Best Headphones in $200.00 range
- Thread starter Kwb
- Start date
It will be vinyl. 60's through early 80's. My source will be solid state in the form of Marantz 2320 or Pioneer sx1050 or Sansui 9090. So it will always be in the 120 wpc range.
jbailey930
AK Member
Grado has three models at your budget and less -- if you don't mind open back phones. Audio Technica also has a few with the popular ATH 50X at $150ish for closed back. I have Grado 80e's and the AT 50's that I enjoy. Try to get listen if you can at Guitar Center or Best Buy if you can .
savatage1973
Addicted Member
Another Grado fan here, and several models well within or under your budget. Not a big headphone guy, but I use them when I travel and the Grados have never let me down.
mars_volta
Super Member
Sony MDR-7506 is my go to.
RamblinE
(╯°□°)╯彡┻━┻
Almost everybody agrees that vintage receivers/amps make wonderful headphone amps. The headphone outputs are driven off of the speaker taps by voltage reducing circuitry. The character, dynamics, and color of the sound of the receiver translate over into headphones as they're all driven by the same amp. However when all this gear was manufactured headphones were built with different expectations and specifications than they are today. Vintage headphones from the same era are usually higher impedance than modern headphones and require more power. Mobile devices didn't really exist back then so there was no reason to make headphones meant to work with them. Therefore vintage gear headphone outputs expect higher impedance headphones that require more power to drive. Modern, low impedance headphones, plugged into vintage gear can work very well, however, one may notice a very sensitive volume control that is hard to fine tune as well as a higher noise floor that manifests itself in a hum. It would be worth considering meeting your receivers half way. You don't need to buy vintage headphones to get the best results but higher impedance headphones would be preferable. If you're not going to use these headphones with mobile devices I'd absolutely recommend them.
AKG K612 Pro 120Ω $119.95. AKG's house sound has evolved over the years to offer a very lush midrange and a bright, clinical treble. The K612 Pro utilizes a slightly older driver (my guess based on the fact that it's 120Ω) that offers a slightly warmer, bassier sound than their previous generation of flagship headphones starting with the 62Ω K701. While under-the-radar there are those who prefer the K612's warmer sound signature.
Beyerdynamic DT 770 250Ω $199.99. Beyer's have a reputation as brighter headphones. However, they are also a studio standard for many amateur and professional studio engineers and musicians. Beyer makes lower impedance versions of the DT770 for portable use as well as higher-end high impedance headphones.
Sennheiser HD 580 300Ω (used). Available on eBay, a somewhat vintage predecessor to some of Sennheiser's most successful headphones. Parts are still available from Sennheiser for repair and refurbishing.
HD 600 300Ω $260
HD 650 300Ω $264
HD 6XX 300Ω $199
New, the Sennheiser HD 600/650 are out of your price range. Used, however, not so much. They're one of the most successful headphone lines every made and many swear by them as their reference/end game/ whatever you want to call it. Sennheisers are very dark. Some think they're veiled, many find them eminently enjoyable because they are warmer and darker. The HD 6XX is a limited edition collaboration between Sennheiser and the website www.massdrop.com. Kind of like the AKG K7XX. While not always available, they'd be the most cost-effective way to get into Sennheiser's industry leading and highly successful line. (That sounds like a lot of fluff but honestly, I'm an AKG fanboy myself).
A Vintage Nod.
Headphones are a piece of technology that has progressed so heavily in the last thirty years that it's hard to imagine selecting a vintage can over a modern one. More efficient, easier to drive with less power, wider frequency responses and insane micro-dynamics and detail retrieval are all reasons why newer headphones are better. And yet some vintage designs persists. Either in production or by reputation. Here's two. One that I have and one that I aspire towards.
AKG K240 Sextett Cardan. 1978. 600Ω $90-$350. The Sextett gets it's name from a series of six passive radiators surrounding each driver. This design was very expensive to produce, probably why it was heavily modified to be more cost effective in the subsequent K240 Monitor produced from the 1980's till the mid-2000's. The Sextett is a very warm and bassy headphone. However, AKG's trademark mids still shine through. Where the headphone shows it's age is in a muted treble that doesn't always convey the finest details and an unrefined sub-bass. And yet for their age, I find it remarkable how honest they are. The AKG house sound has evolved over the years to accentuate the upper treble in such a way that it can hide flaws and distortion in sub par recordings. The Sextett, however, brings out these errors and puts them in the forefront. The first time I heard this on a familiar recording I thought I had purchased a bad set of headphones. Listened back on my trusty and reliable (and modified) AKG Q701 and the distortion was there, but only because I was listening for it this time.
