The bass is a bit on the weak side, but that doesn't bother me much.    At the moment I'm on on-board sound. It's a Realtek ALC1200, which isn't all that bad - although I have to connect the headphones to my powered speakers, otherwise I hear quite a bit of static. However, from what I read...

I already made the purchase, forgot to update. :p   I ended up taking the plunge and going for the HD558. It was quite an improvement over my old headphones, the sound is quite good. They're not as comfortable as my old HPX2000, but they're comfortable enough to be worn for a few hours...

Quote: The problem was that I could barely listen to them, due to external sound. They were also playing hip hop, which is something I deeply hate. Music-wise, I'm more into rock, punk, grunge and similar stuff... the "bassiest" I listen to is eurodance. From the reviews I've read, my...

Thanks for the replies.   Regarding the brand, I'm looking at Sennheiser mainly due to positive feedback I have from friends who have other models of that brand. I've browsed quite a bit and had my mind set on the 558, but a last minute visit to another shop found the 515 at less than half...

Sadly, those are way beyond my budget. The 558 at €120 is really my top limit. As you've pointed out, this is my first "audiophile" purchase, which is why I'm a bit worried about not being able to notice the difference for the 515 and just wasting around €60 extra on the 558. On the other hand...

I've also tried searching for the 555 on the store where I found the 515 for a bit over €50, but they don't have it. It's probably some left over stock that they're trying to get rid of. I was initially leaning towards the 558, but the price difference is quite big, so I'm undecided.     

I know that the title offers an unfair comparison, but that's the dilemma I'm currently facing. :p   I've been looking for some headphones for quite a while, to replace my aging Behringer HPX2000 (they have served me well for a few years, but are now suffering from some aging problems). I...