A little about myself first: A few years ago I used to be REALLY into music, I would listen to music for hours each day. I really started to get into music when I got myself a decent headphone set-up, a pair of Sennheiser HD 555s and a NuForce Icon uDAC (the first model, before the second one was on the market). By the way, all the music on my computer is lossless, in FLAC format. My little set-up was certainly better than anything else I've ever heard, as I haven't had the pleasure of listening to other "real" set-ups. Sadly, there is a problem with my Senns' now. Let's just say it's not Sennheiser's OR my fault, but I don't want to go into any more detail. I've tried to use them but they literally hurt my ears when I try listening to music, and the fit has been messed up; they are no longer comfortable. The overall sound quality appears to have been diminished. So... that's that. As of today I am only 16, haven't had a job yet, so I've never had too much money to spend. I haven't listened to nearly as much music after the incident with my Senn’s. My computer speakers, well, aren't very good, I have to turn them up fairly loud to actually hear some energy in music and they get pretty fatiguing. I still listen to them sometimes, right now I am, somehow I’m able to stand them today. I actually used to have some pretty decent Klipsch speaker a long time ago, but sadly, they broke. Since then they've been replaced with these mediocre 5.1 Logitech speakers, which are just terrible for music :\ (I only use them in 2.1 mode now, btw). Sorry if I bored you with all the details, I just well, miss my music the way it used to be. I'm actually seriously considering being a music artist in the future, and I believe that audio quality and listening enjoyment are really important when it comes to music.
I know I registered here like two years ago, but this is only my second post here. Recently, I’ve been lurking here quite a bit, however. Consider this my intro to the forums 
Now, I’ll talk about the music I'm into. For the most part I listen to different kinds of electronic music. I'm really into the psychedelic stuff (but that's not all). Some artists I like are Shpongle, Infected Mushroom, Ott, and Benny Benassi. There is still a lot I haven’t heard. Once I get a decent set-up I’ll definitely try exploring other artists and genres. Perhaps I’ll give dubstep a try, as I haven’t listened to much of it.
From the research that I’ve done it seems like the Sennheiser HD 598s would suit me really well. I was actually going to buy them from Amazon, but the price hopped from $170 to 250, and that’s just ridiculous. I don’t understand why Amazon had to raise the price so much all of a sudden, they’re selling them at the MSRP now. Everywhere else I look they also sell for around 250, in order for me to get them the price needs to drop back down.
I am looking for open, circumaural headphones. Good soundstage is definitely important, and I want enjoyable but accurate bass. That’s all I really have to say as I am no expert yet. I would also like recommendations on what amp or DAC I should get. My overall budget for the whole set-up is $400, but it doesn’t have to go up that high.
So based on the kind of music I listen to and the kind of headphones I want, what-set up would work well for me?
Thank-you in advance, Head-fi’ers.
Edited by x1337x - 2/7/12 at 7:41pm
