[hemipowered007]

Long time reader first time poster here, so here's my dilemma. I've been researching a lot the last few weeks for a new closed back headphone for listening mainly at home, for now un-amped. The on-board soundcard on my laptop actually does pretty well so im not to hard pressed to run out and buy an amp right this second, but i will in the near future. So I listen to about 80  percent  metal, meshuggah, decapitated, btbam, gojira and such...and alot of rock/grunge/alternative...soundgarden,pearl jam, radiohead,dredg, alice in chains. I dont listen to any rap/hip hop or dub step. I currently have a set of modded grado sr80i's that I absolutely love, but they leak so much that I cant listen to them without my wife hearing music from 40 feet away. So im looking for a set of closed cans that will offer decent sound isolation without being noise cancelling and a different sound than grado gives. Ive heard audio technicas lower end m30s and I like the neutral sound of them but i havnt heard beyers or ultrasones. My concern with the beyers is their bass heavy nature just wont work for fast paced metal. The m50s sound good on paper but ive read their midrange is lacking. Im leaning more toward the ultrasones but just cant make up my mind here... budget is around 170 usd. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
Oh and just to throw this in, almost all of my music is FLAC ALAC or high quality otherwise, no low bitrate mp3s. Also, for some reason or another, I just dont want sennheisers, from everything ive read they just dont sound like my cup of tea. Maybe adding Shure 840s as a possibility though.

 

[PallidaMors]

The m50 aren't that good with rock and metal. The shures are good for said genres. Another good option are the hd25, which have a sort of similar sound to grado with punchy bass. Their only problem is that they can be quite uncomfortable. Demo them before buying to see if you can handle their grip. Basically, either the shr840 or the hd25 would be cool for you.

 

[hemipowered007]

Ya ive tried sennheisers before and they just arent for me, something about them just makes me dislike them. Have you heard the ultrasones? I keep seeing people saying theyre great for metal. I dont necessarily want something that sounds like a Grado either, because honestly nothing is going to have that signature especially in a closed back design. I will be getting the 225is soon as well so I want something closed back thats just a good complement to the grados for when i dont want to annoy the hell out of the wife. Ill try and find the hd 25s to tryout but i doubt ill be able to around here.

 

[Origin89]

The AKG K550 is on sale right now for $199 on their site. Great pair known to embody a similar soundstage of an open-back while being a closed-back.

 

[hemipowered007]

checked out akgs before and im interested in them but the k550s are actually 300 on their site,130 more than i can spend right now. Im now just deciding between the shure srh840's and the ultrasones unless someone points me in a different direction.

 

[Origin89]

Dang, it is, hah. I wonder what the hell I was looking at. In that case, I'd go with the Beyerdynamic Dt770. The Shure SRH840 would be a solid bet, as well.

 

[hemipowered007]

When I first looked it was 199 pounds...then I changed it to usa just in case they were on sale just for the usa for whatever reason...but nope! i woukdve nabbed those for 199 though....but I just found the shures for 125 shipped...and given thats 50 less than I can find the beyers...I think I found a winner.

 

[DuckSoup]

I was making a similar choice some time ago (closed phones for metal mainly) and I went with Ultrasone HFI-780. I must repeat what was said on this forums many times - those are really good with metal - bass is punchy but not overwhelming and headphones are quick enough for metal. They also isolate very well. Only problem I had with this hp is the headband pad, I had to replace it with the PRO-900 one (bought it for like 7 EUR), as the original one was really uncomfortable.

I am not sure how they compare to other phones mentioned, as I didn't have chance to listen to those, but based on a bit of forum reading and my experience with HFI-780 you can't go wrong with Ultrasones for metal.

 

[hemipowered007]

Thanks for the replies....I'm really stuck here now...going to have to try them out somehow before hand... Ive asked around and I've even had people say the shures aren't in the same league as the beyers...but then I've read tens of reviews saying the shures beat the beyers in a lot of ways...it all comes down to personal preference so I really just need to hear all 3 somehow...ill see if the guitar center that's 60 miles away from me carries them. Because now the ultrasones have jumped back unto the mix. Maybe ill piss off the wife and buy all 3 on Amazon and return two. But I'd probably keep all of them.

 

[hemipowered007]

Bit the bullet today and bought the shure srh840s, hope im not missing out on anything with those beyers besides comfort. Bought them from amazon slightly used for 120 so I can return them if theyre not to my liking. Also got a family member (hopefully) custom making me some mahogany full wood cups for my sr80i's. I came down with upgraditis the second i put those sr80is on my ears. Ill make sure to report my findings with both the upgrades to the grados and the new shures in the appropriate thread.

 

[hemipowered007]

anybody have experience with the fiio e10 and the shure shr840s? i only have a couple year old pioneer a/v receiver right now besides my laptop and its just not cutting it for sound quality, its not horrible running foobar and lossless files, but it leaves alot to be desired. What about adding a soundcard with digital op out to the pioneer? im guessing a cheap amp/dac would be better all together though.