Build Quality and Design
 
Beyerdynamic headphones are often touted as being built like tanks, and I have to agree that they are very solid indeed, but not without their flaws. The main body of the DT880 is a combination of plastic and what I assume is aluminium. The grille and forks are very solid aluminium, with the latter having a subtle brush effect which adds a nice feeling of quality. The premium version which I have has some aluminium wings (also brushed) on the headband which I really like, and the "DT880" badge on the grille is another nice addition which justifies the 'premium' name. The remainder of the cups and headband assembly is a solid, dark grey plastic which gives no impression of flimsiness or cheapness. The earpads are a silver-grey velour and the headband padding is a black pleather, both of which are high quality. The cable is single entry, 3 metres long with a solid rubber coating and terminated in a 1/8 inch jack with a 1/4 inch screw-on adapter. The DT880 feels substantial and well put together, with no hint of it falling apart. It's just a good demonstration of German build quality and sensibility. 
 
Good quality materials typically lend themselves to looking at least decent, and I think that's the case with the DT880. 
 
Sound Quality
There are a few negative conceptions floating around about the DT880s and their sound signature. The most common is that it’s an analytical headphone, which was the most interesting aspect for me as I’d never heard a headphone that had earned that moniker before. Generally this is said to mean that the headphone does not have a ‘musical’ tone and that it sounds cold, clinical and dry.  Other items of discussion about the DT880 is that they are too bright, recessed in the mids, and weak (and even muddy!) in the bass. Here is what I found:
 
Bass is the thing I think is most disagreed upon with headphones, since it seems to be what  most people out there notice immediately (Show a good headphone to a friend and they’ll almost certainly comment about it). There are wildly differing expectations for bass quantity. One man’s “Noticeably boosted” is another man’s “Under-represented”. In my personal opinion, I have to say the DT880 does have less bass than I would consider optimal for listening pleasure, as well as too little to be truly neutral. Don’t get me wrong, the DT880 does not have what I would consider “weak” bass, I would say it’s “moderate” in level. It’s not totally and utterly underwhelming and lacking in presence to these ears, but more would be better, most notably in the sub-bass region. Of course, that’s the area that open back dynamic headphones historically struggle with, so I didn’t exactly expect a stellar sub-bass response.  What is there, though, is of great quality. It’s tight, quick, textured; a quite articulate bass response. This is definitely a bass response that earns the right to be differentiated from “one note” bass. Quite good in quality, but lacking in quantity for me.
 
I think the midrange on the DT880 is dead neutral. I’ve owned headphones that have been forward and recessed in the mids, and I really can’t say that either of those terms really describes the DT880. I know that many say that this headphone does have a recessed midrange, but if it is then it’s very, very mild. The midrange sounds very flat and even handed (which is supported by measurements). It's also very clear and revealing, with great separation. 
 
*Rest To Come*

Update 17/11/2016

I will unfortunately have to abandon this review for the foreseeable future. I no longer own the headphones and I really can't be bothered finishing this review off memory. I stand by the scoring, and my comments in the summary, pros and cons concisely sum up my thoughts on the DT880. It's a good headphone, it really is. It's the most satisfied I've been with a full sized can since starting my headphone journey in 2010, resulting in me keeping them for a good 2 and a half years. But, in the long run, I decided that the sound was a bit too cold and analytical, and maybe slightly too bright and lacking a little bit of body for me to enjoy anymore. By no means bad, but I prefer something a little warmer and musical sounding.

The next headphone I'll be giving a shot will be either the HD650 or 600 in an attempt on really finding my end-game headphone for home use. Whichever I end up with I shall review next. 
 

Revenge Of The Ner- err, Audiophiles...
 
If I were to sum up what types of headphone demographics there are, in an overly simplified way, it would be that there is the average consumers and the audiophiles & professionals. Saying "Consumer headphone" around head-fi has become synonymous with things like Beats By Dre, headphones known for putting image and marketing before audio performance. This is because the audience these headphones are appealing to are not going to be particularly difficult to please in the performance department. As long as the bass is significantly boosted, and the level of clarity is a coat of paint above pure mud; they'll be happy. Consumer headphones are also known for providing very attractive packages with with fancy finishings, lots of accessories, colour options, extra features, iCompatibility, celebrity endorsements, marketing guff etc. These headphones are made to be sold to people in high volume. Audiophile and professional headphones, on the other hand, have a very different purpose. These headphones have essentially no marketing budget, and they rarely attempt to get sales from gimmicks or included extras. These headphones rely almost purely on their reputation for sound quality, which is passed on by word of mouth (or fingertip) through the enthusiast community. The people who buy these headphones are critical, sometimes fanatical, about sound. 
 
However, it's not so black and white. There are headphones that fall into the grey area between consumer and audiophile. These headphones will have the traits of a consumer headphone (the fancy packaging, cutting edge styling, generous accessories) but with sound that will actually please audiophiles on some level, rather than causing them to fantasize about inserting an ice-pick into their frontal lobe. The best example I can think of is the V-Moda M80, which took Head-Fi by storm. It's a genuinely exciting proposition to have a headphone that has the best of both worlds. The Logitech UE6000 is allegedly another possessor of consumer and audiophile traits, however, I'm not so convinced. 
 
First impressions
 

 
In true consumer headphone fashion, the UE6000 has premium packaging that's fun and exciting to unbox. After removing the outer sleeve and opening the hard storage box you find the UE6000 inside the black and blue zip up carry pouch. It's a very attractive package, and certainly makes you feel like you've bought an expensive headphone. After unzipping the pouch you find the headphones neatly folded inside, which is a feature I certainly appreciate. These certainly make a great first impression, because they are very attractive headphones. I'm a big fan of this styling. It's very contemporary and sleek, but not edgy the way the V-Moda line is (which is neither good or bad, just different). The headphones are padded in nice quality pleather which feels quite thick, so it should hold up reasonably well. It would want to, though, as the design doesn't allow for the pads to be removed, and there are none available for purchase which is not particularly impressive for a premium headphone, if you ask me. Included is the blue iCable, headphone splitter (male 3.5mm to 2x female 3.5mm) and zipper carry pouch, all sharing the desirable aesthetic design of the main event.
 
With it's sleek lines, matching accessories and non-gaudy sensibilities I find the UE6000 to be a very good looking headphone.
 
Build quality
 
One thing I was quite surprised with was that these headphones are actually very solidly built. I think the reason I was surprised by this is because these headphones share somewhat of a resemblance to the Beats line up of headphones, with the shiny, coloured plastics look. This isn't an aesthetic that is commonly related with sturdy build quality. This is an exception, though. No, they're not quite V-Moda level, but they're very respectably put together, which is something I appreciate. Feeling like you're getting your money's worth in the actual physical object goes a long way to making me a satisfied customer.
 
The first thing that stands out about the build is that these headphones feel heavier than you would expect. They weight in at around 270g, which is a good 25g lighter than the DT880. However, the UE6000 feels heavier somehow to me, in both hand and on head (I'll address this in detail in the comfort section). I think this is because they're a smaller headphone than the DT880 but weigh nearly the same. This gives them a very solid, substantial feeling which lends itself to a sense of quality. The finish on the headphones is very good, as would be expected due to it's good looks, but it's also solid in it's construction. The inner headband core at the arms and hinges appears to be solid brushed aluminium, which not only looks cool as hell (I go weak at the knees for brushed alu) but is obviously very strong. The part where the headband meets the cup is also metal, with an attractive raised UE logo. The padding on the headband and earpads are a nice quality pleather, and are generously stuffed with a plush foam. 
 
The plastics used are certainly nothing to sneeze at, either. Plastic is often seen as a bit of a dirty word, but it's a necessary 'evil' in headphones as I don't find heavy headphones at all comfortable. As long as the plastics are good quality; then they're OK with me, and the UE6000 is a good example. The headband plastics sport a rubberised finish, which you often see on things like PC gaming mice. It's a nice touch that goes a long way to make the plastic construction more premium than it would otherwise be. The plastic cups (I opted for the white version) have a gloss finish that looks very attractive. I appreciate the contrast between the glossy, metallic and rubberised finishes that the headphones have. Certain other headphones can come across as one note (in visual appearance but sometimes also in audio performance, too  ) when they go all glossy. The plastics used feel thick and sturdy, and give me faith in their durability.
 
The UE6000 is a nicely built headphone that reflects quality at it's price range.
 
Sound Quality
 
Unfortunately, the sound is the first of two important areas where I found myself disappointed with the UE6000. Don't get me wrong, I think the UE6000 is good in the sound department, but it's too lacking for my tastes to be totally satisfied. Listening was done from the Audio GD NFB15.32 via optical connection from Foobar2000 with the V-Moda Audio Only cable and V-Moda 1/4" adapter. I heard no difference between the stock cable and V-Moda, and yes, I'm 100% sure it was plugged in fully.
 
The bass on the UE6000 is modestly boosted above neutral, and this is noticeably immediately. It's quite tastefully done, though. It's clearly warm, as will play along very well with musical genres which benefit from this, but is balanced enough to tackle other genres. I actually think the bass response on the UE6000 is pretty good, though it's not perfect. I found it to be well extended and surprisingly textured. The bass of the UE6000 possesses more than ample punch, and will play well with electronic and hip hop (which are the two genres I most strongly recommend these headphones for. It's fairly well controlled, too, with very little (if any) intrusion on the midrange. The one thing I didn't like about the bass, however, is that it sounds a bit too sluggish for me. It just doesn't seem to keep up with fast, frantic music, at least in my listening. I don't have particularly high requirements for speed, I'm forgiving of headphones being a little short of Grado level speed. Unfortunately, this one sounds just a bit too slow for my liking. Bass tightness is good but not outstanding.
 
The lower midrange is probably the best area of the sound for me. It's very warm and thick, with good texture. It really has a great body to it, sounding rather lush due in part to the well endowed bottom end of the UE6000. I really enjoyed the way male vocals came through on this headphone, as well chunky guitar distortion. Very satisfying. Things are more problematic in the upper midrange, though. I find that it sounds lacking to my ears. I believe this is because the UE6000 (in raw measurements) lacks the upper midrange spike that many headphones possess. It just lacks the bite and presence that I'm used to and, quite frankly, enjoy very much. It gives me the sense that the headphone sounds a little 'glazed over' in that area. This was something I tried to get used to, but I just couldn't.
 
The treble response is even darker again, and I found that for more recordings than not, I craved more treble energy. In certain instances the treble came through quite well. I found this to be mostly the case in less crowded, better separated recordings. But in something a little busier, I thought that the treble got a little lost and left me unsatisfied with how much I could hear. This was the biggest area that during A to B comparisons between the UE6000 and the Creative Aurvana Live, I preferred the CAL. Imaging and instrument separation I would say is slightly above average. Nothing particularly noteworthy, but certainly nowhere near poor. 
 
