Ive seen a lot of Samson tech for sale on audiophile websites like sweetwater and Bhpphoto. they are budget “studio” headphones. Anyone heard these?
Zeos reviewed the 100$ top of their line Z55. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhFWyhRPSg
They seem to have 2 lines. The Z series and SR series: http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/headphones/
I got sucked into Samson SR850 by various reviews.
Worst. Headphone. Ever.
Literally couldn’t keep it on my head for 15 minutes the clamping was so bad. I wear glasses so it could have been that, but I’ve never experienced anything that bad.
Don’t even remember the sound since I couldn’t wear them.
Maybe some folks here will have advice for the $50-$100 range.
I tried out the SR850 not too long ago, here is the post I left on here:
Their designs are clearly clones of other brands too. That is never a good sign.
As a company, they are not bad, they have been around for 40 years (I believe they are based in New York).
They sell some decent stuff at reasonable prices, like mics, mixing consoles and other stuff, but nothing really high end. They also own Hartke bass amplification which makes some good stuff.
I don’t think they are a company that goes around ripping off other people’s designs, maybe they purchase licences from other companies for some of their products (pretty common in the audio world).
The bad reviews of the SR850 are interesting since that model is a rebranding of the Superlux HD-668B, which was universally well-reviewed as a giant killer a few years ago.
I have the Samson SR850B. That’s a B&H exclusive model with blue headband wires instead of the black of the SR850C; it sells for $40 instead of the usual $50 for the version with black wires. They were my first taste of the big soundstage you get from open back headphones, and as such were a revelation.
On my head they’re reasonably comfortable. The ear cups are big enough to go over my ears rather than pressing on them and the clamping force is fine. They’re mostly plastic so they’re pleasantly light on the head. The ear cups aren’t well ventilated so your ears do get a bit warm after a while. They are a headphone for sitting still and listening to; trying to move around too much tends to shake them loose. Headphone fit is always an issue; nothing will work well on everybody’s head.
You do have to burn them in before they sound acceptable. Even after burn-in the high end is a bit loose; they don’t sound good on material with a lot of sibilance. (I have them on right now to remind myself of their sound.) Aside from that, the frequency response is pretty well balanced, including reasonably deep but not emphasized bass response. They’re easy to drive; you don’t need a headphone amp to get decent sound.
I have to dissent with the bad reviews here. These things aren’t giant killers, but they’re a good value at their selling price of $50 or less if they work on your head. I especially recommend them to people who haven’t taken the open back plunge and are looking for a cheap way to try it out.
My Monolith M570 has replaced the Samson for home listening when I want that open back sound. But I could see taking the Samson on a trip where I don’t want to carry the heavier and more expensive headphones. But not listening WHILE traveling because open back just isn’t good for that.
My first open backed headphones were sr-850’s. I replaced the ear pads with big comfortable pads and have been listening to them through my Earstudio portable bt amp. I think this combination is great. My only complaint is the long hard wired cord. I intend to shorten the cord and then they will get a lot of use this fall. If you don’t mind making some modifications, these can be very good sounding headphones when paired up to the right amplifier.