Dr. Dre Beats vs. Harman Kardans and everything else

R

Robert Dendy

Freshman
Oct 14, 2012
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I'm buying headphones for my computer (mostly) and my iPod. I want to buy the headphones with the best sound for around 200-300 dollars. I bought Beats Studios for 300 and I might return them. I love their look and feel but I think they're gimmicky. The base is too strong and the sound quality seems cheap.

But maybe they're the best sound. I love the comparable Harman Kardans, but I don't know how those stack up against others.

I want the best, richest sounding speakers I can get for around 200 dollars - 300 max, although if there are some outstanding suggestions for 3-400 I'll check them out.

My main concern is sound quality, but perhaps I should say that I prefer natural sound to big bass but that I listen to a lot of bassy music.

A last thing: Is wireless bad for sound quality?

Thanks.
 
Re: Dr. Dre Beats vs. Harman Kardans and everything else

Robert Dendy said:
I want the best, richest sounding speakers I can get for around 200 dollars - 300 max, although if there are some outstanding suggestions for 3-400 I'll check them out.

My main concern is sound quality, but perhaps I should say that I prefer natural sound to big bass but that I listen to a lot of bassy music.

A last thing: Is wireless bad for sound quality?
Click to expand...
Robert,

First off, kudos for actually following the directions on your first post - a lot of people don't get that part right...

This is a Live Sound forum, so if you're looking for "audiophile" type stuff, these forums will not yield much in the way of results.

As far as headphones themselves go, you may want to check out Grado Labs for some "investment" headphones. Most of their models don't provide much isolation (necessary in noisy environments), but their sound quality is renowned. Sennheiser, AKG, and Audio-Technica also make various type of headsets.

Maybe I'll take a listen to those headphones when I'm at BestBuy tomorrow…use some of my preferred test tracks for sound systems and we'll see what I think of them. Check back later tomorrow and maybe I'll have posted something more on them.

If you're concerned about sound quality, stick with "wired". Wireless is nice if you need complete freedom of movement or the portability it offers, but you typically lose on sound quality (plus, batteries need replacing, etc.).
 
Re: Dr. Dre Beats vs. Harman Kardans and everything else

If your looking for headphone for live sound then watch all 3 parts.
 
Re: Dr. Dre Beats vs. Harman Kardans and everything else

The Denon AH-D2000 that Dave Rat chose as his favorite closed back headphones for live sound use, after testing dozens of professional quality headphones, have become my favorite as well for sound and comfort. They had the least bass distortion of the headphones Dave tested. They have decent isolation for live sound use and to my ear the bass sounds very natural, undistorted and not hyped. My daughter's Dr. Dre Beats (she got as a gift) are not in the same league for clarity, lack of distortion, isolation. comfort, or build quality, although the white and red looks cool. For general listening or mixing recordings in a home studio, when you don't need the isolation of a closed back headphone, the Sennheiser HD600s sound great, but you hear everything from the outside, they bleed too much sound for tracking, and they require a pretty strong signal and decent op amp driving the headphone output. Sennheiser HD25-1-II (not the HD25-SP-II, a very different headphone) sound very clear and well balanced and are smaller, lighter, more portable but less comfortable and with less isolation and a bit less bass than the Denons. The Sennheiser HD-280 Pro and Sony 7506 are both very widely liked but are a couple of notches down in many ways from the others I mentioned. There are a lot of other headphones people like and application, physical fit and comfort, balance of bass, tolerance of treble sounds, efficiency and need for a dedicated headphone amplifier, portability all vary among the different brands and models. Be aware that playing music too loud in headphones is quickly becoming one of the most common causes of permanent hearing loss, and all of these models are capable of easily causing permanent hearing damage if you play them too loud for too long.
 
I like my Aiaiai TMA-1 for casual listening. They are IMO Beats for adults (more balanced sound, better aesthetics). That said, they are still DJ targeted cans so they don't have audiophile grade sound.


Sent from my iPhone
 
Re: Dr. Dre Beats vs. Harman Kardans and everything else

Robert Dendy said:
I bought Beats Studios for 300 and I might return them. I love their look and feel but I think they're gimmicky. The base is too strong and the sound quality seems cheap.
Click to expand...

The whole Beats line is based on looks and name IMHO. Way overpriced for what they are.

+1 on the Dave Rat videos that were previously mentioned.
 
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