As this is the first active noise cancelling headphone I've owned, I guess I should cover that, too. As a note, I bought this headphone purely for it's passive mode as I have no interest in ANC for home use (and since ANC has a strong correlation with worsened sound quality). The first thing you notice is that the headphones get noticeably louder. To my surprise, I like what the ANC did to the treble. It boosted it up to more satisfying levels, thought it did sound unnatural. Almost as if it was super-imposed over the music, and not accurately placed from an imaging perspective. The bass also receives a significant boost, putting it up to basshead levels. This could be kind of fun to play with on certain tracks, but it's ultimately not the kind of bass levels I want for listening, regardless of genre. It also had the effect of being superimposed, and I also thought it sounded a bit looser in the ANC mode. In any case, It's just too unbalanced for me. The actual noise cancelling ability also seems rather mediocre to me. I found it helped block out lower frequency noises the most, but in doing this it somehow made voices of conversation around me more legible, which was very distracting. There was also a noticeable hissing sound. Not a fan, especially since the UE6000 passively isolate very well. For home use, the ANC really is superfluous.  
 
Overall, I prefer the sound of the cheaper Creative Aurvana Live. The treble and upper midrange presence really make a world of difference for me. While the bass extension and texturing aren't quite as good with the CAL, they're not too far off, and the CAL trumps the UE6000 in speed easily to my ears. The imaging and separation are also a bit better with the CAL for me. It doesn't leave me overly impressed with the sound of the UE6000 when a headphone half it's price beats it pretty handily. Unfortunately, sound isn't the only thing the CAL is better at...
 
Comfort
 
One thing I really don't quite understand is how certain people on head-fi are explicitly willing to sacrifice comfort. I suppose (refer to my opening paragraph) that different types of people want different things. We all know the type that don't care about sound quality too much, they want a fashionable accessory to make them look cool, and hey if I can listen to music on it then it passes. For me, though, I consider comfort to be as important as sound quality. I simply cannot enjoy a good headphone if the comfort isn't there. An uncomfortable headphone is just as useless to me as a bad sounding one.
 
As I mentioned earlier, the UE6000 is a headphone that feels surprisingly heavier than it actually is. Whilst this is kind of nice for making it feel sturdy, it does it absolutely no favours when you're wearing it. When the UE6000 is on my head it just feels like the weight isn't being distributed properly somehow. I can't think of any other explanation for why it feels heavy, but it really does. The DT880 is a headphone that weighs more than the UE6000, but it seems to spread it's weight out in a nice, soft hug against your noggin. The UE6000 seems to more awkwardly clamp itself to you, and it just makes the weight feel intrusive. Kind of hard to explain but that's the sensation I get. 
 
The headband padding is quite generous, but for whatever reason it leaves me with a bit of a hotspot. I believe this is because it doesn't conform to the curvature of my skull, so it's putting the weight on the peak of my head, while the rest of the padding doesn't make contact. I also have fit issues with the earpads. While the space allocated for your ears was fine for me depth and height wise, I found that it was very narrow. This really made it feel cramped for me. It ended up irritating me and I could never quite get comfortable. 
 
Overall, I find the UE6000's comfort to be disappointing. To me they felt heavy on the head, the headband gave me an annoying hotspot, and the earpads didn't allow enough space. This greatly affected me ability to enjoy these headphones.
 
Conclusion
 
These headphones ended up being a disappointment for me, and I sold them after a month of ownership. Whilst I think they were very admirable, downright great even, in aesthetic design, build quality, accessories and isolation, I wasn't overly impressed with them in the two areas that matter most. Their sound quality and comfort really just didn't deliver for me. I think they fared quite well for hip hop and electronic, but I wouldn't really recommend them for anything else. Despite the negative things I've had to say about it, I think these things (in the context of how much quality you do get) are pretty forgivable seeing as how it's been going outrageously cheap as of recent. If you can get it under $100, and you know you prefer a darker sound then they're probably worth trying out. They're just not for me, though. I don't think they're at all worth the $200 they RRP for, though. No way. The CAL is a more comfortable, better sounding headphone for less. 

This will be a very brief comparison review with the PX100, my review of which can be found here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-px-100-collapsible-headphones/reviews/8181

Aesthetics
 
This is the most striking difference between the PX100 and PX100ii, with the latter being the far better off. The PX100 has aged noticeably, and the updated version really does look far nicer. Sennheiser have updated the aesthetics of a classic without resorting to gaudy, flashy design choices. The PX100ii is sleek, modern, dark and stylish. I think it's a really great looking headphone. I especially like the little Sennheiser logo on the arms, as well as the new cup design. The original PX100 looks a bit cheap in comparison.
 

 

 

 
Build Quality
 
Both headphones are very well built for their respective price points, but the more expensive PX100ii improves upon the build at nearly every turn. The PX100ii is a little bit larger and bulkier in it's body, so it feels much nicer in the hands and is better re-enforced. It feels more expensive and a bit fancier, a more premium headphone in it's construction. Both headphones have fantastic durability considering they're such small headphones, but the new PX100ii can old be better in this regard with it's beefed up build. Add to this durability a nice quality finish, and you feel as though you get your money's worth.
 
Comfort & Ergonomics
 
The PX100 was previously the only on ear headphone that I considered truly comfortable, and it's now joined by the PX100ii. Both of these on ears are very comfortable. If I had to give the edge to one, it would be the original PX100 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's a bit smaller and lighter which gives it's feathery feel (that both models possess) the edge. The other factor is that the articulation of the swivel feature is a little more flexible on the PX100. It seems to align slightly better with the angle of my ear than the PX100ii. However, I should make it clear that these differences are marginal. I still find the PX100ii very comfortable, exceptionally so for an on ear headphone. Ergonomically the two are basically identical, but I'd give a small edge to the PX100ii since it's a single sided cable, which is a little less cumbersome and annoying with portable application.
 
Sound Quality
 
I heard some very mixed reports about this headphone which almost turned me off buying them entirely. Some very vocal people complained about the new PX100ii sounding vastly inferior to the original.
 
Hogwash.
 
To my ears, the PX100ii is a tuned up, more refined improvement at every turn of the original. The bass at first sounds like it's actually been toned down slightly, which I think it may have been a hair (and I do mean a hair because the PX100ii is certainly still warm in the bass) but with closer listening I think what makes it sound arguably less in quantity is that it's tighter and more controlled, so it doesn't bloom or bleed the way the PX100 does. The treble response is also improved, in that it seems higher in resolution as well as a bit boosted over the PX100 in quantity. Don't fear though, this is totally un-problematic regarding fatigue. The PX100 is what I'd call dark, and the PX100ii is what I'd call polite. There's more there (and in higher quality) but it's not going to set off anyone's tinnitus. This superior treble response makes the PX100ii more detailed, as well.
 
While I think the mids themselves sound fairly identical, the clearer treble and more controlled bass does result in there being a more coherent sound through the midrange. Basically the mids are less disturbed than they were before, allowing you to appreciate their quality. The only negative thing I have to say about the PX100ii in the sound department, and I'm nitpicking here, is that it's less efficient than before. I have to turn the volume up one or two notches on my phone to reach the same listening level on the PX100ii as I did with the PX100. However, that's not to say these are hard to drive. You can still reach loud listening levels with these on portable players, just not quite as loud as before.
 
Conclusion
 
The PX100ii are an awesome update to one of my favourite headphones. I think they're better in nearly every way, with a few little hairs to split that don't detract from the experience in any significant way. A fantastic portable headphone that leave me way happier and more satisfied as an owner than significantly more expensive (yet flawed) portables that I've owned. 

 
A legendary value performer
 
The Creative Aurvana Live! (CAL! for short) has a strong reputation for being an excellent choice for beginning headphone hobbyists and an amazingly good sounding headphone for under $100. I found myself with some spare cash, and was after some new headphones after selling my Denon D2000, and thought it would be fun to try the CALs, since they are a reincarnation of the Denon D1000. People have described them as a little brother of the D2000, and I think they are to some extent. Certainly for the better in the sound department, for the worse in other areas. So, I bought a pair directly from Creative, and 4 days later they arrived (Quick shipping seeing as it came from Singapore). Here was my experience:
 
Well you guys are certainly right about one thing
 
And that is that these headphones sound excellent, especially for under $100. I really want to talk about this first, because it's where the CAL! is just amazing. Honestly, these headphones are an audiophile's wet-dream to use in arguments against Beats users when you want examples of headphones at less than half the price that blow the doctor away. This is the area where they really do sound like a smaller, cheaper Denon D2000. It's definitely less refined all around, but it does a very similar thing, and at a stupendous level of quality for under a big green note. 
 
The bass on the CAL! is less pronounced than the Denon, placing it very slightly north of neutral, but close enough that I think you could call it well balanced, but slightly warm. The roll off begins much earlier than on the D2000, but the extension is very respectable, but again, not as much. It's certainly controlled well, staying in it's place with very minimal encroachment on the midrange. Definitely a mud-free presentation. Definition is good, and authority isn't lacking when called upon. The bass is a great reason it's great sounding for beginners, it will teach them that you don't need grossly overblown, bloated, unnatural bass for music (including 'bass culture' music) to be enjoyable and properly represented. Neutral-to-warm is where the real cool kids are at! I've read about the bass being a tad loose, but it sounds fairly tight to me. Overall, a commendable bass response from the CAL!, definitely a sign of it's Denon lineage. 
 
Much as with the D2000, the CAL! doesn't put you in a chokehold and demand you swear allegiance to either bass or midrange, you get both! I must say, that vocals struck me very quickly as being very, very good on the CAL!. I think this is a result of not only placement and separation (They seem very distinctly separated from everything else) but just how realistically three dimensional they sound. If you've ever experienced a headphone that seems to swallow vocals up in the sound, and you want something better, then these will do it. I find the midrange to be well detailed and resolving, bringing out the texture of the sound more than you might expect
 
The treble on the CAL! really fits the part for these cans. To my tastes I couldn't quite call it dark or bright, it's fairly neutral sounding to me, which I think is beneficial for a slightly warm headphone. If you have warmth (or an outright bassy response) coupled with bright treble then you get a V shaped signature, which I don't have high levels of tolerance for (depending on extreme the V is). A left out midrange is no fun. These headphones definitely avoid harshness and sibilance, but I would say they're actually quite energetic and "active" sounding in the treble, but without any sense of being artificially boosted or forward. I really think they sound very surprisingly clean up high for a cheap, sealed can like this. 
 
Imaging is also really good (for a headphone of it's type and class)! Much like the big sister D2000, the CAL! seems to benefit most noticeably from it's poor isolation with the trait the open headphones are best known for: soundstaging. To compare these to the HFI-580 (a sealed circumaural that can go for twice the price of the CAL!), I'd say these knocked their socks off in the imaging department (Well, I find the CAL! much more enjoyable as a whole, too). The Ultrasone is supposed to have S-Logic to help it out, but it sounds downright unnatural and cramped compared to the CAL!. Layering is great on this headphone, with pretty respectable instrument separation. It is, of course, bested by the D2000 but I'd say the imagine was about 80% as good. Really impressive!
 
