Christmas Headphones?!

I'll give a whole little spectrum of choices:

Panasonic HTF600 ($30-35): Very warm sounding, bass heavy, semi-open with ~6-7dB of isolation. Can be seen as muddy and undetailed, though.

Superlux HD681 ($37): Good bass response, slight V-shaped frequency response curve, semi-open with 8dB of isolation, bright treble may require equalization to get under cotrol.

Superlux HD668B ($40-50): More neutral sound signature than the HD681, more features like a removable cable, treble may have to be equalized to get under control.

Sony MDR-V6 ($65): An industry standard for years and a staple in your price bracket. Neutral sound signature, closed with ~8dB of isolation, solid punchy bass, great builty quality, but can be a little bright in the highs for some people. It's not as bright as the Superluxes.

Creative Aurvana Live! (goes on sale for $60-70): Slight bass emphasis in the sound signature. Closed with ~8dB of isolation. Good punchy bass with slightly rolled off highs. 

I'd recommend the MDR-V6, but it's neutral, meaning that it won't be presented with more bass than the rest of the range. I think the Creative Aurvana Live! would be a good choice, but the price fluctuates quite a lot and they're currently $100 last I checked.

Out of all of these recommendations, my personal preference would be the MDR-V6 (watch out for fakes- very common online).

However, if you want nice bass and soundstage, the Panasonic HTF-600 is a good budget option. But it's semi-open. XB500 or XB700 if you want super bass and comfort, but doesn't block much noise out.

If you find that you need to turn up the volume on your ipod, it might be because the ipod isn't powering your phones enough, and you might want to purchase a headphone amp. However, all the phones mentioned here should sound fine without an amp. Though they would still all benefit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssrock64 

I'd recommend the MDR-V6, but it's neutral, meaning that it won't be presented with more bass than the rest of the range. I think the Creative Aurvana Live! would be a good choice, but the price fluctuates quite a lot and they're currently $100 last I checked.

Today I saw the CAL for $55 on Amazon.