Best Over-Ear Headphones under $100 (in Canada)

D

DDirector

Veteran
I'm looking for the best over-ear headphones for under $100 (Max $120) that I can get in a store in Canada.
I would like to see them and possibly try them out before purchasing.

Its mainly being used for watching movies.
Should have nice loud bass (love bass), clear and loud.

I'm not a fan of noise-cancelling phones. I don't like the pressure it puts on my ears. But if there is an awesome headphone that cant be beat, and it has noise-cancelling that must be always on, then that's fine. I can try dealing with it. But Id prefer off or none at all

What are the key things I should be looking at too?

Must be available at:
-Future Shop
-Best Buy
-Tiger Direct
-Canada Computers
-Wintronics
-Walmart
-Staples
-The Source
-Um.... I don't remember any more electronic stores
 
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Are you using them for watching a finished film for pleasure or are you using them to monitor audio during the shooting and editing process? If you're listening for pleasure then go with whatever floats your boat but if you're using them for monitoring during production the very last thing you want is hyped bass ("Should have nice loud bass (love bass), clear and loud."). For production work you want accuracy and smooth response with nothing being artificially hyped or minimized. And for the record, loud is not synonymous with good. Good expressive audio has a range of levels from soft to loud as befits the emotion of the scene and you want phones that give you clear, clean, sound over a wide range of levels. Your cans should not try to correct for poor input and make the material you're listening to sound good - if the scene has crap audio you need to hear that so you can correct it.

You absolutely DO NOT want active noise-cancelling headphones such as one of those you linked to for any sort of production work. They introduce their own distortions and if superfluous environmental sounds are intruding into your audio you need to hear that fact. The noise cancelling processing can mask signal defects and catching them is the reason for monitoring in the first place.

Arguably the industry standard for production monitors are the Sony MDR7506. Not to be found at big box stores but I see you're in Oakville and Trew Audio in downtown Toronto is a good source of professional audio for film and video production work. (Why the requirement that what you buy be available at Walmart et al, fer Pete's sakes?!?!?!? You didn't even list one of the Canada's better sources of audio recording gear, Long & McQuade! You wouldn't go to Walmart looking for a cine lens would you?) Trew have the Sony cans for $99. They also carry some Sennheiser offerings that are excellent for production work but they're a bit more pricey than the Sonys.

You said in your post you have no knowledge of audio. No offense intended but I'm surprised Niagara let you go through 3 years of film school without at least one course in audio production! (If that's the case that is a criticism of Niagara, not of you.)
 
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I have the sony 7506 and the sennheiser HD25's but for general listening and for use with my i-pod etc I prefer the 7506 as they give the best overall balanced sound and are comfortable to wear.
 
I found Phillips 'The Stretch' at Best buy here in the US , and in my opinion from owning both Sony 7506 as well as Sennheiser HD280 both of which are considered as production standards, and I prefer the Phillips over either. and I believe they float around $79 at Best Buy here in the US , they may have same up in Canada.

Good luck
 
I have taken audio classes... In my first year. But I have no interests in it.

I don't want headphones that will be used only for monitoring on set or in post.
Sure I want to listen to the films I've shot, but its not important for me to have it designed specifically for monitoring as I am not into audio editing, or anything to do with audio.
I want to watch films, and listen to music, and occasionally work on my films with these headphones.

I heard that the Sony 7506 are very neutral. Which is great for monitoring, but that's overboard for me as I'm not keen into that. Id let my audio techs take care of that.

I want headphones for all purposes.
Sure I can go with whatever, but Im looking for the best quality, loudest, clearest headphones that are great in the mids, highs and lows. Have a good bass, and not neutral sounding, but yet not too extreme that it sounds totally different.

I obviously haven't listened to these headphones, so I'm not sure how neutral sounding it is. But, from the reviews I heard, listening to music and watching movies isnt the greatest as its too neutral.

*If I do have audio editing, I have a 5.1 Surround Sound system I often work with. Not the best, but like I said, I'm not into audio stuff. If I had a serious project and had to do something with audio, I wouldn't. Id let someone with experience do it.
 
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DDirector said:
...
I want to watch films, and listen to music, and occasionally work on my films with these headphones.

...

I want headphones for all purposes.
Sure I can go with whatever, but Im looking for the best quality, loudest, clearest headphones that are great in the mids, highs and lows. Have a good bass, and not neutral sounding, but yet not too extreme that it sounds totally different.