In short, the worst thing I can say about the sound of the CAL! is that it will be outdone by headphones in the $200+ range, but I think not only do they kick ass and take names under $100, but they continue to be super competitive up around $150 and approaching the $200 mark. These are some of the best value for performance out there!
 
Looks & Build
 
I think that for the money, the CAL! are decent in their presentation and their build, though I wouldn't say that they were outstanding in any way.
 
Compared to the Denon D1000, the CAL! wins my preference in aesthetics due to it's colour scheme. I quite like the dark, black finish on the headband arms, as well as the contrast between the chrome and reflective black finish of the the cups. The creative logo is in raised plastic with chrome finish, which I really like. I also appreciate the size of the logo, it's not too uncommon for logos to be placed and designed to be as attention seeking as possible. It's good to see visual design that appreciates subtlety. 
 
In the build department, I find that the CAL! could be a bit better, though I want to make it clear that these headphones are not poorly built. I would say they are overall superior to the Sennheiser HD448 which lacked metal in it's internal structure. The CAL! uses prominently plastic in it's build, from the cups through to the headband shell. I think the cups feel pretty solid, but I think the arms of the headband are a bit less convincing of that solid feeling you want from a headphone. The gimbals are slightly cheap looking in their plastic design, and if you apply pressure to the inner plastic of the arms, there's a little bit of give and a small creaking sound. Compare that to the Sennheiser PX100ii, and no such feeling or noise is present, they feel solid as a rock. That headphone also has more visible metal in it's construction, and just feels better finished and re-enforced than the CAL!. This is one of the big reasons I think the CAL! could be more impressive in the build department. Both headphones are the same price, and despite the PX100ii being much smaller and seemingly flimsier in physical size, it's just more solid feeling and I wouldn't hesitate to put more faith in it standing up to abuse than the CAL!, or at the very least it feels a little more premium. 
 
One thing I must say the CAL! does possess that impresses me is good quality pleather. Most headphones under $100 have quite poor imitation leather indeed, though the CAL! went all out and opted for the good stuff. The earpads are extremely soft, more-so than any other headphone I've personally experienced. I was genuinely surprised when I first felt them, and I think this property really contributes to the comfort factor of these headphones. 
 
With everything taken into account, I would say that the CAL! is a decently build headphone which you shouldn't worry about it falling apart on you, though don't expect it last through the ages or give you any sense of getting more than what you paid for.
 
Comfort
 
This is an area that the headphones seem to be almost equally famous for along side their sound, and I have to be honest, I don't think that's really justified. I do not think these are uncomfortable headphones, but a number of people seem to find their comfort more impressive than their sound quality, which is a mildly baffling idea to me. I've also seen one reviewer here on Head-Fi describe the comfort as being 'unbeatable'. Whilst I would normally say that comfort (much like sound) is a very subjective element of the headphone hobby, I can only think that if you consider the CAL! to possess the best comfort out there, you probably haven't experienced a great deal of headphones. They're comfy enough, but they simply are not a headphone that you can wear all day without irritation, and they're no where near the best.
 
When I first got the CAL! I found them quite uncomfortable. Luckily this changed, but I still do have some remaining bones to pick with the comfort. My first issue was that the headband padding felt quite stiff, to the point of being an under-padded feeling headband. This isn't a big problem now, the CAL! is very light so the headband doesn't need to provide a high level of support in the first place, but I found that the padding of the headband softened up noticeably after a day or two of use. I have noticed that I have to wear it quite forward on my head for it to feel right, and I'm not sure why. Normally it's the opposite for me. I like the headband of this headphone, though I would say that optimally, a wider and even softer headband would be preferable. 
 
The real issue of the CAL!'s comfort is the ear-pads. As mentioned, the ear-pads are very soft. However, considering it's a supposedly circumaural headphone, the amount of space given for your ear is rather conservative. There is just over 2 inches of height, and about 1.75 inches of width (at the widest point). My ears are fairly average, so I imagine those with large ears will note rather quickly that there is an insufficient amount of space. I don't find that the depth is a problem for me, but these are also not the deepest earpads around. This lack of space will irritate some people's ears due to the touch alone, but the other issue is that such a confined space that is encased in non-breathing pleather leads to a bit of extra heat. This is pretty unbearable for me if it's a hot day, it just feels disgusting. 
 
As a rule of thumb, I would say that if you don't have large ears and don't live in a hot area, you should be OK. Don't expect game changing comfort, but it should be cosy. The fit is quite secure and lightweight, though, which goes a long way in my books.
 
Not bad, but I think it gets way more credit than it deserves. 
 
Conclusion
 
I must say, despite having issues with it at first, I've really grown to love this headphone! For under $100, this is a must-have for beginners, it's such a good introduction as to what good sound is. Some people are going to take issue with it's comfort, but I'd say for a lot of people this will indeed be comfy. Just don't expect DT880 levels or anything. 
 
Great for home use for anyone looking to get into quality headphones!

Onkyo's entry into the headphone game
 
After selling my V-Moda M80s due to discomfort and trading my Shure se215s due to finding ergonomic issues with IEMs in general, my search for a portable headphone continued. As a subscriber to Innerfidelity, I opened youtube one day to see Tyll's new review of the ES-FC300 and ES-HF300 headphones from Onkyo. Portables! I knew Tyll typically only reviews things he likes, so I gave it a watch. He sure seemed impressed with them! And they looked like they were much closer to circumaural headphones, maybe they'd be much more comfortable for me than the past on ears I've tried? I bought the HF version that day and waited for delivery. Here is what I found.
 
Aesthetics and Build Quality
 

 
These Onkyos really are gorgeous, from the packaging to the finish, really beautiful. I of course opted for the HF version due to aesthetics alone, any supposed performance improvement would simply be a bonus. The ES-HF300 comes is all black, a combination of pleather, rubberised plastic and brushed aluminium. I'm a big fan of this. I've always been a sucker for brushed alu, and I love that the plastic is rubberised for pleasing the user's fingers and eyes. I would say however that the pleather is slightly disappointing. It's by no means what I'd call bad quality pleather, but I've certainly had nicer, and at this price point I think it could be better. It's soft (which is the most important thing), but it has a noticeably more plastic feel to it than others, and the texture seems quite fake. V-Moda's pleather on the M80 and Denon's pleather on my D2000's are both softer and more convincing of being leather. Still, it's a hell of a lot better than the Ultrasone rubbish. 
 
Another small disappointment is the chrome finish on the cable. I was disappointed to discover that the chrome on the jack and plugs are indeed plastic, rather than metal. There's something about chrome plastic that seems super cheap to me, cheaper even than the lower priced FC version's cable that is coloured red (on the black version). I am nitpicking, though. The HF300 definitely feels and looks like a premium headphone of it's price range, niggles aside. Especially with the HF cable, which with it's transparent, silver finish looks really appealing.
 
Build quality is very solid, nipping at the heels of V-Moda, I daresay. Aluminium brings strength to the key areas that need it, such as the cups and the joint connection to the headband, as well as the core of the headband. Many people consider plastic a bit of a dirty word when it comes to build quality, but this headphone demonstates plastic done right. It's a great weight saver, but it's also thick and solid. I have no reservations about predicting a very good durability reputation for this headphone. The cable, whilst being somewhat thin (not overly so, about what you'd want for a portable), is quite pliable but seems strong. I don't have any complaints about the build. 
 
Sound quality
 
The most important aspect of any headphone, and to quote Tyl on this; "Boy, this headphones deliver!". They really do.
 
The bass is quite warm, approaching basshead levels but not quite. It's tight, solid, impactful and articulate, with good extension. Punch is very satisfying with a pleasing decay. The Onkyo's bass is in downright good taste in comparison to a lot of it's more mainstream competitors. Average consumers would benefit to becoming accustomed to a bass response like this. The mid range is similarly strong, retaining great presence with vocals of both the male and female variety. I love a bass to mid-range balance like this, it's great that there are now affordable headphone around where you don't have to choose between bass or mids. The ES-HF300 give you both. The treble is also well behaved, too. It's the least forward section of the sound to my ears, but not what I'd call rolled off to the point of being detrimental. It's never harsh but allows those high end details to come through well. 
 
With that said, I do feel that this is the area where the performance really reminds you that you're using a medium sized, sealed portable. The treble seems to highlight the more closed in soundstage, which is really part of the natural limitation of the headphone design. Make no mistake, for what it is, it's more spacious that you might expect. Just don't expect the imagine performance to rival full sized headphones, especially those of the open variety. Everything taken into consideration, I'd say it outperforms the V-Moda M80. It's a nice little step up from it, and at the same price, it's more than welcome that it can best an already awesome sounding competitor. I'd describe the presentation as very similar, just with the nuts and bolts tightened up a bit. 
 
Ergonomics and Comfort
 
Unfortunately, just like the M80, this is the area that lets the headphone down for me. 
 
Starting with ergonomics, I mentioned that the bass levels were warm but approaching basshead levels. This is true, however that is how they sound when you can achieve an optimal seal. Achieving this is honestly going to be somewhat impossible for some people with ears that stick out too much.. It's really down to ear shape and size, so buying blind is going to have a bit of luck involved. I have average sized ears, and I can achieve a proper seal without much difficulty. However, it's not the type of headphone that you can get a good seal (and appropriate performance) no matter how you wear it.
 
In terms of size I would say they're about as large as I personally think 'portable' headphones can go. I can wear them around my neck without them getting in the way too much, but only just. Much bigger and they'd be too intrusive to my chin. They isolate well, too, which is a nice bonus. One other niggle for me is that the cables are actually very awkward to remove from the earcups. They need a good hard yank to get them out, but the area you have to pull on the cable is quite small and provides little grip. I also don't find that a dual entry cable is really the best for portable application, a single sided cable is better for being out and about, in my opinion.
 
As for comfort, this is the real issue of the headphone for me. Whilst I do think it's outright more comfortable than the M80, it's still well under what I consider to be truly comfortable. Anything over an hour of use and I really need to take them off, which quite frankly just isn't good enough for me. I'm constantly distracted by the comfort, fiddling with them and readjusting them in a vain attempt to make them comfortable. It's quite unfortunate. The PX100 is still the only on ear headphone I've found comfortable, whilst all these more expensive on ears have failed miserably. Frustrating, indeed. Luckily comfort is subjective, so I'm sure many other users will have a good experience. It's just not that way for me.
 
