[HzArduous]

Hello Head-Fi, my first post here and sadly a question is all I have to share with you. Please forgive me for that and try to help if you can.
 
 
I know the options I am giving are totally contradicting. The MS1 being all open supra-aural and PX 360 being closed circumaural. But open, close, supra, circum is not important to me as long as comfort is not an issue. I want to get the best possible headphones that my money can buy, which is $150.
 
 
I can get

1. PX 360 for $150
2. MS1 for $130
3. Any brand other than Sennheiser is not worth here as the price nearly doubles up with the custom, shipping etc.

 
 
I want my cans to be

1. somewhat portable (folds flat so I can store them in a backpack)
2. of good build quality
3. enjoyable. I don't care about bass amount. If its tight thats good enough for me.
4. having decent soundscape. I mean I dont want gaming level precision but good instrument separation would be great.
5. Isolation is no issue but leakage might be (work)

 
 
I mostly listen to rock, metal, country. And my sources are desktop with SoundMax audio card and iPod touch 4G (might add a E7 later)
 
Any feedback offered would be deeply appreciated.
 
Thanks

 

[Ikelmonster]

Hey, and welcome. Short but sweet answer - while comfort is initially an issue (they get better over time), for the music you listen to and the fact that you want to drive these without an amp, I would recommend the MS-1. I have the sr60i's right now which are very similar to the ms-1 and they are absolutely great for rock. Isolation is an issue with these as they are open back, however you will have a leakage issue with any open back headphone. build quality is top notch, and they are fairly transportable. I haven't tried any other of the phones you mentioned, but I would have to say I love the grado sound for rock and many, many others here do too

 

[sidel]

Quote:

however you will have a leakage issue with any open back headphone.
 

A million times this, but especially so in this case. I had never imagined a headphone so [relatively] small could leak so much sound until I bought a pair of grados.  I would never use them in an environment where quiet is appreciated.  The build quality is quirky at best,  but the design is simple and clean.

 

[HzArduous]

Thanks for your input. I also think that I'm going to like the MS1. But I've never heard any Gadros before and from what I've read here the lower end grados don't have much soundstage, most people describe them as "on face". On the other hand PX 360 reviews says even though closed back they have real good soundstage. I've once had the hd 25-1 for a day or two and I did liked them. Can someone please tell me which one of my options tend to be more like hd 25-1 ?