Hi chaps, Haven't posted here for a while, but here goes. I have checked
out Google, and not much help there on this.

I have a budget of up to about £70 for some new headphones. I like
listening to music in the evenings, so concert levels through speakers
are a no-no. I have a very varied taste, anything from Amadeus Mozart to
ZZ Top.

I've had a search around on the internet for reviews and tests, although
the only ones I could easily find were in the US, so I'm not sure how
valid their hearing tests are compared to ours.

Anyway, I've kind of got my eye on the Grado SR60 phones at the moment,
as their reviews are all good, and they are just under my maximum
budget.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any decent hi-fi shops around
here locally (Durham) to go and try some out (unless someone knows
different). Although IMHO, it seems a bit pointless testing headphones
that haven't been 'broken in' anyway.

Names like Technics, Koss and Sennheiser are also some I've looked at,
in partcilular the Sennheiser HD497.

Looking for some inspiriation here.

Cheers.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Concerto 16v: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://www.thehewitts.plus.com - now online

In article ,
Andy Hewitt wrote:
Although IMHO, it seems a bit pointless testing headphones
that haven't been 'broken in' anyway.

In all my years of using headphones in a pro capacity, I've not found any
that needed 'breaking in'. And if they 'altered' in any way after some use
- what's to stop them continuing to alter as time goes by?

--
*Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Andy Hewitt wrote:
Although IMHO, it seems a bit pointless testing headphones
that haven't been 'broken in' anyway.

In all my years of using headphones in a pro capacity, I've not found any
that needed 'breaking in'. And if they 'altered' in any way after some use
- what's to stop them continuing to alter as time goes by?

Perhaps some audiophile nerdy thing I guess, but most of the reviews
mentioned it. I suppose it stands to reason that most widgets such as
these will indeed change over many years, so I guess they could in part
be right, perhaps not to the extent where the sound quality is actually
noticeable on the short term, but it must change as the drivers wear,
and corrosion affects the connections.

--
Andy Hewitt ** FAF#1, (Ex-OSOS#5) - FJ1200 ABS
Honda Concerto 16v: Windows free zone (Mac G5 Dual Processor)
http://www.thehewitts.plus.com - now online

I have both the Grado SR 60's and a pair of Sennheiser HD 580's. I wore out
the earpads on my Grados and when I got new ones, I cut holes out of the
pads using an exacto knife and a quarter as a template. This seems to make
them less boomy and clearer sounding for my ageing ears. In fact, when my
friend and I compared them to his SR 80's, they sounded alike.

I've had a lot of cheap headphones (Koss, Panasonic, Sony, etc.) and the
Grado SR 60s are very nice to listen to. Unlike most people, I find them
comfortable. The only annoyance I've had with them is that they tend to
twist up funny if you're not careful (each of the ear pieces 'swivels').
But this is only a minor annoyance. Although my Sennheiser HD 580s also
sound great, they were double the price. Soundwise, I can't honestly say I
like one over the other.

But other than price, the Grados do have another advantage: Unlike the
Sennheiser HD 580s, the Grados are low impedance (32 ohms as opposed to 300
for the Sennheisers) which makes them easy to run off of portable CD units.
Most of the newer model portable cd players don't put out the same volume as
older players (to conserve battery life?) and seem to need more sensitive
headphones. When I play classical music, I can't run my Sennheisers off my
Panasonic portable player because the quiet passages are almost inaudible,
but my Grados sound great. Also, if you don't have a headphone amp, I've
read some newsgroup postings (from Arny Krueger and others, I believe) that,
because of their low impedance, the Grados won't sound as distorted with the
headphone jack of a typical integrated amplifier (however, because of their
higher impedance, I can run my Sennheisers off of the speaker outputs of my
25WPC NAD 3020, which allows me to bypass the resistor circuitry of the
headphone output).

So, I'd recommend the SR60's. They look a bit cheap and flimsy, but for the
price I've not heard better.

Roland.


"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Andy Hewitt wrote:
Although IMHO, it seems a bit pointless testing headphones
that haven't been 'broken in' anyway.

In all my years of using headphones in a pro capacity, I've not found any
that needed 'breaking in'. And if they 'altered' in any way after some use
- what's to stop them continuing to alter as time goes by?

--
*Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Spiderant wrote:
But other than price, the Grados do have another advantage: Unlike the
Sennheiser HD 580s, the Grados are low impedance (32 ohms as opposed to 300
for the Sennheisers) which makes them easy to run off of portable CD units.
Most of the newer model portable cd players don't put out the same volume as
older players (to conserve battery life?) and seem to need more sensitive
headphones.

It's an EU directive thing. Instigated by the French, I'm told.

--
Now Playing: Weezer - Say it Ain't So [320kbps mp3]

"nsj" wrote in message
...
Spiderant wrote:
But other than price, the Grados do have another advantage: Unlike the
Sennheiser HD 580s, the Grados are low impedance (32 ohms as opposed to
300
for the Sennheisers) which makes them easy to run off of portable CD
units.
Most of the newer model portable cd players don't put out the same
volume as
older players (to conserve battery life?) and seem to need more
sensitive
headphones.

It's an EU directive thing. Instigated by the French, I'm told.


............presumably as the French do not manufacture headphones?


--

Woody

In article ,
Woody wrote:

It's an EU directive thing. Instigated by the French, I'm told.

...........presumably as the French do not manufacture headphones?

It's nothing to do with the headphones as such, but the maximum SPL that
the total system can produce.

Most pro systems as used by musos and TV presenters etc limit the maximum
SPL to a safe level. You may not care about damaging your hearing. Those
who supply these things for others to use have to.

--
*I don't have a solution, but I admire your problem. *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

nsj wrote:

Spiderant wrote:
But other than price, the Grados do have another advantage: Unlike the
Sennheiser HD 580s, the Grados are low impedance (32 ohms as opposed to 300
for the Sennheisers) which makes them easy to run off of portable CD units.
Most of the newer model portable cd players don't put out the same volume as
older players (to conserve battery life?) and seem to need more sensitive
headphones.

It's an EU directive thing. Instigated by the French, I'm told.

Uh ?

What's an EU directive thing ?


Graham

Pooh Bear wrote:


nsj wrote:


Spiderant wrote:

But other than price, the Grados do have another advantage: Unlike the
Sennheiser HD 580s, the Grados are low impedance (32 ohms as opposed to 300
for the Sennheisers) which makes them easy to run off of portable CD units.
Most of the newer model portable cd players don't put out the same volume as
older players (to conserve battery life?) and seem to need more sensitive
headphones.

It's an EU directive thing. Instigated by the French, I'm told.


Uh ?

What's an EU directive thing ?

The EU is like the mafia and runs Europe.
A directive is like an offer you can't refuse.

In the case of the iPOD, I'm told that you can download
EU spec firmware which restricts the audio output power
or US firmware which doesn't.

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes
In article ,
Andy Hewitt wrote:
Although IMHO, it seems a bit pointless testing headphones
that haven't been 'broken in' anyway.

In all my years of using headphones in a pro capacity, I've not found any
that needed 'breaking in'. And if they 'altered' in any way after some use
- what's to stop them continuing to alter as time goes by?


Usually the altering is the removal of the jack plugs and the fracturing
of the leads and the O/C of the drive units after studio presenters have
had a go at them:!

As for overall performance I have always used Sennheiser FWIW....
--
Tony Sayer