philips Fidelio X2HR. I find the stock audio to be great.

 

Album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA543C

 

I will see if I can take some shots of the first pair with the worn pads.

[Psittac]

There are several options.

 

I wouldn't let the use of plastic dissuade you as out of all of my headphones only one pair has broken due to an early batch issue with the material and it was replaced under warranty and they actually sent me a gift pair when I wrote them asking about it.  The gift pair has been used by my brother in law with no issues so it appears to be resolved.  That being the Rode NTH-100 which is also my easiest pair of headphones to recommend to anyone that doesn't mind closed back.  They don't need an amp or dac at all unless it's being powered from a phone.  They sound excellent and are very opaque to what's powering them, giving good sound on just about anything.

 

Another note on plastic being used, Sennheiser does a great job at it, I have a blind friend who used a pair of HD598 for.... man just under 10 years and when I say used I mean his entire world was through his headphones on his computer, 12+ hours a day of use and the pads went flat before anything broke.  I replaced them with some DT 770 80 ohm at least 3 years ago and they're still like brand new, same amount of usage every day.  My Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm are built like a brick and as a company they offer replacement parts and services.

 

But honestly the world is your oyster at up to 400, The rode being my number one choice is only 150 and the dt770 and Phillips X2HR would be my second choice as both are easy to drive and don't NEED a dac/amp but will benefit from it more than the Rode.  An oddball option is the Meze 99 Neo, which I have in the mail.  I had the Meze 99 Noir for a little while and gave those to my brother in law, wanted them again so bad I bought the Neo.  They aren't accurate, don't have great imaging or soundstage, but the sound signature is to die for.  Well built very light and very comfortable.

 

This is everything I have experience with that I can recommend at that budget without getting a dac/amp.  There is certainly more options available but that's what I can personally recommend.  All of the mentioned headphones are very comfortable to me as are all of my headphones somehow, only fitment issue I've had was with my Zeus being top heavy and falling back if I lay back or forward if I look down.

[mtbboy1993]

2 hours ago, Psittac said:

There are several options.

 

I wouldn't let the use of plastic dissuade you as out of all of my headphones only one pair has broken due to an early batch issue with the material and it was replaced under warranty and they actually sent me a gift pair when I wrote them asking about it.  The gift pair has been used by my brother in law with no issues so it appears to be resolved.  That being the Rode NTH-100 which is also my easiest pair of headphones to recommend to anyone that doesn't mind closed back.  They don't need an amp or dac at all unless it's being powered from a phone.  They sound excellent and are very opaque to what's powering them, giving good sound on just about anything.

 

Another note on plastic being used, Sennheiser does a great job at it, I have a blind friend who used a pair of HD598 for.... man just under 10 years and when I say used I mean his entire world was through his headphones on his computer, 12+ hours a day of use and the pads went flat before anything broke.  I replaced them with some DT 770 80 ohm at least 3 years ago and they're still like brand new, same amount of usage every day.  My Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm are built like a brick and as a company they offer replacement parts and services.

 

But honestly the world is your oyster at up to 400, The rode being my number one choice is only 150 and the dt770 and Phillips X2HR would be my second choice as both are easy to drive and don't NEED a dac/amp but will benefit from it more than the Rode.  An oddball option is the Meze 99 Neo, which I have in the mail.  I had the Meze 99 Noir for a little while and gave those to my brother in law, wanted them again so bad I bought the Neo.  They aren't accurate, don't have great imaging or soundstage, but the sound signature is to die for.  Well built very light and very comfortable.

 

This is everything I have experience with that I can recommend at that budget without getting a dac/amp.  There is certainly more options available but that's what I can personally recommend.  All of the mentioned headphones are very comfortable to me as are all of my headphones somehow, only fitment issue I've had was with my Zeus being top heavy and falling back if I lay back or forward if I look down.

beyerdynamic are the ones I saw pics of broken plastic, the part at connecting the fork holding the cups.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/broken-beyerdynamic-dt-770-pro-what-to-do.567085/

 

[minervx]

12 hours ago, Kinpatsu said:

 I can spend up to £300/400, but I'd really rather keep it low if possible.

 

There's a law of diminishing returns with headphones.  I'd say that point is once you cross $150-200.  More money gives you more options, but more money doesn't always mean better.

 

Different headphones have different frequency responses.  What frequencies you prefer has a degree of subjectivity to it.  You may love the tone of a $150 pair and hate the tone of a $300 pair.  It's not like CPU's where the $300 is objectively better than the $200 one.

[Psittac]

7 hours ago, mtbboy1993 said:

beyerdynamic are the ones I saw pics of broken plastic, the part at connecting the fork holding the cups.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/broken-beyerdynamic-dt-770-pro-what-to-do.567085/

 

 

I don't know the situation but that looks like straight up abuse, under normal use they should be just fine.  That's just my opinion and experience though.

[Kinpatsu]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still trying to decide what to actually get, but I did manage to narrow it down to just a couple headphones: NTH-100 and ATH-MSR7b for closed cups, and the X2HR and the HD 598SR for open cups.

 

Right now I'm especially inclined towards the NTH-100, and though I really want to try some open cups eventually, right now I think that closed cups are still the way to go for me.

 

As a side note, would any of those four require an amp/dac? I currently have the Apple USB C dongle, but I have really no idea how good it is

[HAL90000]

On 7/8/2023 at 6:50 PM, Kinpatsu said:

Thanks for all the replies. I'm still trying to decide what to actually get, but I did manage to narrow it down to just a couple headphones: NTH-100 and ATH-MSR7b for closed cups, and the X2HR and the HD 598SR for open cups.

 

Right now I'm especially inclined towards the NTH-100, and though I really want to try some open cups eventually, right now I think that closed cups are still the way to go for me.

 

As a side note, would any of those four require an amp/dac? I currently have the Apple USB C dongle, but I have really no idea how good it is

All full size headphones benefit to some degree from additional amplification. Also, those headphones you've listed sound WILDLY different from each other. Remember that the main job at hand here is sound. Everything else comes second. You really need to at least learn to read frequency response graphs to have an idea of what you're getting into or better yet go to an audio shop and try these in person.