The AKG K240 DF is a pair of headphones I will get eventually. They rarely pop up on eBay and when they do the prices can fluctuate like the Sextett. The DF stands for Diffused Field, a recording, and monitoring standard developed by a German university. The K240 DF sadly is the only headphone ever made to adhere to the standard. To some, they are the pinnacle of AKG's research and develop and possibly the best headphone they've ever made. Clear and accurate, very fast, these are headphones that won't accept poor recordings/masterings or bad sources yet they'll reward a listener if fed with the right material. Not a headphone I'd use every day but a headphone I'd probably use as a reference to show me what something sounds like, what the artist or the engineer intended.
+1 to that! I've owned Superex ST-Pro BV, Sennheiser HD280 Pro, Sony MDR, and gave them all away once I bought my Sennheiser HD598 (Ivory and wood) which I liked so much I bought the SE (black) when they came out and still have both!
I also kept my B&W P5-II on-ears just because they were a gift. Their closed-back, leather design with little plastic is very comfortable and B&W is currently listing them on-sale on their website for $199.99.
I'm also quite fond of my cheap Monoprice on-ears for when I just want a quick hook-up and not worry about damaging my nicer phones by taking them somewhere.
The only negative on the Sennheiser HD-598 could be they're open-back, if your listening situation makes that a negative.
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Raynald
Addicted Member
You will get almost as many opinions as there are members here so I don't know how much help we will be. I concur with the HD598 recommendation, great phones for the money.
I will make another recommendation for a model that is too often forgotten when opinions are sought on forums, the PSB M4U1. They were designed by Paul Barton who is one of the most respected audio designers going, there are plenty of positive reviews out there and the majority of owners love them (no model get universal praise, regardless of price). I have had the HD598 regular and SE but they are both gone as I prefer the sound of the PSB. Superb headphones and they can be found for very reasonable prices, new and used. The M4U2 is a bit more expensive and similar but adds some noise cancellation and an extra amp section if needed. Worth checking out.
When Paul came out with the NAD HP50 some reviewers thought it was better but I prefer the PSB overall though the NAD might be worth putting on the list as well.
I will make another recommendation for a model that is too often forgotten when opinions are sought on forums, the PSB M4U1. They were designed by Paul Barton who is one of the most respected audio designers going, there are plenty of positive reviews out there and the majority of owners love them (no model get universal praise, regardless of price). I have had the HD598 regular and SE but they are both gone as I prefer the sound of the PSB. Superb headphones and they can be found for very reasonable prices, new and used. The M4U2 is a bit more expensive and similar but adds some noise cancellation and an extra amp section if needed. Worth checking out.
When Paul came out with the NAD HP50 some reviewers thought it was better but I prefer the PSB overall though the NAD might be worth putting on the list as well.
Thank you for your time and insight. This has been very helpful since my listening source will be strictly SS receivers.
Listnnthdark
Well-Known Member
Consider Bang and Olufsen H6 . ..
keilau
AK Member
I like the Sennheiser HD-598 a lot for its very neutral sounding characteristics. I drive it with the separated headphone amp section of a Tianyun Zero DAC. It sounds very good. You can get the HD-598 for $100 at Amazon now.
What you do not want to do is to plug the HD598 into the headphone jack of a receiver or power amp. It defeats the whole purpose of getting a good sounding headphone. The loads presented by the headphone is very different from the low impedance speakers. The headphone also requires much less power and thus, less current. Most of the low cost receivers or power amplifier do not have separate output for the headphone. They just tap the headphone jack through a pair of drop-down resistors and cut off the speakers when a headphone is plugged in. You should find a dedicated headphone amplifier and determine if you can hear the difference. If you do not, then, using the receiver headphone socket is perfectly fine for you.
Higher end pre-amp or integrated amp may have separate headphone output board and should sound fine.
The bottom line is that you do not want to drive a high quality headphone by a power amplifier (or receiver), designed to drive speakers, through a drop down resistor. The technical reason are well documented here and at Head-Fi forum.
It is the theory, and the final choice is personal. In practice, if you cannot hear the difference, why waste the investment on a dedicated headphone amplifier?
