One of my prize possessions is my pair of Technics RP-HT400 Monitor Headphones I picked up at the Exchange in Naples, Italy a few years ago.
They ran me around $40 at the time and it’s some of the best money I’ve ever spent. I’ve gotten every penny’s worth and then some. With a frequency response of 8Hz~24kHz these headphones operate well outside the frequency most sets today operate within. Bass so deep you can’t even hear it–you feel it. Both highs and lows are just outside the spectrum of human hearing. The sound is wonderfully rich and clear.
With all this praise, you’re probably wondering where you can run out and buy a pair. Well, you can’t, they’re not even manufactured anymore. Why would I have even brought them up then? Because my pair is dying. They’re dying a slow and tortuous death. Modern comparable models can’t be had sub $100US.
Many of the models I’ve browsed don’t even have the same frequency range. I understand that you’re not supposed to be able to tell the difference with frequencies outside the human ear’s range, but you can. I can’t explain the difference, but it’s there and it’s discernable.
So, if you happen to run across a good pair of headphones that might replace my dying Technics leave a comment. I’m in the market.
Update | June 12, 2007
I tend to get a lot of emails from other RP-HT400 owners telling me how much they love their pair, and how I can't have theirs.
Thanks a lot, guys.
Anyways, I've been making do with a pair of Sony MDR-V150's. They're not bad headphones, but they're not great ones either. The frequency response is smaller and the bass tends to distort. They sound better than most earbuds, but they're still not the greatest.
Sennheiser HD-280 $65
These are going to be the next pair of cans that I buy.
I worked night shift at the local radio station when I was in college, we used Sennheiser cans in the booth. Several of the older jocks said they liked them so much that they had pairs of Sennheiser headphones at the house. The Technics I had were about the same quality as the cans we used in the booth, and they were much cheaper than any Sennheiser cans you could buy at the time. Now that the price has come down, I will have a pair of Sennheisers in my house.
One of the biggest problems with any pair of over-the-ear headphones is that the ear-pads and headband usually deteriorate, literally, around your ears. That was one of my biggest gripes about the Technics. I'd eventually patched them up with electricians tape, which did nothing for the visual appeal, but it kept the headband from completely separating from the frame. The HD-280's ear-pads and headband are replaceable, as is the case with most high-end headphones.
The cable can be replaced, and there is an attachment to convert the headphones into a headset complete with microphone. I wish the cable connected to the headset via mini-plug, as it does with some of the higher-end Sennheiser's. Having the headphone cable attach via mini-plug makes the headset less suceptible to damage, ala Apple's magnetic power cords, it also makes it brain-dead simple to manufacture your own cable to your specifications (big gauge, 12 feet long). At least the way it's connected allows for, relatively, easy changing of the cable without getting out the small tip for the soldering iron and the big magnifying lamp.
The positive aspects of a sealed headphone far outweigh the negatives for my situation. I work the night shift, so, when I'm listening to anything at home, it's nice to be able to crank the volume up without disturbing my wife or daughter. At work, I'm surrounded by computer fans and chattering co-workers, both of which I won't be able to hear at lower volumes which will save my hearing and provide me with meditative audio to help me slog through the work night. I'm not a bass junkie, so if I don't hear teeth-rattling boom-boom, it won't break my heart. Most of the mid-range reverberation is minimal in this model according to several audiophile sites I've run across, so I don't think it will be that distracting.
All in all, this set of cans are much better than the shitty iPod earbuds that are so popular with portable audio devices nowadays, and will be leaps and bounds better than the MDR-V150's I've been using. The price is about $25 more than what I paid for the Technics at what, I'm assuming, is roughly the same quality but backed by the Sennheiser name. I listen roughly 8-10 hours a day, so I think it'll take me at least a couple of weeks to burn in the set. I'll come back and update once the set has "burned in".
If you have a better recommendation for a good pair of sub-$100 headphones. Drop me an email. I'm in the market.
Posted by Philip McClure in Mutterings on January 05, 2004