Where to buy heaphones

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zmatt

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First off I would like to say that the headphone buying guide here is extremely valuable, I have been using it to recommend headphones to friends and find a good pair for myself. There is only one problem, every now and then I get asked "Who carries them". I checked newegg and aside form some sparse Sennheiser and Shure offerings there isn't much. As far as online retailers go, what high end audio outlet do you guys recommend?
 
Thanks, if you were talking about my guide.

If Audiocubes.com have what you want, they're normally awesome. From japan to my home in England took 3 days ! and it was cheep, and i paid no tax. They mark them as gifts, so you shouldn't get taxed. but you still could.

Amazon usually have quite a few different headphones up, esecpially combined with the market place.
Ebay usually has them, but beware of fakes. check the seller out first and make sure they are real. Link me if you are unsure.

and last of all, Head-fi.org buy/sell/trade section. You can pick up all manner of great quality second hand headphones there. This is usually a good thing because a) they have been looked after by headphone lovers and b) speakers and headphones sound better as there drivers get used more, so they'll usually sound better than a new pair.

I sometimes use iheadphones and headphoneworld too.

Good luck.
 
By drivers, i mean the diaprhams and speaker cones in the headphones.

They soften up, get looser, more suple. More suple means the driver moves easier and more accurately.

Like if you have a draw which isn't on runners, you have to pull it and then jag it side to side before it comes out and moves how you want. Alot of the energy you put into that was wasted moving the thing.

Then you do the same thing with a lubricated draw on wheel runners and it can slide in and out accurately and quickly with little effort.

Same theory with speakers.

They get better over age (to a limit) because they can move better, and they can respond better. Typically with new headphones, with sub 20hours of use (maybe 40hours on some headphones) they have very weak bass response and boring mids. This is why you must never judge a headphone until it is atleast 50hours used with moderate/loud listening volumes. They sound so much different after them hours, typically a lot better bass response and the high's are not as painfull on the ears.

You notice it alot more in some speakers and headphones than others. The most extreme case was my Shure SE530 earbuds. I tried them at first and they were horrible. i mean utterly disatrously terrible. They were the most tinny sounding, lowest bass output, stringent peircing high headphones i had ever heard (no exageration) they were worse than the stock iPod earbuds. Within the next 12hours (yes, only 12 hours) they changed into a thing of immense audio quality. Best bass in iem's (in ear monitors, aka earbuds) i have ever heard, they had such rhythm and tonality it has to be heard to be beleived.

Hope that cleared it up :D

I do hope you repped me for all this xD
 
By drivers, i mean the diaprhams and speaker cones in the headphones.

They soften up, get looser, more suple. More suple means the driver moves easier and more accurately.

Like if you have a draw which isn't on runners, you have to pull it and then jag it side to side before it comes out and moves how you want. Alot of the energy you put into that was wasted moving the thing.

Then you do the same thing with a lubricated draw on wheel runners and it can slide in and out accurately and quickly with little effort.

Same theory with speakers.

They get better over age (to a limit) because they can move better, and they can respond better. Typically with new headphones, with sub 20hours of use (maybe 40hours on some headphones) they have very weak bass response and boring mids. This is why you must never judge a headphone until it is atleast 50hours used with moderate/loud listening volumes. They sound so much different after them hours, typically a lot better bass response and the high's are not as painfull on the ears.

You notice it alot more in some speakers and headphones than others. The most extreme case was my Shure SE530 earbuds. I tried them at first and they were horrible. i mean utterly disatrously terrible. They were the most tinny sounding, lowest bass output, stringent peircing high headphones i had ever heard (no exageration) they were worse than the stock iPod earbuds. Within the next 12hours (yes, only 12 hours) they changed into a thing of immense audio quality. Best bass in iem's (in ear monitors, aka earbuds) i have ever heard, they had such rhythm and tonality it has to be heard to be beleived.

Hope that cleared it up :D

I do hope you repped me for all this xD

I know what you meant man. ;)

I just wanted an explanation why. I play guitar and do some editing work as a hobby I know a thing or two about sound.
 
Hehe. Now.. why did i sell them Shure SE530's :eek:

facepalm.jpg
 
I learned a lot from that post there, Oreo. +1 reps for you. I'm also still looking to buy a pair of headphones this week. I've spotted the HD280Pros for very cheap on some sites, and maybe I can convince my parents to get 'em for me. They just look much better than the 205s.
 

I was looking there, and yes, those are the ones I'm looking at. I found them cheaper on Office Depot:

Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones by Office Depot

74 dollars instead of the 35 I was gonna spend on HD 205s, and as far as I understand, it's worth it. They also look much more sturdy and comfy.

I have to remember always to look around a lot before buying headphones though. Check out the price of the HD280Pros on newegg:
Newegg.com - SENNHEISER HD 280PRO 3.5mm Connector Circumaural PROFESSIONAL Headphone
 
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