Best closed-back for under $200 these days?

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
1

I want to buy a friend a present; she needs closed back for the office. She listens almost exclusively to classical. No amp; just plugging in to her computer or her phone. She currently uses some super cheap headset she got at work.

I have a DT770 that I think is quite good and was very competitive when I bought it, but I’m out of date. I haven’t been watching this part of the market for many years now.

So what’s out there?

(ps. I just plugged in the DT770, which I haven’t listened to in a while. It’s not in the same class as my HD660S, but it’s still good and way better than the average $5 headset most people have. Decent bass w/o being boomy. And fantastic isolation. I recall years ago at work exchange with a friend who had some Beats thing, and the diff was night and day. The Beats were all muddy…all the sounds mushed together. Not the DT770s)

Ps I’ve been listening now for an hour. These are fatiguing in a way my Senns aren’t. Not sure why.

2

Personally i dont have them, but i would suggest to look into the either rode nth-100 or sivga sv021. I am no expert but its what i was looking at for myself. Maybe others have better suggestions.

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3

I’ll second the above

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4

Another good option is the Meze 99 Neo, very fun and warm sound, and great bass it is a little lacking in detail (but that can greatly improved with a 20$ pad swap)

Another possible option (though i havent tried it myself) is the HIFIMAN HE-R7DX, heard pretty good things about it

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5

The Meze also has the advantage of being pretty. But from all the reviews I read, it’s best for a rock fan. Bassy.

6

I’ve had the Sivgas and they have severe problems and most people who had them will agree. The company even trys to convince reviewers to remove bad reviews

7

its overall a very fun headphone but it is better with very “beat” heavy music, but changing the pads also raises the detail by a lot

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8

Pad changing is too complicated for civilians.

Also, I believe the Mezes cost more than $200.

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9

Normally i would agree but the Meze its very straight forward, but either even stock its a very solid option

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10

If I’m strictly looking for a budget closed-back for classical music, I think I’d buy these.

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11

Could you elaborate on what severe problems?

12

I second all of those claims

13

Huh…Interesting zeos would praise them so much. Thank god I didn’t buy them. It is really a shame, more people need to be aware of this. Thanks!

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I wouldnt say sivga is doctoring all review some folks (including here) have fairly positive opinions of Sivga products. i dont know all the detail but i think someone in their marketing dept. is “gone rouge”

15

Not the first time zeos praises something that’s flawed

16

PS. my friend’s in France and I’ve been perusing Amazon. fr. Wow, some things cost a lot more over there, and some things just aren’t available. At least not on Amazon.

17

in certain cases it actually might be cheaper to order from amazon US ( i live in Israel and i have to buy stuff jump around from Amazon sites a lot) but i’d shop around. Meze shouldnt be a problem since its Romanian company

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18

I might do that if the price diff is significant enough. Also , there are other vendors in France.

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19

The Rode gets some bad reviews, with two reviews saying that it’s fine if one does a mod. Zeos raves about it, but I dunno. The negative reviews are pretty categorical.

20

The rode are fine but i think if you want pleasure listening at that level you would go for the AKG 361 (also a solid choice even though the build isnt great). Keep in mind that the rode are built for professional use

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