[Duncandun]

So, over the last 5 or 6 days i've been contemplating what kind of headphone to buy.
 
I was rocking the budget-fi scene with my Superlux HD668b's and my Maxell DHP-II's, however the go-to DHPs broke (second pair, same break point), and while I love my 668b's they are uncomfortable on me (probably the self adjusting band + oversized ear cups for my smallish ears), gives me headaches and all that crap.
 
So, I sit on the cusp of a new, recognized headphone brand-era in my house.
 
I'm currently contemplating purchasing the following headphones:
 
Denon d1001k (81 dollars new, haven't heard back from some of the sellers on here)
Creative Aurvana Live!(~40 dollars, worried about build quality and Maxell repeat)
Denon HP500 (~50 dollars, heard decent things)
Audio Technica ATH-m50(~100 dollars used if I can find a seller, otherwise out of my pricerange like fo-reals)
Shure SRH750DJ (not sure about these, pretty rare so doubt anyone will have them for sale used)
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 (doubtful I could grab for under 100)
Senn HD25 1/2 (what I rly want, but the rarest of the bunch, even less attainable than the others)
Shure SRH840 (doubtful to get under 100)
 
now, my real dilemma is that I have only listened to two of these phones. The SRH840, and the HD25's. I listened to the HD25's for a short time in a headfi shop whos name escapes me in Portland.
 
After calling around, it seems besides the Audio technicas no shops in Seattle have these phones in stock and thus I cannot give them a listen. 
kind of besides the point, I'm fairly disappointed with Seattles lack of a head-fi shop. It's not becoming of such a big city.
 
now, with a pricepoint of 100 dollars (but I'd really rather spend less than 60), what do I go for? I'm seriously paralyzed at the moment. I have no idea what to do.
 
Seeing as I have not and can not (apparently) listen to most of these brands, i have no idea what to really expect and thus contributing to my paralysis.
 
 
So, head-fi... what say you? Should I just throw down and get the 1001ks? Grab the used CAL's for 40 dollars and just kick myself when they inevitebly break when I clumsily grind them to a pulp apon accidentlysitting on them?
 
I'm looking for personal opinions and perhaps other recommendations I may have skipped over.
 
please halp!

 

[stevengotremix]

Nah its not purchase paralysis, you're just broke. (Sorry for being harsh). My advice to you, you should save your money and make it worth while. But I'd cop that Denon d1001k if you could get it for 81, thats a killer deal right there. If not that, you should get the Ultrasone Zino. It has this baddass SLogic for badass soundstage. It's 129.00, but if you go on amazon you can cop it for 69.21 

 

[Duncandun]

not many responses, amidoinitrong?

 

[wind016]

I like ATH ES7s far more than the Denon D1001... I didn't understand the good comments the Denons were getting. They were not really good headphones IMO. The D2000 should be a huge improvement over them, but that's another story...
 
I was also not impressed by the Shures nor the M50s. I was looking for a tight impactful bass and clear clean highs and high mids. The ES7s offered that much better than the rest, though the other options sound warm.

 

[Duncandun]

are the ES7's comfy?

 

[dogwan]

 
Quote:

are the ES7's comfy?

I really like mine. Took a little tweaking of the band 'cause I have a really large noggin' but after that all was good. Often have them on for hours at a time, like today spent 3 hrs at the library. Good isolation without that feeling of being submerged underwater that I get with really isolating cans or IEM's. Excellent SQ! Surprising soundstage for small closed cans. I highly recommend them to my friends.
 
-Dogwan

 

[SoulSyde]

It's affectionately called "paralysis by analysis."