[Murf the Surf]

I don't know if you're into marketplace shopping but I have bought and sold here. Pretty reliable really and some great deals.

https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/clas...64-headphones/

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by Lady Jane

They arrived early this morning. Talk about fast!

Let's hear what you think about them.

I love the light and comfortable feel and fit. Sound is very good. Nothing near the price can compare, IMHO.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Our03z4

I've been using the Sony 1000 for years, xm4 I believe. By far the best headphones I've ever tried and that's saying a lot. I even use mine at work (outdoors) and they just keep going. Extremely comfortable and the battery lasts a long time. Much better than earbuds since it doesn't send BT signals through your brain as much.

They are indeed all best around headphones, useful at work when a lot of noise and I have Teams calls, or on the plane.

Price was good, 279$ cad at costco.
They connect my cellphone and laptop in the same time. Can be wired too.
Cons : can't be used while charging, Bluetooth can be finicky and sound quality is somewhat ok for the msrp price.

But for computer use and music quality on a budget, nothing like the audio technica ATH-M50. They are not audiophile grade, but lot of audiophile consider them as a entry level of audiophile headphones.
Rocked them for 15 years, school, subway, home, walk. Still working, Changed the cord 4 times (did the 3.5mm jack mod) and add a mic for meeting. Paid 220$ cad on sale in 2008.

but I got screwed with the wireless stuff. The ATH-M50 sound better than my XM4.

Anyway, there's ''best headphone'' for all use, you have to select your needs : music, game, work, plane, budget, etc.

Best shopping place : https://www.head-fi.org/

[zx10guy]

With all this talk about headphones, anyone here use a dedicated headphone amp?

I have a couple I use. They're both from Ray Samuels Audio. One is called the Predator which has an 1/8" headphone jack, built in USB DAC, and internal rechargeable Lithium battery. The other is called the Lightning that is a fully balanced amplifier also with an internal rechargeable Lithium battery.

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

With all this talk about headphones, anyone here use a dedicated headphone amp?

I have a couple I use. They're both from Ray Samuels Audio. One is called the Predator which has an 1/8" headphone jack, built in USB DAC, and internal rechargeable Lithium battery. The other is called the Lightning that is a fully balanced amplifier also with an internal rechargeable Lithium battery.

what exactly does the headphone amp do ?

you place it between your source (laptop, receiver, tuner) and headphone ?

any opinion on the vacuum tubed headphone amps ?

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by overcoil

what exactly does the headphone amp do ?

you place it between your source (laptop, receiver, tuner) and headphone ?

any opinion on the vacuum tubed headphone amps ?

Yes, precisely how you envision using a power amp to drive speakers. After all, headphones are speakers that go on your ear. Many headphone amps built into different components are woefully inadequate. With the portable headphone amps I have, I can drive my headphones with authority at higher volumes. Not to mention, not all headphones are easy loads to drive just like speakers. With these headphone amps, I don't have to worry about if the source device has an adequate headphone amp.

I haven't heard a tubed headphone amp personally. So I can't comment. I would suspect it will have the same influence on sound as any other tubed component. I do have a Vincent Audio phono preamp which is tubed. While it is ok sound wise, I am looking to finding a different tube to put into it as the one from the factory is a bit shrill in the mids. Ray Samuels has tubed headphone amps but they are pretty pricey.

I got my Lightning headphone amp because I found out my Oppo PM-3s can be operated in balanced mode with a change in the headphone cabling. While the setup is decent, I really wished I spent the extra money and got the PM-2s which are open back versus the closed back of the PM-3s. It's tough to describe exactly what I'm hearing but it's similar to having the musical performance done in small room as the sound doesn't have the air I like in open back headphones.

[Dustz]

Can't go wrong with Sennheisers!!

[Lady Jane]

Had them for over a month now. They are very comfortable, easy load on the computer at 50 ohms and very sensitive at 106 dB/w. (I had to reduce the volume from my old Sennheiser's PX-30 cans.)

So for the price, I'm pretty happy.

[Fillip]

Razer Barracuda Pro would be a very good option. Another good option would be Razer BlackShark V2.