I pretty much only listen to rock. I think Bostons debut album is one of the greatest ever produced. Do you have a budget in mind? If you want something on the cheap, something that punches above it's price, check out the Drop Meze 99 Noir. A lot of people adore these headphones for all types of rock music. It comes with a 2nd set of pads (smaller than the ones it comes with). I highly recommend using the spare set.
I also just acquired the Audio Technica ath-wp900. It's more expensive, but I really like them for rock as well. A lot of people like the various Fostex models. I found them a little to V shaped for my liking. I'd recommend the Tr-x00 Ebony model should you want to look at these... Also the E-mu Teak model. They are a little more balanced, and the mids aren't quite as recessed. If you want to drop some coin, look at Denon - Such as ah-d7200 and 9200.
You will find a thread titled "the closed back headphone thread, under the full size headphones sub section of the forum. I would recommend reading through it. Lots of options and really good info there.
Wow, thanks for all the information. I'm considering keeping my Arya headphones, and buying something in the $200 range. I'm also considering selling the Arya, and buying a high end pair, in the $500 to $1200 range. I've ordered a pair of BeyerDynamics DT-770 250Ω headphones to try. After much research, I've realized that headphones with a totally flat frequency response, like the Arya is not the same as a set of speakers that test flat. Flat speakers, when put into a real room, get their highs and lows boosted by the room's acoustics. Headphones need a few extra decibels of both highs and lows to sound right - similar to the Harman curve. I do listen to rock/pop, but more to classical, so I don't want something with overly boosted high and low ends. I'm just going to have to audition headphones until I find a pair that's in the Goldilocks zone.
And I agree with you on that Boston debut album. It may very well be the greatest album in the popular/rock/country genre ever produced. I used to listen almost exclusively to rock and popular music, back in the seventies and eighties, but, by chance, I happened to catch a performance of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto on television, and that changed everything. If the last few minutes of that piece of music doesn't make you emotional, you need to check your pulse. I was raised in the south, where classical music was considered the music of snobs, and the day I heard that piece of music, I realized that I was missing out on a lot of great music, because I was labeling it, and letting others tell me what to listen to. My music collection now contains everything from positive country, to the likes of AC/DC, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac, John Denver, John Berry, to works by dozens of classical composers from all eras, but Rachmaninoff will always be my favorite. That said, there is almost nothing in my collection from the last twenty years, because most of that "music" isn't music. It's Autotune, computer generated, cut and paste Pro Tools garbage. Music is played by musicians, on instruments - not created on computers. Dropping the labels has allowed me to discover a lot of awesome music. But, I digress... Thanks again for the information!
