headphones (again)

[Fit of Rage]

rather than reviving an old topic which I don't really feel like searching for in the first place, this thread is about headphones.

I'm looking to get my dad a pretty good pair of headphones (mainly for recording purposes) but here's the kicker, for less than $50. Anyone have any suggestions? Earbuds are not ok, they should be over-the-head style.

[Edify]

Sennheiser's are good. I got a Sennheiser HD201 for about 20 bucks on Amazon. Works very well, unless you're not looking for the kind that covers the entire ear.

[Facetious]

Yeah I've been happy with both my pairs of Senns. The 212s, which I think you can get for 20, were decent, but nowhere near as good as my current 280s, which you can get on Amazon for 80. Maybe there's something exactly between for 50.

[404 Not Found]

Sennheiser's are great headphones, no doubt. There are lots out there. I had old old Senn's HP's and recently got a new pair of AKG's (AKGK 141's). I like them alot....like my Sennheiser's too. At least you have two brands to keep an eye open for.

$$ around $80 +/- on ebay as well.

[Sufficient]

I will refer you to www.head-fi.org ... I'm a fan of the buds so I can't give much advice. However, if I were you I'd save up at least $100 to get some decent cans.

Tomshardware also did a decent review of cheap earphones:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/...r_100_dollars/

[Jerome Scuggs]

Grado SR80

[za gophar]

i have 3 sets and they all have their niche.

one is just fairly plain old 20 dollar sonys, over the ear. the popular kind in which the connector thingy goes around the back of your head and not the top. these deliver nice bass, and i feel like they are less harmful to my hearing because they are not ear bud. they also have quite a long cord, which is nice at times.

one is the earbuds that came with my iriver. i have no complaints about the sound, except the bass might be a tad bit low. these are slightly less preferable to the above set at times because earbuds are kinda inferior and more potentially dangerous to hearing, but they are the best for when i want to listen to music as i am going to sleep. the over-the-ear phones dont work well with pillows.

final and by far most expensive pair is my 90 dollar noise blocking shure e2c's. they deliver nice sound, are only uncomfortable when used for a long time, and do a great job of blocking noise. when i would have to listen to my mp3 player on a volume of 20/40 to hear clearly, i can listen to these at 6/40 or so. 1 small problem: if u are walking, the sound of your footsteps gets very audible. it takes a little getting used to, but i am fine with it now. i like these because i am paranoid about my hearing (i have tinnitus from old days of careless listening), and i never, ever have to turn the volume up above 1/4 of my player's capacity. these are probably the most fragile pair, though, and i often get concerned about their sterility, because they do go into the ear canal. for that reason i wear these only when i need to block noise, like whenever i am outside or on a car ride.

i think the perfect pair of headphones would be able to tell you how many decibles you are subjecting your ears to. it is crazy that they dont, really. people are pretty uninformed and careless about how much will damage their hearing. i see people running around with their white earbuds all the time, and i know that most are probably listening at unsafe levels. when i was young, i would pump up the volume to block out noise on the school bus. i would listen to mellon collie and the infinite sadness every day almost at full blast, and there is ringing in my ears now as a result. that was fourth grade. recently i resurrected my old walkman and reproduced what i used to do. the volume was ridiculously loud. you should not be able to turn your player up that loud.

as for my tinnitus woes, i get along ok. i just dont want it to get any worse, and i actively try to avoid loud places (can be hard, especially for a college kid). in fact, i had it for years before i realized that the ringing/hissing wasnt natural. when i discovered that i did have tinnitus, i freaked out for a couple of weeks, then slowly got used to it. it still bugs me, but i guess im used to it. some people react very badly to it, cant sleep, get depressed, etc. and i think a lot of people will have it with the rise of mp3 players now.

[Fit of Rage]

well like I said, this is for my 49 year old dad, who's big into recording old records from his turntable onto his computer into mp3 form and actually editing the track using cooledit or whatever. So I want him to have good quality headphones that should be able to block noise without breaking the bank. I'll check into the Sennheisers, they sound promising.

[K2Grey]

MDR-V6, from what I have heard this is basically pretty much the standard of the recording industry. (That doesn't mean it's awesome, but it's the standard for a reason).

[Jerome Scuggs]

well like I said, this is for my 49 year old dad, who's big into recording old records from his turntable onto his computer into mp3 form and actually editing the track using cooledit or whatever. So I want him to have good quality headphones that should be able to block noise without breaking the bank. I'll check into the Sennheisers, they sound promising.

edit: nevermind, you want noise blocking?

double edit: wait, so he's ripping records to mp3... if he's not using those new ELP laser-reading turntables (which I can safely assume he isn't because it's a cool 15k for one), how does he achieve a good enough quality recording that you'd need some good headphones? Or is this where the cooledit comes into play?

triple edit: in all seriousness, I'd consider just buying... some headphones. You've got too many factors that mitigate the justification of buying relatively high-quality headphones. But if you're hellbent:

http://www.gradolabs.com/product_pages/sr60.htm

I'm going to be pimping Grado to the grave, because they have a price and a quality for every type of audiophile. I'd shoot for those SR60's. They don't have "noise blocking", but I've never seen what "noise blocking" is about... can't your stereo drown out every sound within 20-25 feet?

[Facetious]

I've heard good things about Grado's too, just never tried 'em. One thing I've never understood is "open air headphones" which I think the Grados are. How much sound really leaks?

[Sufficient]

I thought Grados weren't very comfortable as well.

[Jerome Scuggs]

I've heard good things about Grado's too, just never tried 'em. One thing I've never understood is "open air headphones" which I think the Grados are. How much sound really leaks?

Oh, it's like you have two speakers on the side of your head. Not good for family trips crammed in a car, or school classrooms.

[Jerome Scuggs]

I thought Grados weren't very comfortable as well.

They are, though for not as long as more ergonomic phones are. The pads are completely round instead of oval and thus after a few hours, they do get uncomfortable