[Bill-P]

Quote:

@Bill-P
your scale for bass seems to be calibrated in a very high scale

 do you rate it on quantity or quality or mix both to come out with a final score?

 
It's actually just quantity.
 
If you want to know what can hit 10, I've auditioned the D5000, LCD-2, HE-400, and the likes... though those are outside of the price range ($300) of the OP.

 

[soundeffect]

I also own a genuine pair of ESW9 and I agree almost everything with you Bill-P except for the bass: I would  rated a little bit higher on the bass and weak is not the word I would use, but maybe too soft and can be tighter as I find the bass to be present and goes down pretty deep. again this is just my opinion haha.  otherwise very spot on, I also love the vocals on them too.

 
Oops! the edit is for me just seeing you say you rate the bass for quantity in that case yes, I agree. I wish they do have a little bit more bass.

 

[Bill-P]

To be honest, my personal preference would go toward bass-light cans, so the ESW9 is still a personal favorite for any vocal or acoustic listening. I haven't heard anything with better midrange in the same price range. Bar none. Even the ES10 is no match for ESW9. Something about those cans makes them surreal with vocals.
 
Maybe the SF Bay Area meet next week will open my eyes. I'm dying to hear Mr. Speaker's Mad Dog and some of the other high-end cans. 

 

[soundeffect]

man, I still need to make an effort to make it to a meet. I want to hear the W3000ANV and of course a lot of the higher end one.

 

[sofastreamer]

srh940. not portable at all. that is the only downside. i have owend most 300$ cans that are famous these days. none beats them except when you are a basshead.

 

[streetdragon]

Quote:

srh940. not portable at all. that is the only downside. i have owend most 300$ cans that are famous these days. none beats them except when you are a basshead.

agreed that they are fantastic headphones

 

[Maxvla]

Here's a comparo I did between the HD600, HD598, Fidelio L1 and Spirit One.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/601061/mid-fi-shootout-hd600-hd598-focal-spirit-one-philips-fidelio-l1

It should be noted that I've learned since that the Spirit One I had was likely affected by the problem Focal has apologized for and is taking steps to remedy. My cans only had this issue in one side, however, and the other side didn't really sound much better.

 

[AzureBeat]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'm pretty bogged down in schoolwork right now, but I'll try and update the first post as soon as possible.

 

[Kamakahah]

I can only really comment on the Mad Dogs with alpha pads. Based on your preferences I'm not sure the bass would be what you're looking for. I personally find the bass very enjoyable for the majority of genres. Isolation is fantastic, so that meets one of your preferences. Not exactly the most portable headphone. Its large with the alpha pads, kinda hard to put around your neck, but you could make it happen if you wanted too. More importantly you would need a semi-decent amp to power these, so that's another ~$100 or more. So basically I'd rule it out unless you want to save and put in the extra cash and try a can that is fantastic but a bit outside what you were looking for.