HTF600 or SRH840?

Hello, I'm new here, and I apologize for barging into the community with a "can u help me plz?" thread, but hopefully later on I will have posts of value to add to the community. I've browsed these forums for about a week now and have learned much (you guys saved me from buying Beats!), but I'm still in need of a bit of help.

Problem: I've noticed the hype surrounding the HTF600s (and the subsequent unavailability in most places) and figured I couldn't go wrong with snagging a pair for ~$45 (I cant find them for $30 anymore), but I also know a guy who will sell me a near mint condition pair of Shure SRH840s for $75 dollars. Which seems to be the better choice?

My information: I am a huge heavy metal fan, and the majority of music i listen to is of the death or melodic death variety (Children of Bodom, The Agonist, August Burns Red). However, I do tend to more enjoy more technical metal pieces and guitar instrumentals (as I am a guitarist and soon to be bassist myself) and would really love to hear the beauty and subtleties in songs such as "For the Love of God" by Steve Vai, "Glasgow Kiss" by John Petrucci, "Technical Difficulties" by Racer X, and "No Boundaries" by Michael Angelo Batio. I also listen to a bit of dubstep, so ample bass would be nice, but it does not need to be groundshaking. I will be running the majority of my music through my phone (A sidekick 4G, if it matters. The android market does have several downloadable equalizers that may prove handy, though) as I commute to school and have long school hours. Therefore, it would be nice if my chosen headphones don't leak as I play loudly (people on the subway don't like death metal for some reason) and are portable. I currently use a stock pair of inner ear headphones that came with my girlfriend's phone that were really treble heavy, but i equalized them with an app that I have, and they now sound pretty decent. But now its time for an upgrade.

Conclusion: I've looked into Grado SR__i's, but the leakage may be too much of a problem. Im open to all suggestions other than the two headphones mentioned previously, but my budget is ~$85 (buying used is fine) and "best bang for the buck" suggestions are appreciated. I thank anyone in advance who reads this (since this post was pretty lengthy, and my constant use of parentheses (such as this one) may have gotten annoying), and even more thanks in my anticipation of the person (or people) that ultimately sway my decision.

Ah, is that so? I figured that the Grados would be worse due to their more open design. I'm more concerned with my own satisfaction than that of other subway passengers though, so I suppose leakage isn't necessarily a deal breaker. Thank you for letting me know that though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcasey25raptor 

Sorry for not replying sooner. I am an owner of the srh840 so i hope you can listen to what i have to say.

 

The shure srh840 will run fine unamped but it does slightly improve when amped. Unfortunately they are pretty brutal to badly recorded music. I am a metal head like you. I listen to Symphonic, Folk, Death, Thrash, Power, Doom, Progressive, And Black metal on these. The progressive sounds best on them but the other genres also perform well.

 

Some people say the srh840 is very uncomfortable. In my experience they are comfortable if you have a full head of hair. The rough headband on skin wouldn't feel to comfortable. I find them immensely comfortable personally.

 

They are really durable, Made of strong plastics and a headband you can band backwards. The only concern is the cords jutting out the side. The cord is also detachable. I got mine for $130 so $75 is a killer deal. I would say go for it.

I have a thick head of hair so I should be seemingly in the clear with comfort. Its good to get verification from someone with personal experience with my preference in music and the headphones themselves, so thanks a lot for your input. I've read that they were good overall a few times, but metal is my true concern. Silly question, but does higher MB with downloading typically mean higher quality music? I get my music from an app I have, and I started off downloading mostly songs of the higher MB variety, but resorted to lower ones as i ran out of space on my sd card. If my assumption is correct, it looks like I'll have to invest in a larger sd card and redownload my songs. So thanks again to both you and Dsnuts. Barring any major disagreements, I have placed the SRH840s above the HTF600s on my preference list. I'll likely be buying tomorrow so if anyone has any further suggestions of different headphones or comments, please feel free to do so now.

Seller changed his mind and said $100 for the 840s, but it comes with all accessories and everything. is this still my best option?