[pmwoodward]

Hello,
 
this is my first post here. before posting, I have read many, many posts to get brought up to speed a bit. I have a lengthy history in 2 channel audio with speakers. I have never had a truly good pair headphones in my opinion. I currently own: Monoprice Premium Hi-Fi DJ Style Over-the-Ear Pro Headphone and FiiO E02i Rocky Headphone Amplifier. I currently use either an iPhone 3GS or iPod nono 4th gen. I do realize that my current performance is rather limited to say the least compared to what is available. But, for under $50 total, I am hearing quite a bang for the buck. for the record, the Fiio E02i makes a substantial SQ difference. much more than I was expecting. I am toying with the idea of upgrading to the Beyerdynamic DT-880's and the C&C BH amp. My intended use is for portable audio. my music preference is pretty varied, I like most music except hard rock and rap. I would like to keep my budget for both cans and amp around $350. based on what I have read, it seems that the partially open back models have a SQ advantage at the expense of noise isolation. based on this, I would prefer the added SQ. Based on the limitations of a portable amp, I am thinking the 250 ohm version would be the best choice. and, if I can throw perhaps one more question in, my playlist is from iTunes and I have not encoded using the highest bit rate that was available. although I do not recall the exact settings I used. As I own all the CD's , I can re-encode them all at the highest setting if that is recommended. Perhaps this is not needed with my modest setup at the moment, but I am thinking it will be after I upgrade. All comments/recommendations are welcome and thank you to all who posted previously who have helped me get this far. Sorry for the lengthy post and thank you in advance to all who share their thoughts.
 
Paul

 

[areinike]

The deal here is it's whatever your ears want.  What sounds good to someone may not sound good to you, but with that said and the budget you're working with, I've heard some mention SoundMAGIC HP100's.  They're about $200 but the reviews have been very good.  I personally don't own them as my budget was a little higher - but I wish I would have heard of them before hand I would have taken a stab at them.  The specs look really good.
 
They are closed and have a coiled cable which may or may not appeal to some.  
 
I have the Audio Technica ATH-A900Xs also, which sound really good, but some complain of fitment issues.  To me they're really comfortable but I guess it depends on the size of your noggin.
 
What I've done was pick candidates and narrow them down via searching in the forum and you end up getting a common theme as to what a lot of people prefer.  Many love the Beyerdynamics 770 and 880's both of which are open and are available in different ohm ratings be it 32, 250, 600, etc.
 
So right there are 3 ... You will get a ton of opinions in here so keep an eye out!

 

[Stitch]

I own the DT880 250ohm and love them. Use them for every type of music i have(metal, blues, classic rock and some classical). What kind of sound do like? The DT880 are detailed and quite natural but some find it cold or analytical. 
Having used them for portable once, i can say its doable but i'd prefer much smaller ones. Audio Technica makes very well respected portables, among others.
An open back does not yield better SQ per se; Open cans have more soundstage and closed cans have more bass, generally

 

[pmwoodward]

I am shooting for a neutral, balanced sound but must admit that I prefer a 'warm' sound. My sound system is tubes all the way. I know that is sort of a loaded statement that can have varied opinions, but overall I would think most agree that tubes have a warmer sound as opposed to a detailed (clinical??) sound. I do love deep bass as long as it is well controlled. From what I have read, it seems that the DT-880 600 Ohms is the best sounding, but it seems a tall task for a portable amp to handle. I may very well use a desktop tube amp in the future, but want the flexibility to use with  portable source/amp. I did have a chance to spend a few hours with the audio technica ath-m50's (without amplification with an iPod) and was rather impressed, but I would like a clear step above them. Much of the time I will be spending with headphones will be at work where a headphone is my only option. Perhaps this is the wrong forum to express this opinion, but one of the things I find lacking with headphones is they lose a complete dimension compared with speakers. The lack of any depth perception is something that I will have to get used to.
 

 

[Stitch]

I cant vouch for the 600ohm version but the DT88/250 is everything but warm. And i cant imagine the 600 is that much different.
Have you looked at sennheisers, HD580/595/600? From what i remember from hearing them they were quite warm.