Hello, i was wondering what would be the best headphones for going places.
they would have to be a little bit tough, earcups should not be too small and the
sound quite good. I was thinking of the Sennheiser Urbanite XL or Momentum
over-ear, but ive only seen those by now because im kind of a Sennheiser fan. If
you guys know of anything else interesting, then tell me.

Hello, i was wondering what would be the best headphones for going places.
they would have to be a little bit tough, earcups should not be too small and the
sound quite good. I was thinking of the Sennheiser Urbanite XL or Momentum
over-ear, but ive only seen those by now because im kind of a Sennheiser fan. If
you guys know of anything else interesting, then tell me.

My specialty

Momentums have a good dynamic range and are the best all rounders but are pretty pricey for what they are. The urbanites I haven't heard but I assume they are rather base heavy.

It depends what your looking for in a pair of headphones in terms of sound quality.

I can definitely recommend the Sennheiseer HD-202s they feel pretty flimsy, but I can assure you that they are tough. I've put them through hell and they are as tight as a drum. Plus they are ultra light. Of course they need a good few hours of running to be broken in

Extremely good value for money. They are slightly bass boosted but it's not overpowering. If you're going to run them off of a phone/ mp3/ 4 then they are perfect.

HD 202:
Freq response: 18 - 18,000 Hz
SPL/Sensitivity: 115 dB
Impedance: 32 Ohms (you can easily run them off of a phone)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-Closed-On-Ear-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B003LPTAYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413827382&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd+202

If you're looking for indoor use then definitely look into the Sennheiser HD 598. Slightly weak on bass (but you can tune our device's equalizer and boost the bass a bit- a boost of 2-4 dB should be fine). Great all rounders. Plus they look ultra classy.
12 - 38,500 Hz
112 dB
50 Ohms
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-598-Circumaural-Headphones/dp/B0042A8CW2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413827565&sr=8-1&keywords=sennheiser+hd+598

They are open back and are best run with an amplifier (a laptop/PC should be fine as well). So far the best headphones I've had so far.

In case you're not to familiar on what specs to look for here is a little help:

Frequency response:
This is how low and high a sound pitch the headphones can produce. The human ear hears 20 - 20,000 Hz so if you have a range bigger than that you are more than ok or if it's slightly shorter you'll still be fine 17 - 17,000 Hz should be your minimum. Anything worse then forget it

SPL (sound pressure level)/Sensitivity (in dB- decibels):
This refers to how sensitive your headphones are to the electrical current sent out by your device. Most headphones are 102 - 110 dB. The highest you can get is around 120 (in a few head/ear phones).

97 dB and lower : Need an amplifier
100 dB + Can run off of just about anything
Look for around 110+

Impedance (in Ohms - shown as omega sometimes):
This is the resistance of your transducers (headphones). This means that the higher the ohmic value, the higher the resistance and the more powerful a device you will need.

Most mp3s can 'produce' (for lack of a better word- An MP3 can't physically produce resistance on it's output channel) about 20- 30 ohms. This is why it is not a good idea to power (for example) 62 ohm headphones with an ipod because you will only be able to get 20-30 ohms of the possible 62 so your sound quality won't be as good or volume levels will drop. This is where you need an amplifier.

30 or less ohms: Can run off of anything
50 - 80 Can be run with a PC but an amp is preferable or a portable amp with an mp3
81+ Definitely use an amp.
200+ Use a high end amp

The best advice I can give you though is to try them yourself.

^Sorry for the mega post^

It's better I explained it in detail then to leave you with no info. Of course feel free to ask questions.

Thanks so much for the info, you are incredibly helpful. My father actually got
his impressive HD 598's about 7 months ago. Their very sophisticated looking.
He tested them and he said that they were about top notch. I was very impressed with them when he let me test them, and I've liked Sennheiser to this day. Anyway, dont worry about the mega post, I should rather now what everything is about instead of running around and getting something dissappointing. I have one question:

1. I have heard on the internet that the higher the frequency response, the better
quality of the headphones. Is that true?

If you know of anything else that might be interesting, just tell me. Though I'll
think about your HD 202's, they sound good.

