Headphones (yeah, again)

[Fit of Rage]

So I've got a $150 gift card to Best Buy and I'm trying to figure out what I can get with it. I was thinking it might be time for an upgrade to a NICE pair of headphones for myself (crystal clear, defined bass response, comfortable, noise isolating at the very least -- noise cancelling if possible). Skullcandy, Beats by Dre, Shure? What's good? I'm open to earbuds or over-the-head, but I'd prefer the latter.

Anyone out there got a really nice pair of headphones? I don't think I'm quite ready to shell out for the $300 Bose ones, but other headphone suggestions are welcome. I'm also open to other things, I'm just clueless as to what I should do with $150.

[Necromotic]

I'd pick beats by Dre

[404 Not Found]

AKG's and Sennheiser's are always dependable and at a decent price. Gotta try them on and test them out though. Never had a prob with the AKG's and Sennheiser's, although my AKG's after 15 years are starting to fall apart.

[Burzum]

Portable or cans for home listening?

[paradise!]

Earbuds barely offer that crystal clear sound your looking for.

IMO, over the top is the way to go if you're looking for a real experience. Friend of mine cashed in his credit card points, and got bose earbuds. He says they're great, but for $100 worth of points, it wasn't worth it.

But, it all depends on the environment you're in. Personally, I ride city buses, earbuds in that environment don't cut it (take my word for it). I would love to rock over the top ones, but have yet to find a quality over-top brand for under $100 (would rather not rock $250 headphones for all to see).

BTW, the bose over the tops are amazing, buy them on amazon or barnes and noble and use promo codes $

[Bioture]

I'm actually not sure where the whole "Bose is the holy grail of headphones" stigma came from. Don't get me wrong, they're OK headphones - I have a pair of QC3's that I use at the office, it's OK. But 350 bones, you'd be MUCH better off with a pair of Denon D2000s (good isolation, sound), Sennheiser HD595s (open air, great fidelity), or HD600s or 650s (reference headphones), and investing in an amp for at home listening. The downside being larger headphones requires more amplification - which means they're not suitable for portable players unless you have a portable amp.

Kinda stinks that you have to spend the money at best buy. If you go with bose, the triports sounds really nice if you're not looking to get sound isolation. They also go for about 120-150 bucks.

[Xog]

Paradise said it. It really does depend on where you'll be, what type of environment you'll be in. Where do you plan on using these the most?

[Edify]

I'd go with Sennheiser. Had mine since I started college in 05 and they are still workin' great. They are over the head kind though, not sure if you're looking for earbuds only.

Reliability, sound quality, durable.

[Displaced]

I've never rated Bose products, their speakers, av systems, etc etc are all overmarketed and mediocre at best for what they cost.

I've personally never been a huge fan of earbuds, but, headphones aren't always practical.
I've got a set of KOSS earbuds that I use on planes etc, I can't fault them for the price, but they aren't anything special.

Sony MDR-NC3000 - are a good set of earbuds, active noiseblocking, etc etc, but they cost an arm and a leg over here, maybe cheaper stateside?

Sennheiser PXC150 - should be around the 100$ mark stateside, they are light headphones (OTT) but sound quality isn't the best ever, worth a listen to though.

AKG K480NC - Slightly bulkier headphones (OTT), better noise cancellation, better bass, build quality. Sound wise they aren't stellar either, Bass is sort of overpowering. should be around 150$ in the states.

Denon AH-NC600 - earbuds from denon, good fit and finish, nice tone, clear sound. should be around 150$, definately worth listening to.

Klipsch Image X5 - earbuds from klipsch, I personally find these very comfortable to be earbuds, punchy bass, great responce and clarity, but I can't justify 150$ for earbuds. Let alone double for the X10's.

Grado SR125 - FUGLY headphones, they look like something from the stonage (IMO, some may like the retro styling). But boy oh boy, fantastic headphones for the price, definately one of my favorites, and should be available for about 150$. DEFINATELY GO TRY THESE!

I've never tried Skullcandy's products, but they look cheap/nasty, although, appearances can be decieving. :P

[Fit of Rage]

These are mostly gonna be for home use, recording/mixing and just personal listening.

[Xog]

These are mostly gonna be for home use, recording/mixing and just personal listening.

Sennheiser's HD650 and AKG's K 701 are two of your very good options for $150-$300

Another good option would be:

If you're looking to spend a little less, these are going for $100 on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826106328
SENNHEISER HD 280PRO 3.5mm Connector Circumaural PROFESSIONAL Headphone

Pros: Best headphones out there Period. They do squash your head, but this is because they act like noise supression ear muffs.

When I have these on I can't hear a thing outside the music coming through the headphones. Very durable and has user replaceable parts. I've already redone my earcups once.

Sound quality is amazing and beats anything else I have tried. I'm a musician for over 15 years and a sound technician as well.

For loud environments or where you need to be isolated from other background noises while listening to audio, you won't find a better set of headphones. Cons: Don't bother with noise cancellation bull. Get these, you'll be happier. No cons whatsoever. Other Thoughts: Noise canceling headphones are a bunch of bull and don't work all that well. These headphones are beyond anything that those noise canceling hunks of junk can offer. They don't require batteries either ;-)

[project dragon]

For Best Buy, be sure to check their website for their online-only deals that they have on some headphones. Brands I would look at are Sennheiser, AKG, or Audio-Technica.

It's been a while since I purchased any headphones so I may be out of the know of what models to invest in (and the models I would want are out of the price-range!). I think for products like Bose and Dre's, they wouldn't be too great for recording/mixing mainly because they aren't neutral sounding, giving more emphasis to the lower-end. I can't comment on Bose greatly cause I've only heard them a few times, but I think the only thing they have going for them is the fact that they are pretty comfortable and their noise cancelling is pretty good. Other than that, you could probably find better listening devices on-par or for cheaper. If you want to go the earbud/IEM route, take a look at some of the Shure products.

Also, feel free to ask these crazy people on another forum: http://www.head-fi.org/. Make sure to tell them about the whole Best Buy situation, and your maximum budget, because some people will just pull suggestions out of their asses and recommend you headphones that are about 2-3 times out of your budget and not available at Best Buy.

[Facetious]

i swear by sennheisers but theyre really goddamn expensive at best buy, so dont buy them there

id hold onto that gift card until you want something that never gets marked down online (xbox or something) because best buy has really shitty prices on accessories

[Fit of Rage]

So I wound up getting these:



They're fantastic. Got 'em off Amazon. As for best buy, I wound up getting this logitech 5.1 speaker system and some ink cartridges:

[Jeenyuss]

skullcandy headphones blow my dick all night. i had the bass amplifier ones for all of grade 12 until some dickweed sat on them.