Need help picking first good headphones

TBH I'd spend a few more notes and get the Senn 595's as your first cans, can't go wrong with these really mate :)

For about $75 you can get the excellent in their class Sony MDRZX700.  See:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sony-mdr-zx700

I personally find Sony too "Mainstream" to consider any of their cans for being a candidate for first "good" headphones, I would second the opinion of the HD 595 but say rather the HD555 is closer to your price range and can be easily modified to bring the sound directly in line with the 595 ( google it) .

I would suggest saving until you can afford between 100 - 120 $ shipped, it just brings you from okay low-fi to entry level mid-fi . 

Not to plug one vendor or anything but I find thomann serves the $50-250 dollar price point amazingly well, have a look at some of their cans in your price range and google reviews on em

http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=studio_headphones&oa=pra

You indicated dollars so thomann is very likely not a good seller for you , but its selection and prices are indicative of what you can get for your money

Quote:

Originally Posted by TearABee 

So far I've gathered up two headphones I think would work for me nicely: the Sony MDR-7X700 or the Sony MDR-V6. Both seem to get good reviews, and both are in my price range. If anyone has both which do you prefer? Again thanks a TON.

I think the V6 isn't any good with classical. V6 mushes the instruments together and tends to make them sound like one instrument playing at a time. It's alright with separating just a few instruments. In my opinion the best genre on the V6 is Rock and Electronic. It's a little harsh and aggressive and the drums have a good punch. V6's leak almost no sound at all. It works fine without an amp on my computer but I don't use it with my iPod touch 2G since it sounds absolutely horrible on it. It's just plain thin and harsh on my iPod.

Guys, why in the world are you suggesting any HD5xx-series headphone? The OP wanted Something closed, something that was good with rock, and something with a short cable. The HD5xx meets absolutely none of those requirements.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TearABee 

I'm hesitant to pick open back headphones because I'm not sure exactly how much sound will leak through. As I like to go to the library a lot. Are they like speakers on your head? How far away does someone have to be to hear them? Thanks for so many responses!

It would be like having laptop speakers on low volume pretty much. Not too great for a library unless you listened at a quiet volume.

At a decently loud volume you can hear them from a separate room easily.

Under $70?

If you have a local Best Buy they may still have Sennheiser HD428S on display/clearance.  I got a pair the other day for $65 and for the price I'm actually pretty impressed with them for a sealed can (using them to take a break from IEM's).

If you can take a portable player with you, you can usually unplug them from the bottom of the display assuming they aren't already, plug them in, and give them a run (just make sure to plug them back in when done).

Do consider the Sennheiser HD439, i feel that they suit your tastes. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssrock64 

Guys, why in the world are you suggesting any HD5xx-series headphone? The OP wanted Something closed, something that was good with rock, and something with a short cable. The HD5xx meets absolutely none of those requirements.

+1  I'm continually amazed at how people increasingly just don't read OPs' posts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrenpchi 

 

+1  I'm continually amazed at how people increasingly just don't read OPs' posts.

I don't go on a lot of recommendation threads nowadays, but about 20-30% of the time I do somebody's starting to be mislead.