[chippedheart]

Greetings from Brazil, guys!
 
I am about to buy my very first good headphone. I've never had experiences with good headphones, only cheap ones, like... 5U$ in-ear phones. lmao
Headphones are really expensive here, so I don't have many options. Could you guys help me choosing one from this list?

Sennheiser HD 419
Sennheiser HD 439
Sennheiser HD 518
Shure SRH 240
Shure SRH 440
Shure SRH 550DJ
 
I listen to a wide variety of genres: hip-hop, jazz, blues, stoner metal, doom metal, emo, hardcore, powerviolence, grindcore... genres that value bass a lot.
 
 
Looking forward to your answers, thank you in advance.

 

[Me x3]

Hello there, I'm from Argentina.
 
Those are very different headphones. Closed back headphones like Srh-440 provide some kind of isolation, while open back headphones like HD518 don't - also leak sound. Most of the times, open back headphones surpass closed back headphones in terms of sound quality.
 
Another important thing is whether you want a headphone with a bass boost, or something more on the neutral side (bass is there, but much more controlled).
Same applies to treble: some headphones provide a detailed presentation (Shure Srh-440) while some others have a very soft and relaxing treble (Sony Mdr-1R). Some people prefer treble happy headphones, some prefer dark ones, it's a matter of taste and no one could really tell you which one to pick.
 
Just to give you an idea:
(I've been looking for headphones published in your mercadolivre)
 
Open:
 
I think Senns HD518 are slightly bassy with recessed treble. Smooth and relaxng sound that's far from analytical.
 
AKG K240 are more neutral, more treble, probably tighter bass, not as warm as HD518.
 
Fidelio L1 (very solid build) plenty of bass and recessed treble, vocals sound quite upfront but their tonal balance is a tad nasal for some.
 
Closed:
 
Srh-440: This should be on the neutral side, with a detailed presentation. Probably lacking in the lower bass, but still a well balanced headphone that sound great with well recorded music.
 
Philips Uptown: Lightweight, very comfortable with quite punchy bass, treble is there too. This headphone is quite the oposite of Shure's, this don't make great recordings sound amazing, but neither make the poorly recorded music sound bad.
 
AudioTechnica M50: These have a lively v-shaped sound signature that many bass lovers come to love
 
You can read a lot about these headphones in this forum, if you can't try them, there's always some small risk but each one has its strengths so, being your first quality headphones I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy them no matter which one you finally pick.
 
I would pick AKG 240 mkii over the rest I've seen in your price range.
 
Best Luck!

 

[chippedheart]

Hola, hermaño!
 
I heard the AKG needs an amplifier to have a decent performance, is that true?
 
And thank you for your answer!

 

[Me x3]

  Hola, hermaño!
 
I heard the AKG needs an amplifier to have a decent performance, is that true?
 
And thank you for your answer!

The truth is this, K240 mkii are quite low impedance headphones with low sensitivity, so not the easiest headphones to drive at their full potential. Most sources will make them loud enough but some may distort when you crank up the volume too much.
If you like listening to music at normal/healthy levels you shouldn't have any problems driving K240 mkii directly from your laptop or portable player.
 
To be sure of what I'm saying, I've just put on my K702 plugged directly into a low grade samsung smartphone and It's possible to get enough volume. The sound quality is not the same as when plugged into my main rig, sure, but it's still superior to more sensitive headphones I've tried (Fidelios M1, L1/CitiScapes, etc.)
 
The headphone itself is the most important link in the sound quality chain. The amplification topic is often quite overrated.

 

[chippedheart]

I'm getting an AKG K240, then. Found it on a local store! I hope I enjoy it.
 
Thank you very much, Me x3. <3

 

[Me x3]

  I'm getting an AKG K240, then. Found it on a local store! I hope I enjoy it.
 
Thank you very much, Me x3. <3

You're welcome! Hope you enjoy them very much!
Since you listen to very different genres is always safe to have a good all-rounder like K240.
If you are coming from very different headphones or earbuds, give your mind some time to get comfortable with the new sound signature (20 listening hours or so).
Our hearing can be really tricky, if you are coming from earbuds with no bass, you could feel your new headphones have too much bass, if you're coming from low quality headphones with extreme bass boost (mostly distortion) you could feel that your new headphones lack bass and so on.
I warn you, once you get comfortable with the more even response of a quality headphone, cheap headphones/earbuds will sound even worse than before

 
Second warning: Recording quality has a huge impact in the overall sound quality:
 
-Poorly engineered headphone + Poor recordings = Poor sound quality
-Great headphone + Poor recordings = Poor sound quality
-Poorly engineered headphone + Great recordings = Ok sound quality
-Great headphone + Great recordings = Great sound quality
 
Best Luck!