Thanks for the help guys. I'm looking for pair of full-size (over the ear or studio type) headphones for about 50-70 dollars that i can get at bestbuy (have a gift card to use-thank you wife). I have heard some good things about the Koss's but one thing that concerns me about these particular ones is the sound leakage.
 
I plan on using these together with a Turtle Beach DSS processor to game on my PS3 after the family has gone to bed. My wife is a very light sleeper and the fact that our bedroom is within ear shot of the den means that the volume while gaming needs to be down to almost inaudable levels. especially shooters. assuming that I want the volume in my headphones at a reasonably high level. Can someone else hear it, say 15 feet away, in an otherwise dead quite room? through a cracked door about 20 feet away? etc.
 
If so I will upgrade to the ProDJ100's, or something else you might suggest. Thanks again.

anyone? how about we make the question more general and not specific to the ur55's. in general, how much sound are we actually talking about when a reviewer mentions sound leakage, and is this going to prove an issue in the application mentioned above. thanks.

I have both of these headphones. The UR-55 do leak a bit of sound. To me they're almost semi-open. They have a grill plus fabric behind them. I think if the volume isn't maxed, they shouldn't be able to hear them from 20 feet away. I do highly suggest you get the DJ100 instead. They're worth the extra $30 and isolate much better. DJ100 to me is also much better for gaming.

thanks. That's kind of what i thought. I've been shopping around and i have found some pretty good prices on the DJ100's so when the UR55's come i'm going to take them back and see if bestbuy will price match. If they do i would only be a 10-15$ premium and that seams like a no brainer to me. If they will price match this might make things even more complicated though as i've found some really good deals on some Audio-Technica M35's and M30's. Any thoughts on these for my application?

You still might like the UR-55. I myself would just never use them over a DJ100. The UR-55 probably has way more bass, but it's not as comfortable for me. For most people the UR-55 is going to be close to super-aural (on ear and not over). For big heads i've heard there is a lot of clamping force.
 
I had the M30 before and I think they sound just good for the price. The sound is quite neutral. Sound quality on those for me I'd give a 6/10. That sounds low, but not too bad. The comfort on the M30 is very good. I use the M30 pads for the DJ100. BTW for those that are interested, the M30 doesn't sound anything like the M50. M30 is quite a boring headphone and I'm even into neutral sounding headphones that usually fall into this description. The build quality on the M30 is very good for such a cheap headphone. I can really not suggest the M30 to anyone really.
 
Here's how I'd rate my favorite cheap headphones under $100 from best to worst:
 
Koss Pro DJ 100
Beyer Dynamic DT-235 (with Maxell DHP-II pads)
Maxell DHP-II
Koss UR-55
AKG K44 (only like this EQed)
Audio Technica ATH-M30
 
The DT-235 with the DHP-II pads is the most comfortable headphone I've ever had. Even better than the K240, K601 and D2000! Without the pads it's normally superaural.
 
AKG K240 Studio would be at #2, but it's semi-open and needs an amp to sound it's best.

i can't see the UR55, or any open phone being heard that far away. i definitely don't see them waking somebody up. i think you'd be fine with them. i did demo a pair at best buy and they didn't sound bad at all. i'd try them out.

Thanks all. this helps quite a bit.
 
I know the whole idea about waking her up with leaked noise sounds kind of silly, but you would be suprised how many times i've heard her call out, "honey, does it have to be that loud!?" after she's gone to bed (15-20 feet away and through a cracked door) when i feel like the volume is barely audiable to me on the couch 6 feet from the TV. the problem is that diolouge is not very clear on my speaker bar set up so i'm usually turning it up for the talking, and down for the gun fire, then i get caught by a surprise explosion, gun fight or door slam and get in trouble. lol. I can't wait for this stuff to arrive! lol.

Does your best Buy have the HD428's? Those are really good and shouldn't leak to much noise.

i found the ur55 to sound better than the 428.

Quote:

jasonb said:

i found the ur55 to sound better than the 428.

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Oh god I didn't, iinfact those were the first headphones I found to be horrible. The 428's were nice, even if the low end was missing I still prefered them.

 
Quote:

 The UR-55 probably has way more bass, but it's not as comfortable for me. For most people the UR-55 is going to be close to super-aural (on ear and not over). For big heads i've heard there is a lot of clamping force.

Click to expand...

 
well, they arrived today, and my first thought was being reminded of this quote. They are smaller then i expected. They do look well made though. I haven't tried them out because i want to wait for the DSS which is still in the mail, but based on your review and some other things i've read i think i will try to exchange them for the DJ100s since i'm waiting for the DSS anyway if they will price match the deal i found online. If they won't ill test these out and decide wether i want to spend the extra $30. thanks a lot for your help.