# Headphones/Earphones(In ear) required for a budget of 2000/-



## Ronnie11 (Jun 16, 2013)

Hey guys, so my Sound magic pl 30 finally gave in as the left earphone is not receiving any output...so i am looking for a replacement..i have a significantly higher budget this time around of 2000/- and i would like to buy a new headphone or earphone...my requirement is basically music(metal/rock/trance etc) and also connecting to the computer system and using it for games..but primary usage will be to pair it with my sony xperia SL...which one is better in terms of music quality...Headphones or earphones..pls help...


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## samudragupta (Jun 16, 2013)

Have a look at the Sony xb30ex.. will work great with your Sony mobile


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 17, 2013)

samudragupta said:


> Have a look at the Sony xb30ex.. will work great with your Sony mobile



Thanks but are there any headphones in comparison to it which can match the level of earphones...??Also how much of a difference is there between headphones and earphones

*www.flipkart.com/jbl-j88-on-the-ear-headphone/p/itmdgrn7dbgg8838?pid=ACCDGRMNFV2CCE7F&ref=6117ac12-82e0-4a00-b82a-caf26a4fe53b

How are these?

*www.flipkart.com/sony-mdr-xb400-headphones/p/itmdeta4hzxundbz?pid=ACCDETA3ACMWBCER&ref=499d6c84-f11b-45e4-951e-c230d46c2b32


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## samudragupta (Jun 17, 2013)

i cant comment on the JBL's... neither me nor any of my friends used it... on the other hand the sony XB400 are more bassy headphones... the major difference between the earphone and headphones will the driver unit present in them... Sony XB400 has a 30mm > compared to the 13.5mm driver unit on the sony xb30 (higher the drivers more the bass)... the genre's you listen to would require more balanced sound, rather than just bassy headphones... like me i just listen to trance, house, dubstep.. hence i would need bassy headphones to do justice to my music.... you can go for the brainwavz M1 or soundmagic E30's... If both these arent available where you stay, then the sennheiser cx180 should also be sufficient... I suggest you visit the sony retail shop to listen to the sony xb400's. if they dont impress you then i suggest the brainwavz or soundmagic


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 18, 2013)

samudragupta said:


> i cant comment on the JBL's... neither me nor any of my friends used it... on the other hand the sony XB400 are more bassy headphones... the major difference between the earphone and headphones will the driver unit present in them... Sony XB400 has a 30mm > compared to the 13.5mm driver unit on the sony xb30 (higher the drivers more the bass)... the genre's you listen to would require more balanced sound, rather than just bassy headphones... like me i just listen to trance, house, dubstep.. hence i would need bassy headphones to do justice to my music.... you can go for the brainwavz M1 or soundmagic E30's... If both these arent available where you stay, then the sennheiser cx180 should also be sufficient... I suggest you visit the sony retail shop to listen to the sony xb400's. if they dont impress you then i suggest the brainwavz or soundmagic



Thanks a lot for the response..will check them out but those side how are seinnheiser headsets..some of my friends were recommending me 202ii or something..any good?

ok this is the clarification i need right now...i am not able to understand how much of a difference is there in terms of music quality between a in ear earphones and a headphones..I have previously used a Creative EP 630 which was decent and Sound magic PL30 which had good clarity but lacked punch but never a headphones...so do headphones give better music quality over earphones..i am also planning to connect these to the computer from time to time...So do they make any difference...What would be the difference between a 1.5k in earphones for example and a 1.5k headphones?


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## samudragupta (Jun 18, 2013)

I would personally choose the Sony xb400 over the sennhieser you mentioned. Sony's reviews look good... I personally never look at sennhieser as the 1st choice. Now about what is better a headphone or earphones at the same range is debatable. Ideally headphones are better than earphones in the same range. But this may not always be true. With headphones though you will loose portability. Headphones will sound more natural and the soundstage will be better in term of clarity.. Eventually it boils down to personal preferences. I always use my cheap Sony headphones when at home. Now though they may not sound better than my in earphones but the natural sound they offer are close to the expensive pair of earphones. I suggest you visit a Sony retail and try some mid range and expensive headphones to get a better idea of what I'm trying to say. Make sure you carry your music player and old earphones for comparison. If you think portability is not any issue get the Sony xb400. Just to confuse you more I suggest you also look at the audio technica ath m20


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 18, 2013)

samudragupta said:


> I would personally choose the Sony xb400 over the sennhieser you mentioned. Sony's reviews look good... I personally never look at sennhieser as the 1st choice. Now about what is better a headphone or earphones at the same range is debatable. Ideally headphones are better than earphones in the same range. But this may not always be true. With headphones though you will loose portability. Headphones will sound more natural and the soundstage will be better in term of clarity.. Eventually it boils down to personal preferences. I always use my cheap Sony headphones when at home. Now though they may not sound better than my in earphones but the natural sound they offer are close to the expensive pair of earphones. I suggest you visit a Sony retail and try some mid range and expensive headphones to get a better idea of what I'm trying to say. Make sure you carry your music player and old earphones for comparison. If you think portability is not any issue get the Sony xb400. Just to confuse you more I suggest you also look at the audio technica ath m20



Thanks a lot...my main problem with deciding a piece was whether i need a headphone or a earphone as i wanted to know which sounds more superior in terms of music quality...for example the price of xb30ex and xb400 from sony have almost the same prices on FK..how is that possible??How is a earphone equally expensive than that of a headphone...


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## samudragupta (Jun 18, 2013)

The price is identical. And in terms of performance the xb400 will be a bit superior due to its driver unit. However the reason the cost is identical is because you compromise portability with the xb400. So as I said if portability is not an issue get the xb400. Its performance  would be a bit better than xb30


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 18, 2013)

ahh ok i see...how about the build quality of these two?Wouldn't it cost more to manufacture a xb400 than an xb30 if its slightly better than xb30???

Also how is the noise cancelling among these two..


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## samudragupta (Jun 18, 2013)

placing components are easier in the headphones due to their given size, like mic, drivers, noise cancellation, etc. where as the same is an engineering challenge in earphones for their small size... hence the price difference...the build quality of sony's are really good. However, the noise cancellation will not be that great on either.. i have the xb30's and they have good noise cancellation (not that great)...


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 18, 2013)

samudragupta said:


> placing components are easier in the headphones due to their given size, like mic, drivers, noise cancellation, etc. where as the same is an engineering challenge in earphones for their small size... hence the price difference...the build quality of sony's are really good. However, the noise cancellation will not be that great on either.. i have the xb30's and they have good noise cancellation (not that great)...



oh ok that explains it..so other than portability issue with the xb400, there is no other difference between xb30 and xb400...but xb400 is superior in terms of music quality right??
Think then i am going to pick up sony xb400 then...also i looked out for audio technica ath m20 thing on the net...seems to be unavailable in all the places...


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## samudragupta (Jun 18, 2013)

yes go for the xb400... the audio technica's are available on india ebay site...


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 19, 2013)

thanks for the clarifications...xb400 is selling for 1600 on infibeam..worth it?


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## samudragupta (Jun 19, 2013)

Never got any stuff from infibeam, so can't say...


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## Ronnie11 (Jun 24, 2013)

Thanks a lot samudragupta..finally got it...Its awesome..


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## samudragupta (Jun 25, 2013)

congrats bro... make sure you allow a burn in period of at least 30-40hrs... happy listening


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