[landervdb]

Hi all,
 
I have owned some fairly decent AKG's and Sennheiser's in the past, all sub-$100 though. However, I have decided to treat myself to a pair of nice cans. I haven't got a huge budget to spend, I would like to stay under €200-ish (around $250, or £160), which should get me something decent. I listen to pretty much all genres, but mainly post-rock, post-punk, jazz, alt rock, neo-psych, etc.  Also, I do some freelance work as a sound engineer in my spare time, so it would be a plus if they were somewhat useable for that. The latter is definitely not a huge requirement though.
 
Comfort is important, I tend to wear my headphones for reasonably long periods, and I have struggled with uncomfortable headphones in the past. I would prefer a circumaural model. Since I would use them often on the bus/train, closed-back seems like the way to go to me, but I'm certainly willing to go with open-back if that would benefit the sound quality noticably. I would prefer a detachable cord since I have broken quite a few of them. I like some bass, but they definitely shouldn't be too bass-heavy. At the moment, I do not own a headphone amp, and I don't think my budget allows for one. However, I am willing to buy one if it is worthwile (within this budget) and if the headphones and amp together wouldn't be too much over €200. (maybe a PA2V2?)
 
I have looked at the Shure SRH840, the Audio Technica ATH-M50, the Beyerdynamic DT770/DT990 and quite some others, but I can't quite make up my mind.
 
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HideousPride]

Would not recommend the M50 nor the 770 for portable use if you plan on walking anywhere with them. The M50 is a bit unwieldy and can get really hot. Even with the velours pads, the 770 gets kinda hot and sweaty. If just for use on the bus/train, both are fine. 770 is somewhat more comfortable than the M50, but neither clamp too hard and you can listen to both for extended periods of time without physical pain. Both are nice on the bass.
 
I would consider the Phillips Uptown if you haven't heard it yet. In my opinion it competes very well with both the M50 and the 770 and is currently available for significantly cheaper.
 
If open phones are more your style, I highly recommend the HD 598s. They are not bass heavy, but I do not feel they are significantly lacking in the bottom end like some members say. Since purchasing the 598s some years back, I've heard and owned significantly more expensive headphones, but these still get a good amount of head time and are one of two headphones I would never consider selling. The comfort, soundstage, fun factor of the sound and ease of use (amp not required for good sound) are the best I've heard at their price point by a large margin. They will leak though, so am not sure how bothered you are by people being able to hear your music if you take it on the go. 

 

[landervdb]

First of all, thanks for your reply! I will definitely look into those Phillips cans, should be interesting. Also, I've heard many good things about the HD598s. However, I have never owned open back headphones, and it worries me a bit. I don't care much about other people hearing my music, I'm more worried about background noise coming in. Altough I would mostly use them at home, I would like to be able to use them outside occasionally. I can't really try them out in advance either, since I would probably order them online, and there are not really stores in my area that let you try out all of their headphones. I don't really want to turn the volume up too much since I have quite sensitive ears. Would that be a huge problem with these headphones?