[RPGWiZaRD]

I currently use the Sony XB500 and absolutely love them but the upgradeitis is always haunting me with the "dude your headphone costed only 43 EUR, ofc there is better headphones out there!"-argument so I feel I had to create this thread so I could try and get a better picture together with your help of which headphone candidate would possibly suit me most. I know very well what kind of a sound signature I prefer though and can describe it very exactly, I just don't think there's any headphone out there that fits the description perfectly, not that I know about at least except for Sony XB500 that sounds the closest I've heard so far to that with a help of a bit EQing.
 
The thing is I don't have the typical audiophile-taste of how I want it to sound like, completely neutral sound isn't my cup of tea. I prefer a very colored/fun sound or a very warm/forward/aggressive "in-your-face"-style and the closer to the sound the better (I want to feel I'm on the stage with instruments surrounding me!) so immediatly I put on a pair of laid-back sounding headphones I find the music to be very boring and not engaging at all. The soundstage size isn't too important for me and neither is instrument separation as the more warmer/forward the usually worse these things tend to get and I prefer the warm/forward sound over the wide soundstage & good instrument separation when I'm able to choose. I also prefer to have a bass emphasize, I don't concider even the XB500's bass too strong but I definitely wouldn't need any stronger, it's much more likely I'd find the bass to be too underhelming though when testing different headphones but I do have a good working EQ I use whenever I don't get the amount I personally prefer (I ain't a puritist, far from it, if EQ will bring me more satisfaction ofc I will do it). It's also VERY important for me to have a balanced deep and upper bass output, I don't want it to decay too fast and neither be too slow/boomy/deep bass focused with lacking punch from the upper bass, a 50/50% deep/upper bass ratio would be ideal for me and the XB500 is just tiny bit more emphasized in the upper bass by sth like 46/54% ratio in my ears and can easily be fixed with a bit of EQing. The mids I want to be as forward/up-front as possible and shouldn't sound too smooth, rather "crispy" so that it can reveal fine details as well and the vocals are really a top-concern too. The highs should be slightly on the smoother side, I prefer gentle/soft highs that don't bite, I really hate sharp/edgy/bright thin ear-piercing highs that are anything beyond what most people would call "neutral", I rather have them a bit on the dark/smoother side and then boost them a little on the EQ if need be, the highs on the XB500 is just slightly too much held-back but even if I boost them then they become never harsh/edgy at all though, they stay "soft" but adds more details so XB500 satisfies me on that point as well once EQ'd. 
 
I listen to lots of different genres, lots of trance, techno, breakbeat, some dubstep and hardstyle, mainstream pop, rock, alternative, instrumental (I like piano & guitar especially and I play piano/keyboard as a hobby), ballads, some what I would call "mainstream rap" like airplanes by B.o.B or Eminem ft Rianna - Love the way you lie and maybe some RnB and also sometimes orchestra (game music and movie OSTs). 
 
I've tried XB700, Denon D1100, ATH-M50, Beyer DT770 Pro/80 that are expensier than the XB500 and none of them come close but it doesn't come as a suprise to me either now afterwards when I know better what kind of sound I'm looking for. The Beyers were too laid-back with too recessed mids and the highs were too thin & bright and bass was too deep bass focused with slight lack of punch to it. ATH-M50 coiled-cable (the newer white-boxed) had too little bass output and highs were tiny bit too harsh with too much present sibilance in my ears and could be slightly more warm/aggressive sounding for my liking but it was definitely slightly on the warmer side of neutral though. Denon D1100 lacked deep bass output for me, the bass decayed too quickly while having very strong punchy upper bass though so the deep/upper bass ratio was quite a bit off and the mids were far too recessed and smooth sounding and the highs were on the border to being "thin" and edgy/sharp and also it was far too "distant" sounding (maybe not as forward/warm sounding as many suggest them to be or the soundstage centered position is simply not where I want it to be?). XB700 while having very strong deep bass output lacked upper punchy bass and mids were tiny bit recessed and highs were tiny bit on the brighter side for me and could have been slightly more forward/warm sounding for my taste.
 
So which headphone do you think are the most suitable for me? Are the Sony XB500 I already have the best perhaps? My own suggestion would be perhaps Ultrasone HFI-580 but my expectations of what I've read about them here would be that the highs are probably slightly too bright and then people comment the bass as being very punchy which makes me worried about their sub-bass capabilities. They seem very EQ friendly though and perhaps I could fix those things with the EQ if needed. I've also looked at Shure 750DJ but I'm worried about them not being warm/forward enough sounding. I believe Ultrasones with slight treble decrease and slight bass emphasize or Grados with large bass boost and large decrease in highs would probably be a short description of what would suit me. Any thoughts?
 
