Seems like we had a thread like this a long time ago but I can't find it and it probably has all outdated information from like 2013 on it, or something.
I'm not a huge audiophile but I do like my stuff to sound as good as it can without breaking the bank.
Throughout the past 5 or so years I've mostly stuck to mid-range audio stuff, nothing over $100. From the stuff that came with iPods and iPhones and the the Galaxy phones I've had over the years to a cheapo pair of Sennheisers and beyond.
I sold the Sennheisers for more than I paid for them but I always wanted a decent set of over-ear headphones.
So I got the Logitech UE 6000, which were one of the best in the price range at the time. I think they were $199 MSRP but I got them from Amazon for $99, or less.
After that, I wanted something I could take with me to school and on trains. Basically more portable, so I looked in to earbuds. I got the Xiaomi Piston 2 from Amazon, but they may have been fake. They sounded fine but within a year, the wire had frayed but it still worked. So I a year later I got an upgrade and this time it was legit because it was from Costco lol. I got the 1More Triple Drivers for $60 or $70.
I was good with them, but I had an itch for wireless headphones too but I wasn't looking to spend money on them. Through some bonus redemption thing from using Samsung Pay, I was able to redeem a year's worth of points for a $50 Samsung gift card. I had held on to that for a while and SlickDeals alerted me to a deal on Samsung's website that most accessories were BOGO free. So the Level U Pros were on sale for $50, and it was BOGO so I got two and just basically paid $10 for taxes and S&H. I gave one to my mom to use on her S7 and I used mine for when I caught up on shows at night before bed. They're great, until one side of the neckband broke. Still works but sometimes it slides off. This happened in the last month or so, so I've been using my 1More Triples more often. The sound is much better but the wire can be annoying in the dark.
For my Mac and iPad, the Beats I got with my Mac from the Back to School event have been my go-tos for gaming and media. They're solid too and the battery life is ridiculous. I think I streamed 4 seasons of GoT in a binge two summers ago on one charge. I think they say 40 hours of life, and it was about that much for me. Now, some BT headphones offer more but I think these Solos are from 2016 or 2017, so I'm not sure if the tech truly was there at that point, but it exceeded or met their claims.
So I'm set now for probably a while. I'll use the Samsung Levels until that band truly snaps and the thing is unusable around my neck. I imagine the Beats last a while, pending an accident. There's a lot of hype for ANC headphones now, and I think Bose lead the industry in that with the QC II but now Sony has had something on the market the last few years with the XM/2/3. I see lots of deals for the latest, the XM3, for $299 and people are going nuts over it. They look really nice but I have no need for ANC. If anything, I need the opposite since I'm sure my lectures and music leak through the backs of my Solos since they're open headphones lol.
But they look nice and they sound nice. I tried the QCs in a Bose store and they were pretty good.
But $349? Maybe one day. If all my headphones take a shit at once and I can justify $300+ for a pair of headphones that would then do everything for me, from music to gaming to video.
So what do you guys use? I saw a few Whats In My Bag? videos and MKBHD had one with the Surface headphones that he said were really good and possibly better than his Bose or Sony's. Doubt it, but...I guess it's all subjective at that price range.
I'm not a huge audiophile but I do like my stuff to sound as good as it can without breaking the bank.
Throughout the past 5 or so years I've mostly stuck to mid-range audio stuff, nothing over $100. From the stuff that came with iPods and iPhones and the the Galaxy phones I've had over the years to a cheapo pair of Sennheisers and beyond.
I sold the Sennheisers for more than I paid for them but I always wanted a decent set of over-ear headphones.
So I got the Logitech UE 6000, which were one of the best in the price range at the time. I think they were $199 MSRP but I got them from Amazon for $99, or less.
After that, I wanted something I could take with me to school and on trains. Basically more portable, so I looked in to earbuds. I got the Xiaomi Piston 2 from Amazon, but they may have been fake. They sounded fine but within a year, the wire had frayed but it still worked. So I a year later I got an upgrade and this time it was legit because it was from Costco lol. I got the 1More Triple Drivers for $60 or $70.
I was good with them, but I had an itch for wireless headphones too but I wasn't looking to spend money on them. Through some bonus redemption thing from using Samsung Pay, I was able to redeem a year's worth of points for a $50 Samsung gift card. I had held on to that for a while and SlickDeals alerted me to a deal on Samsung's website that most accessories were BOGO free. So the Level U Pros were on sale for $50, and it was BOGO so I got two and just basically paid $10 for taxes and S&H. I gave one to my mom to use on her S7 and I used mine for when I caught up on shows at night before bed. They're great, until one side of the neckband broke. Still works but sometimes it slides off. This happened in the last month or so, so I've been using my 1More Triples more often. The sound is much better but the wire can be annoying in the dark.
For my Mac and iPad, the Beats I got with my Mac from the Back to School event have been my go-tos for gaming and media. They're solid too and the battery life is ridiculous. I think I streamed 4 seasons of GoT in a binge two summers ago on one charge. I think they say 40 hours of life, and it was about that much for me. Now, some BT headphones offer more but I think these Solos are from 2016 or 2017, so I'm not sure if the tech truly was there at that point, but it exceeded or met their claims.
So I'm set now for probably a while. I'll use the Samsung Levels until that band truly snaps and the thing is unusable around my neck. I imagine the Beats last a while, pending an accident. There's a lot of hype for ANC headphones now, and I think Bose lead the industry in that with the QC II but now Sony has had something on the market the last few years with the XM/2/3. I see lots of deals for the latest, the XM3, for $299 and people are going nuts over it. They look really nice but I have no need for ANC. If anything, I need the opposite since I'm sure my lectures and music leak through the backs of my Solos since they're open headphones lol.
But they look nice and they sound nice. I tried the QCs in a Bose store and they were pretty good.
But $349? Maybe one day. If all my headphones take a shit at once and I can justify $300+ for a pair of headphones that would then do everything for me, from music to gaming to video.
So what do you guys use? I saw a few Whats In My Bag? videos and MKBHD had one with the Surface headphones that he said were really good and possibly better than his Bose or Sony's. Doubt it, but...I guess it's all subjective at that price range.