Ive had my grado sr60s for a few years now and they have served me well. they are pretty much the only headphones i've experienced and have never tried audiophile quality headphones before. to me, they sound pretty damn good, better than my speakers and about the same as my ety er6i IEMs.
I think it's time for me to upgrade to at least entry level audiophile quality headphones (besides sr60s). This will be for listening to music off of the computer 95% of the time, the other 5% probably off ipod. The music is at least 192kbps encoding but lately have been trying to get FLAC or lossless albums. Now im upgrading so i can get the MOST enjoyment out of listening to music because i do listen to LOTS and LOTS of it. The types of music i'll be listening to will be lots of folk, pop, and rock. folk as in Cat Power, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, etc. Pop as in belle and sebastian, new pornographers, rilo kiley, etc, and rock as in ted leo, radiohead, broken social scene. And i want these new headphones to ABSOLUTELY rock my ears when listening to post-rock/electronic instramentals like Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, stereolab, and air (or just go here http://www.last.fm/user/vold/).
I want to spend about $250, most likely between 200-250(and i mean this much at the cheapest place to buy headphones [ebay]). I do like Grado but am willing to look at other places. i would prefer headphones that sound kickin without an amp or atleast with an amp under $100 (do those exist). I've been lookin at the sennheiser 600 or 650s, beyerdynamic DT 880, Grado SR 225s, and the AKG K701s. I dont know how any of these sound through personal experience but maybe some of you guys can help me out with which one sounds the best with the music i want to listen to with.
also is there a place i can try these headphones out? i dont know a place that sells high quality headphones or lets you try them out from a good source. i have a best buy, frys, sam ash, and guitar center near me.
I think it's time for me to upgrade to at least entry level audiophile quality headphones (besides sr60s). This will be for listening to music off of the computer 95% of the time, the other 5% probably off ipod. The music is at least 192kbps encoding but lately have been trying to get FLAC or lossless albums. Now im upgrading so i can get the MOST enjoyment out of listening to music because i do listen to LOTS and LOTS of it. The types of music i'll be listening to will be lots of folk, pop, and rock. folk as in Cat Power, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom, etc. Pop as in belle and sebastian, new pornographers, rilo kiley, etc, and rock as in ted leo, radiohead, broken social scene. And i want these new headphones to ABSOLUTELY rock my ears when listening to post-rock/electronic instramentals like Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, stereolab, and air (or just go here http://www.last.fm/user/vold/).
I want to spend about $250, most likely between 200-250(and i mean this much at the cheapest place to buy headphones [ebay]). I do like Grado but am willing to look at other places. i would prefer headphones that sound kickin without an amp or atleast with an amp under $100 (do those exist). I've been lookin at the sennheiser 600 or 650s, beyerdynamic DT 880, Grado SR 225s, and the AKG K701s. I dont know how any of these sound through personal experience but maybe some of you guys can help me out with which one sounds the best with the music i want to listen to with.
also is there a place i can try these headphones out? i dont know a place that sells high quality headphones or lets you try them out from a good source. i have a best buy, frys, sam ash, and guitar center near me.
Just mentioning the 580 in case you wanted to try something different: the 225s are more upfront and rocking (really good for pop). I like the Senns large soundstage and bass for Mogwai and electronica. So the head-fi thing would be to get the 225 now and audition/save up for the 580 next (as an alternate headphone) 
