Sony, Sennheiser, Razer or Philips Headphones?

[Hemingway60]

Hi guys,

After almost 4 years of use, my Technics RP-F300 has finally died out on me. I've been trying to decide on what should I get this time based on the price and availability of the models in my area (I live in UAE). I've finalised on this shortlist:

1. Sony's XB500 - $70

2. Sennheiser's HD419 - $82

3. Razer Electra - $80

4. Philips SHG8000 - $68

I've checked out reviews for the first 3 (couldn't find any for the Philips) and I kind lean towards the XB500. From what I've read, it appears to be one of the best bassy headphones for the price and I kind of like punchy bass. Also I believe that can be corrected by fiddling with the EQ a bit. My main use for the headphone would be for gaming and watching movies and a little music. I'll be using the headphones at around 45-55% of the volume so it should leak little to no sound at that volume or at least a person 2-3 feet away from me shouldn't discern what I'm listening to.

I know that these models are cheaper on amazon but if I add the shipping costs it becomes more expensive. So which of these models do you all think I should get? If you all have any experience with the brands and their build quality and want to share it'll be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Brian]

I've got razer carrachio or whatever headphones and they are incredibly comfortable and sound good. But I bet Sennheiser well have the best quality.

Sent from my GT-N7000

[capchaos]

I have a set of senheiser hd 650s. Love them the most crisp and clear sound I've ever heard.

[Michael]

Sennheiser's without a shadow of a doubt!

[unreal25]

For gaming and watching movies pretty much anything will do and I doubt there will be that much difference between these models. Sennheiser you linked are $34 on Amazon with free shipping. Typically the pricier the better (with the exception of likes such as Razer, tho some their stuff is decent). That said, I doubt he needs a $500 headphones (Sennheiser HD 650), but Sennheiser is a good general brand for this kind of stuff but note that even $34 Sennheiser isn't going to be bedazzling.

The reviews for this kind of stuff online are to be taken with a grain of salt. I mean we've all seen "the best XXX I've ever used". I'm sure it is mate, especially if all you used was cheap stuff then suddenly jumped to something 2x or 3x the price or either overpriced stuff maybe without good amplifier / with poor onboard audio etc. I haven't used any of the four you suggested, but I'd go either with Sony or Sennheiser in ~$60-$80 range. It should work great for gaming/movies.

[Hemingway60]

5150 Joker, the Razer Carcharias sells for around $100 dollars here and that is way too high for what I get.

Michael, I wanted to go for the Sennheiser at first but after reading reviews here and there and on Head-Fi, the majority seem to recommend the high end models and that the low end ones are just above average if not lower.

unreal25, amazon doesn't ship that model to the UAE(Dubai for those who don't know the abbrev) and I believe the free shipping doesn't include this country. And I agree with what you said, most of the reviews are unprofessional and are purely based on personal judgement and taste which is why its making it tough to choose. $80 vs $34 is a huge difference so I want to be sure I'm getting the best bang for the buck so to speak.

[nfs3freak]

So judging from all these posts, if I want anything I'm going to have to fork up the money to get a good headset. I have a pair of Tritton AX Pros, Creative Fatality MKII and Logitech G390. I want a pair of actual good headphones for more than gaming, mainly music. Looks like from everything Seinnheiser is the way to go...I'll just have to save up I guess.

Anybody have any opinion on Audio Technica?

[unreal25]

I mean don't get me wrong, they work fine with music too. The problem is -- as soon as you try something better it's hard to go back.

[Michael]

Do they have to be sound cancelling? If not for less than 50 bucks go for Koss porta pro.. One of the best headphones I have ever heard!

Koss designed them in the 80s and didn't change them ever since. Can't recommend them enough!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

[Hemingway60]

I want them to be be somewhat noise cancelling but mainly they shouldn't leak too much noise at around mid-volumes.

The model you suggested is on-ear I believe but I need over ear headphones and the shipping costs makes it priced similar to the Sony.

I did some more research (Head-fi in paarticular) and found that that specific Sennheiser model isn't so good and is just average. The Razer models seem to be bashed a lot too. Right now I'm contemplating between the Razer and Sony, the razer seem to be better at noise isolation though I may sacrifice sound quality a bit. What do you all think?

[unreal25]

Well yeah everything that's not HiFi is bashed there. If I was buying stuff in the ~$80 range, I'd probably get something like this Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Professional Studio Monitor Headphones with Coiled Cable , but then again, I do listen to the music a lot. If you just use it for playing games, it really doesn't matter that much. I used Steelseries Siberia gaming headset and I was pretty happy with it for gaming, neglecting the fact that the pull-out microphone seemed to be braking after pulling it in and out for a while.

[gl0ry]

Sennheisers are the best out of the ones you listed, but I find a lot of their designs uncomfortable for my big head.

[Hemingway60]

Hey, sorry for not replying back earlier. I had my A-levels going on so I was busy. So I eventually went ahead with the Sony XB500 and I'd like to give back my feedback on it. I've had it for almost 2 months now and I'm very happy with my purchase.

Design and Build Quality

As soon as you open it, one can't help but notice the massive ear cups on this thing, not to mention the sheer comfort they provide! The cushions are king size and putting them around the ear is like putting two pillows. They're very cushy and the seemingly leather padding used feels well made and premium. The construction of this headphone is fully out of plastic, there's no use of metal to be seen anywhere. That said, the head band is very sturdy and flexible enough, and should last for years with proper usage.

