This is my first post. Simply amazed at the wealth of information that this site provides to newbs like me. I have searched but haven't found exactly what I am looking for. Traditionally people use IEM for the gym (I own Monster Turbine Pro Golds and Ultimate Ears Triple Fi), but I do not do much cardio or fast-paced jerky movements, and find that with even slight sweating the seal that makes IEM sound good constantly needs to be re-adjusted. I have used my Monster Beats Pro and have found that over-the-ear cans are better for me. I am very interested in the Ultrasone Pro 900, as I consider myself an audiophile/bassphile. I have been reading many reviews on the 900s and there are drastically varying opinions on whether this requires an amp, most of which agree that it does. I understand that I will already need to use an adapter attached to my Ipod with these headphones, but do not want to use an amp to get the quality everyone raves about with these. I understand the quality would be better with an amp, but how much of a difference would it really make? I do not want to upgrade if doing so will make me either lose quality and bass, or if I will be lugging portable amps around with me (not realistic) to the gym.
Are these headphones decent enough without an amp on an Ipod Nano playing 320kb/s mp3 files in the following genres: Indie/folk rock, electronic, ambient, dub-step, and rock? If not, what would you suggest, not considering price?
