I've been on the headphone quest for about a year now, and I've managed to find myself with quite a few good sets of phones. Shure SE215 and Phiaton MS400 are the two big investments I've made thus far, and while I like the way both of them sound, I can't help but feel like something is missing. Knowing that these are both relatively mid-centric phones, I've gone out of my way to try the ATH-M50s, which are said to be slightly U-shaped, and I also purchased (and promptly re-gifted) a pair of Klipsch Image Ones, which struck me as having a slightly similar sound signature, despite being obviously less detailed and having a larger bump in the bass.
Now, having tried all of these headphones, I can safely say that I like all of them and don't love any of them. I love the way my SE215s isolate and how they can really give a good subbass slam when I eq them a tad; if they were more detailed and the highs weren't artificial sounding and rolled off, they would be my ideal commuting headphone. My MS400 aren't what I would call "perfect" for anything in particular, but they offer decent isolation when I want something different for my commute, a very pleasant, soft, inoffensive sound for when I just want to kick back and listen or for background music while I surf and chat; they really shine with a few of my favorite groups: Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, Portishead, Faithless, even some dub/darkstep and occasionally house. But their sound is too mushy for me, it feels a little veiled and dark, which is GREAT for Portishead and Sneaker Pimps and other dark-sounding music, but I just wish I could kick a little more energy in the treble, bring the mids forward, and give the bass a little more slam.
On the other side of the spectrum, I found the Klipsch Image Ones to have a great bass kick, but ultimately it was too much of a good thing and just overpowered the rest of the spectrum. I liked the more clear, forward sound it had compared to my MS400, but just too much bass, and not enough detail. The M50s I have tried a few times, and while I think they sound great, they always leave me feeling...nonplussed. There's just nothing special about them. The detail is great, the bass is awesome with some EQ, and the treble extension and clarity is way better than anything I own, but they just felt BORING. They really didn't do any favors for me when it came to just LISTENING to my music. I would never buy them, because I know that no matter how much I tried to enjoy them I would be on here looking for a new set of phones immediately. Maybe a nice "default" to have some day when I have money to throw away, but I don't want to waste money right now on something that's just GOOD and nothing else. Maybe this is inappropriate for this forum, not sure, but...the M50 is like having sex with a really hot girl who doesn't really put in any effort because she knows she's hot and that should be good enough. I could probably make sex comparisons with all of my headphones but I'll hold off on that till I know whether or not it's kosher ;)
I know what I'm looking for is definitely a more aggressive signature than my MS400, but not as neutral as the M50s. The mids on M50s felt recessed to me. As far as basic sound preference goes, I know I want everything to be good, but I would say mids>bass>treble are my priorities. I actually really liked the signature of my uber-cheap Monoprice 8320 IEMs; if I could find something that sounded like those, with bigger soundstage, higher resolution, good isolation, maybe a touch more warmth in the mids...I would be in hog heaven.
So, I guess what I am asking is, to those who have heard some of these phones, what does it sound like my preferred sig is to you? How would you classify the kind of sound I'm looking for? I know nobody can read my mind, but I'm wondering if this will give some sense of it.