....
Click to expand...

Then you need two pair, one for listening for pleasure and the other for working on your films.
 
7506 for personal and HD25 for work!

The 7506 have a good balanced tone with plenty of bass if you use the EQ function on your i-pod!

I only use both of these as it is really important to get used to the sound of headphones so you have a reference point in your head.
 
DDirector said:
Okay, then what would be the best one for personal use (non-film related purposes)?
Click to expand...
My own preference is for the Sony 7506 for personal listening as well as monitoring, My music tastes run more to classical, operatic, and jazz and I prefer a relatively flat response instead of artificially hyped bass.
 
Do yourself a favor and listen to the Phillips, you will not be disappointed, they will fill both of your requirements very well, I use mine for everything and they excel at both uses. with extended frequency response they go lower and higher than my Sony's and isolate as much if not better, are lighter have replaceable cord and are very comfortable.
not to mention they are cheaper.
 
I didn't see where he said anything about needing isolation. But he did say he wanted to buy local so that could be a problem for my suggestion. If you need noise isolation the most cost effective way to go is in ear. They offer by far the best isolation and use no batteries.
 
I'm not looking for headphones for work. Sure, I may use it at times, but its not all that important to me as I will not be listening through them most of the time for that. Besides, I barely do any audio work. I'm not into audio at all, so it wouldn't benefit me at all.
I have 5.1 surround sound speakers that I use IF I ever need to listen to my audio for work. I can control the base to proper levels and listen through that... I like bass :)

I'm not looking at anything 'flat' sounding.
Its for listening to music, watching videos, etc. Not for work.
I will be using them at home on my computer most of the time. Will not be using it on ipod or anything like that. I dont have one anyways.

How are the Shure 440?
 
I mean... I'm not really looking for something was Amazing big bass like Beats.
If I ever watch a movie and there is a nice rumble or bass, I want to be able to hear it.

I have very shitty headphones that have 0 bass. Just found them. Listening to something sounds like just treble, which I guess is like flat?
I want to be able to hear it, but then again not so much that is like bass non-stop.
 
DDirector said:
I have very s*%tty headphones that have 0 bass. Just found them. Listening to something sounds like just treble, which I guess is like flat?
I want to be able to hear it, but then again not so much that is like bass non-stop.
Click to expand...
No, that's not flat. Flat does not mean the bass is absent, it means it is not unnaturally emphasized. If you're listening to music and bass is actually there you should hear it but it shouldn't be any louder (or softer) relative to the rest of the sound than it would be in a live performance.
 
Why are you looking for advice from people that give you suggestions based on accuracy and how it applies to film making as this is a filmaking/broadcast forum? If you are not interested in advice about professional use?

accuracy is accuracy regardless of content, all the suggestions you have been given are very decent fairly accurate headphones for ANY type of listening. enhanced bass like the 'Beats' are just that inaccurate due to enhancement, most of the suggestions we have given you are sold by the manufacturers to be accurate, some have different tonality but over all it is YOUR ear that matters.

I know the suggestion I gave, in my opinion are more accurate than most and have extended frequency response that give them solid low end and extended highs. most of these suggested headphones have a very good freq response as well, just different tonality.

no monitoring device, headphone or speakers should be purchased based on music or content you will listen to, that is stupid. you should shoot for accuracy regardless.

Accuracy will make crappy music sound crappy, it will make great recordings sound like they are supposed to. if something makes crappy music or content sound great then think of how it is distorting well recorded stuff.

Just a though
 
Hmm. I've still been thinking about it and waiting for some potential sales.
I might as well try them out in the store if I can. So, for monitoring, which would you prefer then? The Sony 7506?
These are $135 though

I heard the Shure 440 were also great monitoring headphones. But, I'm not sure. They are $100 even. At the top of my budget.
Problem is, I heard that over a period of time they may become uncomfortable, then again I heard it was comfortable
 
AKG K81DJ Folding DJ Headphones

I'm wearing then now.

I borrowed a young kid's $300 headphones the other day. The kid thought he was so cool wearing them, but it only took one minute for me to hand them back to him. My headphones are so much better. Light weight, low profile, can use one earpiece as they swivel, strong, very clear sound.

$35 through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/HARMAN-K81DJ-Closed-Back-Folding-Headphone/dp/B000BDD56W

.
 

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