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Re:The worst tool for the job by snvzz on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @04:53PM (#23980592)
I see this done a lot with headphones.

Sennheiser HD600 cost around $280, are comfortable, do sound really accurate and pleasant, effectively last forever, are full modular with all pieces sold individually in the odd event the user drops them from a building or steps on them, and are effectively the market peak in value/price.

But people keep buying uncomfortable foul-sounding sub-$100 headphones that last a few months at best.

Re:The worst tool for the job by mjayhn on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @05:23PM (#23980839)
I have about 4-5 pairs of headphones in a drawer of various $80-150 prices that were finally replaced with my $300 Sony ANCs. I just had to finally get so sick of my open office that I'd splurge that much coin into ANC.
Re:The worst tool for the job by snvzz on Wednesday July 29, 2020 @09:59PM (#23993598)
HD600 are open monitors, so they are more suitable for non-open offices or home/studio use.

I'm unfortunate as ANC screws with my balance really hard and makes me extremely uncomfortable immediately and lasting quite a bit more upon removal. Thus on open office I'm stuck with closed w/o ANC. I use ath-msr7 there.

Re:The worst tool for the job by vibrolax on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @05:17PM (#23980796)
Or they can buy Sony MDR 7506 for about $100, and they will sound ok and last 20+ years. At least mine have, and only the ear cushions have needed replacement.

I get more joy finding and using durable, decently performing products that provide excellent value. The art is learning, for any category of equipment, how much you need to spend to obtain good long-term value.

Re:The worst tool for the job by kazinator on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @05:22PM (#23980831)
I'm still using the same pair of Sony headphones from circa 1997, that were just under $100.

Nothing has needed any replacement.

The ground connection on the 1/8" jack got finicky early on in the life of the cable (you have to bend it a little this way or that to get audio in both ears and with the channels separated), but in the 20 years after that problem appeared, it has not deteriorated one iota. You have to fiddle with it today with exactly the same pressure and nuance as in the year 2000.

I used the 1/4" adapter from time to time, like going directly into a synthesizer keyboard. Given 30 minutes to search around the house, I can probably find that thing.

Re:The worst tool for the job by snvzz on Wednesday July 29, 2020 @01:57AM (#23983843)
>Or they can buy Sony MDR 7506 for about $100, and they will sound ok and last 20+ years.

I happen to also own a pair of 7506. Do note these are a closed set, and they are, by far, not comparable with HD600. Basically like night and day.

In the words of a coworker who also owns 7506, after trying my HD600: "Now the 7506 sound to me like an AM radio."

Still, I don't disagree they're decent as closed headphones at <$100, particularly if you only care about the mid range. But they're relatively colored, despite their popularity as "monitors", and much worse than the Japan-only mdr-cd900st classic.