drishan wrote Budget: less than $300 over $70

Music preference: Metal, Dubstep, Hip hop, Acoustic rock

Type / form factor and portability: over ear

Open/Closed (Not for in-ear):

Source(s): Guitar amp, iphone/ipod, guitar amp mostly

I was thinking the ad700's?

If you're going to be playing the guitar and using headphones to monitor, I would recommend a pair of closed headphones. If you're just listening and have no preference based on leakage, isolation, etc., then a pair of open headphones is good at this budget.

If you're producing, a closed headphone is for you. Some options are the Audio Technica ATH-M50 (~$130), Shure SRH940 ($295), and the Ultrasone Pro 900 (~$310). The M50s are great production cans, and plenty of artists who know what they're doing use them without being paid to do so. Your budget allows for much more than the M50s, though, so I would take advantage of that. The only reason I recommend a cheaper headphone for this is because sound quality is degraded by all of the ambient noise. They're a very solid headphone, sound great for the price, and can really take a beating.

The Shure SRH940 will not have stellar isolation, and neither will the Pro 900, but they're still closed. Better than open if you need some isolation. The Pro 900 also needs to be amplified, so this is another complication. The SRH940 is fine sans amp, but some say it's light on bass. If you're into rock more than dubstep (sounds like you are) then the Shures are great for you.

Honestly, you have far too many options than I can write about. Have a look at the headphone guide in the OP at the bottom. It should help you out quite a bit!

M21 wrote Budget: $70

Music preference: Rap

Type / form factor and portability: Over Ear

Open/Closed (Not for in-ear): Open

Source(s): iPod

Closed headphones will be better for your purposes and at this price point.

If bass is your priority, and if you listen mostly to rap, it likely is, the Sony XB700 is made for you. If you want to save some money, the XB500 is also a very good choice.

drishan wrote Budget: less than $300 over $70

Music preference: Metal, Dubstep, Hip hop, Acoustic rock

Type / form factor and portability: over ear

Open/Closed (Not for in-ear:(

Source(s Guitar amp, iphone/ipod, guitar amp mostly

I was thinking the ad700's?

Actually the AD700 would be kind of atrocious, sadly. The AD900 would be awesome with acoustic, but downright anemic for dubstep. Do you want open? The Beyerdynamic DT990 would be a better choice for that. You can coax some extra volume out with the 32ohm (but it's apparently the worst of the bunch) but I've compared the 250ohm to the 600ohm and I thought that the 600ohm was a bit smoother and more refined overall.

@Neown, I was just browsing play.com, and if you don't need the isolation, look at [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] They're one of the best earbuds on the planet, and if you can get them to fit, amazing with metal.

If you can save up another 20 quid, the [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] would seriously be a step up if you want bass.

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote Budget: 80

Music preference: Metal

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s): iPhone/Laptop

I would not look further than the Head Direct RE0. The bang for your buck with them is just incredible, and they're great for rock. They are a bit light on bass, but the sound quality is hard to beat for the price.

Don't buy them from Amazon, it's better to deal with Head Direct since the Amazon vendor is not very good.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Sorry man, I forgot to put my currency. I'm buying in pounds, so does that change your recommendation at all?

I'd honestly still get these. It's hard to get anything of better value around this price point.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order from through Amazon.

Another option. These have incredible isolation (passive noise canceling) and in-line controls, but I'd still get the RE0 over these. Still, both are very good options regardless!

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Cheers man, I'll look into it. One more thing though, how much of a difference does 320kbps make for my MP3 songs? Is there a noticable difference between standard bitrate and 320, or does it fully depend on your audio equipment?

Depends on the bitrate that is compared to 320. 128? BIG difference. 256? You'll need something more than iBuds to hear it. In my opinion, 256 is acceptable. Lower than that, I delete the file and look for a higher-quality rip. It takes too much of my enjoyment away.

320 vs. FLAC is another matter entirely. An hours-long flame war can result from a FLAC vs. 320 question!