Conclusion
 
As for my search for my portable headphone, I've honestly grown frustrated with the entire thing. It seems every portable solution seems to have some kind of enormous flaw that ruins it. This made me look back fondly to the Sennheiser PX100, which I was so very happy with. Sure, it didn't look as nice as the others, didn't really isolate at all and it was technically inferior. However, it had a very pleasurable sound signature and performance level for the (little) money, it was highly portable and built well, and was very comfortable! I think I've realised I need to take things back to basics. I experienced more listening satisfaction due to the package as a whole with the PX100 than any of these more expensive portable solutions. I've decided my next stop in portable audio will be the PX100ii. A PX100 with improved looks, build, ergonomics and sound? Count me in. Unfortunately, the ES-HF300 has been an almost identical (but fast-tracked) experience to the M80 for me. Comfort ruined it, and it's unfortunately got to go. A shame. I'll the say the same thing as I did about the M80. It's hard for me to have to get rid of it because I love the sound, looks and build. If you find this headphone comfortable, then I'm truly jealous. 

A sadly rare classic
 
The Denon D2/5/7000 line of headphones are quite legendary. Many considering them to be some of, if not the, best full sized sealed headphones to be produced. Their discontinuing was, understandably, much mourned with many feeling that there were few truly great sealed headphone options available. I was quite happy with my HFI-2400, but was after the next level in my desktop headphones. I was lucky enough to stumble across some D2000s in the trade forum for $300, and in good as new condition (and in my own country!). I grabbed them and eagerly awaited my arrival of this well renowned headgear.
 
Hands on

Right off the bat, it's quite clear that these are for headphone lovers. They're stupendously elegant and so mature in their design, it's such a breath of fresh air in comparison to the shouty aesthetic design of so many consumer headphones. These things really are super handsome. They're clean, neat, understated and dripping with class and maturity. They're like a 35 year old businessman amongst a gang of 16 year old skaters; you can't help but take it more seriously than the competition. 
 
Not only does the visual presentation of the headphone lend itself to a feeling of quality, but so do the materials and quality of construction. The metal (I'm unsure as to whether it's aluminium or magnesium) of the cup ring, yolk and gimbles are thick, sturdy and cold to the touch, with a really attractive sparkly chrome finish. The cups themselves are plastic, but sturdy and of good quality, once again with a very good finish. The earpads and headband are wrapped in a high quality pleather (probably the nicest faux leather I've yet encountered) which is very soft to the touch. The cable is an especially nice surprise. It's 3 metres long, and sleeved all the way to the metal jack (with chrome finish) which terminates in a 3.5mm jack with a screw on 6.35mm adaptor. The cable is fixed dual entry, and has a sturdy but elegant little Denon branded splitter. 
 
I love the build and looks of this headphone. It's premium class all the way. 
 
Performance
 
This is where things get very impressive. In short, these are the best performing headphones I've yet owned (which makes sense, they're also the most expensive) but they blow away the open back and similarly costing (RRP) HFI 2400. They're just fantastic. 
 
The bass performance is the D2000's call to fame, and I must say it is pretty damn good, but it's not perfect. The bass levels on on the warm side of neutral, but not dramatically so. I wouldn't call these basshead headphones, or even bassy; just mildly warm. Bass reach is excellent and sounds quite flat to a very low level before rolling off right at the bottom. Quality wise it's very good, but a little flawed. It's very controlled, and actually has somewhat of a polite placement. It's not uncommon for warm and bassy headphones to place the bass right on your lap or in your face. The Denons place them far more naturally in the mix, they play ball equally with the rest of the spectrum. I think this is beneficial, however those wanting high levels of bass prominence and ultimate authority will note this and may find it takes away from the bass experience they are after. The bass is well textured and detailed, however it does have a somewhat loose sound to it. I don't want to overstate it, and it's not what most people would think of when they think of loose bass. In the grand scheme of things (compared to more commonly seen consumer phones) it's actually tight, but I think compared to most audiophile grade cans, it just lacks a slight bit of tautness or focus. It's hard to explain. Nonetheless, the bass response is very, very good and actually quite natural sounding. 
 
The midrange was actually the first thing that struck me about the Denons, coming from the HFI2400. The very first thing that made me go wow was that the mids were noticeably clearer, more forward and more focused than on the Ultrasone. It genuinely made the HFI2400 sound quite recessed and muddled by comparison. The Denon is one of those headphones where you're not forced to choose between great bass and great midrange, you are receiving both. Maybe this will make me somewhat outspoken on these headphones, but I've seen people describe the Denons midrange as being recessed, but honestly I just don't hear it. The resolution and clarity, and just the sense of coherency, are very pleasing to my ears. I really take pleasure in that you can have a phat bassline pumping away whilst maintaining this level of midrange performance. Hell to the yes! Good resolution and detail, with no lack of presence to my ears earns a big thumbs up from me.
 
The treble is similarly well behaved, thankfully. Treble is where things seem to most easily go wrong with headphones in the sound department for me, but luckily that is not the case here. The Denon is known for having a slight tendency to be a tiny tad on the bright side, and I would agree with that. That said, I have absolutely no issues with the treble being too bright, piercing, sibilant or fatiguing. It's just fine! This was the one area where I did notice that the Denon lost out a little bit compared to the HFI2400. Being a sealed headphone (or you could debate it was 'semi-sealed' in the Denon's case) the treble to didn't have quite the sparkly, airy and extra extended properties that are more typically found with open headphones, the HFI2400 being one of those. However, the treble was still of very high quality, and it's far more even than the stupidly uneven treble of the HFI2400, which really is a roller-coaster affair in the treble. Despite the quality being that 15% less than the typical open treble performance at this price range, it's not at all a slouch with it's crystal clear, extended response. It's the best treble I've heard from a closed headphone. 
 
Imaging and soundstage is another area where I would give the edge to the Ultrasone, but once again, not by as much as you might expect. It's pretty amazing that they sound as they do. They're spacious beyond my expectations, with impressive depth. They do suffer from the brickwall effect, but that's quite forgiveable seeing as they give the illusion of space as well as they do. This certainly qualifies them as being more than competent for film watching or gaming. All things together, the Denon is a fantastic sounding headphone. 
 
Comfort and other ergo-niggles
 
This is where the Denons flaws really come out of the woodwork, unfortunately. 
 
There's a number of problems with the Denons for me that make them lacking in the comfort department. Coming from the HFI2400, I had become a big big fan of Velour earpads. I just love the way the feel on my skin, and from a comfort and cleanliness perspective they are infinitely superior to (p)leather in my mind. Coming back to the pleather earpads of the Denon reminded me how gross pleather gets and how little it breathes. Your ears are far more prone to getting hot in long sessions, and the material gets oily and gross. A little maintenance goes a long way though, so if you keep the pads clean it's not so bad. This is the least of the Denon's problems, though.
 
The Denons are heavy, noticeably moreso than previous headphones I've owned. They're listed as being 350g, 60g moreso than my previous most heavy owned headphone of mine, the HFI2400 (which I didn't find to be heavy feeling at all). They're also the largest headphones I've owned. This combination of size and weight doesn't necessarily spell disaster in the comfort department, however I find that the Denons have a pretty low clamp force. Having something large and heavy that doesn't clamp onto your head with sufficient force leads it to feeling quite unwieldy and insecure. I just don't quite like the way it feels, I really miss how comparatively light, compact and secure the Ultrasone felt. The real issue, however, is because the weight is not supported very much by any clamp force it means the headband (and subsequently, your cranium) has to take the bulk of the weight. 
 
This wouldn't be too big of a deal with a light headphone, but since this one is a little on the heavy side, it would need a really superbly comfortable headband to pull this off. Unfortunately, it lacks this very important feature. The headband is desperately under-padded considering the physical properties of this headphone. It's actually very frustrating, I don't know what they were thinking when designing this. It smells to me of cost saving, stingy accountants messing with good design. The headband simply isn't up to scratch, seemingly to favour sleek minimalism over actual ergonomics, and in correspondence with the weight and lack of clamp; the Denons just don't live up to all day desktop comfort requirements. I wouldn't go so far to say they're an uncomfortable headphone, but a hotspot will form on my head well within a couple of hours and make itself quite known. The comfort is lacking enough for my uses that I'm selling them because of it.
 
The other ergonomic problem I have with the Denon is in relation to durability. I personally haven't have any problems, and I wouldn't expect to since I baby the things that I own (especially my audio gear). To make things clear, I'm not saying that the Denons are poorly built, they're actually very well built. I'm of the opinion that durability absolutely 100% requires good build quality, but good build quality does not 100% guarantee good durability. The Denons seem to have good build quality for the sake of luxurious finishings and quality, not for the sake of being rugged and durable with ability to withstand hard knocks. I have a bit of problem with this. Whilst I appreciate the quality of it all, I feel like I have to constantly worry about them. I prefer having something that I can throw around a little bit more and not need to worry about scratching it up or it breaking a joint if I accidentally drop it. 
 
Conclusion
 
I feel like I'm starting to repeat myself here, but this is yet another headphone that I really love but the lack of comfort breaks the deal. The build quality is very nice, the sound is excellent, the aesthetics are great but I simply can't enjoy them enough if I can't wear them for extended periods whilst being free from discomfort. I am well aware that these headphones have a very high reputation for being comfortable, so if you find them that way, they are a damn good choice. I've recently sold mine and have a Beyerdynamic DT880 600 Ohm on the way in the mail, which should be better for me with the comfort (velourpads, lighter weight, higher clamp force and better padded headband) as well as far better durability. I hope I like it's sound!
 
If you can hunt a used D2000 down these days you could be in for a real treat. 

As an upgrade to my portable setup, I decided that I would buy my first pair of proper IEMs. My only prior experience with IEMs were with freebies that came with phones and the like, which were needless to say, awful. I honestly wasn't quite shure (Sorry about that, had to get the obligatory Shure pun out the way) what to expect in terms of performance level, but I was very pleased indeed!
 
The SE215 Special Editions come well accessorised. Included is a small zip-up carry pouch with room for the IEMS and spare ear tips to fit nice and snug. 6 pairs of tips are included, 3 foam (the famous shure 'olive' tips) and 3 silicone in S, M and L sizes, as well as a wax removal tool. I found myself liking the M size foam tips the best, they were the most comfortable for me and provided a great seal. I also think they look much better than the grey silicone. 
 
The build is quite solid. The IEMs are made of plastic but it's very sturdy and doesn't seem to have any give to them. The cable is the perfect length and girth (the more juvenile readers should be sniggering at this point) for portable use (at least for me), and is terminated in a right angle jack. From my understanding, the cable on the normal version is 50cm longer. The cables are removable, which is great for replacement or aftermarket upgrades. The special edition is in blue, as opposed to the transparent or black options of the regular. This colour looks really amazing in the sunlight, a great aesthetic choice for sure.
 
