I bought my first non-headset headphones about 4 months ago, after reading the guides on this forum I went with the ATH-AD900X and they have been pretty good for my needs. I want to buy my second pair now and I'd like a few suggestions.
 
I've had a few small issues with the AD900X:
 
1) They don't fit my head very well, the headband barely rests on my head and they tend to slide down after a while.

2) Bass. I don't listen to beat music so I didn't want a bass heavy headphone, but there is less bass in the AD900X than my previous cheapo headsets.

So for my second pair of high end headphones I'd like something with a little more bass but nothing over the top and a headband that actually fits snug on my head.
 
$300 is my max budget, on ear or over ear are both fine.

Maybe consider the HD558? It may seem a downgrade in price but it's actually an excellent all-rounder with the extra criteria you're looking for.
 
Have you also tried doing the rubber band mod on your AD900X?

Haven't tried the rubber band mod, but I'd like to buy another pair anyway for the improved bass and for another frame of reference.

Right on, I find the HD5x8 series to be comfortable enough to wear for days straight, but they do take a day or two to loosen the out-of-box clamping force.
 
Fidelio L2 also comes to mind, but the headband may not have enough padding for all day wear.

Im a serious metalhead and have owned several headphones over the years.
I cant say that one headphone i own/owned will rock all of the above requirements.

I use Fidelio X1 for gaming.I use ATH AD2000 for metal.I use HiFiMan HE-500 for classic rock.I use Alessandro MS2e for rock and metal to mix it up a bit.

If I were to choose one to keep of all of them it would be either HE-500 or AD2000,and since the latter is very hard to find,and is quite amp picky I would suggest something in the HiFiMan line....perhaps the new Massdrop collaboration?

 

I would recommend a pair of HiFiman HE-400s.  New they are 299, on the hifiman website you can pickup a set of refurbished for 249 http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/he400s-399.html
 
I started years with the complete gammit of headsets from sound blaster, Plantronics, steel series then I switched to razer megladon.  I made the switch the other month and picked up a set of used HiFiman he-300's.  they sounded great but had a little bit too much clamp for me.  I picked up a set of used (less than 10 hours) he-400s and I put about 40 hours on them already by myself and the sound stage has opened up a little bit.  the book recommends something like 150 or so hours for break in.  All I can tell you is the he-400s with my new SMSL m8 dac has increased my space-ial awareness in games, I can now hear directly behind me and tell which side someone is walking up on me in BF4, I was not able to notice this with any of my USB gaming headsets and the separation is amazing. 
 
Mini review of the He-400s
 
The pads are super comfy and have a nice feel and a non fatiguing clamp on the head.  The headband is a split design with a leather strap that contours to your domepiece.  The wire is a nice braded cable that does not have any noticeable echo or harmonics in the headset when it rubs together (the he-300's with the silver platic cover cable would do it whenever I moved in my chair.  The sound has clean highs and warm but not bright mids and calm lows.  They are pleasant to listen to with music, and with gaming they are fantastic. 
 
I would highly recommend a set especially for the price! 
 
What DAC are you running?  I switched from my FIIO e17 alpen to the SMSL m8, the biggest thing I noticed was the space-ial awareness.  The FIIo would work ok but footsteps directly behind me say within 1 or 2 feet would not be picked up, with the M8 I feel like I can hear 360 around me. 
 
I hope this helps and please shoot me a pm with any questions.  And good luck, you are in for a treat!

luxer said:

  I bought my first non-headset headphones about 4 months ago, after reading the guides on this forum I went with the ATH-AD900X and they have been pretty good for my needs. I want to buy my second pair now and I'd like a few suggestions.
I've had a few small issues with the AD900X:
1) They don't fit my head very well, the headband barely rests on my head and they tend to slide down after a while.
2) Bass. I don't listen to beat music so I didn't want a bass heavy headphone, but there is less bass in the AD900X than my previous cheapo headsets.
So for my second pair of high end headphones I'd like something with a little more bass but nothing over the top and a headband that actually fits snug on my head.
$300 is my max budget, on ear or over ear are both fine.

Click to expand...

 
With the AD900X, hold the wings way down and put something between (maybe several books) them, to hold them down, do that overnight, maybe for a few nights.
It should change the memory of the springs that control the wings, hopefully the wings will then hold the headphones up better.
Also get the Hifiman HE Velour ears pads
http://www.acgears.com/hifiman-he-series-earpads-conf.html
They are slightly smaller diameter wise (like 2 or 3 millimeters) then the stock AD900X ear pads, but with a little work, you can get then to fit on the cups.
They will make the headphones have a tighter grip on the head, so the headphone will not slide down as easily.
 
Check out the Soundmagic HP200 headphones, might offer enough bass for you.

Also I would look at the beyerdynamic DT990 premium.  Comfy and have nice base and the sound for rock is excellent.

Funny, I'm looking for pretty much exactly the same but with a budget of $500 ~ $600. It seems like the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 PRO might be the way to go, but I'm not 100% sure yet. I wish they were lighter, but that's not a big deal.

In addition to DT990 and Soundmagic HP200, I would suggest looking into AKG K7XX and Philips X2.