[Assorted]

The mainstream $200 ~ $300 isn't what you should be looking at for umamped HPs (HD 600 / K701 / DT 800). Eventhough it may sound a little funky in terms of tone, but I thought the ED9 sounded the coolest unamped.

 

[Fetou]

The Audio Technica line in general.

 

[kjpmkjp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navyblue /img/forum/go_quote.gif Don't let this poisonous doctrine infect your mind. To the average crowd out there we are out of our mind even to be willing to pay the price of a mid range headphone. To have many of those headphones? That's simply unthinkable.

Don't worry about that, I've never been part of the "average" crowd.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm making a stop-off in Toronto soon, so I can try out the Grado line, and see if their sound is for me. If I like what I hear, I'll probably consider something from them. If not, I might go for the ATs. Keep the ideas coming, they're all very helpful. Both for my forthcoming purchase, and just for reference.

As for personal experiences, I was surprised with what I heard from the 595s straight out of an iPod. I mean, I'm not a giant fan of their sound, but it's not bad to my ears. My Ultrasones (DJ1-Pro) sound meh. The bass is much weaker, which was their strong point for me, and the whole sound spectrum was much more lifeless.

 

[NoPants]

I agree with some of the above posts I think AT pretty sounds good unamped across their lineup, but as always they improve with source+amp blah blah blah

 

[plaidplatypus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lweijs /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about the HD555's? Any opinions on that from an ipod?

The HD555 sounds very close to the HD595. I suggest getting whichever one you can get the best deal on. I personally prefer my audio-technica over both.

 

[orkney]

RS2 can sound very good straight out of an iPod/equivalent. They'd be my pick from the upper end of the Grado line. The AD700s and ADKs are okay also and the Ultrasone Edition 9s, depressingly, sounded nearly as good out of my iPod as they did out of a far pricier tube amp I had on demo at the time, so I expect some of the less expensive Ultrasones might do fine also.

best,

o