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Forums > Hardware Forum

Good headphones sound bad! (34 comments)

( Forum: HW)

Posted by Jamerio @ 05:14 CST, 4 November 2008 - iMsg

I have always used fairly cheapy headphones around the 20-30 mark and onboard audio.

Recently I decided to go for a pair of reasonably expensive (Ł90-is to me for headphones!) wireless jobbies, mostly because its always a matter of time before I step on them, or they get wrapped around my chair and when I get up, stuff flies everywhere etc

So I have just got a set of Sennheiser RS 140 Wireless Balanced Headphones which got rave reviews, but my problem is they sound shit!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-140-Wirele...41-1110321

I suspect it's because I don't have enough power to get the best from them, so what do I need to get the best out of these headphones?

A soundcard or a seperate amp or?

Thanks

Edited by Nicky at 07:59 CST, 5 November 2008 - 5536 Hits

<< prev HW thread || next HW thread >>

<< Comment #1 @ 05:25 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

KekS

well if the input signal is crap you won't get any good results but since this is wireless i'm pretty sure that's the bigger issue - regardless of how good reviews were i've never tried a single pair of wireless headphones that were any good

my current headphones and i'm satisfied with this one

Edited by KekSeh at 05:26 CST, 4 November 2008

<< Comment #4 @ 06:47 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

Jamerio : - Reply to #1

I don't belive they can be that crap, at present I would prefer a Ł5.00 set of in ear headphones, there must be a major issue with the input signal or something.

A few years ago I bought a really nice pair of speakers for my car, they sounded crap, that was until I bought a standalone amp and they sounded about 10 times better.

I'll prolly just send them back then as I don;'t care enough to make any more financial investments for sound.

<< Comment #8 @ 11:35 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

KekS - Reply to #4

well i can recommend those sony headphones - mdr xd 300 & 400 - great sound for a not-so-high (not sennheiser-like) pricetag
fits well on almost any head and you can wear them for a quite long time - not so much pressure around the ear - although they look rediculous :F

but still they're with a cable

<< Comment #17 @ 15:43 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

unihumi - Reply to #8

Are they better than the Sennheiser HD 280 ones?

<< Comment #2 @ 05:36 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

cyronix '

wireless generally suxx, except in networks.

<< Comment #3 @ 05:38 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

KekS - Reply to #2

wireless generally suxx, ~~except~~ especially in networks.

<< Comment #5 @ 08:46 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

kAi^

you think you got it bad mate i got the Sennheiser HME 100 a month or 2 ago and i think i must of bought the totally different type to what i wanted and they sound utter shite , tried to get new shit to see if it made any difference and it never : ((( maybe theres a gaming and non gaming version

<< Comment #6 @ 10:45 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

cumrag - Reply to #5

those are helicopter pilot headsets nub. what did you expect - high fidelity?

<< Comment #7 @ 11:08 CST, 4 November 2008 >>

By

kAi^ - Reply to #6

ahah well when i first saw them i never knew that ; )

<< Comment #9 @ 05:57 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

Liam

Sennheiser are just wank to be honest, I bought a pair of headphones from them for around Ł40 and they were flimsy pieces of shit that sounded bad and broke in about 2 months. I'm now using some plantronics ones and they're amazing for around Ł30.

<< Comment #10 @ 07:51 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

link - Reply to #9

thats because you bought the cheap ones. its like dlink, if you buy anything they make in plastic its shit.

i've used 590 for quite some time and i enjoy them very much. however they arent made anymore xD.

how did this thread become "what headphones do you use?"

i keep falling in to traps!

<< Comment #11 @ 08:09 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

KekS - Reply to #10

with the first comment

<< Comment #15 @ 11:18 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

DamianLillard - Reply to #10

Yeah why on earth don't they make that model anymore? I've tried everything by sennheiser (including hd600, hd650) and those sounded teh bestest with PC without needing to spend 800e on other accessories, they were the most comfortable too. I have also tried the 555 model of the xx5 series, but not 595. Not like I'm gonna buy them even if they sounded great - There's Ugly, there's Rosie O'donnell and then there's sennheiser's xx5 series.

