Are expensive headphones REALLY worth it?

[BlueMoonday]

Bought a nice pair of Anker ear pods for £28 from Amazon.

The quality is superb for the price, the earpods stay in my ear comfortably whilst exercising in the gym.

May look at getting a set of over ear headphones for home and travel.

 

[diegoalv]

I have Bose Quiet Comfort for years now and very happy with the quality. Those very probably a little cheaper, but must admit it is absolutely worth it. It is much better to use a good quality headphones instead of visiting hearing aid store in a couple of years.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

I've been into audio for forty years and this question is entirely a personal one. Anything that is well made and built to last is going to cost a bit more, just like most products out there. Personally, I like a closed-back headphone because I listen mainly while other family members are watching the television. There is then a question about how easy the headphone is to drive, meaning how suitable will it be for listening on a laptop or phone.

The ones I now own are:
Sony MDR-7506. These are a superb buy at about £85. Easy to drive, durable, great sound and parts available. They have been a standard studio headphone for a couple of decades.

Shure SRH-840 - now replaced by the 940, these are similar to the Sony but a but heavier on the head. Nice and neutral sound and easy to drive. About £140.

Beyerdynamic DT150 - Great sound and tremendous value. A studio phone designed for 24.7 use and used by most radio stations and recording studios. Tougher to drive so suited to home hifi and dedicated amplifiers. An added bonus of looking like a cyberman. About £130.

Shure SRH-1540 - A more expensive phone and very, very comfortable. They sound really good and are easy to drive. Nevertheless, the others are better value for money. £400+

You may want other features, like noise cancelling and cordless, but each of these filter out most external sounds and don't have much leakage. Fewer features means less to go wrong.

Here is a dealer who offers good value and service. I have no connection with them but they are really good. https://studiocare.com/collections/headphones

Pointless spending too much if you are just going to listen on a phone or laptop as the audio out is usually nothing special. As you say, well built and easy to drive is the way to go.

 

[BlueMoonday]

Just bought some Anker Q30 Headphones from Amazon.

10/10 for me on sound quality and build. They came with a nice case as well. Felt like a £200 set of headphones for £55 (normally £80).