Calling all Audiophiles

[epipete]

Well it does say 'not Elan' questions, and so .....

I'm considering buying some headphones, my first in many decades, to complement my home HiFi and to give me a break from rubbish TV.

In the good old days, as with everything, there were just a handful of manufacturers and a range of prices so narrowing down a suitable buy wasn't the task it is nowadays.

I guess what I want is reasonable quality reproduction and wireless!

Does anyone have any experience or suggested brand/type?

Cheers

[lotos]

For wireless I think nothing beats Sennheiser.

[HJ2]

I have a B&W since it came out.
I would not have it any other way. No electronic schnick schnack, no Wireless, no noise cancelling circuitry, just 2 brilliant speakers and comfortable on ears. Love it!

[theelanman]

For wireless I think nothing beats Sennheiser.

[owentec]

If you have to go wireless, Sennheiser also gets my vote... fwiw, I'm an audio engineer.

[Jeemy]

For me its Audio Technica all the way. I love the ATH-M50 for studio work and have a set of Grandioso (ATH-W1000X) headphones for home listening.

I've got quite a few pairs of Sennheisers and they are all good, I just prefer the A-Ts, is all. As ever it comes down to personal preference and if possible, auditioning any potential purchase on a good system at the dealers with your favourite CDs in hand is a must. Comfort is also a factor and everybody's head is different. These days I think online retailers are OK with you buying headphones then sending them back, but its not always like that.

If you're spending serious money I wouldn't go wireless but thats my personal preference again, and reluctance/lack of need to try wireless headphones means I may be unaware that there are good choices out there. I had some wireless Sonys which were pretty awful, I'm quite happy with a long wire at home and wouldn't use wireless in the studio.

You also need to think about if you want open or closed back headphones, a lot of people think that open back sound better, as I use mine for studio work and not waking the wife/baby, its never been an option I've had the opportunity to try, but if I was buying purely for listening pleasure its something I'd seriously consider.

If you end up buying something with a 6.3mm jack a very good investment is the short Sennheiser adaptor lead (6.3mm socket to 3.5mm jack) which puts much less strain on flimsy iPod, laptop, and other portable items' jack sockets than an inline adaptor would. Its about £20, not easy to find, but the price is nothing compared to the inconvenience of straining the hard-to-repair headphone socket on your gadget.

[ColinB]

My son gave me a pair of SONIXX wireless. The sound is great and they were not expensive.

Colin