[jonnyp11]

Should be getting some extra money soon and looking to replace my hd428s with something with a fabric or whatever cushion and more bass preferrably. Looking on Amazon i've found a few sennheisers i'm interested in and depending on what i get, I am also looking at some portable amps. Here's my current list:

HD518 - $120
HD558 - $180
HD598 - $222

These will be used with my computer (motherboard audio, no sound card or room for one) and iPad. If i get the 598's, that's it, nothing else, the 558's i am thinking about a FiiO E6 + L9 LOD, and with th 518's and 439's I am not sure, the E6 seems nice and not too interested in spending like 70 on the amp. Or would you guys recommend just getting the FiiOs for my 428's, would be a lot cheaper.

Was looking at sennheiser because i know they are good and no clue on the amps, also interested in AudioTechnica and Sony is good IIRC, i am open but prefer to stick with Sennheiser if possible. And I prefer to buy from Amazon, good experiences with them and i have a 20 dollar credit with them

Oh and i really prefer over-ear obviously, in-ear is an option if i keep my hd428's but i'm not sending close to $100 on in-ears. If possible i would love something portable or some kind of case for them, my 428's barely fit in my bookbag and i dont like having them there, worried they'll end up broken, but if i must i'll just wear these on my neck all day.

 

[jonnyp11]

Bump, and use is mostly rock/metal, maybe a little dubstep. Will be using pandora for it (is there anything higher quality than pandora? Tried songzo or something once and it had custom headphone profiles)

 

[ShiftySound]

Quote:

Bump, and use is mostly rock/metal, maybe a little dubstep. Will be using pandora for it (is there anything higher quality than pandora? Tried songzo or something once and it had custom headphone profiles)

All of the listed headphones have less or the same amount of bass I believe.
 
Some good choices:
[size=small]beyer dt770 80 ohm[/size]
[size=small]m-audio q40[/size]
[size=small]Creative aurvana live[/size]
[size=small]and if you want to order from china the somic efi-82-mt[/size]

 

[jonnyp11]

Well that's part of the goal of the FiiO, the bass boost and EQ profiles (pandora has none and the iPad's doesn't apply to it so it isnt adjustable) are why i want one. I have used these with my onkyo reciever/amp or whatever and the bass can be really good, but the volume has to be really high, and a huge box isnt very portable :rolleyes:

 

[thoughtcriminal]

I can't help with the headphones, but skip Pandora on the iPad. The app seriously limits the bitrate, something like 128kbps on WiFi and 64kbps on cellular. If you're paying you can get 192kbps.
I use groove shark. It comes from different source, but its all at least 128kbps and there are some obscure albums, foreign releases and vinyl rips

 

[jonnyp11]

I use the high quality setting and only on wifi (cant afford 20 a month for like 1 or 2 gigs, 16 and no constant income, build computers occasionally but notoften enough).and on my hd428s i didnt notice a difference really, have used grooveshark some but am used to pandora's layout and just hitting play, no official grooveshark app IIRC, only after jailbreaking which i cant (easily, and dont want to spend a few hours trying) on this version.

 

[jonnyp11]

Doyou want high or low Ohms? And i'm guessing you want the most frequency range possible and lowest distortion. Going by that i removed the 439s as an option because the specs difference in their description wasn't near as much as the cheaper 518s.

 

[jonnyp11]

Bumpity, not sure why but want to decide this now and really i'm pretty set on one of those 3 hd500's

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Doyou want high or low Ohms? And i'm guessing you want the most frequency range possible and lowest distortion. Going by that i removed the 439s as an option because the specs difference in their description wasn't near as much as the cheaper 518s.

The frequency range stated on most of the commercial shill is outlandish and has no bearing on almost anything whatsoever. 
Here are the stated specs for say, something like the Westone 4s: (off of earphonesolutions)
 

Here is a compensated frequency response graph measured from the W4s (from rinchoi's site)
 

Now I don't about you but doesn't seem to look like they have mighty significant presence near 16kHz.
 
Then there's stuff like this, extremely typical: the frequency range of the HD800s.
 

