Audio VFM Headphones ! Sennheiser

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paradox

Disciple
Hullo everyone :) I have a tight budget and a base recommendation of the HD 202 headphone from Sennheiser, which retails for INR 1500 or thereabouts. Does anyone here have any ideas of what the next notch up on ridiculously good VFM would be ?

Note: the budget is INR 2400-2700 and I do not like in-ear or neckband headphones

TIA ! :cool2:
 
Koss PortaPro is there for 2900. Dont have any personal experience with it, but have seen other members recommend it often. It's open-ear cans. listed on ebay for 3100.

Ask PrinstinNote in dealers section.
 
t@ 2700 , i dont think portapros are VFM , if you can get them around 2 K then they are good :)

then again why are you upgrading form HD202 to a 2.5K HP ?

save up and spend around 6K to make it worth while,

and when you ask what would be VFM at that price range, with good bass , that would be ATH-M50.
 
thanks crossbow and strategy ^^ !

I should clarify that the HD 202 was the starting recommendation - I haven't bought one :) i.e. if all else fails I will fall back to it as my budget + quality baseline. The portapros are a little steep given what I want to spend (2700 is the cutting edge). And while I'd love to save, I need it this month ! Any other recommendations ?
 
well the JVC RX700 also is great IF you can get then under your budget :D

I'd recommend portapros below 2.2 K , not above that , toxic's friend is offring them below that IMO :D
 
The Philips SHP8900 listing often comes on ebay at ~2.8k. Its probably a good choice as using a coupon you can get it for around 2.5k.
 
Koss PortaPro's are horrible if you're going to use them on the go. I have a pair and the sound leakage is unbelievably high. If you want something on the cheaper side try SoundMagic PL20 (1.5k). If you're okay with ordering online maybe try out the ATH-M30, Maxell DHP-II or MEElec HT-21. They're all within your budget and offer a good sound. I can personally vouch for the HT-21's since I've had them for a few days, and their lows are spectacular. And they have a very surprisingly good soundstage for a $40 headphone.

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And I agree with Strategy, if you can save up, get the ATH-M50 although they're not really usable while travelling (I found them bulky) :)

You can also try to source a pair of Sennheiser PX100/PX100 II but again they leak a lot of sound so not usable on the go.
 
@Strategy - Dude have you even heard the Portapros ? Frankly if given a choice between the M50s and the Portapros I would choose the Portapros anyday. (For my type of music).

Not to say that the Portapros are the best thing since sliced bread but for the price they are very neutral phones. Neither recessed nor forward. Sub bass is missing if you dont amp them but it has a rather pleasing lower mid range hump. I tried the JVCs and they need a good quality amp to get the best out of them.

The sound is a bit grainy compared to newer phones but detailing is still pretty good and it definitely punches above its price range.
 
Don't get the 202's, they are fine for the first hour but on prolonged wear they become extremely uncomfortable and tend to heat up my ears a lot.

There are a few of the Sony headphone of the XDR series visit the Sony India website.

Portapros are probably the best choice, maybe even the JVC's
 
BF1983 , for a breaf moment 5-10 minutes , yes :p , but he OP clearly mentioned , he prefers good bass so, M50 are more suited dont you think !?

Portapros are Mid-focused

BTW you wont get the lifetime warranty in india would you ? So above 2.5 , RX700 are more suited , thats what i said :) ( but yeah thy might require an amp, i have nt heard the JVC but read a good deal about them )
 
sennheiser PX100 are also good...very portable...

my friend got one recently..

but the cable is too thin...i dont think it will last long..

Where can one get the HT-21?
 
^^ I heard them at an audio meet for a few minutes only so yeah I dont have much experience with them either. But I felt them slow and with a bloated bass. On amping them they got interesting but without an amp I did not like them and I felt they weren't worth it.

The Portapros are not all about mid range. The bass is more than sufficient for me if you look at their frequency graphs they have no real roll off even at the sub bass end and the treble is definitely not recessed.

http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=1613&graphID[]=1473
 
I havnt tried the ATH-M50 yet...but seeing the price...i always thought it to be miles ahead of porta pros..its a different story i guess..:S
 
Well in that case the RX700 are not suite as an amp will cost a lot !

Also i found the portapro's build somewhat questionable ?

are the portapros officially launched here ! ?

they have lifetime warranty :D
 
Have a look at some of the Audio Technica offerings as well . Especially the T500 and M35 offer amazing sound for the price. :) Not many folks over here might have tried them but I got to audition them recently and was very impressed by their lineup of entry level headphones .Especially the comfort level is amazing .
 
^^ Yes they are here but have a 1 year warranty. :(

Their build quality is stictly OK. I think someone here on the forums had a problem with the 3.5mm jack.

@ragzdiablo - Dont go by the frequency charts. The M50s have better bass than the Portapros anyday. However you are right in saying that I did not find them much better in either the midrange, treble or soundstage.

However the bass on the M50s is among the best I have heard and that alone makes them worth the price.

Frankly if there ever was a cheap headphone that I could live with forever its the Portapros. Inspite of having headphones like the HD650 and YH-100 orthos along with IEMs like the RE262, RE1 and Brainwavz M3 (all amped) I still like the Portapros whenever I try them.

But just to come back down to earth, the Portapros are 60 ohms and are as hard to drive as the M50s but not as hard to drive as the JVCs ( all IMO). So you may not hear them at their best out of a mp3 player.
 
Grado are a tad light on bass , as per some.

no comparison to M50 in bass region.

but if i had to choose i would go for SR80, as they are much better deal ( for me ).
 
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