Want a closed circumaural headphone...

Maybe the SRH940 but can have some harsh treble sometimes.

 

SRH840, but slightly less gorgeous midrange.

 

Even the srh750DJ is somewhat mids centric, very good bass, not too punchy, but less details, the SRH440 have also good mids. Well, all shure circum aural headphones are, imo, more ou less mids centric and i love beautiful mids,lol.

 

My best mids for a closed headphone are obtained with the W1000x, really beautiful and warm mids.

 

 

Well, the HD380 is a good headphone for the price but for me, they can't be used like studio headphones. Too much bass, unnatural soundstage (huge soundstage for a closed headphone), but good midrange, detailled and relatively fast headphone. The biggest problem is the clamping force, too huge. The headache come quickly,lol.

you may like the audio technica a900. the bass is light though

 

for a great midrange/big soundstage i would look into an open can like the hd598

 

if you do go the open route i recently listed basically all the possibilities that arent too expensive in this thread : http://www.head-fi.org/t/591297/need-help-buying-headphones#post_8069337
 

 

Edited by bmeat - 1/19/12 at 8:38am

Phiaton MS 300 checks most of your boxes except not really circumaural...but close for some and still comfortable for many.  Only other thing that comes to mind is AKG K550, but those have yet to settle in to a consistent review personality as reports are still all over the place (or I should say, a bit more than usual even for this site) but you always want to use posts as general guidance and listen for yourself if possible before buying.  I just ordered the latter since I get an industry accommodation (work in retail) price break and I am a big AKG fan, but if I didn't, I would have ordered the former.  I have little listening experience outside a few Beyer and Senn models, and I am not a big fan until you get near the very top of either range but others will rightfully take exception to that. So the only reason I am posting here is because my research check list matches yours exactly except for the portability thing, which I did not care about, but bulk and weight are issues for me as well.  Other contenders were Denon AH-D2000 and Sony MDR-Z1000 but both were just out of my range street price wise.

 

Good luck.

Edited by Greggo - 1/19/12 at 8:47am

with the cans youre stating youre not looking to spend budget money, youre looking at expensive gear, and gear that requires a dac/amp.  if you didnt think the w1000 was textured/detailed youre not going to enjoy the shures, becuase the w1000, even the a900 is very detailed and textured. were you listening with them powered enough?

 

id say save some money and get an efficent, comfy, not too expensive, flat yet slightly mid-centric, highly detailed hd598. if youre listening at home, id strongly advise an open can for the sound youre looking for. the people in your house will get over it :p

http://www.headphoneinfo.com/content/Sennheiser-HD-598-Over-ear-Headphone-Review/Sound-Quality.htm

 

"Frequency Response (6.97)

For those of you out there that are very demanding with your cans’ frequency response, take a gander at that of the Sennheiser HD 598s: it’s very flat. The bass frequencies and the beginning of the mid-tones are ever so slightly emphasized, but overall the Sennheiser HD 598s stay well within our ideal limits, and only run into issues at the very high end (we’re talking the very highest end of sibiliance and definition of treble frequencies beyond 10kHz). Very well done, Sennheiser!"

 

 

Edited by bmeat - 1/19/12 at 9:28am

Based on your responses to responses.... you really owe it to yourself to check out the AKG K 550

 

Unfortunately, mine is back ordered, otherwise I would post a short review in a few days...but it will be 4-6 weeks before I get mine.

if you are going closed back this is a great suggestion. quite pricey vs the $180 you can get the hd598 for

http://www.jr.com/product/productListing.jsp?Ntt=AKG+K-550+&JRSource=GAW.AKG-Acoustics.NA.AKG-K550.NA.NA&gclid=CLCH6NfO3K0CFUOo4Aodvh-pmA

 

 

FischerAudio FA-003 if you can find a place that have them in stock. Btw. the Brainwavz HM5/Lindy Premium Hi-Fi combo are supposed to be the same oem phone just cheaper.

A great unknown could be TakStar PRO80.
Edited by nc8000 - 1/19/12 at 11:47am

I'm in a similar boat with a budget around $350 max and preferring a closed phone that doesn't need exotic amplification to sound good. I was looking at the SRH940 for a bit but opinions differ wildly from almost as good as a Sennheiser HD800 to overpriced junk. AKG K550 looks interesting but I haven't seen enough reviews, from what I understand these don't impress you much when you first listen but grow on you over time. You might also check out the CharterOak SP-1/GMP 450 Pro thread a page or 2 or 3 back. They are German made high quality studio headphones that compare very favorably to the K701 and HD650 and some say a little better. They just aren't as well known because not many people here have them compared to the others. There is also the newer Audio-Technica A900X or if you spend a bit more the A2000X.

Edited by AzraelDarkangel - 1/19/12 at 9:58pm

Found a good review of a few headphones that might help, mostly focuses on the K550:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/588230/akg-k550-vs-some-others-denon-d2k-akg-k271-ed8-shure-940-dt770-an-informal-review

the srh840 is a good phone, the srh940 has mixed reviews, know nothing about k550, a900 or w1000? if you have the money why not the w1000? m50 doubt you will like its ehampizes bass and treble more than the midrange. and the d5000 i doubt you will like, denon has specific sound signature, but theyre in a  different class of their own. why so many varying prices?

 

your best bet would be the fischer audio fa003 that the kid reccommended are a great choice. they are closed, very netural have a silky midrange, and they look mighty comfy.

 

"

Heya,

 

Completely different headphones. The FA-003 is harder to get, for one thing, so if you're not patient (like 6~7 weeks patient), then it's off your list. That said, it's easily the better headphone in my opinion, as it's a lot more natural, smooth, more neutral, way nicer sound stage, and fathoms more comfortable. Comes with two ear pad types (velour & leather) and have nice deep cups. The M50 is more bassy, less mids, and slightly harsher treble, very cramped sound stage, clamps hard on your head, and have pretty shallow cups and are only leather pads. If you want a headphone that is a beater and does bass and can be thrown down some stairs, get the M50. If you want something that will reproduce accurate audio, be comfortable, and be more along the lines of what an audiophile would seek, the FA-003 is the one out of your two (but again, beware it takes a while to get one shipped).

 

Very best,"
 

the m50 is a excellent headphone, so you can be sure the fa003/brainwavz hm5 will be a SUPERB headphone, and not outrageously priced 

http://mp4nation.net/catalog/brainwavz-hm5-studio-monitor-headphones-p-663.html

 

Edited by bmeat - 1/19/12 at 10:36pm