<< Comment #16 @ 15:33 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

link - Reply to #15

idd bro. i spent weeks tracking my babies down. i finally got them from a store who sells odd music stuff... very overpriced i might add :)

<< Comment #18 @ 16:54 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

Liam - Reply to #10

Ł40 isn't cheap for what they are, it's not ground breaking technology... they should be at least as good as the ones I have right now if Sennheiser is such a good producer. If they're that shit at that price then why even fucking make them?

<< Comment #19 @ 17:09 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

link - Reply to #18

apperently people still buy them ;).

<< Comment #22 @ 03:21 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

tourist - Reply to #18

that's like buying a cheap Mercedes.

try these and tell us how it sounds:

http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/sennheiser/headphones/orpheus/PRD_118014_2750crx.aspx

<< Comment #23 @ 03:50 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

Liam - Reply to #22

You're missing the point, just because you can find another example doesn't mean it's good enough. It's like defending hitler because there has been other genocidal maniacs.

Ł40 is more than enough for something that does nothing but fucking vibrate.

<< Comment #32 @ 06:53 CST, 7 November 2008 >>

By

tourist - Reply to #23

you lose

<< Comment #12 @ 09:08 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

GUArd

used sennheiser pc 161 , it was not bad!
using now steel 5h , it sux a lot!!! (i`m talking about sound).

<< Comment #13 @ 10:27 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

Lunatic

these are no good headphones..

<< Comment #14 @ 10:59 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

Aaron

wireless

<< Comment #20 @ 18:57 CST, 5 November 2008 >>

By

qtip

External DAC + MicroAmp(both Headroom) + Sennheiser HD280 Pro is working for me. Looking atm to get better headphones tho.

Also maybe don't listen to compressed audio files, with todays cheap harddisk space there is really no reason to compromise quality in favor of storage.

<< Comment #25 @ 09:53 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

im a tree - Reply to #20

I have all my flac backed up on DVD but there is no reason to leave it wasting space on my drive, any difference you perceive between CBR-320/VBR-V0 and FLAC on sub Ł100 headphones is probably just placebo

Edited by meez at 09:55 CST, 6 November 2008

<< Comment #29 @ 15:51 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

cumrag - Reply to #25

...transparency...

<< Comment #30 @ 17:27 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

Aaron - Reply to #25

not probably, it is.

<< Comment #21 @ 02:46 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

dubcat

I bought a second hand 80's sony amp for like Ł5. would be well worth a try if you found something along those lines.

I myself wouldn't use headphones straight into the soundcard. no amplification anywhere.

<< Comment #24 @ 08:52 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

stuntz

Get some AKG's or Beyerdynamics @ the same price range and even if your not happy get a FIO amp from ebay ;)

<< Comment #26 @ 10:07 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

Have you burned them in at all? or did you make this thread immediately after buying?

<< Comment #27 @ 11:54 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

MarzenGold - Reply to #26

was about to say the same

<< Comment #28 @ 13:14 CST, 6 November 2008 >>

By

Jamerio : - Reply to #26

Not really burned in, they've had a few hours use, but I thought they should still sound better as I did not have this problem with the cheapo ones i got.

They're sitting in a box while I have these broken ones with ghetto ass tape holding them together.

Is that what they call egd on the internet?

<< Comment #31 @ 03:17 CST, 7 November 2008 >>

By

im a tree - Reply to #28

there is a reason reviewers don't review headphones until after 100+ hours of burn in

<< Comment #33 @ 07:53 CST, 7 November 2008 >>

By

Jamerio : - Reply to #31

your point still does not scale with the fact that every other pair of headphones I have owned has worked fine out of the box.
regardless of burn in time.

Like i said I'm not after ultimate quality, I'm simply after a level of quality that does not make me think these are the worst sounding headphones i have ever owned and were ironically the most expensive by several 100%.

Edited by Jamerio at 07:55 CST, 7 November 2008

<< Comment #34 @ 08:38 CST, 7 November 2008 >>

By

Liam - Reply to #33

"by several 100%" what?

I agree with you though, I'd say since you've spent the money on them then burn them in like people were saying, play pink noise or whatever it is overnight, but yeah, overly not impressed with these 'professional' companies that flood the market with shit headphones that are relatively inexpensive.

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