following the discussions in this thread, i figure there are enough people around here who can appreciate my good fortune
walked past a second hand shop yesterday and spotted a display shelf of headphones in the window
being a self-proclaimed headphone junkie, i couldn’t help myself and had to have a quick browse
much to my surprise i spotted a pair of sennheiser HD450 in the pile
can’t hurt to ask the price i figured and went in
it took the young lady a while to get hold of the pair i had seen in the window and when she brought them to me, i noticed they didn’t have a cable attached
not serious, i’m used to the HD250 and the cable on that model could actually unplug from the cones
as she handed them to me, i noticed that they were HDI 450 and not HD450
the ‘I’ bit being for infrared
cordless (sennheiser) headphones
a quick test later and the hum caused by an obvious loose connection in an insulation-taped plug confirmed my suspicions as to how they landed up in the second hand shop
a quick wiggle of said plug also indicated that the problem was imminently fixable and at R229-00 it was a bargain i could not pass up
(i’ll save u the trouble of the conversion, new they retail at R1500-00. i’ll even save u working out the ratio, that’s 1/5 of the new price)
a minor and painless fixing-the-loose-connection exercise when i got home and i’ve just bought myself my favourite xmas present ever
Infrared ones can lose some info at distances not necessarily long. Headphones that work with radio frequensies don’t usually lose information as much, but they sometimes have other problems with the tuning, and this makes little annoying mistakes in the voice. These are just my experiences on some cheapy headphones, but I believe most of the more expensive ones work better.
But I still like using wires more. I just think it makes the voice a little bit better, even though it restricts your movement with the headphones.
Someone who knows more about these can post more info.
I think they’re considering bluetooth for a better quality. Theres a really cool article about that in the new popular science. Its an mp3 yo yo and when it spins copper goes through magnetic fields to charge a battery. The wireless headphones are then uses as the mp3s case. I wish they made these but its just a concept.
there is an undeniable loss of quality
this u trade off against never stepping on the cord and giving yourself whiplash again, EVER. (u may get the impression that after spending a chunk of my working life in studios, i’ve done this once or twice. u would be correct.)
u do need pretty sharp ears to pick up the difference tho
after the same amount of years in studios (and listening to loud music) i suspect i’ve done more than enough damage to never be able to pick up the difference again
it’s the young 'uns who can really tell
bottom line: cordless sennheisers still sound better than corded headphones up to probably 2/3rds their price
Wireless headphones have their advantages and disadvantages. But it’s for the advantages that you get them. No wires is freedom. Unfortunately, all my headphones are tethered.
The young 'uns usually don’t try the good stuff before their hearing goes. All the young 'uns should listen to some good headphones like the Grado 225’s, Grado 325’s, Sennheiser 580’s, or Sennheiser 600’s before they get brainwashed by the media into thinking that Sony or Bose is high end Hi-Fi. The young kids should really like the Grados – They rock.
amen brother
the only thing that’s high end about BOSE is the price
i dont know if it’s an international thing but in south africa they are scarily expensive
I think I could be considered a young one, but I don’t think Sony is high-end. I haven’t tried too many cordless headphones, but if I remember correctly, I’ve given a go to a couple of Sennheisers at a shop. My own headphones are Koss at about 1/4th of the original price of those new Sennheisers of yours. They sound nice but I would only recommend these if someone is on limited budget. I’ve once had the possibility of trying out a pair of electrostatic headphones. Those were waaayyyy out of my price range, but they had about the clearest sound I’ve ever heard.
It is still worth it to at least hear what the good stuff sounds like while the ears are young. At least experience what good sound is before wasting money on inferior headphones.
The good stuff isn’t always very expensive. You can get Grado SR60’s for $62. Grado SR80’s are $85. Both are better than any of the $99 Sony headphones that you’ll find at large electronics retailers.
Sony does actually make one headphone that is high-end. The audio geeks have given it very good reviews. It’s the MDR-CD3000 and retails for $700. The rest of Sony’s headphones are not in the same class.
Sennheiser makes an electrostatic headphone called Orpheus. It retails for $15,000. That’s waaaayyy out of my price range too.
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