The headband is adjustable although they can't be folded so its not very portable. There's a little padding on the underside of the headband and a leather like mesh on top. The headphone uses a flat cable which feels extremely well made and is very resistant to tangling. However, the cable is only around 1.2m which shouldn't be a problem if you use a laptop but I can definitely see it causing problems for PC users, particularly if the CPU tower is far.

Sound Quality

Just to make it clear, I am in no way an audiophile so my judgment on these headphones is probably won't be the most accurate. However, it should help the average user should he decide to buy these headphones. I allowed the headphones to break in for around 2 days before testing it. On first listening, it was clearly that these headphones pack HUGE bass in it (I was surprised the bass even rivaled that of Beats Studio owned by my friend!). These are like a dream come true for bass heads. While the bass is amazing, the mids and highs clearly suffered as they sounded somewhat recessed.

I tweaked the EQ based on some of the suggested settings on head-fi. The result was a much tighter bass with well pronounced mids and highs, noticeable improvement over stock settings. I probably won't recommend these if you don't plan on using some sort of an equalizer unless you're into the bass only. I also noticed that these headphones respond quite well to equalizers so you can fine tune it to your liking. My main use for these was for movies and games and they certainly do them justice. The sound stage is very good, and virtual sound features (Like Creative's CMSS 3D, Dolby surround) work impressively well. Explosions in movies and games would rumble your head, and tiny details are easily picked up. As for music, I don't listen much to it so I can't give an accurate image but whatever I heard sounded alright to me.

Noise Isolation

The XB500 does a good job of blocking ambient noise, and with music playing you'll barely be able to hear what's going around you. They do however leak sound if used at high volumes, around 30-40% on my laptop, and around 60-65% when I use the mobile. The sound leakage seems to come mainly from 3 holes on both sides of the backplate. These are I assume to improve the bass as covering it with duct tape reduced the bass a little (and eliminated a great deal of the noises that were leaking).

[funkyking]

i use the sennheiser pc 360 i have no complaints and they sound better than my old Razer megalodons(only had those because my old pc had really bad onboard i am now using a sound card)

[mmolteratx]

Senn for sure. Sony's stuff is okay in my experience, but not built the best. Razer's headphones aren't very balanced sounding, and I've personally never had anything from them that lasted long enough to justify its price. I've got several pairs of Senn headphone monitors and they last forever. I'd also look into Audio Technica. I've got a pair of M50s that I picked up relatively cheap that are great.

[Zoeff]

I was going to recommend Sennheiser but you mentioned that you preferred hard hitting bass? Then the Senn is ruled out as most if not all Senn headsets have a fairly crisp sound. I've got a PC 333D which doesn't deliver much bass but that's what I want.

[lcolnaghi]

I've not experienced others but as far as i've been using sennheisers are quite satisfactory; for me they fit quite nicely.

[d1337tion]

hmm, I've been thinking about a Sennheiser 558 and then modding it... I've heard good things, but I don't have yet to meet anyone who has done it so I can test it out.

[kwikit]

I've always had great luck with the Sennheiser's. I've not used any of the products you listed, but I've tried various headphones / earbuds from multiple companies and always return to Sennheiser for their sound and general comfort. If you haven't tried these out yourself, you really should go find a place where you can listen to the headphones... if that's not possible, don't underestimate both, comfort and sound. Find the right size and coverage type of your liking, and then the best sounding ones. I personally prefer lightweight, on the ear or earbuds. I don't like the ones that weigh a lot, have lots of padding, surround your ear, etc. Hot and heavy, but they can block out a lot of stray sound. I'd rather not know I'm wearing headphones, personally.

[ash810]

definitely the sennheisers if you're going to be using them for other tasks, they're studio headphones so the levels on highs, mids and lows should be exactly how they are in the game, the other headphones may have amplified bass, especially the razers. but if you're not an audiophile it shouldn't bother you too much

[riddarlo]

Sennheiser high-end headphones are really really awesome. But i would not buy low-end headphones from them. I tried a few and all model was disappointing. Razer Electra leaks plenty of sounds. if i remember correctly Philips SHP2600/00 don't leak sound. If i would have to pick one of those 4 i would have pick Sony's XB500

[Skyite]

I love my Sennheiser HD 598s. You'll be able to hear things you wouldn't have with other headphones.

[starmania100]

I'm using Sennheiser PC350's, used for gaming and music. The built in mic is good enough for recording. Little to none sound leak. If you are into music you could consider running a DAC through your computer to bypass your soundcard. I'm using a Fiio E17 to drive my senns!

[mweeks945]

Another brand to look at is AKG. They sell for a competitive price from time to time on amazon. I have the mk 271 and they sound great. They also have large ear cups and even come with different ones (one soft felt-like material and the other a smooth vinyl/leather) so you can pick which one you prefer. Also comes with 2 different cables, one straight and one coiled so you can pick that as well. They have a very balanced sound and are supposedly used in a lot of music studios because they don't 'color' the sound, they just reproduce it as it should be.

[Aeyix]

I'm using Sennheiser PC350's, used for gaming and music. The built in mic is good enough for recording. Little to none sound leak. If you are into music you could consider running a DAC through your computer to bypass your soundcard. I'm using a Fiio E17 to drive my senns!

I'm running the exact same headphone and DAC combo! Absolutely love it second to none. I do wish I had the PC 350 SE's though for flip the boom to mute, on earcup volume (hate inline so much), braided cable, and travel pouch.