Here I even drew what would probably represent ideal FR curve for me (black line):

 

[wind016]

Hey RPGWizard,
 
You're guesses about the HFI 580 is about accurate in comparison to the Sony XB series. From what I recall, the HFI 580 definitely had less of a sub-bass response and it was overall brighter. Those aspects definitely gave those headphones even more clarity on top of it's already decent detail retrieval ability. However, I remember that I found the Edition 8 was harsher and more sibilant in the treble than the HFI 580. From the look of the graph, I guess it was due to the roll off in the highest of highs in HFI 580. Either way, I found the HFI 580 easier to listen to and more energetic than the ED 8. This energetic character is why I preferred it to the ATH M50, ATH PRO5, Shures, Sony XB, and the rest of the Ultrasones. The HFI 580 is probably the most energetic headphone in the whole Ultrasone line (I haven't heard the ED9 or ED10). From what I've heard and read impressions of, it may be the most energetic of any of the DJ headphones offered due to it's highly punchy bass and brightness (two traits that you don't seem to be high demand for).
 
A part of me thinks that you would enjoy some of the vintage Audio Technica woodies, even though they are not DJ headphones. Some of the old Audio Technica woodies have ALOT of warmth, such as the W11JPN (It is one of the most extended low end and impactful that I've heard, but has a lower treble bump that brings out vocal. However, it sounds AWESOME with the Inception soundtrack XD), unlike the new Audio Technica offerings which tend to be really bright (W1000X, W1000, W5000). I would think something like the Audio Technica W10VTG which is known to be really warm to be a good match for you. I would even go as far as to say that the L3000 would be the absolute perfect match for you, but.... even I can't afford it even if I wanted that sound sig. haha
 
I will PM some other info that I have received that may be of interest to you.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

First thanks a lot for your help.
 
What exactly do you mean by "energetic" character. What I personally wonder especially how the HFI-580 would compare to the Sony XB in warmness/forward sound signature, it's very important for me to have an forward/up-front sound and the warmer the better. I'm not looking for a deep boomy bass but I want a bit of both, Sony XB500 covers the entire bassrange, so it's both a bit "boomy" and "punchy" at same time depending what kind of bass is played, it will deliver both. By the graph it doesn't look THAT bad in the sub-bass extension but the graphs doesn't seem to always tell what you'd espect, like take a look at the comparision between Sennheiser HD 212 Pro and the HFI-580 below for example, now the Sennheisers which I also happen to own are on the boomier side, the deep bass is stronger in comparision to the upper bass and it shares a very similar kind of shape as the HFI-580 so despite the frequency response doesn't go nearly flat towards 10Hz like on the XB series that doesn't have to mean it's not satisfying in the sub-bass range at all. In the case of Sennheiser HD 212 Pro I'd actually want just tiny bit more punch and it would be perfect, it's almost too boomy for me even. The HFI-580 seems to stay above 0dB on that graph down to ~25Hz which is still significantly more than what most other heapdhones would show. The Sennheiser HD 212 Pro I can get perfectly satisfying bassquantity with a tiny bit EQing too but the sound quality of pretty much anything else with it sucks but with proper EQing I can get quite close to my preferred sound signature though by taking the standard unEQ'd slightltly laid-back sound and boosting pretty much all values quite a lot (mids the most and highs a bit less) to get a more warm/forward sound signature.
 
I guess in one sentence I prefer headphones with the biggest boost at the low frequency range and neutral or possibly a bit forward mids and a bit rolled off highs. As much as I hate to admit it, it seems like Beats Studio Pro seems to have such sound signature. The normal "Beats Studios" is far from what would suit me and I don't think it sounds any good at all but I wouldn't be suprised if the "Pro" sounded a lot more to my liking. Don't have any places to demo them around here though and I'd never pay $400 for them.
 

 

[wind016]

I can't recall too much about HFI 580's specifics like sub-bass response. It's been far too long since I've had one and I don't want to mislead. However, I would not forget that it was the most impactful in bass and detailed of all "basshead" headphones I've ever tried. Honestly, a good EQ such as those in JetAudio or Cowon players can really make audiophile headphones bump some major bass. I just discovered something about the JetAudio and I'm quite excited. This was thanks to your advice on rolling down the Windows volume. I noticed that rolling down the volume on the JetAudio player helped solve it's problem with the lack of preamp adjustment.
 
So I will say thanks! XD With this new development, there can be many possiblities XD

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Yea I know it sux how the windows volume slider (Vista / 7) causes clipping/distortion faster than anything else.

 

[Kees]

I think you may like the Koss MV1.

 

[MomijiTMO]

RPGWizard, I take it you're the same guy from XS.
 
Don't focus too much on frequency responses. 

 

[RaZrReD]

RPG
 
I know that you and I have discussed this, but have you thought about the HFI-780 also? I was thinking about the Pioneer DJ 2000 (the one with the metal/aluminum band) but I think I read some posts about it here that swayed me away...

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I'm pretty certain HFI-580 would be the best Ultrasone for me, HFI-780's highs seems to be quite bright and it's less forward/aggressive sounding and have a little less bass impact than HFI-580 from what I've read. I haven't read anything on the Koss, might have to look into them.