Which *really* budget headphones would you recommend

Discussion in 'Soundgear' started by demberto, Nov 10, 2019.

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  1. demberto

    demberto Rock Star

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    I broke my old hd180. For making music (mostly EDM), please recommend any good pair of headphones which are like below 30 usd coz they cost real high here in india. i did some research and found that sennheiser is rated quite good. all sony headphones in this range mostly are bass heavy and one akg-k52 which has a good 4.1 out of 5 on amazon. all these websites recommend literally anything, like even jbl. and all these are like 3m length. they just keep on getting tangled. btw amazon recommends sennhiser hd206 if i search studio headphones. it will be better if these headphones work on mobiles also. most of the ones i see on the internet are not even available. one beyerdynamic dt235 is also available in my budget but i heard it nowhere getting mentioned.
     
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  3. fiction

    fiction Audiosexual

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    If you have a chance to listen and compare different models then I think that's the best option.
    Sometimes you can have a lucky find of a no-name model that actually sounds quite good, too good for the price :winker:
    Just make sure it does not distort at higher levels so you have enough headroom to do monitor EQ corrections if necessary.
     
  4. demberto

    demberto Rock Star

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    i m really a noob to tell whether headphone a is better than b. i was frankly happy even with my hd180 but it was quite low on volume. for listening to songs on YouTube i almost always pushed it to full volume.
     
  5. No Avenger

    No Avenger Moderator Staff Member

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    I don't think it's the headphones. The HD 180 have only 24Ohm which is very low and the lower the Ohm, the louder the headphones are.
    It's probably a pretty weak audio output.

    You may have a look here https://www.kopfhoerer.de/bestenliste/die-besten-einsteiger-kopfhoerer-fuer-djs-bis-50-euro. I know it's not your language and you probably don't understand a thing, but if you click on the headphones you often find a link to a store called Thomann and there you can switch to English by clicking on the little flag on the top right.
     
  6. rico76

    rico76 Noisemaker

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  7. timer

    timer Producer

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    Cheapest option would be Samson SR 850 imho. Got mine for 20 Euros and find them as useful as my Beyer DT880s.
    If they are not available in your country, you may get a very similar model from Superlux.
     
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  8. Misterguywick

    Misterguywick Producer

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    roland rh5
     
  9. Olymoon

    Olymoon MODERATOR Staff Member

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    Op says "around 30$, these ones are way more expensive @ 119€....
     
  10. SmokerNzt

    SmokerNzt Rock Star

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  11. No Avenger

    No Avenger Moderator Staff Member

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    Apart from that very, err, 'interesting' design with four speakers per side, did you have a look at the freq curve? 50Hz are ~ 30dB louder than 15kHz, 30dB!!!
     
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  12. kimikaze

    kimikaze Platinum Record

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    As already mentioned, for that amount of money:
    Samson SR850
    Superlux HD668B
    Supetlux HD669
    Superlux HD661
    AKG K-52(K-72)
     
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  13. OBKenobi

    OBKenobi Producer

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    People have been praising the Superlux/Samsons for years, except for supposedly the harsh highs that they have. A no-cost way to cut some of the highs if you don't have a hardware EQ on your amp is to take the pads off and put a strip of tissue paper (or something similar) over the speakers to dampen the high frequencies. You can also buy replacement pads for them which are better than the plastic stock ones.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Olaf

    Olaf Platinum Record

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    For mixing/mastering related work the Superlux HD681B might be one of the best budget solutions. The "B" version (for "balanced") is the one from the series that not only looks like an AKG K 240, but also sounds similar (and the K 240 are one of the most popular studio headphones since the 1970s).

    br_HD681_Series.png
     
  15. demberto

    demberto Rock Star

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    Thanks for real quick replies. This euro to rupee conversion is around 1eur = 100rupees but not always same.

    Its costs ~Rs. 15,000 which is 5-6x my budget. anyways i don't want that many features.

    ~Rs. 5,000 so not an option

    SR850 - Rs. 2,600 and SR950 - Rs. 2,750. If the latter one is significantly better, I can buy it as 150rs won't make much of difference. Superlux are not available here.

    Btw, nobody mentioned sony, sennheiser or behringer. why so? i also found these two but nobody mentioned these as well.

    https://www.amazon.in/CLAW-SM50-Pro...tronics&sprefix=studio,electronics,294&sr=1-5

    https://www.amazon.in/OneOdio-Adapt...tronics&sprefix=studio,electronics,294&sr=1-6

    Both have good reviews, but i don't trust amazon reviews.

    And which is better samson sr850/sr950 or akg-k52?
     
  16. taskforce

    taskforce Audiosexual

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  17. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    I have both Samson 850 AND 950. While the 850 are pretty "sibilant" (they are 10Hz - 30kHz bandwidth) compared to 950, I prefer the smoother sound and closed design of 950 (20Hz - 20kHz). However you couldn't get a better price for this quality for both of them.

    https://soundsystemlab.com/budget-studio-headphones-samson-sr850-review-2019/

    https://www.head-fi.org/threads/samson-sr950.724855/
     
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  18. Fufutos

    Fufutos Member

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  19. Sinus Well

    Sinus Well Audiosexual

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    I really don't understand what your problem is with these headphones. It's perfect for making thin, super edgy and sharp sounding mixes.:winker:
     
  20. kimikaze

    kimikaze Platinum Record

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    I believe SR950 are just closed version of SR850, so probably less soundstage, less air, more bottom end. I would buy semi open 850, because i'm not bass head, you may be different. Should have in mind, i don't own any of these.

    As for other known brands and models not mentioned. We are far from position to know every model out there that could be good(and there is almost every week new headphone on market, maybe even better), we can only give you examples, that has been proven as good value for that amount of money through time. You set the price around 30$ max and mentioned headphones are about best you can get at that price, and yes they are not perfect. If you could stretch to about 60$, then this would entirely change the possibilities. And well known brand will come in play.
     
  21. demberto

    demberto Rock Star

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    does not matter, once i start earning i will buy good ones. btw i asked how the akg-k52 compares to samson sr850/950 as they cost nearly the same. plz also tell how driver size matters
     
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