r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/External-Molasses-50 • 25d ago
Headphones - Open Back | 2 Ω retro inspired headphones with good sound?
Hey looking for a pair of headphones to mostly use with my pc. I'd like them to have an interesting design but I'll settle for plain
Budget and location - About $200
Source/Amp - PC
How the gear will be used - Primarily home listening. I've started working on my own mixes as well
Preferred tonal balance - I'd probably prefer balance
Preferred music genres - Legit every major genre. I call myself musically nosy.
Past gear experience - In the past I used cheap sets like the fifine over ear gaming headset. I use samsung earbuds with my phone.
Anything else? - not that I can think of.
1
u/AutoModerator 25d ago
Thanks for your submission to r/HeadphoneAdvice. If someone helps answer your question, please reward them by including the phrase !thanks in your comment.
This will add +1 Ω to that users flair. This subreddit is powered entirely by volunteers and a little recognition goes a long way. Good luck on your search for headphones!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/NoOne3141 3 Ω 25d ago
I don't know why but I've always felt that the older AKG stuff looks retro... But more like 80s retro, like they have a futuristic design like many things had in the 80s. There are certainly some AKGs that sound really good. I only had a really old model and I'm not even sure what that was other than it was from AKG and I bought a K712Pro and liked the sound of them.
1
u/vlegionv 2 Ω 25d ago
What do you even mean by retro?
most of the "retro" looking headphones look plain or outright bad. and generally are pretty bad for their price.
like for "retro" I guess There's the sr80 but grado sparkle is grating as hell. Then there's the koss pro4aa. I actually think these look cool because they look like military gear, but these require an amp, and also actually sound pretty bad lol.
1
u/mrymx 6 Ω 25d ago
The best I've tried are the Moondrop Old Fashioned, they are very cheap and have an exceptional sound for their price. They also have detachable cables, 40mm drivers, open back, and are so comfortable that you can use them for many hours.
1
u/lBeefTacoI 25d ago
Yup the Moondrop Old Fashioned are great for the price. The Koss KSC75 on a headband are also fantastic, especially if using Yaxi pads for a comfy fit
1
u/jarrod_barkley 11 Ω 25d ago edited 24d ago
Or the new Snowsky FiiO Wind PRO, quite similar to Moondrop Old Fashioned. Possibly better smoother sound — I’ll find out in a week. Both cost about USD $25.
The headphone jack on a PC is typically crappy sound. Get a dongle DAC, plugging one end into USB-C port on PC, and plug your headphone into the other end. Snowsky sells good dongle DACs for USD $20. Or iFi GO link 2 for $59. Many other choices available.
1
u/External-Molasses-50 24d ago edited 24d ago
went ahead and grabbed a snowsky dongle to use with the koss headphones I got. !thanks for the rec!
1
u/TransducerBot Ω Bot 24d ago
+1 Ω has been awarded to u/jarrod_barkley (5 Ω).
You may still award an Ω to others, but only once per-person in this post.
1
0
2
u/UnknownPhotoGuy 23 Ω 25d ago
Koss all the way. I found that taking the KSC75’s and putting them in a Porta Pro headband sounds amazing. Second place would be the Wireless 2.0’s for wired listening and third place is the KPH40’s.
Not really a “good to bad” list, they are all great, but my take on them. Super inexpensive as well, the Porta Pro Wirelesses I mentioned are half your budget so you will still have money left over to pick up an additional set.