I just joined Head-Fi, having been a lurker for the past few months, and am looking to buy my first set of "audiophile/good" headphones. My budget is around $250-300 or less. I am going to be using an iphone 3GS and an iPod touch 3rd gen with the standard iTunes mp3 files. I generally listen to many different genres of music, including rock, electronic/dubstep, pop, and sometimes rap. I want a mostly portable setup, and do not want an amp, but will get one if needed. I want something that is good all-around, but will go with good recommendations for my genres/source(s). Also, a pretty big requirement is comfort, as I will be using these for pretty long periods of time. I will be using them at home and in public, so I would like a closed pair of headphones, but will get an open pair if they are good enough.
I own, and have listened to a few pairs of headphones, most of them are alright in terms of SQ(for me anyways), so here they are:
-My dad's Bose QC15s (alright SQ wise, but great noise canceling technology(not a top priority for me))
-My Astro A40s + Mixamp(clearest headphones I've heard, but I haven't heard much)
-My brothers fake beats studios(pretty crappy, too much bass, very muddy)
I am looking for something with better SQ overall than those headphones.
At the moment I am considering the Audio Technica ATH M50s and the Fiio E11 portable amp+ the Fiio L1. I will take into consideration any and all recommendations.
On a bit of a side note, I am constantly telling one of my non-audiophile friends (who apparently spent $2 including shipping on a pair of earbuds) that when I get a good pair of cans I will show him what he is missing, so I would like it if the headphones I get would be able to do just that (Sorry if that didnt make much sense.).
EDIT: I have, after extensive research, come up with 2 new choices, either the Beyer DT770 (Probably 80 ohms, but if any of the other versions offer "better" SQ, I'll go with one of those) along with either the fiio e11 or the e17, or the Denon D2K's, probably along with the e11's as well. Any thoughts/recommendations on this are welcome.
I own, and have listened to a few pairs of headphones, most of them are alright in terms of SQ(for me anyways), so here they are:
-My dad's Bose QC15s (alright SQ wise, but great noise canceling technology(not a top priority for me))
-My Astro A40s + Mixamp(clearest headphones I've heard, but I haven't heard much)
-My brothers fake beats studios(pretty crappy, too much bass, very muddy)
I am looking for something with better SQ overall than those headphones.
On a bit of a side note, I am constantly telling one of my non-audiophile friends (who apparently spent $2 including shipping on a pair of earbuds) that when I get a good pair of cans I will show him what he is missing, so I would like it if the headphones I get would be able to do just that (Sorry if that didnt make much sense.).
EDIT: I have, after extensive research, come up with 2 new choices, either the Beyer DT770 (Probably 80 ohms, but if any of the other versions offer "better" SQ, I'll go with one of those) along with either the fiio e11 or the e17, or the Denon D2K's, probably along with the e11's as well. Any thoughts/recommendations on this are welcome.