[genesis]

Hi,
 
I am mainly an IEM guy but have been lurking around the headphone forums for some time now. I am presently using an ath-m50 which was suggested to me by several people on this forum. They are pretty good at what they do but I am not a fan of their sound signature. The biggest gripe I have with them is the soundstage. My westone 3 destroys the m50 in this regard despite being so small. I also find the mids a bit too pronounced. There is also a small amount of grain in the treble which can be fatiguing at times. 
 
So basically I am looking for a headphone that has a sound signature similar to the westone 3. My price range is around $150. 
 
So I will just list the things that I want in the headphone so that it would be easier to make suggestions:
 
1. Easy to drive straight out of an mp3 player. (something like m50 which sound fine straight out of the ipod but gains a little oomph with an amp)
2. Short cable (the m50 cable is just too long and bulky).
3. Soundstage. 
4. Reasonably light (the m50 are just not portable in my opinion).
5. Sound similar to westone 3. Musical and fun with reasonably tight bass. 
6. Light weight, comfortable and not bulky to look at. ( Something like the bose ae2).
7. Closed headphones which isolate sound. 
 
I was looking at the hd-25 but a bit apprehensive since they might turn out to be a bit too analytical. I would like to listen to music, watch movie and play games with these. So they don't seem ideal for that. The other option I was looking at was the a700 which again I am not too sure about in terms of driveability. How are the hd 280 pro? I know they are quite cheaper but if they get the job done then that's all that counts. 
 
So please point me in the right direction. 
 
Thanks!!
 
P.S. Does anyone know of a place in Boston where I can try out earphones? At least the Sennheiser series? 

 

[SoSpecial]

HD-25's are analytical? Not really, K701's sound analytical( Hospital sound of clean and plasticky) , AD700's sound Analytical. HD-25's are fun headphones with aggressive highs( not shrill or sibiliant to my ears) nice tight bass and the mid range while weaker is still very detailed.
 
If your looking for Super-Aural headphones I can't think of one I like more personally.
 
A700's are huge! And really if your looking for a bit larger headphone I'd suggest Denon D1100 for closed back movie watching.

 

[genesis]

Are there any more options that can be explored. I would also like something light. Are the hd-25 light? Also I heard they can be a bit uncomfortable. Is there anywhere in Boston where I can actually audition a pair of these or any other popular headphone?

 

[Digital-Pride]

Hmm.. tough to get a great soundstage with a sealed design, unless you look at some costly options.  Well, here some recommendations for ya:
 
 
Sennheisers HD448
 
Shure SRH 440
 
Sony MDR-V6, MDR-7506, MDR-900HD, MDR-7509HD
 
Ultrasone HFi-580, HFi-780
 
 
All of these are excellent options and with the exception of the Sennheisers, have the foldable design for easier portability.  For your usage I would suggest taking a close look at the HFi 580 and HFi 780.

 

[genesis]

Thank you for the reccomendations. Unfortunately most of them have really long cords, are hard to drive.

I was leaning towards the denon 1100 or the aiaiai tma-1. The denon's seem to have a bad reputation for bloated bass. How is the treble extension on these?

The tma-1 seems pretty interesting to me too.
 

 

[shnitz]

I think that there is a pervasive fear of underdriving headphones on this site.  I don't see any headphone in this thread that sounds bad out of an ipod, except for the K701.
 
DigitalPride gave some great recommendations, esp the hfi-580.  The D1100 are right up there with them.  I don't think that the HD25 are too analytical.