I used to own a pair of the 848 that I bought back in '95 or '96. I liked them a lot -- very good sound, I thought, for an earbud, esp. from a portable jack. I've used numerous earbuds, including the Senns (own mx-5 and MX-500), and all up and down Sony's line from the freebies up to the 888s...

I've experimented quite a bit with Monster, due to the ease of finding them. IL-400 is not bad; I actually kind of preferred the Interlink CD -- very smooth, more transparent sounding cable than the IL-400. M-850 is very lush and warm sounding, but appears to obscure some high-frequency detail...

Sound by Singer can be a little snobby, depending on who you deal with, though they are generally friendly enough. But their headphone setup is much better than many places (only Grado, though); last time I was there, they had an Arcam CD player set up, dedicated, with a Musical Fidelity X-Cans...

I find it odd that no one yet has criticized the recording -- on almost every system, headphone and speaker, that I have heard both "The Violin Player" and "Storm" on, the sound, particularly from the violin, is flat and lifeless, and (oooh, I'll say it) "veiled." IMHO, the sound quality on...

I really like the WireWorld line, and have had excellent results with the Equinox III+ (now in series V) in my system. I tend to prefer the sound of the Equinox to my (more expensive) Polaris III+ cables in my system. The Polaris is a little more detailed, flashy sounding cable, but just doesn't...

I'm very fond of the Dynaudio line -- not sure what your price point is, but the Audience 52 is very nice at a little under $1000. I haven't heard the new Contour line, but the older 1.3 mkII was also a very, very nice sounding speaker. Only real problem is the Dyn drivers' low efficiency...

Anyone with any thoughts?

This is something that I have been interested in as well; the umbilica is quite whimpy for such a massive (comparatively) power supply. Also, I would like a dc plug that actually fits the socket input on the back of the unit perfectly, unlike the stock interface.

Actually, there is a difference between the output jacks. One jack has higher impedance than the other (the actual impedance depends on which version, A or B of the amp you have). I don't remember right now which is the higher impedance jack. Using the "wrong" jack won't damage the phones. I...

I agree with the Sony V6 idea, though the Sony CD3000 isn't a bad "low volume" phone either. I also thought that the AT W1000 was better at lower volumes than at higher volumes. In any case, you may want to go with a closed 'phone because the isolation will allow you to listen at a lower volume...

Re: Comfort, I find my HD600s very comfortable, in virtually all listening positions. My CD3000s, on the other hand, are quite comfortable when sitting/standing upright, but their weight, coupled with their lighter contact pressure, means that they shift around considerably if you decide to lie...

I love my Senn 600s with Radiohead, esp. the more recent stuff (from Kid A through hail to the Thief -- I have also listened to OK Computer on the headphones, but not recently, and I don't think I've ever listened to The Bends on my home headphone setup). The Senn's apparent ability to make...

All the reviews of the HD-650 so far make it sound like the "new" Senn sound is very similar to the "old" -- I'm speaking of the HD-565, a very fine phone, indeed!

My 2 cents: I own both the CD3000 and the HD600. If no one else is in the room and there are no loud noises outside, I prefer the HD600 every time, hands down. The CD3000 is also a very good phone, and I reach for it when others are in the room with me, but the sound from the Senns just does...

I have not heard either in a direct comparison to M850i in my system. I believe that the M550i is essentially the same as the Interlink 400, but with improved cosmetics; the M950i is very similar to, of not the same as, both the Interlink Reference and the Z-100. I have heard both the M850i and...