What headphones/headset should I get?

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
1

So, bit of a difficult question here.

I have tinnitus. It’s like a constant tone. You know that tone you hear in a game or a movie when someone is knocked down by an explosion? That’s what it’s like. I don’t hear it at all when other noises are “present”, but in dead silence I hear just that, a constant

Basically that. Only I’m lucky enough that I don’t hear it over most things like a normal fan on high. And from what I can tell, my “hearing definition” in music is still fairly good (I can’t think of a better term at the moment.

Now, I want a new pair of headphones and or a new headset because my Steel Series Siberia V2 (which where the nicest headphones I’d even owned, I used them more as headphones than as a headset) recently fell apart (literally, the side containing the microphone just fell apart and stopped working entirely.).

I was looking at sennheiser, not only because of sound quality but build quality as well. I don’t want another pair with that stupid thing with the pair of wires and an elastic strap beneath them, because that strap broke off of my Siberia’s about six months ago, and I never really liked the way it felt.

My question is this, with my hearing damage being what it is, somewhat minor, somehow. I AM guessing here, although I do have trouble hearing people if they don’t speak clearly, and I tend to be loud when I speak because I have difficulty gauging the volume of my own voice, should I get these:
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-598-Over-Ear-Headphones/dp/B0042A8CW2/ref=sr_1_7?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1468627550&sr=1-7&keywords=sennheiser

The sennheiser HD-598’s. I like the price. I like the look, and I want them because even with these I will be able to look down upon anyone with a pair of beats.

Or, are the momentums really worth the extra $100?
https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-505994-Momentum-Headphone-Ivory/dp/B00HHTD1Q2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1468627590&sr=8-5&keywords=sennheiser+momentum+over+ear

Right now on amazon, there are momentum on ear headphones for $118, but I prefer over ear because they cut out noise from the outside, and I like to be “immersed” in sound.

Feel free to recommend something different. But please explain why. I would prefer not to go over $150-ish (not including shipping). But if the momentums are seriously worth that much more, I would be willing to bite the bullet on that one.

Addemdum: I won’t have an issue with getting just headphones, because I’d just buy a mod-mic to put on them. But if there is a comparable headset, feel free to mention it.

2

SHP9500s.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826138190

Similar sound signature to the HD 600s, and most people will take this over HD 558/598s. They have a detachable 3.5mm cable, so you can also pick up a VMODA Boom Pro and have a killer headset for $100 or so.

3

But how is the build quality?

I do want something light, that doesn't make my ears sweat like the Siberia V2's did, but also more durable.

4

You'll want your headphones to be as open as possible. The soundwaves really aren't an issue, but they are accompanied by pneumatic waves, which generate pressure that puts a lot of stress on your eardrum and inner ear. Your eardrum automatically tensions up, which often makes the tinnitus even worse. That's also why some headphones can really be tiring or even painful to the ears of people who don't have tinnitus, even at "safe" noise levels.

For what it's worth, I had a slightly more crackly and lower-pitched noise for a while, but that was due to a combination of high blood pressure and lots of tension in the muscles near my neck. I consulted a couple of specialists and they all concluded that my ears were perfect and the problem was either in my nerves or in my brain (also a common thing).
Losing some weight (still a work in progress, that) and walking/cycling/standing more did miracles, and I only occasionally still have it when I've been sitting/laying down for a while.
So be sure to get yourself checked out to verify that it really is ear damage or to find out if there's another cause.

The whole thing made me very wary of my ears, so I am now very selective in which headphones I use.
I'm more of an IEM guy myself, so I'm not up to speed on on-ear and over-ear headphones. Here's the IEMs I use to minimize the stress on my ears :

Most of the time I use a set of Bose Soundsport.
They don't really seal properly, allowing the pneumatic pressure to escape. They're also really comfortable to wear and IMO the audio quality is okay for the price.
The lack of a proper seal means that lots of outside noise gets in, so these are excellent for pc gaming or when you want to be able to hear traffic. Not really for enjoying music in a noisy environment though.

For music I am currently using the 64Audio U3, but IIRC you're still a student so I'd suspect that those are somewhat out of your pricerange. I bought them to test their whole ADEL module principle (basically a synthetic eardrum that absorbs the pneumatic waves), and am so pleased with its functionality and the sound quality that I'll be using these for a long time.

2 Likes
5

Lots of good info there.

I do smoke, which causes me to have the occasional ear infection (just getting over one now actually).

I do get the odd sudden "burst" of ringing in one ear or the other, seemingly at random. It's like suddenly that ear goes deaf and hears nothing but the ringing. I have used Bose earbuds before, and they were ridiculously high quality. They beat out the KOSS over-ear headphones I was using at the time for bass and sound quality.

