[themrdave]

Good evening, this is my first thread here, I'll try to not break any rule
I live in Italy, I'm 20 and I love music. Unluckily right now my budget is pretty limited, so after reading thousand of threads on the forum I decided to post mine.
My BG: I owned an Ipod touch 3rd gen, a nano, and 4/5 unknown random mp3 players. I have a bit lossless music on my pc, but I doubt I can listen to it the right way right now. I've owned some old sony headphones (can't recall the name but they get 4/5 on here, unluckily they broke, and the sound was a bit too dark), and random earphones, nothing special.
I love blues, jazz, and prog rock, but I'm unsure what would be the best kind of headphone for this kind of music.

Now I suppose the first thing I need is a nice pair of headphones (I actually like them more and earphone and in-ear ones, despite I'm aware of little inexpensive jewels like Xiaomi Piston and similar).
After those, I will eventually need a good dac/amp, maybe a portable one. Of course not all the headphones need that, I'm aware of that... I've read thousand of threads on this forum After this I'll probably need a good DAP, like the Ibasso, or the X3. But for the moment, I need some headphones My heart fell in love with:
-Grado sr60
-Grado sr80
-Alessandro ms1
I love their look and the reviews are positive, I know they're open headphones, so not totally suitable for portable use. The problem is, I can't find them in Europe for a decent price. The SR60 here in Italy cost more than 130$, I think that's a bit too much... I don't want to sound cheap, of course you have to pay the right amount of money for good objects, but as I said I'm a bit on the budget side!
I've heard something good about the Superlux HD668B, which I can find here for about 50$, but they don't look as tasty as the Grado ones. I've read about the Koss Porta Pro, but they're really ugly.
Now I just like to hear your opinion and suggestions, I know only a few things so feel free to criticize or rectify me. If you know any good European dedicated shop feel free to tell me.

Thank you for your patience

 

[billybob_jcv]

You aren't the first person to say that Grados are expensive in Europe. Grado is really not a very large company and I think they might not have a good worldwide distribution.

You seem to be picking headphones in large part on how they look. That's not how we usually do things around head-fi (google "jecklin float") - we usually concentrate first on sound, and the looks are an afterthought.

You might want to watch the head-fi buy/sell forum. There's often some good deals from European head-fiers looking to upgrade.

 

[themrdave]

Ahah I've seen them before, sorry if I looked picky on the aesthetic side, I just wanted to say that I really like the concept. I'll check the appropriate section, I asked for some tips first to have a wider spectrum of possibilites! Thank you

 

[KG Jag]

Grados are excellent for classic rock and electric blues.  They're good for jazz, provided you're OK with a smaller sound stage and a small jazz club sound.  They are also very easy to drive.  They are on ear and some have comfort issues with them.

 

[squee116]

I would say if you want something really great sounding, save your money.  I played the same game as you, working my way up the headphone ladder.  I didn't find anything spine tingling until I came across the PSB M4U1s (or the updated NADs).  I'm not sure what they go for in Italy, but I think they run sub 300 here.  If you get the chance, try them.
 
If you're looking for cheaper than that, I tried some Grados at a place back home, and they only had the cheaper models, but I was still impressed.  In that same price category, you may want to try some HD-25s, just as a reference for quality, inexpensive headphones.  Maybe the ATH-M50s but you seem to want to stay away from darker sounds.

 

[themrdave]

Thank you for the inputs. I thought about taking some headphones now because I actually need them, but I understand that sometimes starting with quality products may be the right choice. Ironically, I think it wouldn't be so hard to find bargains on the ATH-M50s, maybe because AT is more famous, but yes I'd be careful with those for the sound. Unluckily there isn't any shop around here where I can try them, and that's pretty sad. I think I'll try experimenting with something and try to improve my ear, which is probably not so refined atm (I tried some HD600 and Momentum and it looked to me that... they lacked some depth of sound? 

) 
 
Thank you for your time 

 

[squee116]

  Thank you for the inputs. I thought about taking some headphones now because I actually need them, but I understand that sometimes starting with quality products may be the right choice. Ironically, I think it wouldn't be so hard to find bargains on the ATH-M50s, maybe because AT is more famous, but yes I'd be careful with those for the sound. Unluckily there isn't any shop around here where I can try them, and that's pretty sad. I think I'll try experimenting with something and try to improve my ear, which is probably not so refined atm (I tried some HD600 and Momentum and it looked to me that... they lacked some depth of sound? 

) 
 
Thank you for your time 

The depth of sound comment makes some sense.  (kind of)
 
I haven't gotten to try the HD600, the Momentum's were actually pretty decent for the price, but both (from what I've read) tend to lack a bit in the bass department.  On the flipside, the HD600s should have a solid sound stage, and handle the mids and highs well(for the price). 

 

[KG Jag]

  Thank you for the inputs. I thought about taking some headphones now because I actually need them, but I understand that sometimes starting with quality products may be the right choice. Ironically, I think it wouldn't be so hard to find bargains on the ATH-M50s, maybe because AT is more famous, but yes I'd be careful with those for the sound. Unluckily there isn't any shop around here where I can try them, and that's pretty sad. I think I'll try experimenting with something and try to improve my ear, which is probably not so refined atm (I tried some HD600 and Momentum and it looked to me that... they lacked some depth of sound? 

) 
 
Thank you for your time 

 
Did you have a proper headphone amp when you tried the HD 600?  They require one.  If properly amped and given a quality audio source, this is what you should have heard:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared-update-audeze-lcd-2-revision-2-6-4-13#user_HD600
 
The Momentum, on the other hand, is designed to play from low power portable equipment.  It is warm--a bit more bass emphasis than neutral.
 
The M50 has a "V" shaped sound signature with recessed mids (where guitars and vocals live) and enhanced treble and bass.

 

[themrdave]

I tried them unamped, which probably gave me a wrong impression, didn't think about that. I got what you mean with "V" shaped only now, I never used that terminology but it's pretty self-explanatory, fascinating I think that many Sony 'commercial' headphones are V shaped aswell? Again, thank you for the hint.

 

[KG Jag]

  I tried them unamped, which probably gave me a wrong impression, didn't think about that. I got what you mean with "V" shaped only now, I never used that terminology but it's pretty self-explanatory, fascinating I think that many Sony 'commercial' headphones are V shaped aswell? Again, thank you for the hint.

 
Sony studio cans tend to stay very close to neutral.  They need to be so in order to accomplish their purpose in a professional studio. The MDR 7520 is very extended and about as close to dead neutral as you will find.

 

[themrdave]

I've learned something new