Recommend headphones$100

There seem to be some audiophiles on here, so point me in the right direction, please.

I'm looking for an around ear/studio style set of headphones, with a budget of around $100, maybe more.

What I know so far...

I tried some Beats last week, and those where pure eargasms, but the price tag was just too damn high.

I'm tempted to try the Bose AE2, but I have yet to find a place with a set available for demo. My dad is a Bose fanatic, and I think I could justify upping the limit to $150 if they are as good I have been told.

What is the brand that someone here makes the CNC mahogany cups for? There was a thread about it a few months back but search has got me nothing.

Never heard Beats or those particular Bose. Generally, Bose (Better Off with Something Else) is regarded as gimmicky and over-priced. Those super-small cube surround systems that were popular for a while were junk.

Do you want open or closed-back headphones? That's the first differentiator. "Studio" headphones mean something very specific, are you sure that's what you mean?

Are you familiar with the craziness that is the audiophile world? Can you separate the utter bullE36 M3 from the important parts of an audio review? It can be really hard to read through an enthusiast's description of any speaker, and "true audiophiles" won't touch headphones with a ten foot pole. Read past the crap if you can, read lots of reviews of the same headphones, and you might get a general idea of whether that headphone would be good for you.

Is there anywhere you could go to test these out?

I have a pair of Shure SRH-440s for blocking out (and keeping in) sound at work. They're quite nice.

Before that, I had a nice pair of Sennheiser open-back headphones that were affordable and sounded nice.

Grado, AKG, and Beyerdynamic make some very nice headphones too.

My biggest suggestion would be to try out whatever you can and go with what you like, not what someone tells you you should like. And don't stretch your budget, there's always something in your budget that will do you right.

I don't like the Bose product line as a whole these days. You can certainly get better value if you shop elsewhere. Same with Beats.

Do you need them to have an internal amplifier? What about noise cancelling? I'd skip both and just go to something that's already good and use an external amp if ever needed.

For good studio cans, I don't think you can go wrong with a pair of AKGs or Senns. I have a pair of the low end Senns and I'm happy enough with them. I can buy 10 pairs of those for what one pair of Bose headphones would cost, and the sound quality is similar.

The cool thing about headphones is that they're the Miata of the audio world. Low buy in, cheap mods, and you learn a lot about bigger equipment, so that when you do move up, you are more knowledgeable about what you're doing.

If you can live with the open back, Grado SR60i sound extremely good for the money and even leave some room in the budget. I love mine and use them at work a lot, but we have private offices there - they aren't really shared office friendly.

I have Shure SRH750DJs, had them for 2...3 years now? Love them.

Honestly though? I'm surprised by your comment about the Beats...When I tried them (admittedly 2/3 years ago), they sounded like my music was being poured through sewer filth, and that was the first impression I had of them, after using $20 Sony and $60 Sennheiser "sports head phones".

All bass, barely any mid range, and utterly no high range. Bass was horribly controlled, and just sounded horrible. Found a place that let me try Shure, AKG, and AudioTechnica. Just that look into them lead me to up my budget a bit, and get my Shures. The pair I really wanted were like 200+.

But...My suggestion is, is to find a couple places that will let you demo various brands, and do your comparison shopping...pretty much between the brands everyone has listed here. Take a player with you, load it with 3 to 4 songs that sort of define the extremes of your library. Play those songs through every set of cans. This helps to slow you down to "review" them, see how comfortable they are after more than 5 minutes. A brand tried sounded fantastic on the first two songs I listened to, but about halfway through the third song, my left ear was starting to bother me, something about how the headphones sat just was uncomfortable.

Go forth, and good hunting!

SR125i's pop up around that price. I am a super big fan of Grado headphones for everything that is not super heavy base music. Also they do not really need a amp to run them properly at this price point.

Another vote for Grados here. If an open back will work for, you, I think they're the best value in higher-end cans. Buy the highest number you can afford (get 'em used), don't look back.

Bonus: Grado is family owned, made in Brooklyn.

Right now I'm using $20 sony head phones. Good for $20, but after the beats they sound painfully flat.

Grado is the one I couldn't remember the name of, and iirc Taiden is the one that makes the cnc magonany cups. I looked over those before and it looked like they start at a little over $100. It also looked that they would be easy to repair and upgrade. This would be a plus as I would hate to have to get rid of them if the cats got to them.

These will be used with my computer, iPod and maybe iPhone(if the plug fits with my phone case)

I would give the Grados a good hard look.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=232-406

There are both more- and less-expensive models from Grado, but this might just represent the "sweet spot."

In light of you calling the Beats "eargasms," i'm not sure what to suggest...

Maybe a set of Sony dj-oriented cans?

I have heard many people express love for Beats, until I have them try something else, usually less expensive. And heck, we sell them. At that price, if you are looking new, I would recommend either a set of Grados or Sennheisers. I am still rocking my HD580's, they are better than ten years old, never needed to be repaired, but they did cost double your budget and sound much better through a good headphone amp. I have to turn my Touch or iPhone WAY up to get decent volume from them.

I Must admit that after thinking about it, I had listened to some base heavy music when trying the beats.

neon4891 wrote: What is the brand that someone here makes the CNC mahogany cups for? There was a thread about it a few months back but search has got me nothing.

Forum user Taiden makes wood cups for Grados. Not that it hasn't been said here already, but if you can deal with an open back, just get the best set of Grados you can afford.

Grado lover here too. Although I use a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro's at work hooked up to a HeadRoom Total BitHead amp.

A bit OT, but Beats are a marketing Home Run. By signing some rappers name to them and making them colorful, they are charging $300 for a $50 headphone made in China for $2. That is the holy grail for us marketing folks!

Honestly at work, i use Sony MDR-XD series, and i love them dearly. Best $40 headphone i've ever bought.

If i were to upgrade i'd be looking at some Grados, Sennheisers, or itching my mod bug with some Koss PortaPros.

I was looking for exactly this, and ended up with:

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro

...Which I really like. Granted though - I was a rock drummer for 20+ years and I'm a bit deef and have tinnitus...

pinchvalve wrote: ...$300 for a $50 headphone made in China for $2...

I figured I could find something better for less, that's why I'm asking.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Honestly at work, i use Sony MDR-XD series, and i love them dearly. Best $40 headphone i've ever bought.

Yeah, my current pair is the ZX100, cheapest of the line. The only thing that has killed any pair of my Sony headphones has been cats, and I have learned since on this subject.

Side note, are there any numbers in the specs I should pay attention to? In the past my picks have been based of Freq. resp. range.

These are what my audiophile friend uses to "ruin" people.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD25-1-II-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B000TDZOXG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346134614&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd+25

The standard:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Series-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ

(edit) Rather than add another post- I'll just say, I'd avoid Bose.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: The standard: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Series-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ

These are honestly quite excellent. Very likely what i'll upgrade to at work when my XD400s finally bite the dust. (But they probably never will. Been using them for over a decade.)

I've tried all sorts of $50-150 units, and my favorites are still the Inland headphones I got for $7 from Micro Center.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: The standard: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-V6-Monitor-Series-Headphones/dp/B00001WRSJ

Excellent, yes, but beware of Sony when you have to replace the ear cushions! They cost almost as much as the headphones and I've replaced them once already (have had them seemingly forever) and they need it again.

Update, I just looked at the Amazon link, apparently somebody figured out that ear pads should only cost $9 instead of what I paid back around 1994!

Some people like to change them out for these:

http://www.amazon.com/Pearstone-9081860-Deluxe-Earpads-Pair/dp/B005GC7YJ2

I've never tried them myself.