Motörheadphönes Overkill earphones review

I like Motörheadphönes’ cans, but when I’m out and about I’d prefer a pair of ‘phones that are a little more discreet and, yes, easier to stash when not in use. Enter the band’s in-canal cans: Overkill. And Trigger too, since both sets sport identical business ends. Only price and the presence of a microphone/remote control …

[Beavercheese]

Volume Control ?

We don't need no steenkin volume control

Just preset it to 11 and be done !

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

Re: Volume Control ?

EXACTLY!!!!

<-- ONLY SUITABLE ICON!!!!!

[joeW]

An umlaut too far

Putting an ö in phones is breaking the Amazon link.

[Tony Smith, Editor, Reg Hardware]

Re: An umlaut too far

Well spotted - and thanks for the heads-up. Fixed now.

[JDX]

Headphone recommendations

Hijacking the thread a bit but I am after some headphones for use with iPod (music), iPad (watching Netflix) and to plug into a cheap mixer for mucking about with Audacity at home. With prices ranging from £5-100+ how much does a regular (not an audiophile with a £10k sound system who insists of lossless formats) person really need to spend to get something decent?

[Evil Auditor]

Re: Headphone recommendations

JDX, what kind of headphones are you after? Depending on how portable they should be and how much ambient noise you want to keep out and other features such as wireless or volume control, there are a few possibilities: full-sized, supra-aural, ear-fitting, open, closed, active noise cancelling...

Anyhow, I reckon you would get a decent set for less than £100 (e.g. my studio quality beyerdynamics, totally not portable though and an iPod can't drive them, were around £200).

[Vladimir Plouzhnikov]

Re: Headphone recommendations

Grado SR-60

I doubt you will find better sound for the price. They are sensitive enough to work well with portable players but you can also plug them into a decent amp and not be disappointed.

[Risky]

Re: Headphone recommendations

I just got these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-380-Pro-Collapsible/dp/B001UE6I0G/ Very clean sound, removable (replacable) cable, bomb-proof carry case, very good.

[JDX]

Re: Headphone recommendations

Hmm, to me £100 for headphones is straying into pro territory. Surely iPlayer and 256Kbps MP3s don't need so much?

Thanks for the links.

[Evil Auditor]

Re: Headphone recommendations

JDX, the ear-fitting once I use when travelling or at work are Sony cheapos for about 20 quid - sounds fine to me. I'd recommend you go to a shop where they know one or the other thing about consumer headphones and buy there. I guess you won't be disappointed.

[Dave 126]

Re: Headphone recommendations

@JDX

As another poster has noted, you need to consider portability, comfort, and sound leakage, besides sound quality. With regards to comfort, consider whether you prefer 'on ear' headphones, 'over ear' headphones or ear buds. Some 'over ear' headphones (especially high end ones) have an open back that leaks noise, so are best kept at home.

Ear-buds (AKA 'in ear monitors' IEMs) are inherently more portable, but can start to feel uncomfortable after a while, though Klipsch phones are elipsoid in cross section, rather than circular, and some people get on well with them. You can also fit third-party Comply tips to most brands of ear-bud, a foam like material, for a better fit and greater noise isolation. I would probably go with some Senheisers at around the £35 if it were me, from Richer Sounds and many larger supermarkets- I personally don't spend much more on something I take out and about and inevitably lose. Some good things are said about Logitech's 'Ultimate Ears' brand as well, and Logitech have a 'blemished box' part of their website, with discounts on products that have damaged packaging.

Next up on the portable front are folding 'over ear' headphones. Avoid kiddie 'fashion' brands such as Skullcandy etc. Akai are a safe bet. Sennheiser, too (when they decommissioned Concorde, there were plenty on eBay, with 'British Airways' screen-printed across the headband!)

I have found cheaper Sony headphones and earphones to have unreliable cables. A shame, because I found one pair that were light, comfortable, reasonable sounding, and only £20 from a supermarket near you. I can't speak for the pricier models. Headphone cables are a bugger to solder because they are so thin.

I do like my old Senheiser HD 212 'over the ear' headphones, with replaceable cables. They have closed backs, so are commuter-friendly. A bit warm sounding, and a naff 'plastic silver' finish to them, but bombproof - the cups 'click off' the headband instead of breaking, and so are good to sling in a bag for travelling. Daftly, AFAIK, the replacement cable is only available in a 3m (10') length, when a 1.2m cable would be handy for portable use. The Sennheiser HD202-II headphones (very positive review here: http://www.whathifi.com/review/sennheiser-hd-202) seem to be of identical solid build (in a more tasteful black finish), and are available from Argos for £23. You can't go wrong.