In short, go for 320 if you can. Always. You will hear the difference over 128 and 256. Also, make sure that your 320s are not simply upscaled from lower bitrates. They will retain the same quality as the lower bitrate simply because the data has already been "cut" from the file and cannot be "put back" so to speak. You can upscale crappy 128 kbps Youtube rips (there are people that do this) to a lossless codec like FLAC or WAV, but all you get is a perfect copy off... A crappy sound file.

If this is unclear, I can find some resources for you. Wikipedia has a good entry for this. This is not a particularly easy concept to grasp.

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote Budget: 80

Music preference: Metal

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s): iPhone/Laptop

I would not look further than the Head Direct RE0. The bang for your buck with them is just incredible, and they're great for rock. They are a bit light on bass, but the sound quality is hard to beat for the price.

Don't buy them from Amazon, it's better to deal with Head Direct since the Amazon vendor is not very good.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Sorry man, I forgot to put my currency. I'm buying in pounds, so does that change your recommendation at all?

I'd honestly still get these. It's hard to get anything of better value around this price point.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order from through Amazon.

Another option. These have incredible isolation (passive noise canceling) and in-line controls, but I'd still get the RE0 over these. Still, both are very good options regardless!

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Cheers man, I'll look into it. One more thing though, how much of a difference does 320kbps make for my MP3 songs? Is there a noticable difference between standard bitrate and 320, or does it fully depend on your audio equipment?

Depends on the bitrate that is compared to 320. 128? BIG difference. 256? You'll need something more than iBuds to hear it. In my opinion, 256 is acceptable. Lower than that, I delete the file and look for a higher-quality rip. It takes too much of my enjoyment away.

320 vs. FLAC is another matter entirely. An hours-long flame war can result from a FLAC vs. 320 question!

In short, go for 320 if you can. Always. You will hear the difference over 128 and 256. Also, make sure that your 320s are not simply upscaled from lower bitrates. They will retain the same quality as the lower bitrate simply because the data has already been "cut" from the file and cannot be "put back" so to speak. You can upscale crappy 128 kbps Youtube rips (there are people that do this) to a lossless codec like FLAC or WAV, but all you get is a perfect copy off... A crappy sound file.

If this is unclear, I can find some resources for you. Wikipedia has a good entry for this. This is not a particularly easy concept to grasp.

Thanks, I think I grasp the basic concept of it. Ok, before I order the Head-Direct RE0 from amazon, there's just one thing I want to clarify. You said Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order through for amazon, and they're selling the RE0's now, but they're 10 pound more expensive than the other dealer, only the other seller is 80% positive whilst Ampcity is 96% positive. I'd order from the other seller but I've had problems with fakes in the past from dodgy sellers, and you said that the Amazon vendor is not very good. Which do I go for? Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question.

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote Budget: 80

Music preference: Metal

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s): iPhone/Laptop

I would not look further than the Head Direct RE0. The bang for your buck with them is just incredible, and they're great for rock. They are a bit light on bass, but the sound quality is hard to beat for the price.

Don't buy them from Amazon, it's better to deal with Head Direct since the Amazon vendor is not very good.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Sorry man, I forgot to put my currency. I'm buying in pounds, so does that change your recommendation at all?

I'd honestly still get these. It's hard to get anything of better value around this price point.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order from through Amazon.

Another option. These have incredible isolation (passive noise canceling) and in-line controls, but I'd still get the RE0 over these. Still, both are very good options regardless!

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Cheers man, I'll look into it. One more thing though, how much of a difference does 320kbps make for my MP3 songs? Is there a noticable difference between standard bitrate and 320, or does it fully depend on your audio equipment?

Depends on the bitrate that is compared to 320. 128? BIG difference. 256? You'll need something more than iBuds to hear it. In my opinion, 256 is acceptable. Lower than that, I delete the file and look for a higher-quality rip. It takes too much of my enjoyment away.

320 vs. FLAC is another matter entirely. An hours-long flame war can result from a FLAC vs. 320 question!