We can't hear up to 44100Hz. No human being could. These are just numbers, and taking them as granted would be a disservice. 
And regarding impedance - it's not as simple as that.
http://www.head-fi.org/a/headphone-impedance
 
Anyways, back to the headphones. Not sure if it is still the same situation on the HD5*8s where the HD555 and HD595 shared the exact same drivers but different housings. But the HD515/8 in both reincarnations were simply not as nice sounding. From memory, the HD558 had a bit more bass and less upper-mids than the HD598. That was about it. Take with a grain of salt though. You'd probably be fine with the HD558, or if you didn't restrict yourself to the three (although it might make things seem easier on your end) you could look at some other offerings from other brands. Again, only doing a disservice to yourself by limiting the choices. Rock/dubstep work on the HD5*8s but it isn't their strong suit. 
 
Have the E5, and they give a nice boost of warm and punch to the HD428s (which was why I got them). So that would would well. Would work with the HD5*8s as well at the bare minimum. E11s would be much more advantageous in this case.
 
Edit: Having just seen the fact that you will be using them portably, you realize these are open right? Complete leakage outwards and inwards, absolutely no isolation. Why not just upgrade your closed cans? 
And regarding the IEMs, it'd be helpful to state preference in terms of sound (not just genres), isolation, comfort, build, etc. In fact it would be helpful on both fronts, with the IEMs and the full-sized.

 

[jonnyp11]

Yeah, someone just told me they were open a couple mins ago so those are all off the table

I am open to others, i just like sennheiser a lot

I would like as little leakage as possible, HUGE cans for my large ears with a fabric cover (not plastic like the 428s). For the sound, i want a lot of bass, the 428s are a little lacking unless i am using our Onkyo amp and xbox which can push these far, almost blows them at half volume (tons of cracking in the bass). But i also need some good mids and highs. For what i want the 428's are almost perfect, just they lack the bass and just feel a little off from what i want.

How would the ATH-a900X be? Guessing same or less bass than these.

 

[Ashade]

Check the Beyer DT770 m o pro. I didn't  try  them  but  everybody  says  they  have  tons  of  bass.  The m  are  super  isolating and  will  not  leak a  lot. No  detachable  cable. Somebody  else  can  guide  you more on these.
 
Maybe V-moda LP/LP2, not super comfortable thought,  but they  give a lot for the price.
 
Audio Technica M50 are bassy as well.

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Yeah, someone just told me they were open a couple mins ago so those are all off the table

I am open to others, i just like sennheiser a lot

I would like as little leakage as possible, HUGE cans for my large ears with a fabric cover (not plastic like the 428s). For the sound, i want a lot of bass, the 428s are a little lacking unless i am using our Onkyo amp and xbox which can push these far, almost blows them at half volume (tons of cracking in the bass). But i also need some good mids and highs. For what i want the 428's are almost perfect, just they lack the bass and just feel a little off from what i want.

How would the ATH-a900X be? Guessing same or less bass than these.

Ever try the bass mods for the HD428s?
http://www.head-fi.org/t/646251/sennheiser-hd-428-hd-428s-modding-guide-january-2013
 
By fabric cover I assume you mean velour pads (HD428 velour replacement pads can be bought as well). It just sounds like you want the HD438 in the end as it's the natural progression as seen from your criteria. Stock pads are velour, bassier and can get even more bassy with mods. 
 
The ATs would have slightly more bass than the HD428 pre-mod, still a balanced phone though, although amazing. Midrange is simply beautiful for a closed can. But definitely not a basshead can. The cups are fairly large so that would work, although the pads are some sort of pleather/leather.

 

[jonnyp11]

Might try the bass mod, and i cant find the velour replacement pads. Still would rather get new ones.

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Might try the bass mod, and i cant find the velour replacement pads. Still would rather get new ones.

The pads are call-in to order. Have to talk with Senn's CS and order replacement parts directly from them.

 

[tseliottt]

The a900x are awesome, and they're below $200 now I believe. I don't know how they compare to the Senns you listed, but I prefer them to the HD650s.