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I'm talkin' $25 cheap...OK: $50...whatev'.

I'm not lookin' for audiophile snoots to chime in.

I've picked up some REALLY HIGHLY RATED/PRICEY 'phones that sound like $h!t - next to $75 ones...

...and I'm not looking for those that boost (distort) bass with some mushy-@$$ sound, but (perhaps) those which (perhaps...??) offer a significant fall-off in bass reponse (you know: like real ears).

ALL I'm looking for is/are something that - unlike laptop and phone speakers - aren't absurdly tinny, don't buzz, and don't make (even the finest players) sound like VVVVVUUU-VVVVUUU-VVVVUUU-VVVVVUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuu... (etc.)

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WALGREENS, DOLLAR STORE, ALIBOOBOO, EBAY, ETC. HEADPHONES that are pretty damn good-enough:

I have some, but the crappy styrofoam thingies are rotted away...and (btw) mentioning of any earbud makes/models is banned from this thread.

BTW...They need to be CORDED 1/8" or 1/4" stereo or ADAPTABLE as such...and NOT powered.

Just to further trigger the audiophiles, mine (with the foam rotted away) look very much like these:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 33916.html

Thank-you!

bloke "Am I the ONLY one, or to a bunch of you - if that option is available - often turn the bass response WAY down ?"

I've got a pair of these. They are cheap (on "sale" for $40) and have a really neutral dynamic response. They are a bit small for my big head though, so if you are cranially endowed they might not be the best choice.

AKG Pro Audio K240 STUDIO Over-Ear, Semi-Open, Professional Studio Headphones
https://a.co/d/bHn746y

We bought bone conduction headphones for our kids because they had a habit of turning them up too loud. These dont cover your ear and blast sound into it. Instead they use vibrations. They are really comfortable and have fantastic sound. Because they dont cover your ears you can also still hear things around you. I think my wife pd like $120. For them a couple years ago. Now I see you can find them for $20. And up of course.

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

Oh. Ours are bluetooth so we can pair them with phones, laptop, iPad, tv. Newer ones with bluetooth connectivity.

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

thanks for responses so far !

Sony makes noise-canceling headphones that are wired. Yes, you have to use a battery, even if you don't care about the noise canceling. But they are really excellent and cost about fifty bucks.

The model number is MDR-ZX110NC.

Amazon has a bunch that labeled this way but much cheaper. I would not be surprised if they are countefeit products, which Amazon seems to do little to prevent. That's why I'm including a link to Best Buy, which is at least not a counterfeit. I think I bought mine at Target or whatever.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-noise ... Id=8636734

These test very well as long as the batter is installed and they are turned on.

Rick "stepping up from these will add a digit and then some" Denney

Rick Denney wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:21 pm Sony makes noise-canceling headphones that are wired. Yes, you have to use a battery, even if you don't care about the noise canceling. But they are really excellent and cost about fifty bucks.

The model number is MDR-ZX110NC.

Amazon has a bunch that labeled this way but much cheaper. I would not be surprised if they are countefeit products, which Amazon seems to do little to prevent. That's why I'm including a link to Best Buy, which is at least not a counterfeit. I think I bought mine at Target or whatever.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-noise ... Id=8636734

These test very well as long as the batter is installed and they are turned on.

Rick "stepping up from these will add a digit and then some" Denney

Thank-you...I have some "look-like-they're-not-cheap-but-they-are-cheap" Sony MDR-ZX100 'phones...sound VERY "boomy".
...so I should hope that the 110NC is "not boomy", then....

I HAD some NICE Sony 'phones...amazing (similar look to these...more costly)..."mysteriously disappeared"...

I would suggest the Sony MDR-V6, but they have long since been discontinued. You could try the Sony MDR-7506. They are a bit out of your price range (~$80), but you can probably find a used pair for less. I still use my 30-year-old pair of MDR-V6s for general listening at home as I prefer the flat response. I understand that the 7506 response curve differs from the V6, but they still seem quite popular.

Arul

cbz wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:45 pm I would suggest the Sony MDR-V6, but they have long since been discontinued. You could try the Sony MDR-7506. They are a bit out of your price range (~$80), but you can probably find a used pair for less. I still use my 30-year-old pair of MDR-V6s for general listening at home as I prefer the flat response. I understand that the 7506 response curve differs from the V6, but they still seem quite popular.

Arul

yes. thanks... 7506 are the EXCELLENT ones which "mysteriously disappeared" from here.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/166552039425

LOL

My great-sounding cheap-@$$ headphones were FINALLY found...

After posting this, I asked Mrs. bloke to PLEASE look on her nightstand and IN her nightstand...
Reluctantly, she looked in it...and - yup - there they were...in amongst a tangled mess of other wires.

They are (probably 40-something-years-old "Tozai" headphones...
...minimal in design, but rugged (obviously, eh?) and CLEAR-sounding.
When listening to recordings of myself playing, they sound like "me"-PLAYING, not "super"-me playing, not "woofy-bass"-me playing.
(This is one way I use to "test" headphones - by listening to old recording of myself.)
important: With these (unlike any others in the house) I can hear the FLAWS in recordings of my playing.

btw...They are NOT the same as that ONE pair of Tozai headphones (sealed in plastic) on eBay...so don't buy those - assuming that they are something usable.

Looking around on the web, they are THESE: Tozai ST-48 (probably not up to most people's standards, but crisp/clear/separate out different instruments' resonance)...

