[Sternum]

Hello!
 
I'm interested in getting a new pair of headphones that would work for at home listening, along with decent noise isolation for travel. I would love for the headphones to be portable and easily driven by my iPhone. To give some background on what I have as reference, I own a pair of Grado SR60i headphones, and Klipsch S4 Image in ear headphones. I also recently purchased a pair of V-Moda M-100 headphones, but I returned them due to the combination of the poor fit (I have a larger than average head, but I'm not sure where my ears fall into the spectrum) and the base being overwhelming. What I loved about the M-100s though, was the sense of space the headphones gave you. I get close to that with the SR60i and the S4, which sound different to me, but I never get a three dimensional sound that I really enjoyed with the M-100s. Really, I would just love a headphone that is neutral, or at least I think I do. Comfort is also an extremely important issue, as I would like to be able to just sit and relax with whatever pair of headphones I am wearing without worrying about my ears feeling sore like they did with the M-100s, and do with the SR-60i. Any advice would be great, and also making sure the headphones have a warranty and a fair return policy in case I don't enjoy them would also be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[davidsh]

Big head... Maybe look into k551?

 

[Sternum]

I've heard those aren't the best for portability, but I'll keep them in mind. 

 

[cubota890]

Audio technica es700 for on ear and ws99 for over ear.

 

[Sternum]

Ok, thank you! And in terms of sound quality, what differences are there between over ear headphones and IEMs? 

 

[PurpleAngel]

JVC HA-S500 folding headphones.
I paid $76 for my JVC HA-S500-Z (Gunmetal Gray), it took 7 days, shipped from Japan.
The S500 uses the same ear pads as some Audio Technica headphones.
So you can order different types of ear pads, off, eBay, for around $16 each.
 
JVC HA-S500 support thread.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/621063/the-jvc-ha-s500-appreciation-fan-thread

 

[Sternum]

Are refurbished headphones a safe bet?

 

[davidsh]

Quote:

Are refurbished headphones a safe bet?

If you buy from somewhere credible you would not mind returning them too (might not be a good idea to buy from china), I guess you should be fine. What in particular do you think of buying?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Are refurbished headphones a safe bet?

I would think if you bought the headphones from an authorised reseller (of that brand), you would be fairly safe.
If the refurb comes with a decent manufacturers warranty, I would think it would be safe.

 

[Sternum]

Quote:

If you buy from somewhere credible you would not mind returning them too (might not be a good idea to buy from china), I guess you should be fine. What in particular do you think of buying?

I'm still not entirely sure of what to get, but if I saw a good deal on the refurbished model then I would be able to jump on it. I guess I'm still having trouble deciding on a price point and headphones. If I'm putting money down for headphones, I'd like to take my dollar as far as it can go in terms of portability and sound stage. 
Quote:

I would think if you bought the headphones from an authorised reseller (of that brand), you would be fairly safe.
If the refurb comes with a decent manufacturers warranty, I would think it would be safe.

Ok, thank you! The warranty is a large part of my decision.

 

[Sternum]

I have one last question, how does the sound isolation and sound leakage compared between open and closed headphones? Obviously there is a difference, but is it dramatic? The Sennheiser Momentum on-ears look interesting. 

 

[davidsh]

The difference is dramatic

 

[techboy]

portable = closed
 
closed = less wide soundstage

 

[cel4145]

portable = closed

closed = less wide soundstage

Agreed. AKG K550 has one of the largest soundstages for closed headphones I have heard. Not necessarily very portable in terms of size, but the build quality seems very good.

 

[Sternum]

Would it possibly make more sense to put $100 into a new pair of IEMs, like the RE-400s, and then spend the $200 on an open pair of headphones?