Best Closed Over-Ear Headphones for under $100

I have Sennheiser 650’s, but most of the time I use MUCH cheaper Sennheiser earbuds or canal phones. Many of the over ear types benefit from a good head phone amp.

When I was into “Hi-Fi” back in the ’60’s to ’90’s Stax were the best avail in Electrostats.
(for the normal wage packet.) Germans were closing though.
I had custom KEF Column speakers in lounge.2 x B139, 2 x B110 and T 27 tweeters.
Hand tuned crossovers. 1812th or Tubular Bells made you shiver.
Lead lined Reflex units on concrete bases. You Felt the bass through the walls (solid brick)
I was put onto a pr of Yamaha Electrostats in mid ’70’s. Still use them today,
through an original LEEK 30. AMP/Pre.
The Yamaha’s were a cheaper copy of the Stax but ohhh soooo close. Both Japanese.
Around 195 UK Pounds in those days from memory
Though it took them decades to catch up with speakers.
Mike’s, and styli were Screechy things
These modern Speakers are too clinical. NO soul in music.
Enjoy.

I was into music since I was in high school, then into car stereos during college (the Pioneer KP500 and the Sony TCD-30 (IIRC) auto-reverse was the ‘in’ thing then).

Eventually after some jobs in the construction industry I started my own Hi-Fi store, selling almost everything at that time, from Laser-Disc players, ‘audiophile’ CD players, dynamic and electrostatic speakers and vacuum tube pre/power amps, etc. even carried pro-audio equipment like 32-channel audio mixers, etc.

Though I had few headphones displayed at that time, actually we were not into it really, and sorry to say this in this thread, headphones are considered an ‘unnatural’ way to listen to sound and specifically, Hi-Fi music!

On the other, whatever floats your boat, why not!

Stax are still around and still very expensive. Ownership has changed hands a couple of times.

A few years ago, Audio Technica ATH-M50 could be had for under $100. I really like them in this price range, especially if you enjoy plentiful bass.

I think they may have gone up in price since then.

I have had a pair of Bose AE2 cans for a few years now and am very happy with them. I know a lot of people have strong opinions on Bose and I am not a Bose fanboy by any means. I am suggesting these mainly because of the comfort level. The sound is decent (a bit lacking in bass), but they shine in how amazingly comfortable they are for a long session (think coast to coast and international flights). I have tried Sennheiser, Shure, Koss and AKG and I can’t keep any of them on for any significant length of time before they are uncomfortable or are giving me a headache.

Just my $0.02

Raccoon - you are lucky - I’ve had headphones before where the cable is too short - I’ve wrecked a few when the cable jerked and stretched and pulled out of the earpiece. You can always tie a few loops in the cable to shorten it.
I now only buy headphones with plug in jack type cables.

+1

100% agree. I have repaired so many pairs of headphones from a fixed cable getting ‘ganked’.

I bought my Wife a set of the Bose quiet comfort noise canceling headphones. She travels overseas fairly often with work. She says “I don’t know what I’d do without them”. They really are amazing inside a noisy airliner. The music and movie sound comes forward, and all the racket and jet noise moves to the distant background. She finds them extremely comfortable wearing them for long periods of time as well.

Hi new user here. I have the Brainwavz HM5 (better built version of XPT100) and have owned them for a few months. If anyone has any questions about them or wants impressions I would be glad to answer :slight_smile:

I wasn't aware that the HM5 is built better than the XPT100...

That isn't mentioned here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/takstar-pro-82-review-impressions-and-discussion-thread.849965/page-11#post-13541484

Tatasal.

“” I had few headphones displayed at that time, actually we were not into it really, and sorry to say this in this thread, headphones are considered an ‘unnatural’ way to listen to sound and specifically, Hi-Fi music!“”.

YES. Proper speakers ARE the best. No arguments. My KEF Columns were magnificent.
Pure not clinical.
BUT. When you sitting in lounge with wife and 2-3 kids .
The last thing they want to listen to is Tubular Bells. ANY Mahler or Sibelius, even Stravinsky.
Or Gillespie on half notes. Satch etc.

They are an “acceptable” alternative to “nothing, or else”.

Yeah, I totally agree with you as an “alternative to nothing”, for where I live now, there is no more room for a proper placement of speakers.

If anybody is looking for a ‘value for money’ budget headphone, I would suggest a pair of these:

Bluedio is one of the up and coming Chinese audio companies and are theses are widely available in various online stores.
I was curious as to the quality, and bought a pair last week on eBay for about $US 28 (Cheaper than Banggood or Amazon).
For the price, the sound, comfort and build are excellent.
I mainly use them to watch movies or tv shows at home so I don’t disturb other people in the house.
They are also good to listen to music on the move, especially if you have expensive headphones that you don’t want to risk taking out with you.
They are bluetooth, but not noise cancelling. They even include FM radio, and a slot for micro SD card from which you can play music.
There are more expensive Bluedio models which have noise cancelling.

I’m not suggesting to you audiophiles that these are as good as your expensive brand name headphones, but as a back-up they are not bad at all,

Ehh, one of my friends actually bought it when I told him about Banggood, and he showed them to me.

Let’s just say if you like bass a lot, you will like them a lot.

If you like details, don’t go for them.

Please don’t be shy about recommendations, I value BLF members opinions far more than those I can find on the web .

Although I really enjoy my BossHiFi B8's, I went on head-fi.org and asked if there was anything better for me for under $65.

And there is!

There's the ISK MDH9000 and its clones.

Some of the clones are under $50.

They include:

ISK MDH9000

Stellar Labs HC-5985

Marantz MPH-2

Freeboss MDH9000

LyxPro HAS-30

Neewer NW-9000

So for Black Friday or Cyber Monday, I'm going to order a pair.

There is one major problem with them...

EDIT:

There's also another clone, but it's earpads suck, and right now they're expensive, so I'm going to avoid it:

Akai Professional Project 50X

I think this year I've spent more on headphones than on flashlights and pocketknives combined!

I actually wanna try the ISK MDH9000. What was the best deal you’ve found on them?

Funny you should ask.

The best ISK MDH9000 clone is the Marantz MPH-2, and it also happens to be the cheapest right now (in the U.S.)

It's $40 plus tax at musiciansfriend.com:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/marantz-mph-2-professional-studio-headphones

The sale ends on November 18th.

I ordered one yesterday.

The Marantz MPH-2 is also the same price on eBay right now.