Okay, great! Thank you very much for your input, I'll try to find a place in Queensland, Australia where I can demo both haha!

when i say "punchy" bass, i want to be able to feel it making its crisp presence known, but not feel it overtaking the rest of the layers that exist in the wide soundstage, if that makes sense

Quote:   interesting response, and i thank you for taking time out to write that! I'm not sure whether you'll be able to answer this question, but my shortlist has now become:   KH-K1000 K701 (or even 702) HE-400 germanMAESTRO gmp 8.35 d (another that has come up today as a...

my neck is ready... haha. Thanks very much for your input Scyy... all of my reading today is definitely leading me down the he-400 path  

True... just read TMRaven's review of the HE-400 (http://www.head-fi.org/t/605929/review-comparison-he-400-vs-d2000-with-snippets-of-hd650-thrown-in). Combined with a few other tidbits read here and there, Sennheiser 650 is now off the table...   Now if the HE-400 just had the same bass...

Quote: I've read about the 'veil' that can be heard, and the fact that the headphone needs some seriously good amping to get the most out of it (around the $400/500 amp price range)... would you please be able to shed some light on whether this is true or not?

Hello!   Firstly, let me just say what a great community we've got here! I have been doing research for the past week about what kind of headphone is right for me, and Head-Fi has always provided me with the best insight! I've read so much stuff about each of the headphones I am about to...