We've all been there: "Those were $500? They look like they were 50 dollars". Some headphones perform really well and are some serious cash, but they just don't look the part.
In your opinion, which headphones look the most expensive/impressive with no mention of the price. (They can even be cheap headphones as long as they look expensive.)
In my personal opinion, the old Denon/new Fostex line look really premium and tend to look their price.
To me, so far the Audio Technica ATH-M50x look/are the best headphones in my consideration to buy a new pair of headphones regardless of price, but I’m still searching for other options for the perfect headphone for my needs.
These are my reasons to buy the M50x:
1-) Specs (15-28,000 Hz, 38 Ohms vs. 10-39,000 Hz, 300 Ohms of very expensive ones. Good enough to reveal all spectrum of a good recording)
2-) Portability (most expensive headphones are very hard to handle, cannot be used with small players, computers without using a more expensive device, etc)
3-) Easy to drive (most expensive Headphones require a better cable and expensive amplifier)
4-) Comfortability to wear (very light weight vs. HIFIMAN HE500 over a pound)
5-) Discreet (Not disturbing others. It is the whole reason to listen to headphones otherwise I’d listen to my stereo. Open headphones leak the sound. That’s why some people consider the HD800 horrible; it’s like having two regular speakers hanging on your ears)
6-) Easy to carry (HD650, HD800, Hifiman HE500, AGK K812 very hard to handle)
7-) Easy to identify right & left channels (some expensive headphones sometimes you even get the channels mixed if you are not very careful when putting them on your head)
I guess 96khz/24-Bit and 192Khz/24-Bit recordings would sound amazing with these headphones already. Now the regular red book 44khz/16-Bit will sound bright, dry, thin and edgy with any headphone. Pure waste of money.