Thread: List of QUALITY headphones (under $100)

I'm a collector of cheap, high-quality headphones. Throughout my travels, I have come across some real gems that I think everyone, especially music enthusiasts, should own. In my opinion, many of these headphones sound better than the Bose IE2 ($100), Bose AE2 ($150), and Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Studio ($300).

Audio quality is rated from 1 (standard iPod earbuds) to 10 (Creative Aurvana Live! $95, the best headphones under $100).


[B] = Bass heavy, [S] = Studio monitor

Full Size
Shure - SRH440	$80	??	-
Sony - MDR-XB500	$50	7.5	[B] Extra bass, very comfortable
Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Studio	$300	8.0	[B] Active noise cancelling (yuck)
Superlux - HD668b	$50	8.2	[S] very sharp treble
Samson - SR850	$60	8.3	[S] very sharp treble, HD668b re-brand
Sony - MDR-V6	$80	9.5	[S] It has a Wikipedia page so it must be good
Creative - Aurvana Live!	$95	10	[B] Best SQ under $100
Portable
JVC - HAS160	$15	??	-
Beyerdynamic - DT 235	$50	??	-
Grado - SR60i	$80	??	-
Koss - KSC75	$12	7.0	[B]
Koss - Portapro	$31	7.1	[B] foldable, pinches long hair
Bose - AE2	$150	7.3	very comfortable
Monoprice - 8323	$22	7.5	-
Sennheiser - PX100-II	$50	7.8	[B] Most comfortable, foldable
Panasonic - RP-HTF600-S	$30	8.2	[B]
IEM
DUNU - DN-12 Trident	$40	??	-
Meelectronics - M9	$15	5.7	[B]
Bose - IE2	$100	6.0	-
Monoprice - 8320	$7	6.2	Uncomfortable, recommend Sony tips
Sennheiser - CX300-II	$50	6.4	[B] only on the list because of their popularity
Philips - SHE3580	$10	6.5	-
Brainwavz - Beta	$29	6.6	[B]
Soundmagic - E30	$40	6.9	[B]
JVC - HAFX40	$25	7.0	Very sharp treble
JVC - HAFX1X	$17	7.4	[B] Amazing bass for an IEM
VSonic - GR06	$66	8.3	-

Honorable Mentions
-Audio Technica - AD700 $100 -best gaming headphones due to wide sound stage
-Audio Technica - M50 $150 -I don't like these, but most consider these the best headphones for the price
-V-Moda - M80 $200 -One of the best sounding and most visually pleasing headphones in this price range. A good alternative to Beats with significantly better sound quality
-Sennheiser HD558 / HD598 - amazingly comfortable

Things to avoid (if you are looking for good sound quality)
-Monster products (most, not all), Bose, Skullcandy
-Turtle Beach, Razer, Steel Series
-Active noise cancelling
-Wireless
-Anything branded as 'gaming'
-Anything endorsed by a celebrity

Post in this thread the best sounding, and best value headphones you've owned for under $100 :)

Thanks for the recommendations, I'm currently using the Shure SRH240, I think they're nice but a little bit lacking on the bass side, though I mostly use them with my android cellphone using Poweramp's Equalizer to boost it a little bit, I think they're discontinued now but the new model is the SRH240a.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6...phoneguide.jpg

Mod edit: Unauthorized image host

I use koss portapro. Really good for the price and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Music is important to me. And I own some pretty good head phones. But listening to really good equipment is hazardous to your bank account. Don't listen to headphones that are out of your budget. If you really love them, you may suddenly find that you aren't satisfied with your current headphones any more. Don't ask me how I know this.

I will vouch for these ones. Be warned that the latter ones are quite expensive however -

Koss portapro
Grado SR80i

Etymotic ER-4P (earphones)
BeyerdynamicDT 990
Koss ESP-950
Stax SR-007

Great list, i recently broke my cheap headphones and am looking for a pair to replace, will definitely consult this thread when I do :)

Thanks for this list! I was looking for an over the eat headphone set. This Plantronics one is VERY nice but way too heavy.

On another note, Etymotic ER-4P (earphones) is really expensive! How can you justify that much for in-ear headphones?