Street cred with hipsters and overears, $500? - Page 2

Any model by FannyWang

Headroom just got a shipment of Denon D-2000, $299.00, they should fill-the-bill.

I'd have to say that grado's are the ultimate hipster can, but leakage is an issue. If you like the look of two giant plastic hamburgers on each side of your head I guess you could go for the denons.  Personally though I'd recommend some HD25-1 II's. Any of those hipsters with hi-fi experience would appreciate the choice.

I do love the look of my HD25s. However, they may get uncomfortable after an hour or two.

^^^Restrained myself from posting that earlier. 

 

But yeah, I think Grado is quintessentially hipster.  Since isolation is a requirement, however, perhaps stick with wood cups?  Something from Headphile would turn some heads.  Soundstage size is good, but they're heavily colored.   

The QC15 really aren't as bad as many would have you believe - they're one of the better *sealed* headphones out there (note the emphasis). Between the comfort and the ANC, they would not make bad office cans. They do eat batteries though.

The RS-2/RS-1 was the first thing I thought of when you said "hipsters," but they will leak like a sieve. So that's likely a no-go. Those Panasonics in the demotiv aren't terribly expensive; no idea what they sound like though.

Otherwise you might consider the Beyer DT48, they look "edgy" and "retro" (and they should - they've been in production since 1937), although I have no idea if they sound any good. There's also a few models from Koss that have a similar "vintage" look. Finally you might look at the various woodies from AT, Denon, and Fischer to see if anything grabs you (the Denon AH-A100 probably would've been perfect, but they're out of production).

So we should all just go with what the majority thinks? No thanks. I will recommend what I want..and I will do it in good conscience. At least I offered help and didn't just talk about how bad someone elses recommendation was.

The new PSB's ( 3 options on em, Normal, amped and noise cancellation to shut out their incessant inconsequential whinings )   Sound seems great. A possibility.

Some of the Ultrasones? A few cool options ( my  sones sound great ) Metallic ones, and the ultra hip brownish HFI 2200 ( too bad the 2200's are open backed for you )

Akg K141's, K240's nice shiny bits with excellent sound ? Not sure about leakage within a certain proximity though.

 You should be able to get the best of both worlds, but who's to say what's "hip looking" or not.

Edited by nick n - 7/1/12 at 1:09am

Actually, now that I've put some thought into this (I'm kind of...attracted to the hipster type), the Fostex T50RP with its steampunkish looks wouldn't be that bad of a choice. Thunderpants (wooden T50RP's) might take it further. Other than that, there's not much that I can think of. The K550 I suggested earlier would still be a pretty good choice since they look minimalistic, matte, and well, not very mainstream (Beats). Grados would have been perfect, but they're open.

So basically it needs to have maximum wood and/or metal, and minimum plastic unless it's a very vibrant colour. There's some good options with that.

TMA-1 for looks IMO, but not the best in SQ at $200. Bit too veiled. And IMO the soundstage is eh, but its better than the HD25-ii's soundstage by a bit.

 

HD25-ii for a more studio / professional look. Better SQ than TMA-1 at the cost of looks and soundstage, IMO.

 

Beyerdynamic DT770 Consumer Edition / T70 / T70P (honestly I love the look of Beyers. On my head, not so much, but they look nice off my head :). And they're insanely comfortable. Not sure on the SQ of the last two, out of my budget. The soundstage of the DT770 Consumer was often compared to open headphones).

 

House of Marley's Exodus. Not really much to say about the hipster look.. Bob Marley. Inner Fidelity liked them, but apparently it has a lot of problems with its quality control / build quality.

 

Isolation for the HD25-ii is insane, but I'm pretty sure really none of these will leak, and if you have a quiet environment they'll all be fine. Not entirely sure about the Exodus, but the DT770s isolation is probably a few points below the HD25-ii. If the HD25-ii were a 10, the DT770 would probably be about 6~7.

 

I would personally go with the T70 / T70p if the reviews are good. I love the look and I love how comfortable beyerdynamics are.

 

I have no idea about articulation.

Edited by AyeVeeN - 7/1/12 at 4:47pm

Did you says vibrant color?

How about the B&W p5, beats for hipsters?