RamblinE, your information is misleading. An audio amplifier, headphone or speaker, is a voltage device. Modern low impedance headphone needs more current (thus power) to drive than high impedance headphones. The HD-598 is a good example of those at 50 ohms. The pad down resistors at the receiver headphone output is for protection, but it destroys the damping factor for headphone, thus the transient response.
You need a dedicated headphone amplifier to bring out the best of a good headphone. The reasons are technically very basic on 2 issues.
1. Power drive capacity.
2. Output impedance and damping factor.
The Audio Technica AT-HA5000 spec is shown here for illustration. But you do not need to spend upward of $1000 to get good headphone sound.
http://www.audio-technica.com.hk/index.php?op=productdetails&pid=657&lang=eng
A power amplifier is a constant voltage device, whether a speaker or a headphone amp. From the spec above, A 600 ohms phone needs only 0.065 watt, but a 32 ohms phone needs 1.2 Watt. It takes the large current drive capacity of a good headphone amp to maintain the dynamics range of the music for low Z headphones. It is not a sensitivity issue. The same 1.1 volt input drives the phone to the same loudness, but the low impedance draws a much larger current (power). You can hear marked distortion increase in loud passage if the headphone amplifier does not have the power capacity for low Z phones. (This is an analogy to many commercial power amplifier cannot drive under 4 ohms speakers well, but have no problem with 8 to 16 ohms ones. Many better amp advertise their "high current" capacity.)
The output impedance and damping factor issue is easier to understood and needs no addition explanation. Without proper damping, the bass sounds loose and rings. It you like the tube sound, it is important to get one with output transformers. Entry level OTL tube headphone amplifier has high output impedance. It may still sound sweet and musical in the midrange, but the bass control will not be there.
For many years, music lover does not take headphone seriously. But with the high end phones like the Audeze or top of the line Sennheiser and many others, the thinking is gradually changing. A headphone amp is no more than a smaller power amplifier (1-3 watts) driving higher impedance loads (16 to 1000 ohms). The basic principle of good design remains the same as speaker power amplifier. But the design parameters are different.
The Sennheiser HD598 is not high end, but is one of the most neutral sounding phone in the under $200 range. The selection of amplification is a very personal choice. The best way to tell is to listen yourself. After you try a high current dedicated headphone amp with the Sennheiser HD598 and do not hear any improvement in sound, there is no reason to worry about it anymore. Just stick with what you already have. (You should have no problem with the 600 ohms AKG 240 or similar high impedance ones.)
Some users on this forum reported good results with the "Shanling PH100 Headphone Amplifier" and consider it a great buy for the money.
What you do not want to do is to plug the HD598 into the headphone jack of a receiver or power amp. It defeats the whole purpose of getting a good sounding headphone. The loads presented by the headphone is very different from the low impedance speakers. The headphone also requires much less power and thus, less current. Most of the low cost receivers or power amplifier do not have separate output for the headphone. They just tap the headphone jack through a pair of drop-down resistors and cut off the speakers when a headphone is plugged in. You should find a dedicated headphone amplifier and determine if you can hear the difference. If you do not, then, using the receiver headphone socket is perfectly fine for you.
Higher end pre-amp or integrated amp may have separate headphone output board and should sound fine.
The bottom line is that you do not want to drive a high quality headphone by a power amplifier (or receiver), designed to drive speakers, through a drop down resistor. The technical reason are well documented here and at Head-Fi forum.
It is the theory, and the final choice is personal. In practice, if you cannot hear the difference, why waste the investment on a dedicated headphone amplifier?
RamblinE, your information is misleading. An audio amplifier, headphone or speaker, is a voltage device. Modern low impedance headphone needs more current (thus power) to drive than high impedance headphones. The HD-598 is a good example of those at 50 ohms. The pad down resistors at the receiver headphone output is for protection, but it destroys the damping factor for headphone, thus the transient response.
You need a dedicated headphone amplifier to bring out the best of a good headphone. The reasons are technically very basic on 2 issues.
