[herokurdt84]

How many of you don't know squat about headphones? If you didn't raise you're hand then maybe you'd be willing to help me out...
 
 
I'm in college and in the library a lot but also like to listen to music on the go as well, not to mention i love to watch shows/tv/music on my laptop before bed. At most I'd go for 175 dollars (that's pushing the limit by about fifty bucks - haha). I'm big into classic rock, rock, alternative, indie, jazz, blues, and folk. (favorite bands: pink floyd, rhcp, nirvana, ray la montagne, jeff buckley, led zepp, foo fighters, john frusciante, black keys etc.
 
 
Hope to have
1. Durable
2. Portability
3. Nice Sound Stage
5. Comfortable
 
Thanks for replying and looking!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Fischer Audio FA-003
Ultrasone HFI 780
 
Very best,

 

[herokurdt84]

hey thanks which one's are your personal favorites? So you'd rule audio-technica's out for a nice soundstage and sounding good with almost anything and everything?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

hey thanks which one's are your personal favorites? So you'd rule audio-technica's out for a nice soundstage and sounding good with almost anything and everything?

Heya,
 
I'm not a fan, at all, of the mid-tier AudioTechnica offerings. This is just me though. Obviously a lot of people bought the M50 and AD700. Including myself. And I think they're just not great headphones, and not worth their current "titles" so to speak. The M50 was boring, had no sound stage, was a little bright, mids were not that generous, clamped down and was sweaty to wear after a while. The AD700 is open air so out of the question for anything but home-use, and it's just so bass shy that I cannot recommend it for a soul out there outside of those who actually want limited and anemic bass, in which case, it's a good headphone for that person, but for the general populous, no bass is a deal breaker, and for me, also, the AD700's build quality wasn't something I liked, and I didn't like how it sat on my head (it felt like it was made for massive watermelon heads or something). I'm that picky about them because (1) they get recommended left and right like they're staples and I think they should not be, (2) they are not worth their respective costs in my opinion with the other offerings out there. But remember this is just my opinion, and I'm not looking to start some anti-AT campaign, I like their other offerings and enjoy the ESW9's sound and comfort much more than the M50 and AD700.
 
I don't have a personal favorite, I simply like a lot of headphones, and so have a lot of headphones. The FA-003 has swappable pads (velour & leather) and is a neutral headphone so good for basically everything and not as colored, it's a nice hifi headphone for it's cost. The HFI 780 is bassier and has some detailed refined treble and nice sound stage and has a smaller profile as a headphone (cup size, etc). Between the two, I would get the FA-003 in a heart beat, but that's only my personal bias because I like the size of the big cups, swappable pads (velour all the way) and I like how it looks.
 
Other options (some with more bass too):
 
Shure SRH840 (neutral)
Shure SRH750 DJ (bassy)
Roc Nation Aviators (bassy)
BeyerDynamic DT770 PRO (bassy)
Denon D1100 (bassy)
 
You can also look at more inexpensive offerings like:
 
Sony ZX700
Sony V6
Panasonic HTF600 <-- I really like this one, by the way, and recommend it to everyone for a fun warm musical headphone.
 
Very best,