Portable headphone recommendations under £150 - Page 2

@vladimirK702 I'll have a look at the AKG K181 DJs - a few of my friends use AKGs for monitoring but I'm not familiar with that model.

@lorafenik I actually have a pair of Phonak Audeos, their Perfect Bass model (so same earphones but different filters).  Within a month of having the sound on the right earphone is messed.  Starts a bit muted, the high end is muffled, and after 5-10 minutes of listening there's virtually nothing coming out of it.  I contacted the company and I haven't heard anything back in almost a month.  I've been so busy that I haven't pursued it yet, but even when they were working well, although they sound good they weren't nearly as good IMO as the Denon AH-D1001's I had (although they do have much better bass), and when walking I found that they shifted a lot so I constantly lost the low-end.

At this point in time I would much prefer a good quality set of portable, over hear headphones, as my experience with them has been much better than with IEMs.  I just want to do what I can to ensure I get something that's good, worth the money, and along with being portable also has good build quality (as the Denons really didn't, hence not using them anymore).  From what I've read so far it's a toss up between the Ultrasone HFI-780s paired with the Fiio E7 amp or the Beyerdynamic T50Ps.  But I'm still reading up on all the recommendations in here and getting as much information as I can!

Thanks a lot for the replies.

@vladimirK702 I think the sound of the K181 DJs wouldn't be what I want.  Usually AKGs are known for their clarity and neutral reproduction (at the ones I know/have heard are) and that's more what I am going for than the heavier bass, much more coloured sound that it looks like the K181s have.  Not to say they would be bad headphones but they're not what I'm looking for!

@librarian Thanks, I've had a look at those and they sound pretty good but (and I hadn't really thought about it until looking at those) I know that I don't want clip-ons.

@Szadzik I've been having the same thoughts!  My budget is about the same as the cost of the Beyer T50Ps, including an Fiio E7 amp, but in the long term it does make more sense to get a better pair of headphones that I know will last and intend to keep (hence build quality being a concern).  At the moment I'm really leaning towards those Beyers and I can't imagine I would be disappointed.

I looked into the Denon HP700 and the ATH-ESW9 and I think they'd both be good.  Way too many out there to choose from!  My preference is definitely for good sound quality and clarity, especially in the trebles, so I think at this point I'm going to go for the Beyer T50Ps.  I think they'll do exactly what I want.  And then in the future I can invest in a good portable amp to go with them (from the sound of it something that brings out the mids more).

Thanks so much for all the help guys.