Best high end desktop headphone and amp setup?

hello everyone!

ive been in hiatus from electronics for ages and now its time to move. atm, im using a notebook for everything and my iphone, however i'd like to build a highend desktop in the future.

Im in the market for a really nice set of cans and amp! ever since ive moved from california to australia, i left most of my things back at home. for one my sennheiser hd580 last visit back i was intending to bring it back with me. unbeknownst to me my brother had used it and probably damaged the cord and threw it out.

atm, im using the steelseries headphones that was bundled with my asus G73 and its ok with just casual use but nothing near as good as my hd580. albeit i was using the hd580 hooked to the klipsch headphone plug.

i'll be using the new headphones for all my listening while on the notebook. that would range from general browsing and music. atm i do not play games nor watch movies but maybe every now and again i will.

im keen on getting the sennheiser hd650 and the nuforce icon HDP:http://www.nuforce.com/hp/products/iconhdp/index.php
 

this will be a gift from my wife, i get to choose my xmas and bday gift this year, 2 days apart from each other.  apparently im too much of a hard person to please with surprise gifts!  ive never been a huge audiophile just an admirer of having the finer things in life of all electronics and gadgetry.

any thoughts or alternative suggestions would be appreciated!

hi stereodude!

i think my hd580 was never at its true potential w/o a proper amp.  no i have not sampled the hd650.  the hd650 will probably set my wife back $400ish aud. 

the amp she said she can either get the one i want or refuse, depending soley on price, i presume she will be shocked it'll cost more than the headphones.  in the event of utter shock and later the scolding, i will purchase it myself.  for the amp roughly $500 give or take.  

wow the audio-gd's NFB-10ES is getting a lot of praise?

Thanks stereodude!

i'll have a look at the NFB-5 and NFB-12.

guys my brother threw out my hd580's thinking they were broke. i had the hd580 for about 5-6years and within that time frame i had to replace the cords and earpads twice. that was the only problem with them. after buying the hd580's, serveral months down the track i bought the hd595 thinking it would be better, i was wrong.  aside from not giving them a chance to break in, i sold them to a friend. those cans made my ears bleed, the music sounded so sharp, like the treble was set on max.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stereodude 

If you didn't like the HD595's I'm not sure the 650's are the right phones for you.  See the following frequency response comparison.

my mistake stereodude, it was the hd590 i had bought and sold to my friend.  it's been so long lol. 

i'll have to look around for that frequency response comparison graph!  it's pretty cool!  found it at headphone.com! thanks!

im still undecided about the NFB-5, NFB-12 or FUN.  the NFB-10SE looks like a winner for future proofing incase i get more into my gear.