[shrimants]

My gf is looking for a very specific type of headphone. She liked the sound signature and quality of V-moda M80 headphones. However, she disliked that they were on-ear instead of over-ear. She's tried the entire shure srh lineup and disliked all of those. She does like my ATH-m50's but she hasnt really listened to them since she went with me to the head-fi meetup in michigan in february.

What she dislikes about a lot of around-ear headphones is that they seem to sit very lightly on the head and dont create a proper seal around the ears. i have fostex T50RP right now and even with SRH-840 pads she hates how flimsy the seal is.

What do you guys think she should go for? I listened to a BUNCH of high end headphones at the meetup but not very many in her price range, certainly not any around-ears. She hated the HD598, disliked various philips headphones (even the fidelio) and she wasnt a fan of the shure headphones either. I think she truly only liked the Vmoda M80's but they are just a tad bit pricey for her and she hates the idea of on-ears. I can get an update from her on what headphones she was really hard pressed between deciding on at the meetup. Jude has a whole bunch available so I know she got to try out a ton of them, I just dont remember her 2-4 headphone shortlist. I dont think she remembers either.

Perhaps beyerdynamic dt770? I dunno.

EDIT: vmoda m80, crossfade LP, sennheiser hd25-1 II, and possibly another one. She liked the M80 the best in terms of sound quality but she didnt like the feel. She says she liked the mixture of bass and vocal (female vocals, primarily).

 

[Defender0fAloha]

How would she feel about the Crossfade LP or LP2 model the sound signature is different but they are still v-moda over ears and probably more affordable the Lps are only 100 bucks, M-audio Q40?, Ultrasone hifi580? Or just go for the ATH m50 you can get them for 120 everywhere now and they have a white and the limited edition silver and black 50th editions, here they are at 159.99 with an instant 40 dollar rebate on sound professionals http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/ATH-M50-SPECIAL

 

[shrimants]

She disliked the LP immediately. They were plenty comfortable but why would you pay 100 bucks for comfort with awful sound quality (compared to M80 or ATH-m50)?

Saving up 200 bucks is not a problem for her, she simply doesnt want to spend 200 bucks on headphones that SOUND good but FEEL bad to her. She can save up the money or probably even spend more if she needs to. Her concern with the M80 is that she finds them uncomfortable and prefers an around-ear headphone instead. She really likes the sound quality of the M80 though, which is her primary concern. She just cant justify spending 200 on a headphone that only gets her half way there (sound but not comfort)

 

[ssrock64]

The M-Audio Q40 may do the trick, but it doesn't stick to your head quite like an M50. It has plenty of clamp, but will move around if you're jogging or shaking your head.

 

[garetz]

If you stretch the band of the m80s a few dozen times 180 degrees on both sides, you will find the clamp problem to not be as bad, also its important to make sure both sides are equal length, and that the length is comfortable. I found doing these 3 things greatly helps the comfort for the m80s.

 

[Magick Man]

Yeah, just grab them and bend them any way you want, M80s are incredibly resilient. I've never seen a tougher set of cans.

 

[SONIC BOOM]

bowers and wilkins p5? You can try them at some apple stores

 

[SONIC BOOM]

but yes you can bend the m80s headband too form them to your head better.

 

[Defender0fAloha]

Its not about the bending I thought he said she doesnt like that they are on ear? she wants over ear Ultrasones are pretty nice? why doesnt she just get the ATHm50's if she likes the sound and they have a strong clamping force sounds like destiny to me she will only have to spend 120

 

[Defender0fAloha]

If she doesnt mind used theres a pair of m80s on amazon for 133 prime http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B005HSDLCO/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[shrimants]

As I stated, she only dislikes the m80 because they are on ears. P5 is also on ear. She doesn't like the looks of the maudio or ultrasones. So far we are leaning towards athm50 with srh840 pads. Stock athm50 are too brassy and overcome vocals with bass. I think if she goes with the athm50 pad mod she will love it.