Upgrading from IEM to full size headphones - advice needed

Hey Guys,

I'm looking to buy some full size, around the ear headphones. My budget is around $200. I will be primarily using these with my ipod (no amp) when I travel (I use my audioengine speakers if I'm at home). My major priority here is bass since I listen to a lot of hip hop, along with good noise isolation. That being said, I also listen to a fair amount of rock (My Morning Jacket, Phish, Pearl Jam, Guns N Roses) so I could still use a little clarity on my mids and highs. I really enjoyed my Klipsch S4s before they died from too much running in the rain. Before the Klipschs, I had the etymotic ER-6i, which sounded beautiful for classical but were a little too flat for my other musical tastes. I've noticed the Beats headphones everywhere and gave them a shot, but wasn't that impressed with the price-sound quality ratio. Do you guys have any recommendations.

Thanks,

N

I think semi-addicted would be a good way to put it. I checked out the HD25s and most people seem to think they're a little lacking in the bass dept--am I wrong on this one? After reading through a fair number of threads I was stuck between the Audio Technica A900 and the M50. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the M50s. Deciding was a little tricky because one person says the m50s are really balanced, the next guy says that the bass is too overbearing and the third says that there's no bass at all. I guess I'll have to trust my own ears and amazon's return policy (hopefully I won't have to use it though). I'll post again after I burn it in.

N

After about 20 hours of burn in (I know probably not enough, but patience has never been one of my virtues), I am feeling that the M50s don't have enough bass. Being a bit of a tone-whore with my guitar rig (Gibson LP custom, '82 Marshall JCM 800, all true bypass pedals, woman tone for days) it makes me a little ashamed to be dissatisfied with the M50s. Part of me knows that the sound quality of the M50s when I'm listening to Pink Floyd The Wall on FLAC should justify the purchase, but my inner basshead is begging for more oomph. So after reading a few more threads on this site, I've come up with a couple options that I'd love for you guys to weigh in on.

Here goes:

-Audio Technica Pro700 MKII- I'm leaning towards these since they seem to be pretty popular with the basshead crowd. Though I'm a little scared of how much mid/high tone I'm gonna sacrifice.

-HD-25: A few people have recommended this as the next step after the M50s, but I need to know if they can provide a significant jump in bass.

-Ultrasone 580s- I've seen a few that compare these with the Pro700s and it seems like they have a little less bass and a bit better mids/highs.

-XB500/700- as shallow as it sounds, these things are too damn ugly

DT770M- there does not seem to be a consensus on these cans, so its hard for me to form an opinion. Also I've heard that you need an amp to really have these guys shine, and I'm not gonna buy an amp just yet.

To give you guys an example of the bass songs I want to bounce around to:

or

N

Well it looks like I might be eating my words. I went ahead and bought the PRO700MKIIs and I decided to try some A/B testing between it and the M50. I had been burning in my M50s (now about 40 hours) and suddenly these things have come alive. The bass is deep and tight and the vocals are clean and crisp. I am really blown away right now. I went back and listened to all the songs I had originally tried out on the M50 and they sound incredible. It seems like that extra 20 hours of burn in really made a difference.

My initial impressions (0 hours burn in) of the PRO700MKII are not that great. First and foremost, these headphones are terribly uncomfortable (it perplexes me as to why Audio Technica didn't keep the same cup design as the M50). The cups are so shallow that my ears hit the speakers. I can't imagine wearing these for more than 30 minutes. There is a little more bass than my burned in M50s, but it isn't as tight. Also there is significantly less instrument separation than the M50s. In particular the vocals sound much less detailed than the M50s and the mids sort of run together with the bass. I'm going to burn in both headphones for another three days and compare again. I'll let you guys know what my final decision is.

N

What about the M50 do you find unbearable? Is it a comfort issue or a sound issue?