1. Power drive capacity.
2. Output impedance and damping factor.
The Audio Technica AT-HA5000 spec is shown here for illustration. But you do not need to spend upward of $1000 to get good headphone sound.
http://www.audio-technica.com.hk/index.php?op=productdetails&pid=657&lang=eng
AT-HA5000 Specifications
Type: Class A operational amplifier
Load Impedance: 16 to 600 Ω
Sensitivity: 1.1V / 50 kΩ
Maximum Output Power
2,400 mW + 2,400 mW (16 Ω load)
1,200 mW + 1,200 mW (32 Ω load)
600 mW + 600 mW (64 Ω load)
65 mW + 65 mW (600 Ω load)
Frequency Response: 5 ~ 200,000Hz (+0, -0.5 dB, at 100 mW output, 32Ω load)
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.006％ (20 Hz-20 kHz, at 100 mW output, 32Ω load)
Channel Separation: 62 dB (20Hz -20 kHz, 32 Ω load)
Gain: 15 dB
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 117dB
Output Impedance: 0.1 Ω
Type: Class A operational amplifier
Load Impedance: 16 to 600 Ω
Sensitivity: 1.1V / 50 kΩ
Maximum Output Power
2,400 mW + 2,400 mW (16 Ω load)
1,200 mW + 1,200 mW (32 Ω load)
600 mW + 600 mW (64 Ω load)
65 mW + 65 mW (600 Ω load)
Frequency Response: 5 ~ 200,000Hz (+0, -0.5 dB, at 100 mW output, 32Ω load)
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.006％ (20 Hz-20 kHz, at 100 mW output, 32Ω load)
Channel Separation: 62 dB (20Hz -20 kHz, 32 Ω load)
Gain: 15 dB
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 117dB
Output Impedance: 0.1 Ω
A power amplifier is a constant voltage device, whether a speaker or a headphone amp. From the spec above, A 600 ohms phone needs only 0.065 watt, but a 32 ohms phone needs 1.2 Watt. It takes the large current drive capacity of a good headphone amp to maintain the dynamics range of the music for low Z headphones. It is not a sensitivity issue. The same 1.1 volt input drives the phone to the same loudness, but the low impedance draws a much larger current (power). You can hear marked distortion increase in loud passage if the headphone amplifier does not have the power capacity for low Z phones. (This is an analogy to many commercial power amplifier cannot drive under 4 ohms speakers well, but have no problem with 8 to 16 ohms ones. Many better amp advertise their "high current" capacity.)
The output impedance and damping factor issue is easier to understood and needs no addition explanation. Without proper damping, the bass sounds loose and rings. It you like the tube sound, it is important to get one with output transformers. Entry level OTL tube headphone amplifier has high output impedance. It may still sound sweet and musical in the midrange, but the bass control will not be there.
For many years, music lover does not take headphone seriously. But with the high end phones like the Audeze or top of the line Sennheiser and many others, the thinking is gradually changing. A headphone amp is no more than a smaller power amplifier (1-3 watts) driving higher impedance loads (16 to 1000 ohms). The basic principle of good design remains the same as speaker power amplifier. But the design parameters are different.
The Sennheiser HD598 is not high end, but is one of the most neutral sounding phone in the under $200 range. The selection of amplification is a very personal choice. The best way to tell is to listen yourself. After you try a high current dedicated headphone amp with the Sennheiser HD598 and do not hear any improvement in sound, there is no reason to worry about it anymore. Just stick with what you already have. (You should have no problem with the 600 ohms AKG 240 or similar high impedance ones.)
Some users on this forum reported good results with the "Shanling PH100 Headphone Amplifier" and consider it a great buy for the money.
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xero-D-hero
Super Member
RamblinE was talking about/suggesting a lot of high(er) impedance headphones (and some of those were vintage high ohm 'phones too) not modern low impedance headphones.
No doubt about it each of those polar opposites has it's own set of requirements,not here to debate that deal at all.
But lemme play devils advocate here for a second...
Case in point: Say you wanna make a pair of those 600 ohm K240DF he mentioned REALLY sing ???
Well then you'll wanna use something like my NAD 106 preamp (trust me on this BTDT folks).
Now mind you that preamp's headphone section puts out > 8V into 600 ohms.
For the math challenged folks reading this that = 106.6mW.
Now compare that 106.6mW For the NAD preamp to the 65mW for that high $$$$ AT headphone amp...
So for those 600 ohm AKG K240DF that high $$$ AT headphone amp is playing catch-up to a 20-30 year old $150.00 preamp...
Now for a pair of modern low impedance cans,that NAD preamp is clearly not the hot ticket @ all.
That NAD 106's headphone section drops down to like 250mV @ 8 ohms (IIRC that's 7.8125 mW).