The issue I have, is that I plan on using these headphones at work as well as at home. I work in a depot, at a desk, surrounded by about 40 other nerds (and a few random people) so they tend to get kind of loud, what with movie quotes and news about the latest tech thingy flying left and right (the sales department has to come ask us to quiet down at least once a month), so I do want to be able to block out that sound and not just overpower it, which would harm my ears (but not necessarily cause pain).

Not to mention that my left ear canal is apparently much smaller than my right. I haven't confirmed this with a doctor, but I can feel the difference with my pinky (yes I know I shouldn't be shoving that in there, but sometimes you gotta scratch something when it itches lol).

6

I also had Siberia V2s, and while these aren't quite as nicely built as the Sennheiser 558/598, they're still leagues ahead of the Siberia V2's fragile suspension strap system. I have tried the on-ear version of the momentums, and I didn't like the headband at all.

1 Like
7

AKG K7XX are on sale on Massdrop for $199.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k7xx-massdrop-first-edition-headphones

I'm pretty tempted to get them right now, I'm just debating whether it's worth the upgrade from my 558's or if I should just save up to get more betterer ones.

8

In this case you want closed cans. And that means the Sennheiser HD558/598, Philips SHP9500 and AKG K7XX are out.

The momentums are nice but I would not recommend them for long listening sessions like at work.

I am not into IEMs so I couldn't help you on that end.

I am also completely ignoring your tinnitus problem, simply because there are no headphones specifically made for people with tinnitus.

Now let's talk about what you like to hear. Do you like tons of bass? Do you like piercing treble? Do you like a flat/ neutral sound?

9

I tend to like either flat sound, or my own EQ setting that I simply thing sounds good to me.

I have a rather old (over ten years by now) Sony home stereo that has two 8 inch subs (each in its own box) and what it calls "14 driver units". Its EQ settings are rather simple. "low, mid, and high". They can only be set in surround mode. The settings range is plus or minus 6. I tend to set the "low" at -6, the "mid" at 0, and the highs at +6.

Not sure how else to describe it. I find that most EQ presets, on just about every system I've encountered them, sound like shit. They focus WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much on bass.

10

I think if you have the budget you should take a listen to the Bang&Olufsen H6. I own one of the first generation of those and they deliver amazing vocals, clear highs, precise but slightly recessed bass and they are super comfortable. They also are closed but have a tiny hole at the bottom to counter that suction cup effect.

1 Like
11

They look nice, but dayum that price.

12

Well, the first gen is the same price as the momentums, soooo....

Oh, also: the second gen is supposed to have i little more bass, slightly better mids and they are supposedly easier to drive....

I don't have a second gen pair but honestly I don't think it is worth paying 50,- bucks more.

13

I see that, but I was kind of hoping to avoid paying that much, for anything right now lol

Missed a few days work over the past couple of weeks, so the paychecks are a bit short.

14

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD598 and they are fantastic. During summer, with around 28-29°C in my room I've never had sweat problems with them, just a bit of heat accumulations on the hear pads but that's to be expected. Comfort overall is really good, never felt them heavy or uncomfortable for long sessions. I also connect them to a POD HD500X and they work great even for guitar playing. Sound quality is great: everything feels spacious and open, all the frequencies for me are in the correct spot and I can hear those super low frequencies (kick on the drum for example) without them overpowering the high frequencies. Overall I like the smooth tone they have, not super flat but pretty accurate. If noise outside is medium to low you won't have any problem with it because will be overpowered by the music volume and won't ear it. The deatachable cable is a nice feature (albeit proprietary locking mechanism) because you won't replace the whole headphone because of a damaged cable. All the connectors are gold-plated, nice touch. Overall I highly suggest them.

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15

Would the people sitting next to me at work be able to hear the music though? Don't wanna bother anyone with the synthwave lol

16

If the power and volume you're feeding to it is high enough I guess that something will leak. But if there's already a baseline of noise in the room/office/where you work won't be an issue I guess.

17

The Sennheiser HD 5XX and 6XX series are very comfy but with people around you, open backs are just not the way to go.

1 Like
18

That's what I was thinking about. Everyone there uses either earbuds or cans. Except this one kid who everyone hates because he's been there forever, gets to violate company policy (only doing easy repairs) because he's "on the spectrum" (he talks to himself outloud...) who listens to like, screamo at an enormous volume.

What I don't get, is that these HD 598's on amazon are labeled as "over ear".

19

Over ear has nothing to do with open or closed. Over ear is just saying "BIG". But they can still be open BACK.

Here is an image of HD650s:

They are over ear but you can clearly see the driver in there. So basically you will hear everything around you and everyone around you will hear what you are listening to.

20

Ooooooooh.

Good to know.