[Lan647]

Hi people. I want to get a new portable headphone that isolates very well, doesn't look crazy (I don't care much for design, but I hate to attract attention) and has a very good all-round sound that's easy to listen to. They will be driven by a Samsung Galaxy Nexus which I think performs very good, surprisingly good in fact. The powerful amp can drive the Sennheiser HD 800 just fine. May get a GS3 in the future for the wolfson DAC and Voodoo sound but right now the Nexus is what's going. I will not purchase an external amp (for now at least) as it would be impractical for me.

I know good sound, have heard pretty much every significant high-end headphone and my preferences lie with the more relaxed sound (STAX, Audez'e, Sennheiser rather than Ultrasone or Grado) 

These are my options I think: 

Sennheiser HD 25 - heard these, like them a lot. Maybe a tad sharp sounding for my tastes, which I fear could produce fatigue. Fairly comfortable, love the indestructible chassis. 

Sennheiser Amperior - Supposedly more refined than the HD 25, is it worth the price increase? 

Beyerdynamic DT 1350 - Have tried to listen to these, but no stores in Sweden have them. They are supposed to have a very deep bass extension with nice, spotlit, rich mids. Sounds very promising.

Shure SE535 - Will try to listen to these, measurements seem absolutely excellent. Very interested. 

Audio Technica ATH-M50 - listened to these once, can't really remember if they are on par with the HD 25. Quite big, relaxed sound with some bass emphasis I recall. May be to bass heavy for long-term use but I don't know. 

Focal Spirit One - I HATE the Focal signature sound, but I hear these are to the warmer side. 

V-moda M80. Not a huge fan of the design, but I hear these are good all-rounders. Will have to order from another country. 

So, what do you think? 

Let the fight begin! 
 

 

[ZARIM]

The M80 are amazing for the price, very detailed mids, highs and bass is punchier, deeper with wide soundstage.

 

[FlatNine]

For IEM's, the Klipsch X10's isolate well, have a very low profile design, are extremely comfortable, and sound great! I have owned many IEM's, including Westone 4R's, but prefer the Klipsch X10's overall.

 

[Lorspeaker]

if u like the mellower soundsig...i would strike out the 1350 and the spirit one. 
 
i like the bodacious beefy sound of the 535,,,but thats an iem.
 
if u dun mind the size of the philips uptown, give it a listen, its euphonic intoxicating when it comes to vocals..
jazz n pop ..excellent. its not foldable, but its v light and hardy..i hav thrown it into my napsack a fewtimes into town..no issues.
 
i havent heard the downtown...hmmm..

 

[Lan647]

Looks good, those X10s! Ill look more into em

 

[Lan647]

To little activity here... what happened? 
 

 

[Focker]

I have really come to love the DT1350s...they weren't really on my radar until Tyll at Inner Fidelity sang their praises, so I picked up a pair to take to work. I've been  using them far more than I ever thought I would, as they're excellent headphones. The ear cups keep my head very cool, the clamp is just right, and the carrying case makes them easily portable. The bass extension is fantastic and the overall sound does justice to every genre I've thrown at it so far. You have lots of great options to choose from, but I'll throw out a vote for these little guys. 

 

[planx]

All of them are excellent headphones and IEMs. I find it hard to go wrong with any of them

 

[Lan647]

Think I'll go for the DT1350 if i dont decide to wait a couple of months to try out the se535 in stores.

 

[Lorspeaker]

 gudlark with the dt1350

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Think I'll go for the DT1350 if i dont decide to wait a couple of months to try out the se535 in stores.

 
If you do decide to wait, you may want to keep the Amperiors on your radar once the price drops. I'm not sure if you've been checking out the Amperior thread, but apparently the Apple Store has exclusivity on them for another month or two. Once they hit mass market they'll likely drop below MSRP. Several of the reviews I've read on here indicated that the users returned them since they sounded very close to the HD25s, but once they drop down a bit they might be a more attractive purchase. As much as Tyll loved the 1350s, he loved the Amperiors even more, which is why I've targeted them for my 2nd pair of portables. I have heard they aren't a HUGE improvement over the HD25s, and even Sennheiser is on record saying they wanted to maintain the HD25's sound signature with just a tad more refinement. So since you said you weren't really in love with the hd25s they might not impress you enough to buy. If you want portables with a very extended, but not over-emphasized low end, and a neutral sound signature, I really would be surprised if you didn't like the 1350s. Until the Amperiors came along, Tyll called them the "best closed supra-aurals" he'd ever heard and preferred them by a significant margin over the HD25s. 
 
Totally agree with Planx, though...you're going to be in good shape with just about any of the top contenders you're considering. 

 

[Lan647]

Cool  

Are the DT1350s similar in sound signature to the T1? I really like the T1 except for that top end peak. 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Cool  

Are the DT1350s similar in sound signature to the T1? I really like the T1 except for that top end peak. 

 
To my ears, they are more like the T1s than they are the DT880s, which I had previously. I haven't seen a FR on them, but I don't notice any peak at all. They seem to be very neutral from what I've experienced and I can listen to them for hours. Dollar for dollar, I like them slightly better than the T1s...and I like the T1s a lot. My favorite cans at the $300 mark had been my Grado 325s, but I would rank the 1350s above them right now if I had to make a choice. 

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

 
To my ears, they are more like the T1s than they are the DT880s, which I had previously. I haven't seen a FR on them, but I don't notice any peak at all. They seem to be very neutral from what I've experienced and I can listen to them for hours. Dollar for dollar, I like them slightly better than the T1s...and I like the T1s a lot. My favorite cans at the $300 mark had been my Grado 325s, but I would rank the 1350s above them right now if I had to make a choice. 

 
Cool. What I really like about the T1 is the accuracy combined with the musicality and the spot-on midrange tonality. Are these somewhat present in the DT1350?

 

[Lan647]

Another contender is the Bowers & Wilkins P5. I understand these have a warm, relaxed sound with some bass emphasis. I kinda like a little extra bass bloom on the move, so maybe these will fit? Or are they not in the same league as the others above? 

I can listen to following ones here in Sweden: 

P5
M50 (though heard already) 
HD25 (my friend owns one, and again heard before)
Shure SE535.

Which means I can't listen to the DT1350, V-moda M80, Klipsch X10, Amperior and Focals. 
 
So I'll have to trust you people!