Sennheiser HD650 Reference Class Headphones, top side view,
The list of stereo headphone reviews below details our personal experiences with each of these headphones and ear buds.
The quest for decent-sounding headphones at decent prices has led to many dead-ends and wasted dollars unfortunately. We’ve spent a lot for a little. E.g. We bought a set of extravagant Grado phones. Then we also spent a little for a lot. E.g. We purchased the much cheaper but better sounding Sony V500s and Sony V6 headsets. But our favorite of them all for at-home, easy chair listening, are the Sennheiser HD-650 open-backed stereo headphones. The least favorite is the Koss Tech 2 unit. The others fall somewhere in the middle.
Today’s stereo headphones can sound as pleasing as a good pair of loudspeakers. But you can spare your house mates or neighbors the loud music. Do that by listening with headphones when only you actually need to hear the program.
Closed-back phones such as the Koss and Sony models reviewed below, all do an excellent job at containing the music. They also keep unwanted surrounding noise out. Though the Sennheisers, also listed below, have the best overall sound in our view, they have problems. E.g. Others in the room can hear your music, even when playing at low volumes. Also, the Sennheisers do little to reduce outside sounds. So the place where you choose to listen should be fairly quiet to avoid distractions.
Using headphone amplifiers (amplifiers specially designed for driving stereo headphones) allows adequate driving of the best headphones by today’s lower audio power devices such as iPods, portable CD players, and the like. We are especially fond of the PreSonus HP4 headphone amplifier, and have tried it with all the earphone units below with great aural success. The serious audiophile will appreciate the improved sound from adding a headphone amp to your audio listening center.
Well-designed stereo headphones help head off a major source of noise pollution (the blaring stereo). Apparently headphones are quite popular, as so many types and varying quality levels are available. Advancing audio and acoustic technologies have vastly improved the fidelity of even the cheapest of earphones, reduced their weight, and raised overall comfort levels.
With the advent of digital noise-cancelling technology, surrounding noises, outside of the headphones can be further reduced in volume. That way, all you hear, is the audio program. Noise cancelling headphones work well on airplanes and in other chronically noisy environments.
Then, there’s the Bluetooth headphones and infrared cordless technologies, that eliminate that pesky cable from the headphones to the audio device. One drawback of these units is that they require batteries and an extra transmitter electronics. But on the whole, wireless HD headphones sound pretty good nowadays, have decently-long range, and despite the batteries, are not overly heavy on the head. So nowadays with so many options available, there’s less excuse not to use stereo headphones, in any situation where playing music at room-filling volume would be inappropriate. We’ve yet to try bluetooth headphones however, though we have witnessed several brands of them on friends’ ears. They love them.
Now you won’t feel the bass in your chest from your loudspeakers when listening through stereo headphones. But you can buy ear speakers today that sound every bit as good as the best loudspeakers. Plus, you generally pay less for this single-person headphone listening option.
In addition to good high fidelity stereo sound, decent headphones should be comfortable. The Sennheiser HD-650 phones below did the best at providing the most comfort with their velour-lined ear cushions. The Sonys came in at second place, and the Koss headphone were least comfortable and probably the heaviest too. If you don’t mind wearing ear buds, today’s better units are so light. In fact, you may forget that you’re wearing them. Admittedly though, it’s hard to find very light ear buds that sound really good too.
So we hope you’ll find the headphone reviews below helpful in choosing an appropriate set of stereo headphones. We will add to this list as we encounter and test new audio headsets and ear buds.
Sony MDR V700 Headphones Review, Dynamic Stereo Okay but not great.
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