[metllicamilitia]

I'm much more for IEM's, and I'm currently waiting for soundearphones to get their stock in to ship me a preordered set of some IEM's. But I also like to listen to headphones from time to time, but one of the main issues is that I wear glasses and most headphones start pressing my glasses into the side of my head which starts to become quite the bother.
 
And I'm also just looking at budget headphones $30USD max including shipping. This may change after next week, but I won't know until then. I listen to all kinds of rock from a little Paul Simon to Cradle of Filth. I prefer the guitars and vocals to be out a little more than bass and drums. I know I can't be too picky about bass with budget anything, they usually are muddy and over the top.
 
So, let me make a short list of things that always help.
Music: Rock/Metal
DAP: Sony NWZ-S545
Sound Preference: Guitars/vocals slightly out above everything else
Comfort: Needs to not press into my head too much or I won't be able to listen to them
Open/Closed: Closed is very much preferred, as much isolation as possible, I like to completely delve into my music
Volume: I need volume, the Koss PortaPro's are usually suggested for budget headphones, but my experience with Koss has been that the volume of their headphones/earphones is too low. I was not able to drown out a school bus full of kids with them back in high school. 
 
Anything else you need to know, feel free to ask. Any and all help is greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance.

 

[metllicamilitia]

Bump

 

[rhythmdevils]

Not all Koss headphones are the same so I don't really get it.  They have different sizes, sensitivities, driver sizes, enclosures, etc. 
 
You also shouldn't up the volume to drown out background noise, that's a sure way to kill your hearing.  If you have background noise, you need closed headphones or IEM's to block the noise. 
 
But for 30 dollars you should get some ksc-75's and just enjoy them at low volumes.  I don't know what else to get maybe some IEM's.  Or save up for something closed and bigger...
 

 

[Yoga Flame]

You probably want closed headphones then. Drowning out the sound of a noisy school bus with open cans might damage your hearing because it would need to be really loud. And it might bother the people sitting near you. 
 
I know next to nothing about budget closed headphones. But there was a thread recently about the Maxell DHP II being fantastic headphones, and costing $30. Might be worth a try.

 

[metllicamilitia]

Yes, closed headphones are exactly what I want, the main purpose for using the headphones would be for when I don't want to mess with my IEM's, if I get the urge to listen to them, and with my 30 watt guitar amp. And the reason I'm strict with my budget at the moment is 'cause I could be laid off this week at work.

But anyway, at a local store they have the Skullcandy Uprock's for $30. I know Skullcandy isn't the best, I've tried two kinds of their IEM's, but for $30 would this be a bad buy?

 

[metllicamilitia]

Okay, so I was impatient and bought the Skullcandy Uprock's. Says on the back good for rock and hip hop. Hip hop yes, rock NO! Least not for me, like I mentioned in my original post, I prefer treble and vocals to be just above the bass and drums. Well, these come handy with over the top muddles bass. But after a quick EQ setup, they are tolerbale. Bass is essentially turned off and treble and vocals are essentially maxed out. The $20 Sony's from Wal-Mart are better out of the box than these, but not quite so comfortable.

I'll give that to Skullcandy, they are flashy and comfy. But otherwise everything sounds out in the distance and almost fake. But much better after the EQ setup for them. This is one advantage to the Sony mp3 player I have, two custom EQ setups, however limited. So, for the common non-audiophile bass maniac, these are great cheap headphones, for those that like good SQ, EQ tweakage is a necesseity.

They are flashy, and very much plastic. So, sadly, they really need to be taken care to prevent destruction (from what I've read, a very common Skullcandy trait). So unless Skullcandy makes a better built and better SQ-wise product, this will be the last bit of money Skullcandy sees from me. I follow someone on Twitter who raves about the Skullcrushers and they converted someone from Beats to Skullcrushers. I've listened to the Beats in a local store, with bass tweaked down, they would be much better than Skullcandy IMO, but still far too bassy.

 

[ProjectDenz]

ROFL. Another mission failed.