As for sound, I'm damn impressed, for two major reasons. Firstly, I didn't realise IEMs sounded this good. I now totally understand why they're taken very seriously in the audio community. They sound so much better than you would think given their size. The other major reason I'm impressed is that these IEMs have BASS. Tight, punchy, BIG bass that kicks ass and takes names, but at the same time, sounds surprisingly articulate and even handed. I have absolutely no reservations about using these for genres outside of Hip Hop and EDM, despite their well endowed bottom end. Now, to keep things subjective, it's worth mentioning that I'm probably what I'd describe as a lite-Basshead, but a "Warm-head" is probably the best term for it. What I mean by that is my ideal sound signature is non-rolled off bass in moderately generous proportions (2-3+ db over the midrange is pretty nice) with a strong, un-recessed midrange and an unfatiguing, maybe slightly dark treble. Now, these do have more bass than what I'd consider perfect, but it's within my tolerance levels, which is not something I expected given the way they look in graphs.
 
As I said, the bass goes low, stays tight, hits hard (when it's supposed to) and has good authority. I wouldn't say these are particularly fast or slow, they sound fairly natural actually, surprisingly so given the level of bass they have. These really suit basshead needs, and do so with flying colours. The midrange is very present, with a little bit of grain maybe, but nothing disastrous. It doesn't sound thin to me either, though I wouldn't say it qualified to be called lush or thick. It's seldomly meddled with by the bass response, which given how strong that is and the price of these IEMs, is not a common feat. The treble response is definitely dark, but again, no where near as much as the graphs appear to indicate. Remains totally fatigue free, which earns a big thumbs up from me. My tastes certainly have refined quite a bit from my Grado owning days when I was convinced that I was a treble-head. Despite being dark, things like cymbals are clearly audible and are separated very nicely. On top of all this, the SE215 SE image surprisingly well, possessing way more depth and width than I expected. Now, don't let your imagination go crazy. They're not going to image like an open circumaural, but it's like having a mini version of that in your head, it's really quite pleasant. 
 
Really, the only flaws of this IEM are minor. The tips are pretty annoying to remove and fit onto the actual stem (please excuse my terminology), and the over ear design of the memory cable feels strange at first until you learn how to fit it properly. After that, it's a very secure fit (comfort will really depend entirely on the tip and your ears).
 
With everything taken into consideration, I highly recommend these IEMs. They're simply fantastic. Now that I know that IEMs don't suck, I'm going to be trading these off towards some Denon AH-D2000s (which I'm giddy with excitement to get). I'm going to save up for something more high end in the IEM world for my portable use, something more neutral to suit my tastes better. Given my excellent experience with these, the SE535 (and if I'm lucky enough to get the special edition) is probably what I'll end up with.
 
But, probably the most interesting thing I've learnt from these IEMs is that graphs really don't always give a good indication of how things sound. I considered these IEMs a few times but kept writing them off because the graphs made them look like they'd have bloated bass, beats by dre style, but I was wrong. If you've stopped yourself from getting the SE215s for the same reason, you should give them a try, you might be pleasantly surprised!

After my disappointing experience with the HFI-580 that left me thinking I would never, ever buy another Ultrasone headphone ever again, I continued on my search for a similarly "full" sounding headphone. I really liked the way the HFI-580 did bass, and it's mids were fine (not amazing, but fine). But the incredibly fatiguing treble response and the bad comfort made it simply unacceptable overall. One day I was perusing some frequency response charts, and came across the HFI-2400s. I was actually quite intrigued by what I saw, and a little bit excited, thinking that I may have found what I was after. It had the moderate midbass emphasis of the 580, but with even more in the upper bass, the mids looked as though they were placed roughly the same (a tad recessed, but not problematically so). The major difference, however, was in the treble. Whilst it was less even than the 580, it was clear that it was a significantly darker headphone, which sounded like it was just the ticket for what I needed. 
 
The HFI-2400 usually retail for around the $300 mark, at that price they are up against some quite stiff competition, even if they are the HFI series flagship. To be honest, for that price I would likely have (and probably still would) go with something else. However, in my case, Addicted To Audio had this model drastically discounted from the usual $310 they sell it for to an amazingly low $150, yes, $10 less than what I paid for the HFI-580. I can only assume this was because they weren't moving the units, as this a more obscure headphone compared to the more popular offerings of it's price range. I jumped on it almost immediately, and I'm glad I did, because for $150 this is about the best you could really hope to do for a brand new, open, circumaural headphone.
 
The build quality of this headphone is of a very similar level to the HFI-580, which is good because that is a solid headphone. The plastic is all very sturdy, the aluminium on the cups makes the headphones feel high end, and level sturdiness they give off when in your hands is good. The major area where the 2400 are of higher quality is the padding. The HFI-580 has the worst pleather on any headphone I've owned. It was poor not only from a quality perspective, but it was one of the major factors that made the 580 such an uncomfortable headphone. The 2400, on the other hand, uses black velour padding, which is far, far superior. It's very soft, it looks great, it doesn't get all oily and awful in the heat. The 2400 also has a removable cable, which for any headphone is a great bonus since it really means your headphones are likely to last longer since a dead cable doesn't = dead headphone. However, I'm really not fond of either of the cables that comes with the 2400. The main cable is a 3m cable, which for me is just too long, and the 6.35mm jack is a bit cheap and ugly looking. The other the strange inclusion of a portable cable terminated in a 3.5mm jack. I say it's a strange for two reasons. Firstly, this headphone isn't at all what I would call portable, and if you're considering this thing for portable use I think you're out of your mind. Secondly, it measure approximately 85cm long, which is just barely enough to go from the headphone to your media device in your pocket, with basically no room for any slack. It's just too short, it needs to be another 20-30cm longer, not that I would use it anyway since using the 2400 for portable use is like using a school bus for off-roading. So neither cable suited me, however the perfect cable for this headphone is the V-Moda audio-only cable. The 2400 takes 3.5mm (Thankfully, it's always preferable to the 2.5mm variety), so the V-Moda cable fits just right, sits in there nicely with not a hint of looseness or falling out. Not only that, but the black and grey weave colour option of the cable that I have goes flawlessly with the 2400's colour scheme. I highly recommend this cheap upgrade for the 2400. The only problem with the build is that the paint job is slightly fragile, it's not difficult for it to get rubbed off against something, so be careful with that.
 
Comfort is quite good for me, wayyyyyyyy better than the HFI-580. As mentioned, the velour pads are far and away superior to the rubbish pleather that plagues the HFI-580, but the padding itself also appears to be softer, which works wonders for the headband. It's the same size of padding, but because of the softness and material, it's just so much better. The earpads tell the same story, but they also benefit from just being larger in size, a much more generous sized circle shape than the more cramped oval of the HFI-580. Clamping pressure also appears to be lighter on these headphones. The HFI-2400 is more comfortable than the HFI-580 in every single way, and definitely qualifies for all day use for me, no problem. 
 
In terms of sound, they pleased me instantly... providing they're amped sufficiently. I've heard people say that they don't need amping, but I honestly don't agree. I notice the sound quality decreases noticeably (not dramatically, but it's definitely there and quite obvious) when plugged into your typical portable devices, or a computers audio jack. From the Audio GD NFB15.32 they sound great, and they also sound pretty good out of a stereo receiver's headphone jack. When they're amped well, they sound great, this is what I hear:
 
The bass response is fairly generous, but not offensively so. There is a strong mid and upper bass hump, which is very much what I'd describe as "fun" bass. Drums benefit from this greatly, especially aggressive drum blasts in metal, it's very satisfying to listen to. As is common for "midbass hump" type bass responses, the sub-bass suffers from roll off. It's certainly not Grado level, where the sub-bass almost doesn't exist what-so-ever, but it definitely has significantly less authority than the rest. Compared to the HFI-580, the bass lacks a little bit of punch, which is an expected difference between a sealed and open headphone. That's not to say on punchy tracks it will sound weak or underpowered, not at all. If anything that's what the HFI-2400 does best. It's quite warm and rich sounding, very pleasing. Some users may find the bass a tad slow for super fast, hectic, crowded sounding music. I find it depends on the mastering, if it's well mixed and mastered the HFI-2400 will sound very dynamic.
 
The midrange is quite smooth, though a little recessed. There's a particular lushness to it that I'm quite fond of, it's very satisfying with acoustic guitars in particular. Some will feel that the midrange smoothness is too polite and lacking in excitement or the "crunch" factor. Despite the slight recession, I wouldn't call it problematic. Vocals aren't placed back so far that they're lost or buried, though because of the nature of the mid-bass to lower mids hump, male vocals shine through with more authority than female. Clarity is quite good in the midrange, with good definition, but as I said it's quite smooth so that very last bit of micro detail isn't quite there. Whilst it's not perfect, the midrange performance is satisfying, and really quite admirable for an open headphone with such a strong bass response.
 
The treble is the part of the HFI-2400's performance that I find to be a bit problematic. However, I should make it clear that I don't find the treble response to be poor, not at all. It's just a little weird. I say this because the treble is really rather uneven:
 

It's a real rollercoaster! It really does sound strange sometimes, in that it manages to be both bright and dark at the same time, I've never had that with a headphone before. Usually they're quite clearly one or the other, on some level at least. Ultrasones are known for being bright, and as my experience with the ear piercingly bright HFI-580 indicates, too bright for many. Luckily, the bright spots are no where near as bright as on the 580, so at no point did it become too fatiguing for me. But, I just can't quite forget about the uneven nature of it. It results in certain things in the treble regions to be oddly placed over others. For my tastes, I think the most problematic thing with it is the sharp dip at 2500k. I think that leaves things like guitars lacking in texture a little bit of body and definition. 
 
Imaging is where the HFI-2400 shine, in my eyes. These are really the first "well imaging" headphone I've owned, and I really don't want to go back. Coming from what I've been used to, the most noticeable difference was that grand, spacious music didn't sound anywhere near as limited. Whether it's classical or "epic" metal, the HFI-2400 convincingly portray spacial cues with a moderate amount of space (it's not a huge soundstage) but great depth. This is one of the qualities that makes it a good recommendation as an all rounder headphone, because gaming and film benefits quite noticeably for the imaging abilities of the HFI-2400. 
 
Everything taken into account, I think that for the bargain price I paid for it, the HFI-2400 is simply kick ass, it's about as good as you could ever hope to do for the price, in my opinion. However, I think that the full price of admission ($300) is really too much. If I had $300, this really wouldn't have been my choice. I actually got the Denon AH-D2000 just recently for $300, and I find it to be a noticeably better headphone in essentially every regard. So, I guess I'm technically saying that they're overpriced. However, if you can get one used or heavily discounted for under $200, I think it's a very good choice. 

After become reacquainted with portable audio with the PX100, I decided that I wanted to invest more in my portable headphones in order to bridge the gap between my pleasurable, but humble, portable rig and my much more capable full sized desktop rig. The V-moda M80 looked like a pretty prime candidate, generating quite a bit of hype on Head-fi, and having a glowing recommendation from the well respected Tyl Hertsens of Innerfidelity. I happened to be browsing on Amazon, and they were priced down to $148, so I decided to pounce.
 
