Am I going sideways?

Most of your headphones are on the low-end of the spectrum, with the 598's slotted into the midrange. You seem to be going laterally already. And by what you're saying, you seem to want a balanced but musical headphone with a big soundstage. Usually headphones like that cost a pretty penny.

EDIT: Actually, reading that again, I'm a bit confused. You say you want something like a "concert hall", which would make me guess big soundstage, but then you say things sound too far away, and not intimate enough, which would make me guess small soundstage.

When you say sounding far away, do you mean soundstage or recessive frequencies? Meaning is the mental "room" the music is in too large, or are all the instruments in the mids (or some part of the frequency range) soft, while everything else is louder?

In my opinion that still didn't clarify much . . .

What about a used set of HD650's from the For Sale forum.   I bet you could find those for under $300 there,  I think I paid $300 for mine if I remember correctly.

Oh, for that you want the SR-225i or the DJ100. It feels like someone took a speaker and shoved it in your ears.

DJ100 is one of the few that felt like I was using an IEM. Sounds weird I know.

Sounds like what you need is a headphone with some forward mids and an engaging sound.

The Dj100 is one of the most fun headphones I own. Forward upper mids and a slight bass boost.

The trick is just to find the sound signature that does it for you. I think I'm addicted to the mids of the DJ100 and SR-225i.

One more to try is the AKG K601. It has more forward mids than the Q701 and is a little warmer too.

The KRKs have very engaging mids for me, but some find them bass light, which is just weird..They're not as fun to listen to as the 225i or Dj100 though.

Best of all, if the DJ100's don't do it for you, it's easy to return them. They're found easily at any Best Buy. I use mine with M50 pads. They're a perfect match for your E6 too.

Could try the HD-650 if you want a sound that's less airy than the HD-600/598..

It's hard to suggest since they now cost an arm and a leg.

It's soundstage on a normal amp (with stock cable) is much smaller than the 598/600.

Never found it that engaging, but it may be for you.

Mmmm...Grados are probably too bright for you.  You should check out he Beyer 770/880/990 lines.  My guess is that the 880/880 pro would be the place to start.

So you mean the mids are suppressed then . . . also if you want music that is 'up in your face' then you probably don't want headphones with a good sound stage.

Headphones with a good sound stage are meant to make it seem like your music is coming from outside of your head . . . what it sounds like you want is headphones that make the music sound in your head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

Oh, for that you want the SR-225i or the DJ100. It feels like someone took a speaker and shoved it in your ears.

 

Death by speaker? Sounds like a good way to go. ;)

I think you may like a pair of modded Fostex T50rp's with shure pads if you're willing to do a bit of work. I spent about $120 for the headphones, modding materials, and shipping. And if you have a good enough DAC/amp to go with them, they're nice. With them plugged into my Zune 30, classical sounds very similar to a live performance. They don't have sparkly highs, and are a tiny bit dark (which makes them almost fatigue-free), and aren't the most exciting things in the world, but it might be worth it to check them out as well if you know someone locally that has a modded pair.