I've been using IEMs exclusively for years, and am ready to invest in some great full-sized headphones, but am pretty unfamiliar with what's out there. I'd appreciate all of your help w/recommendations for the best set I can get for my music preferences and budget.

Budget: Looking for something under $400 (willing to go a little above if it's worth it).

Looking for something that sounds best with detailed/rich ambient, "modern" classical/instrumental (particularly piano-heavy, often w/some electronic elements or field recordings, etc.), indie rock and folk (including lots of acoustic guitar). Almost never listen to metal, and only occasionally listen to hiphop.

Thoughts? Thanks...

What sound card or other equipment will you be plugging these headphones into?

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I use an ipod touch (first generation, I believe), and also frequently listen straight from my PC. Unsure about the soundcard, but I will likely be buying a new laptop in the next month or two, so it won't be relevant.

For simplicity sake, I don't use an amp, but am open to purchasing one once I branch away from IEMs.

OK. So what's your budget for buying related audio equipment like an amp for these headphones?

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Flexibile, though right now I'd say ~$200. However, since it might be some time before I buy an amp (might wait even longer to bump up the budget), I'd prefer something that has great sound without being amped.

K-702 or GMP 435, the K-701/2 need a minimum some nice sound card or amp.

You want great sound from headphones without upgrading your source and amplification. FWIR, I suggest considering the SRH440.

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first off, i just want to point out that I don't have any full size headphones so please take what i'm about to say with that in mind..

but having read most places that you do need a decent source and an amp, Maybe a good choice for you might be the new Audio Technica es10's that are just out in Japan. Although there are hardly any reviews yet, there will most likely be some available pretty soon.

unlike the esw9's and esw10's the new model will have larger drivers and the cup sizes are slightly bigger. If you been on the forums long enough I'm sure you would have come across the favorable impressions of both the esw9 and esw10 by their owners. They are portable cans and are probably one of the best Hp's straight out of a DAP or computer.

esw10's were a significant improvement over the 9's according to the owners who had both and there is pretty high expectations for the new es10s. whether they will match the esw10's will have to be seen as they were limited edition with special drivers but hopefully the es10's will be an improvement over the 9's.

if you look at japanprice they go for around 31,000 yen, so if you include shipment and japanprice fee they should still come under 400 dollars. They might be scheduled for release in US soon so you might be able to get them cheaper. I'm not sure about the release date here but you might be able to get some info by contacting Audio Technica US.

if the es10's will be ok for you, you wont have to worry about getting an amp soon. And when you do want to get an amp you can find many portable or desktop amps that will be able to drive the hp's as they are relatively easy to drive.

here's the thread for the new es10's. like I said, not much info about SQ but there are some photos and some initial impressions that might be interesting to check
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/n...h-ws70-450633/

it might be worthwhile to wait and see some reviews before deciding your HP purchase.
just trying to give some options and have no intentions to pollute the thread so if this is not helpful I apologize.

What IEM's do you have right now?
How would you describe their sound character?
Wat do you like and dislike about them?
What qualities of your IEMs would you like to see back in your new pair full-sized headphones?

In practice there's no such thing as headphones best suited for this or that type of music.
Trust you own ears for that matter.
I love my D5000's with classical music, but apparantly, according to many people they're crap with classical music

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It's entirely relevant. If you're going to drop 400 on headphones for those sources, you need to do some more research; great headphones don't sound great all by themselves.

I wouldn't drop 400 on phones for a laptop/Touch. Regardless of brand and price of the laptop, the sound card will blow. And in that price range there's a lot of phones around that will need amping.