2 weeks later, my headphones arrived and here is what I found;
 
Normally, I wouldn't mention or even think about the packaging of a headphone. Packaging really doesn't mean much to me, it should really only appeal to impulse buyers who judge a headphone by how nice it looks on the shelf, rather than by doing any actual research. But, I have to give credit where credit is due. These are the most well packaged headphones, and possibly the most well packaged thing I've bought before. Not only does the cardboard box look excellent, complete with glamour shots of the headphone and all sorts of product info, but it's an outstandingly sturdy box. Something would have to go disastrously wrong in shipping for your M80s to sustain any sort of damage. On the top of the box there's a small ribbon seal that you cut to get access to the goodies inside, and there's also a little faux snake skin button seal, too. It's all very nice. Once inside you'll find all your usual papers, and the hard travel case.
 
The M80 is very well accessorised. The carry case not only looks awesome, but it's very sturdy; perfect for it's intended use. Upon opening the case, you'll be greeted by the headphones themselves, and the two cables. A single button cable for Android and other smartphones, and a 3 button cable for Apple devices. As an android user, it's great to see a headphone manufacturer smart enough not to completely alienate me by only catering to the Apple users. The Android audience is massive, and it's simple stupidity to ignore us. Both cables are great quality, complete with sleeving and a sleek 45 degree jack. 
 
Moving on to the headphones themselves, these things are some of the coolest looking headphones out there. I think these headphones strike a good balance between subtlety and flashiness. Countless headphones on the market today try to be good looking by being as gaudy and tasteless as possible. Some others (usually these belong more to the audiophile crowd) go for a mature, minimal look such as the Sennheiser Momentum and Bowers & Wilkins P5. The M80s are very much like a sports car. They're flashy to an extent, but refined. I think it's flashiness mitigated with the sensibilities of taste. The sort of looks that will get you compliments but won't make you feel like a 14 year old. They're all black with subtle red accenting. I especially like the brushed aluminium shields. I love brushed alu in general, and this is no exception. The hexagonal shape of the cups is quite unique, very eye catching. 
 
But, don't think for a second that these headphones sacrifice build quality for their looks. These things are built pretty darn well. The basic frame of the headphone has a nice solid rigidity to it, it feels very strong. My sister accidentally half-way sat on them briefly, and I think her rear end came off worse. They're strong. The plastic you'll find on the headphone is quality stuff, very solid. the materials used on the padding are also good quality. The pleather on the earpads is possibly the nicest pleather I've encountered. It's lightyears ahead of that utter garbage I got with the Ultrasone HFI-580. The microfibre on the top of the headband, and the fabric weave on the bottom are both quality materials. The entire headphone is simply spot on, build wise.
 
It just gets better. On top of great looks and build quality, these headphones are also very well featured! Obviously, you've got a removable cable feature which is very welcome for replacing broken cables, but allows you to easily get aftermarket cables since the input on the headphone is 3.5mm. The headband has the impressive feature of being ultra flexible. You can bend it all sorts of ways and it just springs into shape again. This is great for durability, but also useful for adjusting the headphone to the shape of your head.The other major (and very popular) feature is the replaceable, customisable shields. There's a good variety of colours to choose from, and you can get an image engraved onto it for an extra fee. "Endorse yourself" as it were. A cool idea.
 
But it doesn't stop there, unlike most headphones with such fashion and accessory bragging rights, these also sound good. I'd describe the sound as slightly dark, surprisingly spacious and quite rich. The bass is very satisfying to me, I really love it. It has good authority, though I've not once found it overbearing. It can be potent when it needs to be, though. It remains quite clean and controlled, though I think there's a hint of looseness in the lowest reaches, but it's minor to be sure. This bass is definitely able to perform with the likes of electronic, pop and hip hop, and perform well! And, most impressively, for a headphones with such bass capabilities, the mids are just as good. They sound thick (in a good way) and well separated from the bass, with good definition and placement. Where the M80s might not be that impressive to some is the treble. As I said, it's a slightly dark sounding headphone, so the treble takes a little bit of a backseat, however it's quite smooth and not fatiguing at all. The quality is respectable, but isn't as good as the mids or bass. The sparkle and crisp definition isn't there to the extent that some will be wanting, and the way some genres demand. Genres I find these satisfying for are Electronic, Pop, Ambient, Progressive Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz, Folk and some Soundtracks. I thought they didn't sound particularly impressive with Classical, and for Metal that's fast or aggressive at all, they just sounds too congested and a bit muddled. But all things taken into account, I think they sound wonderful!
 
Unfortunately this headphone isn't perfect (what is?). The first problem with this headphone I came across very shortly after using them for the first time. I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S, and the M80s cables are not compatible my device. When plugged in normally, the sound is quietened and distorted, but when you hold down the inline button, the sound returns to the correct volume and clarity. This wasn't a cable problem either, because the cables worked flawlessly with a Blackberry and iPod Touch. It's also not a problem with my device since other inline control headphones work fine. I'm not the only person with a SGS to have this problem with the M80, this is just a compatibility issue it seems. Quite disappointing since it says on the box that it's compatible with Android devices. 
 
Luckily, V-Moda's wise design and their excellent service help remedy this. A simple reversing of the cable allows for the sound to come through loud and clear, since it bypasses the controls and microphone. Whilst this works, I still have to sacrifice the convenience of being able to press a button to stop my music, I have to pull my phone out to pause. That, and I also lose the benefits of the 45 degree angle jack. I expressed my woes to V-Moda and asked them to send me an audio only cable, and to my surprise, they agreed! Their communication was great (they tried to help me solve my cable issue) and they were nice enough to send me a free cable. I've slammed Grado's service before and I'll do it again. Grado, pull your finger out and take note from V-Moda. This is how you treat customers! Not to mention the 2 year warranty (which they still honour if you buy from Amazon, which is a lot cheaper than buying it from them) and the immortal life program. Just brilliant!
 
I also have noise and isolation issues with these headphones. The cables make a noticeable amount of noise when they brush against clothing. It's very much there at low volumes, and even at higher volumes it's still a bit irritating because you can always JUST hear it. Aftermarket cables could remedy this I imagine, but I think it's a case of V-Moda going for looks over functionality. As for isolation, in and of itself it's actually fine for me. It's not super effective, it won't completely isolate you from everything, but I don't really like total isolation. It makes me feel uncomfortable that I have no situational awareness. They'll block enough noise for your music to be satisfying, but still let you hear important noises around you. My isolation issue comes from the wind noise. If you're out with these in windy weather there will be a noticeable wooshing noise. This is a nitpick or a dealbreaker depending on how much you're actually going to be walking around out with them. My portable needs are more for chilling on the couch with my phone, or sitting in a car or train or bus on a long trip, so for me it's not a bid deal. But, be warned all the same.
 
 


I've since sold the headphones due to the comfort, for the reasons stated above. I tried for a long time to make them feel comfortable, but they just weren't.

 
The HD448 were my first headphones that I could call my own, and my first foray into high quality sound. I bought these in late 2010 for use with my iPod Classic. Like most people entering the headphone game, I was after "more bass, please"  (keep in mind that I was coming from the PX100, which little did I know at the time, was actually somewhat bassy). I was also after headphones that were portable, seeing as I wanted to use them primarily with my iPod.
 
When they arrived, I opened them up, plonked them on my head, and gave them a whirl. To my immediate disappointment, I discovered that they were less bassy than the PX100! (and as we all know, bass quantity = sound quality) However, during my research into these headphones, I had been introduced to the idea of burn in. I told myself that the headphones would sound better with time, and so I kept listening. 
 
Once again to my disappointment, the bass didn't magically grow, but with comparison with the PX100, I realised that the overall clarity, and forwardness of the mids was noticeably higher on the HD448s. So, really, the 448s taught me (in good time) that bass quantity isn't everything. The mids are indeed the standout of the HD448. They're rich, a little forward (but not too much, it's subtle compared to a Grado) and well defined. Vocals are placed right, instruments like guitars strike a pretty good balance between being "liquid" and "detailed". It's very satisfying. I didn't find the treble to be particularly noteable in any way, either positively or negatively. It's simply competent treble that won't wow you, but it certainly shouldn't offend you. It's definitely a bit on the darker side, which I really don't mind for easy listening, fatigue just isn't an issue for these cans. 
 
The letdown in the sound is the bass. As my taste in sound matured I realised that the bass quantity was indeed, as my inexperienced self noted the first time I heard them, lacking. But the bass quality tells the exact same story! It was somewhat loose, not particularly well defined, lacked punch, and lacked speed. The only real compliment I can give to the bass is that it's not going to bleed into the other frequencies. Not only is the bass not good quality, but I think the vast majority of people (audio enthusiasts and audiophiles included) will be dissatisfied with the very low quantity. The bass really won't please anybody other than those who simply don't know what good bass sounds like. I honestly think the bass of the PX100 sounds superior. To give you an illustration at how pathetic the bass is, look at this graph:
 
I owned the 225i for 12 months, and those had a pretty unsatisfying level of bass (moreso in the sub regions than anything. As you can see, the HD448 has even less bass than the Grado, right across the board. As you can see the PX100ii in green, it's no wonder I noticed significantly less bass the first time I tried them. There's a near 20db difference in the sub regions. All I have to say is that the HD448s bass is an enormous let down and will really only please people who hate bass.

 
Sound-staging is what you would expect from a sealed headphone of this price, nothing poor, but not outstanding in any way. Mildly narrow, and "boxed-in" sounding.
 
Being sealed, these headphones seal half decently, however they have almost no clamp force, so you won't be completely isolated. Once you have them going at a moderate volume level, you'll be fine (unless you're listening in a construction site or airport runway). The plus side of this lack of clamping is the comfort factor. I've owned 4 full sized headphones and 2 supra aural, and the HD448 are the most comfortable of all. Admittedly, Comfort is probably 3rd or 4th on my priority list of what makes a good headphone (within reason, it can't be completely painful to wear), but regardless, these headphones were super comfy. Due to the lack of clamp, they put practically no pressure on the side of my head or ears, and since they didn't seal 100%, my ears could breathe enough that heat wasn't a problem. The headband padding was generous, and the headphone's light weight left me without experiencing any hot spots. Very comfy!
 
The HD448s are not only inconsistent in sound, but also design. Keep in mind, these were marketed as portable headphones. This is really only 50% accurate. They do some things right regarding this. Firstly, they're fashionable. From the black grille with the aluminium Sennheiser Badge, to the headphone jack, these headphones look very nice. They're really downright mature looking in comparison to the waves of gaudy trash out there. Secondly, they're efficient. You'll be able to get enough volume from any capable PMP, no worries. Thirdly, the cable isn't bulky, and it's just the right length for reaching from your ear to your pocket with some slack. However, for portability, these headphones don't really fit the bill. Why?
 
