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Around-Ear headphones for mp3 player?

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 
I'm looking for a pair of closed, circumaural headphones for use with my ipod touch.

I'd prefer to spend between £50-£100. (For anyone not in the UK, god knows what that translates to in your money. If it helps, the Sennheiser HD280pro, Creative Aurvana, and Sony MDR-NC60 all seem to fall within that price range.)

I'll be listening to quite a lot of mp3s and spotify tracks, so preferably something that masks their shortcomings. I listen to all types of music, electro, classical, jazz, rock, drum'n'bass, everything and anything really. So a good all round performance would be ideal, though I tend to prefer a more bassy or 'warm' tone. For example, I recently bought a set of Goldring DR50's which had some good reviews for their clarity, yet I couldn't stand them, far too thin a sound for my ears.

Finally, these will be worn on the go and I have a huge problem with wires, so with any luck theres something with only around 1.2m of cord and a neat 3.5mm jack - no cord winders, bulky 6.5mm adapters or amps.

Can anyone help?
post #2 of 8
These are the circum-aurals I use portably - £9 over your budget but it's much of a muchness:

Amazon.co.uk: ATH-M50 - Electronics & Photo

Great isolation, plenty of bass and don't need an amp to sound great. They are terminated in a 3.5mm jack and have a single coiled cable that will never get tangled up.
post #3 of 8
Welcome to Head-Fi.

I agree. The M50's should do pretty well. I haven't personally heard them but everything I've read has been positive. Someone who has heard them can go into more detail about their sound. I have a pair of HD280's they don't have much bass which left me wanting more with my dnb and trance. They are also not terribly comfortable due to their high clamping force. Mine are now broken in though and are reasonably comfortable for a couple of hours. I haven't heard the others on your list so I can comment on them.
post #4 of 8
Sound I would describe as pretty accurate mids and treble with an emphasised (but not bloated) lower end.

I'm not very good at describing sound quality using language. Do a search on the phones and I'm sure you will find dozens of flowery write ups. While you find the odd person who doesn't like them, they are generally well thought of.

In terms of genre, I think they do well with everything - great for rock, hip hop and above all every manner of electronic music, which they really handle well, a lot of classical and jazz too that isn't too brass dependent. A general issue I have with closed phones and not just the ATH-M50 is that brass instruments sound a bit unrealistic, almost robotic. I haven't heard a set of closed phones I didn't find this the case with.

Besides the sound they are just very convenient phones to fill a certain need - for portable, outdoor use in noisy environments they are superb. Isolation is top notch, comfort is good (start off a little tight but they loosen up in a week or two) and are very efficient so sound great with or without a headphone amp.

While they aren't high on my pecking order for "sit down" listening, they are great and I can't see myself ever selling them as they serve their function so well.
post #5 of 8
The Creative Aurvanas are pretty close to what you're describing you're after.
post #6 of 8
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the ATH-M50 recommendation, added to the shortlist.

Are the Creatives circumaural? From what I've seen (an unboxing clip on youtube) the cups look like theyd sit on your ears.

Also, I've just seen JVC HA-M750 going for £40, will have to research them a bit.
post #7 of 8
Thread Starter 

hi there, just returning to this thread for more advice..


i went for the creative aurvana live cans but am now looking to step up.

i like the sound of the aurvanas, bass is important to me, but i'm now noticing the highs are less than perfect. also the build quality feels a bit cheap.

i'd still prefer a short cable length of around 1.5m or less as these will be used solely with an mp3 player. also circumaural for longer listening.


still the ATH-M50s, or any more into the mix? if there are cans with longer cables that you can swap out for shorter length, that'd be fine too.

post #8 of 8

If your looking to step up just a notch, there are many for 100-200 price range.

ATH-M50, Hfi 580, SRH 840, HD-25 mkII, HD 598, and much much more, just brows this section of the forums.


The HD 25's aren't over the ear cans, but they are on-ear and they isolate really really really well. You can get them here.

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