So yeah that NAD preamp is not gonna compare favorably to that AT headphone amp with a pair of modern low ohm cans.
So yeah it's all about matching the right gear with the given set of cans.
But dont for a second think high impedance cans are somehow "easier" to drive,because they are'nt,practical experince tells us high impedance headphone lovers otherwise.
That AT headphone amp may be able to reasonably drive a set of 600ohm cans well enough to suit most folks.
But keep in mind that there are tons & tons of other headphone amps out there that wont stand a chance.
And the consequences of underpowering high impedance cans are real too.
^^^^ THIS ^^^^ is why I power my modern low ohm Sony MDR-7506 from the ACM (audio control module) that's connected to my SB Zx soundcard of my dektop PC.
Connected to that NAD preamp those 7506's sound like utter $h!t,,,LOL...
Oh yeah,those AKG K240 DF,those were at/around $60.00 (used of course) and they sound absolutely awesome,cant imagine the SQ getting much better.
So I coughed up what roughly $210.00 for my current daily useage headphone bliss vs. ???? $$$$ for the latest & greatest HP gear.
FWIW
Bret P.
No doubt about it each of those polar opposites has it's own set of requirements,not here to debate that deal at all.
But lemme play devils advocate here for a second...
Case in point: Say you wanna make a pair of those 600 ohm K240DF he mentioned REALLY sing ???
Well then you'll wanna use something like my NAD 106 preamp (trust me on this BTDT folks).
Now mind you that preamp's headphone section puts out > 8V into 600 ohms.
For the math challenged folks reading this that = 106.6mW.
Now compare that 106.6mW For the NAD preamp to the 65mW for that high $$$$ AT headphone amp...
So for those 600 ohm AKG K240DF that high $$$ AT headphone amp is playing catch-up to a 20-30 year old $150.00 preamp...
Now for a pair of modern low impedance cans,that NAD preamp is clearly not the hot ticket @ all.
That NAD 106's headphone section drops down to like 250mV @ 8 ohms (IIRC that's 7.8125 mW).
So yeah that NAD preamp is not gonna compare favorably to that AT headphone amp with a pair of modern low ohm cans.
So yeah it's all about matching the right gear with the given set of cans.
But dont for a second think high impedance cans are somehow "easier" to drive,because they are'nt,practical experince tells us high impedance headphone lovers otherwise.
That AT headphone amp may be able to reasonably drive a set of 600ohm cans well enough to suit most folks.
But keep in mind that there are tons & tons of other headphone amps out there that wont stand a chance.
And the consequences of underpowering high impedance cans are real too.
^^^^ THIS ^^^^ is why I power my modern low ohm Sony MDR-7506 from the ACM (audio control module) that's connected to my SB Zx soundcard of my dektop PC.
Connected to that NAD preamp those 7506's sound like utter $h!t,,,LOL...
Oh yeah,those AKG K240 DF,those were at/around $60.00 (used of course) and they sound absolutely awesome,cant imagine the SQ getting much better.
So I coughed up what roughly $210.00 for my current daily useage headphone bliss vs. ???? $$$$ for the latest & greatest HP gear.
FWIW
Bret P.
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RamblinE
(╯°□°)╯彡┻━┻
I do not intend to be misleading. There's always more to learn. I was just thinking out loud regarding the amp OP will be using. If I'm then I'm wrong. Also if the HD 598 works well with receivers then that is another great suggestion.
keilau
AK Member
No argument that the NAD 106 preamplifier's headphone output jack works well with high impedance phones. It is one of the higher end mid-fi pre-amp with XLR balanced output, which means that it is NOT run-of-the-mill pre-amp. But it was before the era of modern low impedance phone. Its headphone amp board use a small power amp IC (NJM2043D). You are right that it will not be a good fit for low impedance phone due to lack of current drive capability.
(Edited for clarification: I had the older NAD 1600 Tuner/Preamp (1988) for a few years, which are very similar in most of the circuitry. It had the SAME headphone amp board using a small power amp IC (NJM2043D). I assume the NAD 106 headphone jack sound to be very similar to the NAD 1600.)
It is an entirely different story for receiver or power amp headphone jack with padding resistor off the speaker output. The resistor works as a voltage divider for high-Z phone and as a current limiter for low-Z phone. Either way, it completely destroys the transient response and bass performance of a good sounding headphone. In addition, it raises the noise floor and makes the receiver volume control hard to adjust.
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