[HolyHell]

Hey audiophiles,
 
 I need some help, I'm trying to decide which pair of cans I should get, something that will last me a while and I can upgrade from. I feel that the W1000X / HE500 might be overkill but are still options for me. The ones listed are the ones I can get in my country (Australia) and I've narrowed it down to.
 
 I mostly listen to post rock / instrumental / vocals / acoustic with some techno for good measure as well. I guess I'm looking for a more natural / warmer sound rather than something synthetic. This will be my first set of 'good' cans so I want to make a good choice, and the more I read the more I find its really hard to decide which would be best for me. I don't have the option of listening to said headphones, but rather I can only base my final decision on what I read. So any help would be very appreciated.
 
 :O)

 

[TwinQY]

I listen to a lot of post rock as well, my favourite cans for that genre would probably be my HE400 and sr80i. Have not heard the M50 or W1000X, but have auditioned the others (I owned the K701s as well). Q701s would be an acquired taste, I found that for math-rock, prog, metal, they were fast enough, but lacked bass impact for those genres.
 
The HD598s sound nice, natural and smooth, they would do well with everything. They don't excel at stuff like techno and post-rock, but they don't sound bad either. 
 
I would cross the HE500s out, as they would need an amp, so it might get out of budget. They would also sound nice with your genres, but you might want something more aggressive. HE400s would be a better bet. 
 
I would recommend any of the Grado line as they sound great with all kinds of Rock, acoustic, anything with vocals due to the nicely colored midrange. They might be too colored for some though. They are also easy to drive, so there'd be no need for an amp. There are some Grado dealers in Australia, and you could go with Alessandro as well. 
 
Are you aiming to use these at home, or for portable use? Just wondering as you have the M50s listed up there as well.

 

[HolyHell]

Thanks for the reply,
 
 I'm pretty much exclusively going to be using them at home on the PC. So an open set of cans isn't an issue plus price isn't going to be a problem if its worth it, I'm willing to shell out a bit extra for a good set of cans, and an amp if it requires it too (a suggestion would be helpful for that as well!)
 
 What dealers do you know of for Australia? The only ones I've found is headphones.com.au which don't stock Grados..
 
 The list I supplied above was headphones I narrowed it down to, and ones that I could get in Australia!

 

[TwinQY]

Whoops, noticed audiophile.com.au didn't stock them anymore. You might as well try to get some Alessandros (ships worldwide, no massive markups), or maybe try a pair of Magnums.
 
Any budget for the amp? Would you need a DAC as well?