# Need suggestions in Headphones for Rs 10K-12K



## sanudigit (Sep 20, 2012)

Hi All,I have been looking around the net for quite a while,seeing other people's requirements , reviews ,ratings etc. But that left me even more confused so decided to get all your expert opinions to decide on mine.I have owned a lot of headphones / earphones for a long time.Mostly settled in for Rs 200- Rs 500 ones,during college days due to money problems .Now after getting a job has decided to spend some  bucks on a decent headphones to get the real essence of music .Well I am not an audiophile, just an average guy who has decided to spend some hard earned money on prized set of headphones. I do have lot of earphones right from Sony to Samsung IEM ( with Samsung Galaxy S) to and stock earphones that come with mobile phones.My taste for music is like this .I am mostly glued to chillout/ Low -fi ( Like  Cafe Del Mar ) and instrumental music ( Richard Clayderman / Yanni )Sometmes I do indulge in a little bit of Nelly / 50 cents. but thats all. I dont like Boomy Hip-hop bass for more than 15 mins at a stretch, hurts my ears.But I do like Slow bass like the downtempo songs or Blues.I would also use the headphones for watching movies on my Laptop.Sometimes HD DVD / Blu Ray Dvds too.I am not a Computer games freak so that can be ignored . I dont listen to rock / metal etc. So thats my taste. Now I invite suggestions from you friends. My budget is around Rs 10K and can stretch to 12-13K under serious pressure.My Location is Kolkata  .My first preference is an overall exceptional quality music,good soundstage , then comes a standard amount of bass ,not overpowering ear hurting bass .Well I was going through the particularly popular ones in this price range :Sennheiser HD 558 and Sennheiser HD 598.Both of them has exceptional sound quality and soundstage .But they have some low bass issues.Well I do not like heavy bass but at least expect them to be normal and clean.Other options include Audio technica , Shure , Denon etc.Some of the popular ones have now become out of stock like Audio Technica , Denon Ah 1100 Shure Srh 840 etc. Also would like to mention that since I am from Kolkata, where shops  not particularly popular in keeping medium to high end audio gear, well if anyone from Kolkata can give me some names of dealers /shops where these headphones can be found.Otherwise onlone purchase will be the only option.Thanking all for suggestions.Sanu


----------



## Unkn0wN (Sep 22, 2012)

I own a pair of Sennheiser 555s which i think are very much similar to the 558 and i have heard the 595 too. I would say these with onboard audio sound pretty bland, very light bass.
On the other hand with a good sound card like a Asus Xonar STX or DX they sound totally different for me, everything just sounds better.
Most Sennheisers i have come across really shine with a good sound card so thats a must. 

Have heard good stuff about Denon's, give head-fi a check many audiophiles hang out there.


----------



## skywalker5555 (Sep 23, 2012)

Audio Technica ATH-M50 \m/


----------



## red dragon (Sep 24, 2012)

I am from kolkata too!
Please answer a couple of questions,
1.What are you looking for?open or closed hps?
2.What is your source?
3.Are you looking for portable/transportable hps?

If portable and closed,I will suggest you to go for Sennheiser hd25 1-II or the Audio Technica M50 or Denon D1100.
HD25 is definitely the best and most portable of the three but more expensive(around 14-15k locally)
Someone at ebay is selling a new D1100 for less than 7k,it is a very good deal indeed!
I personally did not like the M50 at all,it is heavy and sounded just about ok.But it is very popular here,you may like it.

For most open cans(other than few Grados)you need a capable amp with your DAP.


----------



## sanudigit (Sep 25, 2012)

Hi 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.Well i was looking the other threads like  Head-fi.But it is a primarily US-Canada site so most of the Audio gears discussed in those sites will not be available in India, at least not in Kolkata.
I have considered Audio technica and Denon but both are out of stock in most of the popular online purchase sites. I have not checked E-Bay though.Since the payment procedure and goods delivery is not so simple so I dont have much trust in the site.

@red dragon.
Hi ,do u know of any shops that sell the  Denons / Audio Technicas  / Sennheisers at this range in Kolkata
I dont have any particular affinity towards either open/closed.Headphones that are open ones have greater soundstage / surround effect, less bass. Actually I would have gone for Audio Technica M50 / Denon 1100/1000 if it were easily and locally available .Again I am not comfortable with E-bay . Other online sites show them out of stock .My source is plain laptop , right now no amp / dac.
I already have the Klipsch Image S4 IEMs .It sounds awesome , noise isolation is also great. But the only thing is that on prolonged usage you feel a kind 'ear suffocation'. In klipsch the bass is superb apart from all the other good sound qualities but no soundstage . Hence in 1 word not good for relaxation music. Thats why I was looking for something which is little different from Klipsch.
Thanks all
Sanu


----------



## red dragon (Sep 25, 2012)

Some shops in kolkata do stock Sennheiser cans(computer exchange@park street,Bhagwati @ south city basement etc)
But they charge a lot more(almost equal to MRP)
ebay is not that unsafe,I have bought many things from there over last 2 year or so(some of them were more than 10k)
Just make sure with the seller does not need the dreaded form 50.


----------



## sanudigit (Oct 1, 2012)

Hi reddragon
Have been looking at ebay .Sennheiser HD 558 / Shure 840  is looking good. Now what is the safe reliability percentage for these sellers can u tell??