They're full sized headphones! This is debateable, but as far as I'm concerned, if they're big enough to be circumaural, they're too big to really be taking out with you. For portable use, I favour supra-aural due to their ability to easily and comfortable sit around your neck when not in use, and to more easily pack into bags etc. The HD448 also have no ability to fold, or become compact in any way, they're just annoying to carry around. It's disappointing, because the cable was clearly intended for portable use, yet they're non-foldable full sized headphones. What's the deal with Sennheiser not understanding that that's such a contradiction? They've done the same thing with the momentum, too. If your headphones can't fold, then they should be compact to begin with to ensure they're actually portable (eg. V-Moda M80).
 
The build quality is a bit mixed. The main cups of the headphone are quite solid and don't feel cheap in any way to me. The Aluminium badge gives it an extra bit of quality. The cable is what you would want for portable use and feels solidly attached to the left cup. That's all well and good, but moving northward, the headband feels quite hollow. It just does not retain the solidness of the cups, and it will creak if bent. It feels less solid and trustworthy than the PX100 headband, which was just solid aluminium with a plastic rim. Not to mention, it's less flexible. My other problem with the headphone is that the padding isn't removable, and I never saw any replacements available anywhere online or in store. The 50% cheaper PX100 has removable padding available for both the headband and earpads. The pleather of the HD448 is the part that is most likely to wear out, so why not make it replaceable? Stupid.
 
So, what is the HD448? It's a very comfortable, very fashionable full sized headphone for $100 (When it was available, it's now been replaced by the HD449). It sounds respectable, but nothing noteworthy (all things considered). The mids are great, the treble is competent but the bass is very underwhelming. However, it's biggest problems are in it's design. The build quality is lacking in some areas, user replaceable parts simply don't exist for it, and it's flat out false advertising to say that it's a portable headphone, if you ask me. It's certainly not a bad headphone, for someone new to the headphone game with a budget of $100 in the year 2010, I could have done infinitely worse. Not bad, but not great. Just OK.

 
The PX100 is proof that something quite cheap and simple can provide as much enjoyment for the end user as something significantly more expensive. That's not to say that they're on the same level of quality as a higher end product, you do get what you pay for. It's a mental thing. There's so much satisfaction to be had in the idea that something so light on the wallet can sound so... pleasant! 
 
The PX100 are a fantastic little portable that I was using back in 2010, before I got my own first pair of headphones, the HD448, and subsequently became interested in audio. The PX100 actually belong to my Mother, she got them with some sort of audio therapy kit she bought a few years back. Whilst she doesn't appreciate them for what they are ("They're just headphones!"), and nor did I when I was using them a few years ago, I reacquainted myself with them recently as I've become interested in having a portable set up, and have come to really like what these are about. I'm likely going to be purchasing the V-Moda M80 soon, but these things are heavyweight performers for their price, no doubt. 
 
These phones are open back supra-aural portables. They're foldable and include a plastic carrying case. The earcups are foam padded, and can swivel 90 degrees. The headband is metal with plastic rimming, has pleather covered foam padding. The headband length can be adjusted, with nice satisfying click feedback. I quite like the design of these phones, it's very compact and light, looks pretty decent and is quite comfortable. I used to find the earpads really uncomfortable, but I believe I was wearing them incorrectly and putting pressure on my upper ear. I now wear them lower down and they feel quite good. Whilst the headband padding is quite minimal, it's perfectly sufficient since the headphones are so light. Replacement padding is readily available for both the earpads and headband all over eBay. Nothing worse than headphones where padding is impossible to replace.
 
The build quality of the headphone is quite good, too. The hinges of the foldable headband feel very solid, the metal that comprises most of the headband is also great. The plastic bodying is sturdy all over, it's much more solid than you would think by looking at it. The one weakpoint of the build is the cable. It's as thin as you would expect from a headphone of this price range, though if you treat it with care it won't be a problem, and I know these particular phones have been tugged quite violently off my head on more than one occasion over the years, but they've held up perfectly. 
 
The only other design issue is that the headphones are open, which is a good thing for the sound. However, being a portable headphone, it's hardly far-fetched that these will be used in settings where some isolation would be quite welcome. Whilst I haven't used them for this, I can't see these being ideal for a plane, or possibly a particularly noisy train. With volume compensation they actually cope quite well in fast moving cars, and of course if the vehicle is only zipping around town there won't be much noise to worry about. But, nevertheless, if it's a very noisy setting you'll be using these in (like a busy city) then these might not provide the isolation you're after. You can use volume compensation to fix that, but with that comes fatigue and worse battery life. Still, I think their open nature is advantageous for being aware of your surroundings. I feel quite safe being able to partially hear cars coming when taking them on a walk.
 
As for the sound quality, it's a quite surprisingly good sounding phone. The most impressive part is the bass response. So many small, compact headphones sound really tinny and weak down low, yet the PX100 sounds amazingly full. Not to mention that it's open back, it's pretty stunning if you ask me. Whilst I haven't heard it, from other people's impressions I suspect this might be like a little baby portable HD650. But I shouldn't say things about headphones I haven't heard (too much of that on Head-Fi) *shrug*. Regardless, the sound is smooth. A nice full low end, undisturbed midrange and easygoing treble. The treble is actually the most interesting thing about these phones in my case. My two most recent headphones that I've been using primarily are the Grado sr225i and the Ultrasone DJ1, both are quite bright. After listening to the PX100 again, I gotta say, I rep the dark side of the force from now on. It's so easy going and relaxing to listen to. Granted, the PX100 is probably a little too dark to be completely ideal for my tastes, but it's a small flaw for a cheap headphone.
 
I've been running these from the Samsung Galaxy S with Voodoo Audio and Poweramp (320 and FLAC). Being used to higher end headphones, it's easy to notice a big difference in terms of clarity and definition, which may be jarring for some. Maybe my ears just aren't as spoilt as others, but I find myself being able to adjust to the sound very quickly and start enjoying myself immediately. It's cool being able to have that open, bassy, dark sound on the go. Of course, these headphones are efficient, so amping is definitely not necessary. But, out of  curiosity, I plugged them into my Little Dot 1+. The bass will gain a little more authority and the definition and instrument separation will improve slightly under such a setup. They're nice little improvements to be heard, but they're not enough to make them sound poor from portable rigs in comparison (at least not mine). 
 
All things considered, I think this is a fantastic headphone!  It's a surprisingly satisfying performer, built well, comfortable, compact. It ticks more boxes for me than I ever thought they would. If you get your hands on some, you might find yourself to be pleasantly surprised, as I was.
 
Really, the biggest warning I can give to anyone considering them is don't bother with them if you know you don't like dark sound, because they are definitely dark. But, if you do prefer dark signatures and  you want a cheap portable, these should be on your list.

Say what you want about Grado headphones, they certainly have a die-hard cult following. So, being a Head-Fier, it's relatively impossible to not know about them. When I asked for advice on the forums for upgrade suggestions to my HD448 with "Metal performance" being one of the key things I was after, it was inevitably that the Grado sound would be recommended to me. They seem to be a polarising line up of headphones, with the 225i often referred to as the sweet spot. They fit my budget at the time perfectly and apparently had the sound I was after, so I jumped on them (at a PC store no less, which I was quite surprised to hear were getting them in). 
 
My first impressions of the headphones when I saw the box were that they were significantly larger than I thought they would be. I don't know why, but the pictures always just made them look so small for some reason. For me, they're somewhere between supra-aural and circum-aural in size (and practice, I'll get to that later). They have a thick, dual entry cable that's approximately 1.5-1.6m long. They're open back, with fully rotating ear pieces, and sliding rodblocks to adjust the height. The headphones hug the top of the head with a vinyl covered headband.

The first night I had them, I must admit, I thought I had made a huge mistake. The Grados are known for not being great for comfort, and that had been eating away at me, but I figured I can put up with mild discomfort for the great sound. However, when I first put them on I thought they felt pretty strange. No immediate discomfort or anything, but it didn't feel like it was something designed to go on the ears in such a manner. They seem to put most of the pressure on the outside edges of your ear, rather than directly on the ear or head. Pretty weird, really, and it still feels quite unique every time I switch from a more conventional headphone to the 225i's.
 
After 30 minutes or so some pretty serious discomfort started to set in. This was because of two things; the clamp force and the earpads. I knew before I bought them that you had to stretch the headband out, but I didn't do it enough. As they are now, when relaxed (face down) the closest points of the earpads sit about 7.5cm away from each other, which leaves the clamp force just right for me. However out of the box they probably sit 1.5cm apart, hence why they were so violently uncomfortable. As for the earpads, they are not as soft when new as they are after a good fortnight of use (and a wash or two), which also improves the comfort. Still, even with these improvements the comfort is mediocre at best, and will inhibit long listening sessions. The cable is also fairly heavy, disproportionately so to the weight of the headphones, so if the cable isn't supported it will feel like the cable is dragging down your head. Still, it could have been a lot worse since to it's credit they're quite light and allow your ears to breathe quite generously, so sweat and heat never really occurs. Really, these are tolerable, bordering on comfy for listening to a single album, but the longer you listen after that, the more they become uncomfortable. These are definitely not all day headphones.
 
The build quality is actually better than I was expecting (since I'd heard they were "extremely cheap" feeling). There's no thin, flimsy plastics used. The plastic of the the cups, gimbals and rodblocks actually seems very sturdy. It sounds very solid when tapped with my knuckle and has absolutely zero give when pressure is applied to it. The metal grille is very nice, in fact I prefer it to almost every modified grille I've seen. The cable is very thick and sturdy, and the 6.35mm jack is very solid. The dual entry cables are also attached very well to the cups. The overall build and sturdiness isn't stellar but it's actually fairly respectable. I think the sense of cheapness that many people get is from some of the materials and the design. The aforementioned earpads are just foam. Sure, it's significantly higher grade foam that what you get on a crappy $10 pair of headphones from a reject store, but it's not a luxurious material to sit on your ears or to look at. But the real killer is the vinyl headband. Once again, it's not as bad as I was lead to believe, but it is most certainly the weak point of the entire build. It's quite thin, and doesn't feel or look nice in the least. This is the main thing that makes you feel as though you've been ripped in the build department. Also, when you hold them in your hands, the free swivelling ear cups give the sensation that the headphones are less 'solid' but I think that's more of an illusion than anything.
 
I knew that the vinyl headband had to go before I even received the 225i's, so I got myself a genuine cowhide leather headband from Headphonelounge.com (now Turbulent Labs). It adds a whole world of extra quality, looks and a bit of comfort to the Grados for $50. I think my 225i's look quite nice with it on:

 
But, even with this addition, I must agree that for a $200 headphone they are rather rudimentary and un-luxurious. You want (and can get) something that just feels and looks much more high end for that amount of money. I still think they look quite cool, but take that with a grain of salt because I'm one of the weirdos that thinks the Koss Portapro looks cool (and it's not even me reminiscing to the 80's, I'm only 21 ).
 
