I have not listened to the HM5s, or the other headphones that the OP mentioned. On the budget side, however, I would recommend the Sony MDR-V6. It's fairly neutral while still having decent bass presence, and it is easily driven by pretty much anything. If you can stretch your budget a bit more...

The KSC-75 are the best that I have heard around that price...

Subscribed! :)

I would recommend the O2 amp paired with a Behringer UCA-202 as the dac. Both are great pieces for the price. Best of luck and and enjoy your 650s!

The only person able to decide if anything is worth it to you is yourself. However, I would recommend you hear some other pairs of decent headphones before you write them all off. I, personally was not a fan of the HE-400. I felt as though their integration between the mids and treble was off...

I have owned the little dot in the past, and I use an O2 now. I didn't have them at the same time, so no direct comparisons, but.... In short, they sound different. The little dot will smooth things over a little, sound warmer, and to me seemed to add a mid bass hump. (Due to output Z?) Also...

For the 701s & HE400s the gain should be set to low (3 or 4).

I have the M50s and HFI-780s, and I honestly prefer the M50s. With most musical Genres the treble on the ultrasones is a bit harsh for my taste....

Yep! Spice and Wolf it is! :D

I would look into the O2. I love mine...

The HD-800 for me, easily....

I agree that low output impedance is important , but, as pointed out above by TMRaven, many portable players have a low output impedance. Also, how high is acceptable depends a lot on the impedance of the headphone being driven. 1. My $30 sansa clip for instance, has an output impedance of one...

1. The whole "specs don't matter " thing....come on people.. 2. Cables --- ESPECIALLY headphone cables that cost more than the headphones they are on.... 3. That EVERY headphone needs amped to sound good....despite specs saying otherwise. 4. That EVERY headphone is fine unamped...despite specs...

My vote would go to the SRH-940s. However, their build quality does not seem to be quite up to par....

Sounds like a ground loop to me too... you can buy three to two prong cheater plugs very cheaply online that will likely fix it.

....You can get great clarity from full sized headphones too.... Imo it really depends more on which headphones / IEMs you are talking about.....

I prefer decent speakers in an acoustically decent room to headphones...... Generally speaking anyway. College is what got me into headphones, honestly.... listening to music on speakers doesn't always seem to work out so well with having a roommate O.o + dorm room speaker placement options...

I have owned several amps, and have listened to many headphones amped and unamped. I agree...amping makes a huge difference for some headphones... some headphones really don't benefit from it at all either... although...depending on the output impedance of the source, many headphones can benefit...

They won't blow up or be damaged, or anything.... they won't sound any better than if you just ran them out of your phone and EQed the bass up either though....

Looking at the specs of the two @ monoprice, neither of them will benefit from amping....

Sensitivity is also a huge part of the picture. Impedance Basically tells how well the amp can transfer power to the headphone. However, sensitivity determines how loud the headphone will play with the power it receives.... @ OP I could PM you a great article about impedance, sensitivity, and...

I have always enjoyed the M50s... I think they are a great set of budget closed headphones! I don't really understand some of the hate they seem to get these days.... haha :)

Yeah, I've always liked the M50s for the price....I don't really understand all the hate they get these days.... Yeah, there are better...but... for the $110 I payed for mine, I've enjoyed them. :)

Yeah, I would love to try more IEMs out...I have a new pair of HF3s lurking here actually...but.... I have too much stuff, and not enough cash right now...so....I'm trying to resist opening and using them.... Mehh. haha