Today I went into my local headphone store with a mission to find a set of headphones to pair with my iBasso DX50. I had been running with a pair of UE6000's up until this point but felt I wasnt getting as much as I should be from my DAP so I took it in to find something it played well with. These were the first pair that the helpful chap behind the counter suggested to me when I told him the range of music I listen to. Not wanting to cheat myself I decided to pit it against the Beyerdynamic DT880, AiAi TMA-1 Studio Young Guru and the Shure SRH 940's.
 
Being a Audiophile Padawan I had trouble describing how and why I made the choice I did. Against the ATH-AD900x's the DT880's felt muted, the 940's felt boxed in and the TMA-1's were close but just not as engaging as the 900x's. That being said I like my bass a little more understated than most so I was quite happy to sacrifice that aspect for a better all round performance. The bass in these headphones is by no means poor, Its punchy, you know it's there but it doesn't smack you in the head. It's like a bass drum in the corner of the room rather than against your head, but if I was chasing club bass I probably would have gone the DT880's or the TMA-1's.
 
So far I have gone through most of my catalogue including Eminem's latest, Holst's the planets, Ludovico Einaudi's In a Time Lapse, Train, Rudimental, T.I. and not once did I ever feel the headphones were lacking in any department, Ludocivo Einaudi sounds particularly amazing. They are extremely comfortable, but if you have a small to medium size head I'd recommend the rubber band mod, it makes a world of difference.
 
The disappointing thing for me was the un-boxing. There was nothing exciting at all, the presentation kind of sucked and a protective bag/case wouldn't have gone astray. That being said I soon got over it once I started listening.
 
Overall I am exceptionally happy with these headphones and would thoroughly recommend them to someone looking to take the next step up. You wont be disappointed.

I'll start by saying that until a few weeks ago I thought beats were pretty good, so I am by no means an Audiophile.
 
I got onto these headphones due to my recent purchase of a M-Stage Matrix Dac and Desktop Amp to match. It was a bit of an experiment for me as I though that all this Audiophile talk was complete BS. So anyway I hooked these babies up to my beats and was underwhelmed, so I thought perhaps I was right. On a whim I connected the DAC up to a surround sound system I had lying around, set it to stereo and the difference really hit me. After that the beats just didn't compare, so I set out to find a better set of headphones. After the hit of the DAC and Amp I couldn't justify too heavy a cost so I read a review here about these and decided to give them a go. I haven't been disappointed.
 
I have varied taste in music so I have been putting these through Imogen Heap, Lorde, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Train, Santana, Eminem, 2Pac and the list goes on. Not once did I feel that the headphones were lacking. As an experiment I went back to the beats studios, and now my sister owns a pair of beats studios and I do not. I would say the switch has been like going from listening to music in a club to listening in a live concert, not front row tickets but enjoyable none the less. I don't want to embarrass myself with technical speak I don't understand, but if I had listened to these at the time I'd bought my beats I probably would have saved a good couple of hundred and gotten myself a better pair of headphones.
 
Anyway in my opinion these are a great starting point for anybody who wants to get excited about how good music can sound. Great bang for buck, build quality is excellent and apart from the gawdy blue cable they look pretty good. Downside is I did not enjoy the active mode at all so it never gets used.