With all of that said about the quality and comfort, this is probably the time to mention the modding community. I won't say much, but there is a wealth of info about ways to modify your Grados (and even businesses you can send yours into). The relatively modular design of the Grados allow for many DIY possibilities if you have the know-how or the dollars. However, I can't help but think that the reason they have such a modding community is because they desperately need it. That's really the truth of it. If they were better designed and more luxuriously built from the getgo, I think you'd find the modding community wouldn't be the way it is.
 
However, this also brings me to Grado's policies and service. If you're modifying your headphones and break a part, often you can get a replacement part from the manufacturers, or another store that sells the parts. Not so with Grado. All they sell are replacement earpads, extension cables and 6.35mm to 3.5mm converters. They have a policy against selling parts like metal headband inserts, grilles, gimbals, badges, cups etc. So unless you're able to find somebody selling a used part, you'll be forced to send your headphones into Grado and pay what will end up being an exhorbitant servicing & repairs fee for a single part. I think it's a crap policy, and I don't really care what reasons they have for it, it just makes things worse for their consumers. I've heard of people carefully wording their emails to Grado about spare parts (lying) and having success getting the part sent to them for free, but that people should have to do that just to get their hands on some innocent little spare parts is ridiculous. Not to mention, my particular grados were missing the sheets of paper that normally come with them, I contacted them about it and got bounced all around the place with unhelpful crap (I never got the papers). I've seen Grados service praised but I haven't had a single good experience with them.
 
It's probably time I got around to talking about the sound. I've had the Grados for 6 and a half months now, and my enjoyment of their sound (if put on a graph) has been somewhat bell-shaped. It took me a little bit to appreciate what they did, and since I did I've been loving them immensely, but with time and exposure to other headphones, my maturing tastes and their flaws have had a bit of a sobering affect in that I realise I can't use them for everything. Here's what I think of their sound;
 
Bass- Fantastic quality but lacking in quantity for most applications. The bass is very tight, fast and punchy. It does a fantastic job of keeping up with drum blasting or fast-paced bass rhythm. It's well defined, too. The problem is that for stuff like electronic, hip hop, ambient and even quite a lot of metal, as well as films or gaming, the bass has too little authority. It leaves quite a few tracks sounding like there's quite a bit missing, kind of like 2.0 monitors with poor extension / authority vs a balanced 2.1 setup. It's just far too light for some music. Compared to the HFI-580, the bass sounds embarrassingly weak for said genres. The quality is there in spades, but the quantity is insufficient for those bass heavy uses. For stuff like Jazz, Progressive, Acoustic, and for more technical Metal the bass is more serviceable. But, with my maturing tastes, I've really come to prefer more bass even for those uses.
 
Mids- These are kick ass. Easily the highlight of the 225i, and they sound just bloody fantastic to my ears. They possess a very warm, crisp tone, and they're quite forward and aggressive. This works wonders for distorted guitars but it also gives intimacy and authority to other instruments. Vocals sound just right to me. Keyboards are one of the stand-outs for me with these, they sound quite 3 dimensional, very real, very fun. The mids are definitely the best quality of these phones.
 
Treble- Basically what I said about the mids, the forwardness and aggressiveness can be fantastic for the right music. It gives darker, relaxed recordings excitement and intimacy. Power. But, like the bass, the treble isn't good for everything. It's not as bad as the HFI-580s, but the fatigue and piercing isn't exactly hard to come across in long listening sessions or with an already bright recording. Comparing bright Black Metal recordings between the PX100 and the 225i definitely made it apparent that if I was going to stick to the album on the Grado it would be at the expense of fatigue. A good example of where the treble is advantageous is Tool's 10'000 Days. It's music that is peaky by nature that the extra peakiness of the Grados makes things too bright. 
 
The 225i's sound intimate, coherant, fast and airy, punchy and energetic with the correct music. These do sound fantastic with small ensemble Jazz, Progressive and Acoustic, as well as certain metal that isn't quite as "grand" or "epic" sounding, they're too narrow and not bassy enough for that. Also, all of this is with the assumption that you're feeding them well recorded music, because I don't find the 225i to be a very forgiving headphone at all.
 
Would I recommend these? I hypothetically could, but only for a very specific type of user; Somebody who doesn't prioritise aesthetics or quality, but who wants them for short listening sessions at home with SQ that will excel with well recorded Jazz, Progressive, Acoustic and Metal, and is interested in modifications. It's fantastic for that sort of person (if they exist). However, I feel anyone who doesn't fit into such a narrow userbase will likely encounter some glaring flaws.
 
If you want stellar build quality you will be disappointed. If you want bass power you will be very disappointed. If you want easy listening you will be disappointed. If you want forget-they're-on comfort you'll be disappointed. If you want wide genre compatibility you will be disappointed. If you want portability you will be disappointed. If you want luxurious finishings you will be disappointed. If you want top notch support and service you will be disappointed.
 
There's quite a number of things that can very easily leave someone disappointed in these headphones, it's true. It does some select things very well indeed, though, and if those things happen to be those that you value most, then you've found yourself a great buy. For me personally, I really love what they do well. However, these are certainly headphones that belong in a collection, not on their own. My music tastes have branched out considerably since I bought them, so their narrow specialisation no longer fulfils my needs as a whole. I'll probably upgrade to a more easy listening, all-rounder in time. Simply put, they have just as many flaws (for me personally, probably more) than they do benefits, so it's hard to recommend them.
 
An interesting specialist headphone, but not good at very much else. I really wouldn't recommend them to anybody except those enthusiasts with headphone collections, looking to find out what Grados are all about. Do NOT, under any circumstances, buy this as your primary headphone.

note- I actually have the Ultrasone DJ1 but since they're essentially the same as the HFI-580 (For those that don't know, the DJ1 is the same headphone with a different colour scheme / logo, and a coiled cable), I decided to post the review here for more exposure.
 
I bought these phones to compliment my Grado SR-225i as a sealed headphone for more bass-intensive music like electronic and hip hop. These phones are pretty hyped around here, many people quoting them to be a basshead's headphones. This might be true for you depending on what you consider basshead to mean. If a basshead, to you, is 'I WANT MOAR!', these have potential because you can EQ them to be very bassy, but they will disappoint you out of the box. If a basshead, to you, is someone who likes some bass emphasis but more importantly great bass quality, then these should be quite satisfying for such a budget.
 
The headphones are quite sturdy, the plastic and metals used feel and look quite tough. It's also quite a good looker, it's much nicer in person than in pictures (but that's almost always the case for me). I like that it uses a screw-on quarter inch adapter, I think they're unendingly superior to the regular clip-on variety. The headphones isolate well, too, so they fulfil that purpose if that's important to you.
 
The bass is definitely the stand-out in the sound department of the HFI-580. It's tight and well defined, with good punch. It does have a mid bass hump, and rolls off moderately into the low sub regions, but I find that deep bass is represented quite satisfyingly, just not as in your face as the upper bass. I find the bass to bleed very, very little (if at all). It knows it's place. The mids are as reported, recessed, at least compared to something as mid centric as the Grados. They lack flair and the rich tonality of the Grados but they're hardly of poor quality at this price range. They just take a slight back seat in comparison to the bass and aren't as rich as I'm used to. There's a metallic tone to them that takes away from the enjoyment of them, somewhat. Female vocals sound further back and a slightly buried in comparison, but the mids are definitely satisfying overall. The treble is my real gripe with the sound of the HFI-580. At times they manage to make the Grados sound almost conservative in comparison. The Ultrasone's can be hamfisted with the treble, which isn't an issue (if not beneficial) for dark recordings. However for bright recordings it makes the music far too piercing and shrill. Sure, the 225i's are trebly, but the airy sound of the headphone makes it sound considerably more natural (and therefore less fatiguing) than the HFI-580. It's simply too bright a headphone, despite being quite clean and quick.
 
I have a few design and material issues with this headphone. The pleather they used is not good quality. It's hardly the worst stuff I've ever encountered, but it went hard very quickly for me. It's nice and soft to begin with and it feels relatively thick which was a good initial sign but noticeable hardness started setting in after a fortnight. My significantly cheaper Sennheiser HD448 (which I used for 18 months before selling it off) stayed as soft as the day I got it. Now, sure, you could argue that the earpads are replaceable so it's not an issue. I'd agree if it took a year or two for it to go hard, but for the affect to start setting in so quickly is disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't make the earpads unbearable but it's simply not nice to feel on the skin, and once they harden they're prone to cracking. The same phenomenon occurs with the padding for the headband, which uses the same pleather as the earpads, however there's no headband padding replacements available. Whilst I haven't tried this, I would suggest attempting this headband modification (for both comfort and durability): http://www.head-fi.org/t/579875/comfort-mod-hd650-headband-padding-on-the-pro-900 
 
Speaking of the stock headband, I dislike it. It's a generic design (I've seen the identical design used on some Beyerdynamic headphones such as the DT660). It's uncomfortable, putting all of the pressure on a small area of the head with a small, stiff rectangle of padding (I was unpleasantly surprised at how hard that headband padding was out of the box). I'd also say the headband is the weak point of the headphone aesthetically. My ears also get quite sweaty in the earcups. If you live in a very cold area then you should be able to avoid it, but once it gets anywhere near the mid 20s (Celsius) or above it gets uncomfortably warm for me (unless I'm sitting directly under an air conditioner or something). The headphones do clamp quite hard, too. They do feel very secure on your head but I prefer a more loose feeling. It's just too much pressure for my liking, I really don't move around much when using headphones so the clamp is of little use to me (other than assisting isolation which is quite good). Overall, I find these cans less comfortable than the 225i, which certainly isn't a comfort king, itself. Another problem with the headband is that the adhesive used to hold the padding on started to come off on one side within a month . Whilst being an easy to fix issue, these are supposed to have a reputation for great quality. It feels cheaply fixed in place, and it's quick deterioration shows. 
 
So, would I recommend these? Unfortunately not. I ended up giving them to my Dad for Christmas to plug into his guitar amp (He's much less fussy than me, and considers the $160 I paid for them to be "extremely expensive" ) after failing to sell them on eBay multiple times. They definitely deliver great bass, and respectable mids, but the treble is just too much. Maybe if you pair them with the right amp to darken them you could fix that issue. However that still leaves the build, design and comfort issues. It's a shame, because it's a pretty darn good sounding headphone for $160. It's very full sounding and pretty detailed, not to mention a pretty good all rounder if you ask me. If they fixed the comfort and brightness it would be a damn good headphone, but the flaws of the HFI-580 are too distracting for me to recommend or enjoy it fully.