Hi,
I own a pair of Shure E4 IEMs, which I've been using non-stop since I bought them a few years back. I have been mostly pleased with them, except I just can't get used to all the extra noise that comes with IEM territory. For that reason, I'm thinking about buying a nice pair of full-sized headphones but I have some specific qualifications:
- They probably need to be closed. I listen at a very moderate level, but I work in an office with a bunch of other grad students who value quiet. I've never owned open headphones but I assume that they leak even at low volume. Is this true?
- They need to be sturdy and portable. I don't have a secure place to store them, so I will be commuting with them on the bus every day. I don't really care about listening on the bus, just in having them not crack if they are lightly bumped.
- I listen to baroque and classical music with occasional dips into pop/rock. My E4s are crisp and clear in the mids and highs to my ears, but lack the bass when listening to anything that isn't mastered for cheap car stereos. I want something that has the same clarity and precision of the E4s, but with stronger, clear bass.
- I'm planning to buy a portable amp to match, but would prefer they sound passable driven just through a portable MP3 player, if possible. This isn't as important as the other requirements.
My research so far here seems to point to ATH-M50s or HD25s. I'm willing to go higher in price range, but the market for closed headphones seems somewhat limited and I'm afraid of jumping in with nicer open ones. Help, please!
Edited by karljs - 10/27/10 at 4:44pm