Those Grado phones noted above are highly regarded by everyone, it seems, but are more suitable for home use.

One more thing- there have been more reports of counterfeit earphones in recent months, so buy from a reputable source. HotUKdeals.co.uk often feature good 'phone bargains, and their comments section may contain some good advice.

[Cliff]

Re: Headphone recommendations

Sennheiser HD202 are worth every penny of £20-odd. Significantly better than any celebrity franchised sets of double the price or above, used in some BBC edit suites.

[Dave 126]

Re: Headphone recommendations

@Cliff

agreed, Sennheiser HD 202-II. Available from Argos for £23. I have the HD-212s, which appear to use the same parts, and they're great. Replaceable cables, and they are impossible to break cos the cups just 'click-off' the head-strap. I've seen so many other cheap headphones with broken plastic parts.

[Anonymous Coward]

£50? Sod that, just get some CX-300 IIs like any reasonable person and enjoy a much slimmer profile (hello wearing them in bed), better plugs and far, far superior sound for half the price.

[Toxteth O'Gravy]

No thanks. They appear to have stupid asymetrical cord lengths. Hate that.

[Richard Wharram]

Overkill

Switch these up to 11 and you can expect Years Of Decay to your ears!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Overkill

I hate, playing with spiders,time to kill this birth of tension. who tends the fire in the years of decay? Elimination in the END

No I'm not from Mars.

[Richard Wharram]

Re: Overkill

Probably their only consistently good album tbh.

[dajames]

Compatible with ...?

Headphones and microphones generally work in just about anything ... remote controls are much less standardized and what works in one device may do nothing -- or entirely the wrong thing -- in another.

The picture shows an iPhone (I think) ... are these headsets for Apple devices only, or do they also work in Nokias, Blackberries, Samsungs, HTCs, or any of the others?

A review article like this should say!

[Question mark icon needed!]

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullet shaped? they look more like hair-dryers to me.

[typeo]

The rubber ear buds shipped with most phones seem to get uncomfortable. The Comply foam type buds seem to be far better.

http://www.complyfoam.com/

[EddieD]

Odd.

Now, don't get me wrong, back in the tail end of the seventies, I would be found in Derby County Hall and Leicester De Montfort giving it laldy for Lemmy, Eddie and Phil - I still have the albums (and the CDs) and I loved them.

Now you see, brilliant though the boys were, the production job on the first 4 or 5 albums wasn't. These headphones are acoustically stonking - but will it show up the potholes in Keep us on the Road? Will Stay Clean sound dirty? Will they show that the engineer had No Class?

You see, the only way to feel the noise, is when it's good and loud.

Audio clarity is optional.

[edge_e]

Re: Odd.

I like the recorded in one take now lets get down the pub sound. certainly better than the over compressed crap that seems to be norm these days

[EddieD]

Re: Odd.

Absolutely - rock used to have dynamic range, now it's compressed to hell and back.

Shame.

[Jan 0]

Lo-Fi earphones

Neither earphones nor headphones can reproduce that feeling when your lungs and stomach are being massaged by the bass of a live concert. What we need are whole body 'phones or acoustically isolated rooms with monster 'speaker stacks.

[Dave 126]

Re: Lo-Fi earphones

> What we need are whole body 'phones

It's been done, kind of. There were these waistcoats available for gamers, that had low-end speakers (or possibly vibration units, I can't remember) integrated into them, that were supposed to make games more immersive by making you feel that frag grenade explode.

[Confuciousmobil]

Monsters of Rock

Can these play at the same volume as the Monsters of Rock festival in August 1981? Volume is far more important than quality with Motörhead - and they had it in spades.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll try and phrase the question carefully, but....

Do these rubbers squeak ? I own a pair of similar earphones, but I find that when moving the rubber sleeve squeaks quite loudly, making playing music at low volumes really annoying.

Any info ?

Pete

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'll try and phrase the question carefully, but....

I find all these in ear headphones transmit the sound of the cable moving around. Drives me nuts - as a result I can't use them. Give me a pair of ear bud style ones any day.

[crediblywitless]

What is going on with that plug? If you're using the phones while the player they're connected to is in a pocket, you need as little sticking out of the player as possible. Over time, something's going to break, there. Needs a low-profile right-angle plug, and it looks like central-heating piping. This stuff (low-profile plugs) is something Apple are really good at; presumably they hold all the patents, then?