Headphones for use with Squeezebox Radio

My leading contenders:

- Etomytic in ear buds (very portable but not sure about health aspects of buds that go in teh ear canal)
- Grado Prestige line
- Sennheiser, so many models, which one? Open back of some sort probably, must be comfortable, portable a plus)
- Audio technica open back, similar considerations
- Beyerdynamic DT880 (this would be my high end choice for comfort and sound though not so portable)

Currently I am using Realistic Nova 45s from the early 80's, which IMHO were quite good in their day and still sound pretty good, but of course I think I can do better.

These are not very comfortable though these days in that these have a thin sheet metal frame and thin pads, which I suppose I could replace or supplement.

Interesting I'm finding that Realistic Nova 45s must be pretty rare headphones in that I see no correct images of them on the internet. They were one of my top 5 gold standard Realistic audio products that I sold in bunches ($30 retail in early 80s I recall) to lucky customers that could appreciate them back in the day.

What is your budget?

I have owned MANY pair of headphones (started out with headphones moved onto speakers) and they all differ a little but if you pick a top model from a well know brand (Sennheiser, AKG, Dennon, Ultra Zone, Ultimate Ears, Beyerdynamic, etc) you really can't go wrong.

My only issue with most headphones is the highs. I have always felt the highs are lacking on headphones. Sennheiser 650s are nice in the mids but very soft on the highs and clamp my head a little bit. Denon AH-D5000 are very comfortable, closed and sound a lot like the Senns with a touch more treble and should be added to your list.

Grados are fun, I owned a few of their top models at one time. They can be very bright and are good at low levels but playing them loudly always ended my listening sooner than later. They also lack low end bass but have good bass punch in the 80hz range.

Etomytics block a lot of sound but they have no bass, really no bass. They need to be put very deep into the ear to get any bass. They are not good for moving around because the cord is very microphonic. If you go the IEM rout get ones where the cord goes over your ear (you can put the cord in front of your neck if you want) it will dampen the microphonics.

Beyerdynamic DT880, I demoed these back to back with my Sennheiser HD650s a long time ago. They are a little lighter in the bass then the Senns and have a more balanced top end. I liked the mids better on the Senn because they had more presents and just sounded right.

I have sold all my headphone and only kept two pairs... Sennheiser HD-650s and Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10vi. The Sennheiser were my first highend love and I guess I like them in-spite of their flaws...

Then there is the Ultimate Ears. What can I say, they sound almost as good as full size headphones. They are detailed with good bass and clear mids, they get good bass with out being drilled deep into your head (like the Etomytic). They have better extention on the highs than Shure I had (for got the model). They are good for bedtime and I wear them at the gym too. Not sure what your budget is but custom IEM would be a quick end to the highend headphone gig. My only issue with the Ultimate Ears is they dip a little in the mids and need to be turned up to get my heart pumping but I really like them and could not see my self with out a good pair of IEM.

If you want anymore details on any of these headphones let me know and I can go into amps and what not.

James,

Thanks for all that useful info.

I was not aware of the Ultimate Ears. They sound interesting. I will get more use out of a pair of good portable in ear phones than larger traditional on or over ear designs most likely, in that I have a variety of tabletop and portable devices I might use them with.

Let me research some more and come back with some more questions as needed.

Thanks.

I've been leaning towards the B&W P5 headphones of late for their combo of build quality, comfort, sound, and value, especially if had used.

Any thoughts on those specifically?

The Squeeze Radio does not seem to have a lot of power to spare for most smaller phones I have tried so far, so I am a bit concerned that limits options a bit.

I do not need SOTA phones at this point, so I have pretty much ruled out most phones that would tend to cost more at this point.

Mapman,

Did you give up on IEM at this point?

I have heard the B&W P5 headphones at the Apple store off of an iphone (mine with losses files). So take my comments with a grain of salt. They were built very nice but I found them pretty uneventful. They sounded pretty run of mill to me. They did not have any glaring flaws but they did not shin at all. I run my Ultimate ears off my iphone most of the time and they sounded MUCH better. Lower bass (cleaner too) more detailed and better impact from top to bottom. For $300 there are better headphones than the P5.

When looking for headphones that are easy to driver look at how many ohms they are, and the sensitivity. The lower the ohms the easier they will be to drive but the louder the noise floor (hissss) will be from the source too.

If you are not against on the ear headphones and need something easy to driver, Grados will fit the bill. They are sort of like horns to me though, a little colored, a little bright, but have great dynamics and impact to off set the flaws. The Grado RS-7 is the one headphone I wish I did not sell.

A brand called Alessandro (link below) takes Grado headphones and modifies them to be a little more flat. They keep all the good points of Grado but make them a little more tonally balance. I owned the Music Series Two before I bought the Grado RS-1. But the Alessandros also fall on the bright side of neutral but are a lot of fun. Built quality like all Grados is pretty iffy though.

Alessandro High-End Products

Headroom (www.headphone.com) is an assume site with reliable reviews of the headphones they carry. You can also overlay frequency graphs of different headphone phones they cary on their site. They measure them in-house.Their own line of amps holds their own too.

Also Head-fi.org is a very helpful and knowledgeable headphone forum.