SamsonSR850 Professional Semi-Open Studio Reference Monitoring Headphones

TLDR: These are an absolute gem! Very comfortable and lightweight, and a really good reference sound in my opinion. At the price point, I wouldn't bother trying to get something cheaper after hearing how these sound.Of course, everyone is going to have their own perception; I have read that some people think the highs are a bit too much. In a way I can understand that, however these are very clear and predictable and if the highs are a bit much I found it very simple to adjust EQ to shape the sound to my liking. I've been testing a lot of pairs of headphones lately and with some of them adjusting the EQ to get a clear and enjoyable sound is very much a process, but with these it was a breeze. Now, I am a bass head for sure, and these are not insanely bass heavy. Don't get me wrong; the bass is there, enjoyable, and accurate, but it is not going to shake on your head or anything like that. I have another set of headphones that has been the bass champion of what I've had, but I find myself picking these up for long listening sessions and when I'm working with video/audio on my system. I think these are a must, whether you want a good first set of headphones for a reference tone that won't break the bank or even if you want something inexpensive maybe as a backup. A must for headphone enthusiasts if you ask me.

I think these are certainly worth a buy. I really like the semi-open design because it allows you to hear your environment. I think musicians would love this as they can clearly hear their bandmates and producers. The sound quality I think is great; it very balanced and very clean. The levels seem comparable to both my computer and record player with a high quality speaker set-up... if you are a middle school kid (or an adult skrillex fan) I think you will be disappointed because the bass doesn't overpower everything else which is a problem with many headsets... This is more comparable to a monitor and is very "you get what you get" with no embellishments which I think is both awesome and rational.IT ALSO COMES WITH A 3.5mm to 5mm CONVERTER!!! That's a huge, huge, huge plus for everyone. Before you complain: UNSCREW THE CONNECTOR FOR USE WITH A 3.5mm JACK (your phone/computer/etc.)My one complaint would be that they have quite a bit of tension. Perhaps a bit too much like a vice on your head. After your body adjusts and you "break them in" it becomes fine, but it is a bit tighter than I think it should be.

These are the standard for a high quality (dare I say audiophile) listening experience on a budget. I have not ben let down. the bass is not overwhelming, but it is still there. The trebels are clear, but not piercing. overall, the audio is exactly what I expected. I am not sure if it is directly because of the ear cups or if it is because of the tensioning strap design, but within about an hour of wearing these, my ears start to hurt. I dont have giant ears, but I think they may be too big for the ear cups on these headphones. The cousins are made of a felt-like material on the outside, and the inner foam is fairly stiff compared to what I normally use, but I was still hoping they would fit better. I would definitely recommend them, and I plan to keep using them, but if you can't bear to deal with it, you might want to find some headphones for bigger ears.

Wow, just wow. TLDR right up front, these are fantastic headphones for the price. If you have any hesitation to buy them whatsoever, let me tell you that you won't be disappointed. Bass is a bit lower than some people would like, but hey they're open backs!My pair arrived in their retail box, which was kind of surprising as the box wasn't even sealed. Thankfully the headphones were undamaged and they appear to be brand new, although I honestly wouldn't care if they were used since they look fine.Included I was surprised to find a 1/4 inch (the big audio connector for amps and such) to 3.5mm adapter pre-installed on the unit. I was actually kind of worried that I accidentally purchased the wrong variant of these headphones, since the adapter looked like it was part of the cable. Thankfully my initial assumption was incorrect, and the adapter unscrewed revealing a 3.5 mm plug, although I must say the quality of this adapter is what fooled me. It's super nice and fits on the cable seamlessly!The fabric the removable ear pads are made out of is kind of strange, it's almost like a felt material but it doesn't have the same shininess to it. Nevertheless it is very comfortable for the price, and in general comfort of these headphones is quite good. The self-adjusting headband and whatnot is a straight-up clone of the AKG K240s, which certainly isn't a bad thing in this case. Samson have done a fantastic job replicating the design of the K240s while also managing to keep costs low. The non-removable cable is a bit of a downside, but the included cable is very high quality and quite long. Seriously I've never seen gold-plated connectors that look and feel this good. As an Australian drummer once said "they're are symphony of plastic, but AvE has taught me that not all plastics are created equal". That statement is definitely true here, as the plastic that Samson has used for the SR850s is definitely on the higher quality side. The headband is fake leather and the supports that house the audio cable for the other driver are made of metal (maybe aluminum?).Now, onto sound quality. Honestly when I had seen and heard all of the great reviews on these headphones I was expecting them to be quite amazing. Maybe it's not as dramatic as I expected, but these are my first pair of legitimately good budget headphones. The "sound stage" or 3D feel of the sound is definitely there, and while playing video games with gunfire or engines you can definitely feel the openness of the semi open back design. I particularly enjoy running around in Skyrim SE with them.I will say the bass isn't crazy heavy, but looking at the frequency response graph for these headphones they're actually somewhat more bassy than more of the higher end true open back headphones. This is fine for me though, I do like base but I understand the concessions that had to be made for these headphones to have such good soundstage. That's always been the trade-off for open backs, less bass and also way less noise isolation. And on that note, yeah they definitely don't block anywhere near as much noise as a set of earmuffs would, but I actually like that since I need to be able to hear things while I'm using my computer or listening to music on my iPod. As always with audio, it's very subjective and you may find that these are the best headphones ever for you, or you may hate them because they're not crazy bassy like most everything else made nowadays. (Looking at you Beats and Raycons!) I can't really find any other descriptive words to describe the mids or highs, because I'm really just a novice when it comes to audio. Maybe just... they're great!As far as durability goes I've only had them for a few days so I can't say much as to how I think they'll stand up over the long term. I will say that the non-removable cable is definitely once again a downside as far as durability goes, but if you're really invested in keeping your SR850s alive and you're handy with a soldering iron I see no reason why you couldn't add an aux connector connector. The headband and metal supports seem quite sturdy given the price, and I expect these to last for years to come. By then I'll likely have something better, but honestly if you're just into them for the looks, for content creators or streamers they look really cool and professional. I think if these things ever have some sort of catastrophic failure I'll either buy a new pair or attempt to fix these myself, as the design seems fairly simple.The ear cups are removable and seem to be fairly modular. I'm sure there are several replacements on various websites, and if you're handy with sewing scissors and a needle and thread you could probably even make your own if you were so inclined. I think some gel ear pads would be super cool to try with these, although I don't know if these headphones have enough of a cult following for some manufacturer to take on that challenge.Maybe if I'm feeling brave enough one day I will take apart the ear cup and speaker assembly to see how repairable they are from the inside, but for now I'm just happy to have a very good sounding set of headphones for my PC and iPod.9/10, definitely five stars but a non-removable cable is probably the only downside. You'll know these aren't crazy bassy if you're in the market for open backs so that's not a downside in my opinion.