KEF M500 Hi-Fi On-Ear Headphones, Aluminum/Black

Initial impressions:
Wow. These are some good-looking, simple, minimalist, headphones. They feel sturdy and light thanks to good choices in material and they've definitely turned some heads as I wear them around campus. Also, these are hands-down the most comfortable on-ear headphones in history.
 
Aesthetics:
This is one of the best parts of the headphones. They look sleek and modern. Minimalist and humble yet definitely premium looking. The body is constructed entirely from leather and aluminum which immediately helps them look different from most.
 
Build Quality:
Excellent. Simple construction of aluminum and leather helps keep things sturdy. They have a unique hinge design which seems to put minimal stress on the wire which is also a big plus. Overall, assuming you don't abuse the headphones, they should last you an eternity.
 
Sound Quality:
Very good. The first thing you'll notice about the sound is that it doesn't sound like headphones. It sounds like you're wearing a pair of KEF speakers on your ears (likely because you're wearing a portable pair of KEF speakers). Once you're used to the interesting voicing, you'll note their fairly neutral with a slightly dark slant. Everything is very powerful and punchy, the bass extends very deep without ever getting muddy and the highs are always crisp. On top of this, they don't fall apart at higher volumes, everything coming together to make these a very impressive sounding pair of cans.  
Sound Signature:
Mostly neutral with a somewhat dark slant. No dramatic rolloffs anywhere with great extension in both directions.
Graph below:

 
Overall:
Awesome headphones, awesome sound, awesome look.

I bought these cans, based on positive reviews, and, honestly, because of it´s appearance. Simply beautiful. I know it shouldn´t be that important, but of course i tested it briefly too, before i paid for it. First, looks and comfort. As i mentioned, these phones are just beautiful, perfectly engineered, simply a joy to look at them. The earpads are extremely comfortable, soft, the leather just caresses your ears... After roughly 35-40 hours of listen, here are my thouhts. This is pure HIFI, just something what you expect from such a company like KEF. I´m using an Fiio X3, and an X3 2gen, with uncompressed FLAC, different genres, from electronic (Black Dog, The Chemical Brothers) to jazz (Brian Bromberg, Bugge Wesseltoft), rock, metal (Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, etc...), blues, acoustic, everything. Well, if you like really linear presentation, with sweet mids, lots of details, and great dymamics (i love the sound of the snare drum), and you are looking for some really comfortable cans, definitely should give these a try. Listening to Brian Bromberg´s album Wood II, you can just "feel" the music, the strings, the presence of the instruments. Such a great experience. No distortion at all, nowhere. I even tested it with full volume, high gain, with a crazy techno track (Trachno from DKaos), i could hardly keep them on my ears, but still i haven´t heard any rattle, grain, whatever. Amazing.On the other hand, if you like really deep, punchy bass, look elsewhere. KEF M500 isn´t for bassheads, I would recommend them if you are listening to mainly jazz, blues, classical,vocal music, metal or electronic isn´t something for these headphones. And, importantly, if you have some low quality, flat sounding recordings on your DAP; you´re gonna hate these phones, as they will sound flat too. Finally, about the price tag... Well, i paid 200 bucks for them, considering the sound and the looks, it was a pretty sweet deal. I´ve seen them on eBay for 300, but for that much, I´m not sure. Ohh, before i forget, i have to mention a really weird issue, originated from the design. I´m a tattoo artist, wearing a pretty big metal piercing ring in both of my ears. (Roughly 1.5 inch diameter).  During walking, the rings are moving, and keep touching, scratching on the alu frame, causing a very annoying noise on lower volumes.

For some reason, the Kef store in NZ decided to have a sale on this and I could not help myself.
 
I was doing my research between this or Sennheiser Momentums. They were around the same price but the Momentums appeared to be more popular.  
 
My main reason for buying this was design since Kef is already known to make good audio equipment. M not big into the whole sound quality thing but this does sound good. It's well balanced for my ear and so comfortable.
 
Listening to songs makes sense now..