In short, go for 320 if you can. Always. You will hear the difference over 128 and 256. Also, make sure that your 320s are not simply upscaled from lower bitrates. They will retain the same quality as the lower bitrate simply because the data has already been "cut" from the file and cannot be "put back" so to speak. You can upscale crappy 128 kbps Youtube rips (there are people that do this) to a lossless codec like FLAC or WAV, but all you get is a perfect copy off... A crappy sound file.

If this is unclear, I can find some resources for you. Wikipedia has a good entry for this. This is not a particularly easy concept to grasp.

Thanks, I think I grasp the basic concept of it. Ok, before I order the Head-Direct RE0 from amazon, there's just one thing I want to clarify. You said Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order through for amazon, and they're selling the RE0's now, but they're 10 pound more expensive than the other dealer, only the other seller is 80% positive whilst Ampcity is 96% positive. I'd order from the other seller but I've had problems with fakes in the past from dodgy sellers, and you said that the Amazon vendor is not very good. Which do I go for? Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question.

The bad reviews for the other seller seem to be due to the stupidity of the buyer. Looks good to me!

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote

r00t_b33r wrote

Neown wrote Budget: 80

Music preference: Metal

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s): iPhone/Laptop

I would not look further than the Head Direct RE0. The bang for your buck with them is just incredible, and they're great for rock. They are a bit light on bass, but the sound quality is hard to beat for the price.

Don't buy them from Amazon, it's better to deal with Head Direct since the Amazon vendor is not very good.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Sorry man, I forgot to put my currency. I'm buying in pounds, so does that change your recommendation at all?

I'd honestly still get these. It's hard to get anything of better value around this price point.

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order from through Amazon.

Another option. These have incredible isolation (passive noise canceling) and in-line controls, but I'd still get the RE0 over these. Still, both are very good options regardless!

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Cheers man, I'll look into it. One more thing though, how much of a difference does 320kbps make for my MP3 songs? Is there a noticable difference between standard bitrate and 320, or does it fully depend on your audio equipment?

Depends on the bitrate that is compared to 320. 128? BIG difference. 256? You'll need something more than iBuds to hear it. In my opinion, 256 is acceptable. Lower than that, I delete the file and look for a higher-quality rip. It takes too much of my enjoyment away.

320 vs. FLAC is another matter entirely. An hours-long flame war can result from a FLAC vs. 320 question!

In short, go for 320 if you can. Always. You will hear the difference over 128 and 256. Also, make sure that your 320s are not simply upscaled from lower bitrates. They will retain the same quality as the lower bitrate simply because the data has already been "cut" from the file and cannot be "put back" so to speak. You can upscale crappy 128 kbps Youtube rips (there are people that do this) to a lossless codec like FLAC or WAV, but all you get is a perfect copy off... A crappy sound file.

If this is unclear, I can find some resources for you. Wikipedia has a good entry for this. This is not a particularly easy concept to grasp.

Thanks, I think I grasp the basic concept of it. Ok, before I order the Head-Direct RE0 from amazon, there's just one thing I want to clarify. You said Ampcity seems to be the dealer to order through for amazon, and they're selling the RE0's now, but they're 10 pound more expensive than the other dealer, only the other seller is 80% positive whilst Ampcity is 96% positive. I'd order from the other seller but I've had problems with fakes in the past from dodgy sellers, and you said that the Amazon vendor is not very good. Which do I go for? Sorry if this seems to be a stupid question.

The bad reviews for the other seller seem to be due to the stupidity of the buyer. Looks good to me!

Ordered them! Cheers for the help, I'll let you know how I get on with them when they arrive.

Budget: 300

Music preference: Dubstep, Rap, Hiphop

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s): ipod computer

Budget: 300

Music preference: dubstep and rap

Type / form factor and portability: over ear

Source(s): iPhone/Laptop

YouJellyVG wrote Budget: 300

Music preference: Dubstep, Rap, Hiphop

Type / form factor and portability: in ear

Source(s ipod computer

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ] Done. There's also the Sennheiser IE8 and JVC FX700 but I think they're a bit over your budget.