----------



## red dragon (Oct 1, 2012)

Can you post the eBay links?


----------



## The Incinerator (Oct 3, 2012)

sanudigit said:


> Hi
> Thanks everyone for your suggestions.Well i was looking the other threads like  Head-fi.But it is a primarily US-Canada site so most of the Audio gears discussed in those sites will not be available in India, at least not in Kolkata.
> I have considered Audio technica and Denon but both are out of stock in most of the popular online purchase sites. I have not checked E-Bay though.Since the payment procedure and goods delivery is not so simple so I dont have much trust in the site.



Talk to these guys in Kolkata

Beyerdynamic - 9831038033
Shure and AKG - 9883260529
Denon -  33 24669301/05


----------



## red dragon (Oct 3, 2012)

^^Are you from kolkata?


----------



## The Incinerator (Oct 4, 2012)

^^ Yes.


----------



## red dragon (Oct 4, 2012)

Great!We can have our small can-jam in the city of joy during winters this year!!
Can't we!?


----------



## The Incinerator (Oct 4, 2012)

^^ Why not?


----------



## sanudigit (Oct 5, 2012)

Hi
I have been looking the Sennheiser Headphones viz HD 555 / HD 558 and even the HD 598. Till a week ago they were showing prices of HD 558 at Rs 9990/ and HD 598 at 13990/-.But suddenly this week Sennheiser India , and evetually FlipK / ITDepot etc ,has hiked the prices of all it medium to high end phones. I checked the sites like Amazon and the prices in these sites are unchanged . HD558 is at 180$ and HD598 at 240$.But our indian sites show the prices of HD558 at Rs 11990/- ( almost 230$) and HD598 at 15990/-(300$). This is ridiculous . Well I understand that our rupee has fallen and economy is down, but still only Indian market is hiking the prices. We dont have much access to international brands like Denon / Shure / BeyerD /AudioT so I guess no competition here , even if you are ready to spend u may not get best choice / availability /competive price  etc .Whatever prices they throw at you swallow.This is really disappointing.
Sanu


----------



## red dragon (Oct 5, 2012)

DO NOT buy headphones locally!
Try to source it from Amazon through iccworld/similar.
Did you look into Ultrasone India's website?


----------



## sukant (Oct 5, 2012)

Whatever be your decision *"DO NOT GO FOR A DENON AH-D1100"* , i bought 1 was pretty happy with the SQ , after 1-2 months cracks started developing on the headband , finally it cracked off and broke into two pieces despite me taking good care of it . Build quality is pathetic even a 350 Rs headphone has a better build quality then this one .


----------



## sanudigit (Oct 5, 2012)

Ultrasone India webite shows all the products and prices but no purchase option.Sent a mail to them but no reply


----------



## red dragon (Oct 6, 2012)

^^Call them at 9650 2488 89 or shoot a mail to asoni@corbett-india.in


----------



## The Incinerator (Oct 6, 2012)

sanudigit said:


> Ultrasone India webite shows all the products and prices but no purchase option.Sent a mail to them but no reply




Did you call up the guys in Kolkata?


----------



## rajnusker (Oct 6, 2012)

HD 598 is the best you can get.


----------



## sanudigit (Oct 19, 2012)

Hi all
Thank you all for your support and views.I finally pulled the trigger on Sennheiser HD 558. Well the remember the price fiasco.I ordered in a  of Ebay site and everyone told me that they were 'Out of stock'.Well that was rehearsed, whenever there is a price hike who would wanna sell at a lower than market price? Shot off a very angry email at Sennheiser and a couple of days later an employee of Sennheiser himself delivered a Brand New Headphone to my home and that too at old price.I changed my decision from HD 598 to HD 558 as I saw in most of the forums specially in Head-Fi and others that 558 and 598 basically has the same drivers and also sound almost the same. 558 has little more bass which attraced me as without a little bass 'colouring' it would sound boring and not musical.598 is little more comfortable .
Well after unboxing first impressions were confusing.
Comfort :Was not superbly comfortable as I read in some sites. But I guess that would require some time to soften up.The ear pads were very good but the clamping at the both sides of head was a bit tight.
Music: As I turned on the music ( My source was a Samsung Galaxy SLCD ) couple of Bass heavy and medium bass songs , bass was obviously not as thumping as my Klipsch Image S4 but was very soft and likable. Experience was in fact -pleasant.
Then I turned on some vocal songs by Jagjit Singh - and boy I was MESMERISED. Unparallaled music / soungstage / exact amount of bass / and superb treble.
Well this was just my experience for 0-5 hr burn in.I hope it improved a lot after say  50 hrs .Any kind of soft vocals sound fantastic even at zero burn in.

Now I see in this forum some guys have HD 558 / HD598 , so I have a question for them --do this headphone require amplifiers ? , So far I like the sound from both my laptop and mobile phone better than Klipsch Image .Will post again some reviews /opinions when these  phones become 100 hour old.
Thanks 
Sanu


----------



## red dragon (Oct 20, 2012)

Invest on an entry level amp like FiiO E11 or E17(it is DAC and amp combo)...you will love the set up.
BTW I can not seem to find HD600 anywhere.


----------

