[pietastesgood]

Hi all,
 
Been browsing the forums and found some good information, so I decided to join!
This will be my first set of headphones.  I'm not quite sure what qualifies as audiophile, but the majority of my music is in lossless FLAC quality, and I highly appreciate good sound quality. Portability may be important since I'm a college student. I prefer over-the-ear to on-ear, and as I'm probably going to use the headphones when I'm studying/in a library, avoiding leakage is pretty important.
 
To give you an overview of my musical taste:
 
Post-Rock: Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, 65daysofstatic, Mogwai, Russian Circles, port-royal
Alternative Rock: Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars, Coldplay, U2, The Killers, Switchfoot, Rise Against, Fightstar
Progressive Rock: Porcupine Tree, Coheed and Cambria, Pink Floyd
General Rock: Meat Loaf, Led Zeppelin
Metal: Deftones, Periphery, Within Temptation, In Flames, Bring Me the Horizon, Tool, Ill Nino
Electronic: M83, Anamanaguchi, Pendulum, Above and Beyond, Daft Punk, Armin Van Buuren, Black Sun Empire, Mt. Eden
 
So basically, I enjoy strong bass with my DnB, trance, and liquid dubstep, but I don't want bass to overwhelm when I'm listening to rock or metal; I simply want the band's original sound mix in that situation.
 
I'm willing to pay something between 200 and 300 USD. From what I was reading, the V-MODA Crossfade M-100 seem to work amazingly for electronica and moderately well for rock. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[cel4145]

Just to throw out a couple of extra ideas:

1) Have you considered two sets?

Grado SR80i are great for rock, but open, and they can be had for $100. However, more limited bass response, so not great for EDM.

Then you could get a good pair of IEMs with more bass emphasis for portable use in the library and for listening to EDM.

2) Another idea is to get a more neutral pair of phones for your rock listening that also responds well to EQ. Get a FiiO E11 headphone amp that has bass boost for when you listen to EDM.

 

[swiftW1nd]

I think the M100 (which I own) are the perfect set for EDM, trance songs are sublime. But UE600 or Sony MDR 1R are a bit more versatile...

 

[PurpleAngel]

Digbuy is selling  Audio Technica ATH-A900Xs for $155 (plus shipping and any sales tax).
I paid $256 for my ATH-A900X (closed) headphones.
Really great audio quality.

 

[pietastesgood]

Thanks for all of the suggestions!
 
I did some more research on the Audio Technica brand, and the Audio Technica ATH-M50s seem like a pretty decent choice if I enjoy bass. The Shure SRH840's also sound like a good option, though they are a bit on the heavy side, but a possible plus is that it has less of an emphasis on bass, which makes it more suitable to a wide range of genres.
 
Considering that I mainly listen to rock/metal/trance, which of the two should I go with?

 

[PurpleAngel]

I think the over all better sound quality of the ATH-A900X, is a better choice over the ATH-M50s full bass.
Also the ATH-A900X should provide a better mid range then the ATH-M50s.

 

[cel4145]

I think the over all better sound quality of the ATH-A900X, is a better choice over the ATH-M50s full bass.
Also the ATH-A900X should provide a better mid range then the ATH-M50s.

I agree. I have both, and I would choose the M50s over the ATH-900X if you want portability. The M50s fold up and would be easier to carry with you. Otherwise, to me, the ATH-A900X have better SQ.