[Takoi]

After burning my eyes for hours, I still have a lot of questions regarding audio in general..
I admit that I'm a complete novice at this stuff, but longed for quality sound since my first $10 headphones.

First of all, which is generally better, HD 558 or M50? I know each has pros and cons but I listen to literally everything; from Japanese vocals to trance to dubstep. 

It's apparent that the[size=x-small] 558 has an [/size][size=small]50 Ohms i[/size][size=small]mpedance, and the only device that I use is a Notebook computer (a $2,000 machine that I [/size]partially chose for it's sound quality) but nevertheless, it has a basic Realtek HD Audio sound card.

I don't know how much sound quality i'd be losing, but is it better to get a headphone amp or external sound card (or both) at around the $100 range? 
I game and watch anime, but I mainly care about music quality. 
Thanks!

 

[ProjectDenz]

I think the M50 is a very good place to start, you probably won't need an amp to power them from your laptop.

 

[HiPie]

Hey guys,
 
Seen as this regards the

Audio-Technica ATH-M50

Copy paste
 
I thought it best to pop it in here.
 
Anyway, having scouted around for info  regarding a low price pair of monitoring earphones my search brought me here. I soaked in all the info I could before coming to the conclusion that the above set of cans would be my best option. One thing worried me though, which was on this page of the site http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/over-ear it mentions the set twice, once at rank 3 and once at rank 39. I was just wonder if there was a difference in the pairs?
 
Also could anyone tell me if im about to be robbed by paying US $159.02 for a set of 

Audio-Technica ATH-M50

 
sorry copy paste again.
 
Thanks for any forthcoming replies.
 
 Ps. I intend to plug them into my computer, no amp, for work with Ableton.