[Q] Should i buy Studio Monitor Headphones for smartphone?

[mandeep148]

hello everyone guys,
im using galaxy s5 and Moto x 2014,
im music lover, i like to music only via phones.
currently i have sony 20$ earbuds, but i want a best sound,
then some one suggested me headphones like audio technica m50x and expensive headphones,
and some said that studio headphones have no use on mobiles,
is that true? how to get highest audio quality as possible with my phones? i know its also depends upon mobile but s5 and moto x2 have enough quality to deleiver enough high output,
so please suggest me, what should i buy or which headphones,
thank

[Mister Pink]

Once you go to wrap-around/over the ear headphones, you'll never go back to earbuds again. In fact, I find it hard to believe how people can still use ear-buds.

 

Don't get headphones that sit on the ear. Make sure your ears fits in the headphones. When wearing them, without any music on, you should find it very difficult to hear noise or sounds. Only audio when switched on. They must be good at not only blocking noise out but retaining the audio. Comfort is key too. Make sure you put comfort high on your list when looking for good headphone. Strong and light is good with padding to protect your head and ears.

And, great headphones wont make sh*tty MP3 compressed tracks sound better but you know this all ready.. Just a reminder to make sure the source is good quality first.

 

Secondly, I'd highly recommend Sennheisers as place to look. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 202's (super-low budget) and I've been using them for about 3 or 4 years now. They were 40 Euros when I bought them

and even my sound-guy (for video production) friend says they're excellent quality when he tested them.

 

That's just my limited experience with one brand and model but every now and then I do look up some headphones. Anyone I've spoken to who have owned Sennheiser, generally say good things about them.

 

Nearly 4 years with my pair is genuinely good value for money.

 

Don't be fooled or sucked in to Beat's By headphones.

 

Maybe someone here can delve more in to technical specs to be looking for, frequency range and all that?

 

BTW, what is your budget? Maybe put that in your original post.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Mister Pink

[mandeep148]

Once you go to wrap-around/over the ear headphones, you'll never go back to earbuds again. In fact, I find it hard to believe how people can still use ear-buds.

 

Don't get headphones that sit on the ear. Make sure your ears fits in the headphones. When wearing them, without any music on, you should find it very difficult to hear noise or sounds. Only audio when switched on. They must be good at not only blocking noise out but retaining the audio. Comfort is key too. Make sure you put comfort high on your list when looking for good headphone. Strong and light is good with padding to protect your head and ears.

And, great headphones wont make sh*tty MP3 compressed tracks sound better but you know this all ready.. Just a reminder to make sure the source is good quality first.

 

Secondly, I'd highly recommend Sennheisers as place to look. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 202's (super-low budget) and I've been using them for about 3 or 4 years now. They were 40 Euros when I bought them

and even my sound-guy (for video production) friend says they're excellent quality when he tested them.

 

That's just my limited experience with one brand and model but every now and then I do look up some headphones. Anyone I've spoken to who have owned Sennheiser, generally say good things about them.

 

Nearly 4 years with my pair is genuinely good value for money.

 

Don't be fooled or sucked in to Beat's By headphones.

 

Maybe someone here can delve more in to technical specs to be looking for, frequency range and all that?

 

BTW, what is your budget? Maybe put that in your original post.

thanks for super answer,

currently my budget is near audio technica m50x, but wondering that if i get same quality sound in less cost than M50x, may be its difficult, otherwise i need to go for M50x..

[Mister Pink]

You're welcome.

 

Here's a decent looking site with lots of reviews.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-m50x

 

Hope it helps.

[mandeep148]

You're welcome.

 

Here's a decent looking site with lots of reviews.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-m50x

 

Hope it helps.

thanks again,

one question i have, how much big difference in quality if i buy m40x over m50x? is buying m40x is big down side?

[sivispacem]

Most phones can't drive high end headphones simply by virtue of simply not having an audio chip powerful enough.

 

A Galaxy S5 has a nominal headphone impedance of 32 Ohms (and an output impedence of about 1 Ohm) and ATH-M50x's have an impedence of 38 Ohms. That's fairly close but you're going to lose a fair bit of drive and clarity, especially at higher volumes. Basically you want to match your headphones as closely as you can with the headphone nominal impedance of the device if specified- it doesn't matter if the headphones have a lower impedence than the phone but it does the phone than the headphones. The higher the headphone impedance, generally the better they respond to amplification. The amplification in phones is generally weak (due to high power draw) therefore they respond better to low impedance headphones. I have a set of M50x myself and they work well on my iPod Classic (which has a much more powerful integrated amplification circuit than most phones at circa 4.5 Ohms) and really come alive on my headphone amp (10 Ohms).

 

Sorry, that was unnecessarily complicated. Generally speaking phones lack the output power to effectively drive large studio-type monitors. The best way of determining just how bad they will be is a head-to-head comparison between the headphones on a PC or via an amplifier, and on the phone.

 

The Sennheiser HD202s are a quite good idea as a) they're much cheaper than the M50x and b) their impedance of 32 Ohms matches the specified nominal for the phone. The additional range, power and depth of the M50x will be wasted on a phone.

 

The M40x are 35 Ohms so exceed the nominal specified with the S5.

 

Some earbuds are absolutely astounding. I've got some audiophile grade Shure SE535s that blow the socks off pretty much everything else I own. They're also ~£500 RRP (but I didn't pay close to that for then).