[Claritas]

 

[GloryUprising]

No amp? LCD-X

 

[jodgey4]

Bang for buck, you won't beat the V-Moda M100 or Hifiman HE-400. Past the 3-400 dollar price range, diminishing returns hit hard. Start there, and then decide if you really need to move up. I'd imagine you'd be satisfied for a long time!

 

[goldendarko]

  No amp? LCD-X

+1 , relatively easy to drive, great bass if you like rap/hip-hop and one of the best headphones around if money really is no object ($1700). ultimately getting an amp would improve just about any headphone so I wouldn't spend that much on headphones to drive them with an iPhone

 

[lin0003]

 
+1 , relatively easy to drive, great bass if you like rap/hip-hop and one of the best headphones around if money really is no object ($1700). ultimately getting an amp would improve just about any headphone so I wouldn't spend that much on headphones to drive them with an iPhone

If he is going to use them as portable headphones then it may not be a great choice. 
 
Would be great for the OP to tell us more about what he wants. 

 

[goldendarko]

Also, if your coming from Beats I wouldn't jump in somewhere up top, maybe try something like the Sennheiser Momemtum. They are affordable ($300), great sounding, stylish, closed-back and designed for portable use. Jumping in at the complete top is kind of silly if you don't even know what good sounds like yet.

 

[goldendarko]

  If he is going to use them as portable headphones then it may not be a great choice. 
 
Would be great for the OP to tell us more about what he wants. 

 
Yeah, that's why I revised my recommendation for him. But in fairness he did ask for what we thought was the "best" headphone not necessarily most practicle. the momentums are definately a solid first step up from Beats.

 

[lin0003]

   
Yeah, that's why I revised my recommendation for him. But in fairness he did ask for what we thought was the "best" headphone not necessarily most practicle. the momentums are definately a solid first step up from Beats.

Yeah, they are even though I don't like them. Too warm and smooth for my taste and kind of congested. 

 

[unheeding]

Thank you all for your recommendations! I looked up all the headphones you mentioned. 

I'll start by saying that you should keep in mind that I currently use beats pro ($450) and it's the best SQ I've ever had the chance to experience (it's the only pair over $100 i've ever owned). That being said, whatever my final choice is, I trust you that the SQ is considerably better and that I will notice it right away, because otherwise it would be a deceiving purchase. 

 
So here's what I narrowed it down to:
 
- B&O H6s ($400): I really like how they look, I liked them the most as far as appearance goes;
- Sennheiser Momentum and NAD HP50 are both the same price ($300) and I like both designs, maybe the Seinnheisers more though, so which one is better in terms of SQ?
- V-Moda M100 ($310): I'm undecided on the design, but from what I gathered they have the best bass so they might be an interesting option;
- Then there's the LCD-Xs, which are 6x the price (1700$)... I like the design, although they seem a little heavy for travel/gym/school use (I assume they put the other headphones' SQ to shame though??)
- The other models not mentioned in this post were disregarded simply because I didn't like their design, and I disregarded the JVC HA-S680 ($65) because it clearly isn't an upgrade from what I have. 

 
So I guess for now the bottom line is: B&O H6 vs Sennheise Momentum/NAD HP50 vs V-Moda M100 vs LCD-X. (although I'm open to new suggestions!)
Since I know nothing about SQ and what to look for in the specs, I ranked them by design.
Just (another) reminder from OP: I won't buy an amp, it's for my iPhone/iPod (mostly Rap/Hip-Hop) and the main goal is to UPGRADE from pro beats' SQ (which BTW sound great to me, but I wanna know what I've been missing out on, because music is a big part of my life.) 

 
Thanks again for your posts! 

 

 

[lin0003]

The LCD-X is open.

 

[miumius]

My current favorite is the B&O H6 (seriously sexy+comfortable+neutral) but for you I would definitely recommend the V-Moda M100 for the crazy bass and/or the Bowers and Wilkins P7 for luxurious looks/build and fun, great sound. All of these are streets ahead of your beats. I think you may be disappointed that the H6 places no/very little emphasis on the bass. The momentums were fine (excellent design + accessories) but were too small on my average sized ears and were quite uncomfortable for me.

In terms of sound I would say the NAD HP50 edges out all four headphones I mentioned with the H6 and P7 following closely behind (even if the HP50 looks pretty funky on-head).

 

[miumius]

N

Best headphone + no amp = stupid goal.

Not necessarily. While this guy isn't on a budget (being on a budget would be a good reason), some people truly want to be portable/simple. And considering the options (I'd say we're entering a golden age of closed portables), it may not be as necessary to use an amp anymore.

 

[Spiral Out]

The B&W P7 is a very nice headphone and would be a major upgrade from beats:
 
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Headphones/Headphones/Headphones/P7.html

 

[Spiral Out]

Also if there is no budget and you want portability without an amp I would look into a high quality portable player like the Astell and Kern AK240 or the AK120. Running something like an LCD-X out of an IPhone or something similar seems like it would be a bottleneck in performance.
 
 
 
http://www.astellnkern.com/

 

[GloryUprising]

For the gym and on the go? You may be better served by the ruggedness of the m100 over the momentum.... But the momentum would edge out the m100s tho.