Thanks so much for the info, you are incredibly helpful. My father actually got
his impressive HD 598's about 7 months ago. Their very sophisticated looking.
He tested them and he said that they were about top notch. I was very impressed with them when he let me test them, and I've liked Sennheiser to this day. Anyway, dont worry about the mega post, I should rather now what everything is about instead of running around and getting something dissappointing. I have one question:

1. I have heard on the internet that the higher the frequency response, the better
quality of the headphones. Is that true?

If you know of anything else that might be interesting, just tell me. Though I'll
think about your HD 202's, they sound good.

With frequency response the higher the upper value (e.g. 40,000 Hz) the better it will produce a high pitch sound. The smaller the lower value is (e.g 40 Hz) the better it will produce bass notes.

If you compare something like the 202s and 598s you will see that the 202s have a lower value of 18 Hz and the 598s have a lower value of 12 Hz. This means that the 598 should produce better low notes. Now if you compare that to the human ear you will see that both produce can a lower frequency than the human ear can hear because the average human ear can hear a frequency of 20 Hz

Now if you look at the upper values, the 202s have an upper value of 18,000 Hz (slightly less than the maximum our ears can hear) and the 598s have an upper value of 38,500 Hz (way more than we can hear. This goes into dog territory) this means that the 598s can produce better high notes than the 202s.

If we put the values into a range we see that the 202s (18 - 18,000 Hz) have a shorter frequency range than the 598s (12 - 38,500 Hz). This means that the 598s can produce a wider variety of high, mid and low notes.

So when looking at the frequency response you will be able to hear more from headphones with a wider range (like the 598s) than ones with a smaller range (like the 202s).

Of course what you actually hear in your music depends on how the headphones have been tuned by the manufacturers, how the music has been recorded and how you have set up the equalizer in your output device (MP3, Phone, amp, etc...). A CD will have a better sound quality than a digital download because if it's digital it is compressed.

If you are unsure of how to tune your equalizer, find a song that you definitely know how it should sound than keep playing it over and over while you fiddle with the equalizer and find the appropriate setting.

Don't look into Bose, because although they have nice crisp highs, their lows are terrible and Bose themselves don't publish the specs to their headphones which might suggest they have something to hide. Slight word of caution with the 202s, they have a very long (3m) wire and it is quite thin, but the provide a winder in the box. Don't use the 598s outside because they are open back and pretty big.

I think im going to go with the Sennheiser Urbanite because it has a good enough frequency response(16-22000Hz) and its also cheaper than the Momentums. It's internal resistance is also only 18Ohms. Though, if you do
see any other headphones that might be intresting, then tell me.

I think im going to go with the Sennheiser Urbanite because it has a good enough frequency response(16-22000Hz) and its also cheaper than the Momentums. It's internal resistance is also only 18Ohms. Though, if you do
see any other headphones that might be intresting, then tell me.

Try them for yourself first as the specs are more as a pointer. Don't buy headphones on specs alone.

I think im going to go with the Sennheiser Urbanite because it has a good enough frequency response(16-22000Hz) and its also cheaper than the Momentums. It's internal resistance is also only 18Ohms. Though, if you do
see any other headphones that might be intresting, then tell me.

I just tried the urbanites (over ear) briefly. They're quite a lot bigger than they look on the pics. I noticed that they did indeed have a pretty powerful bass and the mid to high ranges were tighter and slightly crisper than on the HD 202s.

However, considering the price difference (in the UK) it is not worth the extra ￡73. However the choice is yours. If i had to recommend anything else in terms of sound quality I would say the Tinchy Stryder (sp?) Goji over ear headphones. Definitely not worth the full ￡80, but my dad found them in one of the 'discount bins' in a tech shop for ￡18. They have been optimized for portable devices and pairing them with an amp makes them worse. Specs are unpublished and any that you may find are probably estimated or plain wrong.

The bad part of them is that they are ridiculously uncomfortable and your ears actually hurt after about 30 mins of use (hence why I personally call them the 'Skull crushers'). A cheaper and better alternative to the Beats. Don't pay more than 40-50 of your country's currency on them (unless 40 of you're country's currency is enough to get you a coffee like in Vietnam where 106,000 Dong is only 5 US dollars) . But they're not better than the Sennheisers.