Surely, these new-in-the-package ones are old as the hills...

bloke wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:38 pm

Rick Denney wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:21 pm Sony makes noise-canceling headphones that are wired. Yes, you have to use a battery, even if you don't care about the noise canceling. But they are really excellent and cost about fifty bucks.

The model number is MDR-ZX110NC.

Amazon has a bunch that labeled this way but much cheaper. I would not be surprised if they are countefeit products, which Amazon seems to do little to prevent. That's why I'm including a link to Best Buy, which is at least not a counterfeit. I think I bought mine at Target or whatever.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-noise ... Id=8636734

These test very well as long as the batter is installed and they are turned on.

Rick "stepping up from these will add a digit and then some" Denney

Thank-you...I have some "look-like-they're-not-cheap-but-they-are-cheap" Sony MDR-ZX100 'phones...sound VERY "boomy".
...so I should hope that the 110NC is "not boomy", then....

I HAD some NICE Sony 'phones...amazing (similar look to these...more costly)..."mysteriously disappeared"...

These are boomy without the active circuit in play. They are not boomy to me when switched on.

My Bose QCII are better—more cancellation, over ear rather than on ear, and wireless. Much more expensive though I got mine at half price from a store going belly-up. And I also like my Sennheiser HD650’s better—mo money. But I like the Sony better (less boomy) than the AKG431’s that are the usual hundred-dollar recommendation.

Rick “uses them on airplanes” Denney

I reluctantly gave in and bought some wireless earbuds a year or two ago. They actually work pretty well, and sound pretty good for Bluetooth (technology finally caught up with the inexcusably bad old Bluetooth audio products).

The irony is that I use them almost exclusively for listening to AM radio while doing the dishes.

@Rick Denney -- has the Bose stuff gotten any better in recent years? Or is it still "no highs, no lows, must be Bose."

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 7:50 pm @Rick Denney -- has the Bose stuff gotten any better in recent years? Or is it still "no highs, no lows, must be Bose."

The headphones never conformed to the original Bose BS. The QC35’s like mine get a lot of respect from hard-core data-driven testers like those at Audio Science Review.

Their bass response is excellent.

Rick “can’t hear much above 10 KHz” Denney

Good earbuds are hard to find in stores. Earbuds tend to lack the deep sub bass rumble like bigger headphones or iem's (in ear monitors) can have. But you can somewhat adjust the amount of bass you want by putting more foams on them. Same with reducing the treble. I personally have both below and I think they are both quite good. I really like the LBBs personally.

The LBBs are quite good. Lacking but still technically has deep sub bass but other wise quite nice. Seems neutral to me and online reviews. Get the LBBs, not the LBB. Here is a seller from AliExpress. I don't recall the seller I ordered from per say. The 3rd and 7th pictures are what earbuds and the cord should look like.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568012 ... 315eef8c0d

The Yin crow X6 have what maybe described as a L shaped sound signature. In other words strong bass. But without or very little foams they sound pretty neutral. Again can't recall the seller.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/22518326 ... b100e836b9

thank-you for those recommendations.
I never manage to fit earbuds into my ears, and never seem to manage to fit them into my ears equally - so that the amount and quality of output is balanced...

...so it's either really good expensive headphones, or surprisingly good cheap headphones.

I have an incredible vintage (1970's) two-tower (4 x 12) + (4 x 12) Kansas/Missouri-manufactured Woodson P.A. system (with an incredible wattage transistor-powered head), but it's unwieldy (obviously). It's the ONLY speaker rig - in the house - that sounds worth a $h!t and - needless to say - it's pretty annoying to those who aren't interested in hearing what's being played through it...(Turning it up to "4" runs everyone else out of the house.)

Other (highly-rated) keyboard amplifiers, sound systems (etc., etc.) that are in here just don't sound "real".

bloke wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 9:54 pm thank-you for those recommendations.
I never manage to fit earbuds into my ears, and never seem to manage to fit them into my ears equally - so that the amount and quality of output is balanced...

...so it's either really good expensive headphones, or surprisingly good cheap headphones.

I have an incredible vintage (1970's) two-tower (4 x 12) + (4 x 12) Kansas/Missouri-manufactured Woodson P.A. system (with an incredible wattage transistor-powered head), but it's unwieldy (obviously). It's the ONLY speaker rig - in the house - that sounds worth a $h!t and - needless to say - it's pretty annoying to those who aren't interested in hearing what's being played through it...(Turning it up to "4" runs everyone else out of the house.)

Other (highly-rated) keyboard amplifiers, sound systems (etc., etc.) that are in here just don't sound "real".

There are a lot of extremely UNcomfortable earbuds, which range from "constantly falling out" to "whose ears do these fit?" to "OMG this is painful."

I've had the best luck with earbuds that have squishy/silicone tips that go into your ear, and form a good seal and a good fit. Even though they aren't specifically "noise cancelling," the physical seal between your ear and the silicone tips blocks a good amount of sound.

My cheapo wireless Sony earbuds work great and seal out a lot of sound. To the point where if I'm jamming out to AM radio, it really startles me when someone comes up next to me or gets my attention, because I didn't hear them at all. Most times, I only put in one earbud to avoid that situation.

Just be sure to buy some extra silicone tips. They wear out over time, and can occasionally detach and remain inside your ear when you pull out the earbud. I typically try to resolve things before that point, but worst case, that's how you know to replace them.

.

Thank you very much. The EQ app looks handy, but - since some headphones sound quite good without costing very much at all (including the super cheap supposedly crappy ones that I've had forever that I just finally found again), maybe it's mostly the headphones - rather than the EQ of the computer.

.