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Mid-Range Headphone Roundup Review

Author	Stuart Andrews
Published	15th Feb 2009
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Hello and welcome to the second of our headphone round-ups. As before, the idea is that, instead of looking at the latest headphones, we'll look at the models generally considered the best for certain applications or at certain price points, regardless of their age.

This time we asked manufacturers and scoured web forums and online stores to find the best headphones in the £50 to £100 price range, with the desire being to find sets that could be used at home or on the move, and on an MP3 player without additional amplification. After some discussion, and sadly once again without any involvement from the doubtless wonderful people at BeyerDynamic, this is what we came up with.

We're calling this test a mid-range headphones round-up to differentiate from the earlier budget round-up, but it's worth pointing out that, strictly speaking, these are what you might call entry-level HiFi 'phones. In other words, we're now at the frontiers of audiophile territory, and the headphones on test reflect this.

I'm not sure whether anyone else who reads TR watches MasterChef, but if so you'll know what I means saying I feel a bit like John Torrode and Greg Wallace when faced with 'three eggstra-ordinary cooks' but 'only one place in the semi-final'. The three sets we're looking at today are all superb 'phones considering the budget, and choosing between them is more a matter of the personality of their sound than of the absolute quality. As John and Greg might say, "Listening doesn't get tuffa than this....."

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bobsta said on 15th February 2009

I have a pair of HD485s and the whole sound stage is fantastic. I've thrown lots at it and they cope really well. The bass end is well controlled and deep. They're a bit ... more

ilovethemonkeyhead said on 15th February 2009

@ Andy H: be a rebel - just take your grado's out and see who'd really complain. i found i didn't get as many sideways glances as i normally do. in fact, some guy as... more

comedian said on 15th February 2009

Great stuff chaps, looking forward to the high end round ups.

Rickysio said on 15th March 2009

I'm still using a Philips SBC HP195.

Before you shoot the stuffing out of my body, understand that students like me don't really have a high budget, and IE... more

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