[philcheon]

Hey everyone. I just joined head-fi.org!
I was looking around for a pair of good headphones that I could take to college that I can use to immerse myself in my music (no noise canceling required).
I'm looking for a pair of circumaural headphones under 150 dollars, although if there can be good ones had for less than 100, that would be even better. I want to find great clarity and some decent durability.
I'm fine with using an amp, although I haven't researched a lot because I'm not sure if it's a good choice to have an amp. I'd prefer it to be portable, even though it will likely be attached to my desktop or laptop. It sounds like I'll be taking it a lot of places, but it will likely stay in one place, so I won't be knocking them around with an mp3 player or anything of the sort.
I'm also a bit of a tool and I really like how high end studio headphones look. Example? AKG K172 HD's are sexy-looking headphones! A couple friends and some research shows that Grado's are good as well, although I'm trying to expand my options.
 
TL; DR:
Circumaural headphones for under 150 USD that may or may not need an amp. Looks are a plus, but not required.
 
 
 
Quote:

I should probably clarify what I would use the headphones for as well:

 

I usually listen to rock and related subgenres, but I am also a big electronic fan, so while I don't need head-shaking, teeth-chattering bass, I would like clear, low basses and good clarity with highs. Some of my cheaper headphones and my speakers (which were decent... in the early 2000s) will distort or "chirp" highs. Bass tends to be somewhat distorted unless I keep it quiet. I game occasionally but that's not a huge deal.

 
 
Thanks everyone.

 

[Rawrbington]

Shure 840.
they are 120 bucks on amazon atm.
i think thats a great bargain
great clarity for the price.
Amp not a must but they do scale well with one
Amazing midrange.
durability.
 
unless you're looking for a bass monster the 840s are the best deal on the market right now.  well to me anyways

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

Shure 840.
they are 120 bucks on amazon atm.
i think thats a great bargain
great clarity for the price.
Amp not a must but they do scale well with one
Amazing midrange.
durability.
 
unless you're looking for a bass monster the 840s are the best deal on the market right now.  well to me anyways

x2 i agree but like you said grado is good for rock mainly but it's open back so bad for portability.
 
i would get the shure srh840 even though i prefer my alessandro ms1 (grado) to them in most cases for rock.
 
 

 

[philcheon]

I should probably clarify what I would use the headphones for as well:
 
I usually listen to rock and related subgenres, but I am also a big electronic fan, so while I don't need head-shaking, teeth-chattering bass, I would like clear, low basses and good clarity with highs. Some of my cheaper headphones and my speakers (which were decent... in the early 2000s) will distort or "chirp" highs. Bass tends to be somewhat distorted unless I keep it quiet. I game occasionally but that's not a huge deal.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I'll take a look!

 

[Mochan]

I would recommend both the Shure SRH240 and the SRH750 DJ over the SRH840 any day. Both beat the 840 handily. 240 for more balanced sound, 750 for bassier sound, but still rich in detail and clarity.
 
If you can find a K701 for $150 get those, but even used it's a tall order... so instead try for the K240 MkII.
If you don't mind a bassier can, try the D1100 (bassier than even the SRH750 DJ). But really good.

 

[philcheon]

I have managed to do some research and found that the AKG K240 MkII are apparently bouncing around the market and are a good set of headphones. There's definitely that "looks" factor in there too, and the fact that they come in at 70-110 dollars lightly used makes them a good candidate for me.
 
I'm looking at Sennheisers as well, but seeing as what I generally hear is that they are good, maybe I could dig around.

 

[GreatBug]

+1 for Grado.
 
I keep trying other (more expensive) cans, but for me Grado is still king.