[Audius]

So, turns out I never managed to order a pair of Usone 580's for xmas. While I am somewhat disappointed and have had to put $600 into a pc so that it could work for school, I am looking for a headphone that is comfortable, natural sounding, a large soundstage, and preferably... Flat. I guess it doesn't really matter since I intend to EQ the sound to my preference anyway, but the less I have to do, the better. I listen to basically everything, save blues, country, and rap with too much bass. I want a headphone that has soft, elegant highs, and strong, clean bass. $180 would be my upper limit, and open vs closed makes no difference to me. I usually listen to my music at a low volume at home anyway. In other words, open headphones probably wouldn't be bugging anyone in my house. I'm usually alone while I'm listening, or walking home down a road with very little traffic. I was looking at the grado 60i's but any advice would be appreciated. I would also be using them for videogames, so something I could easily & maybe cheaply recable myself to a longer length(5 feet or so) would be great. Thanks in advance for any advice! my basic concern is if I DO purchase open headphone's they won't be any louder than comparing it to how my headphones sound without them on my ears, would they? Or would it be considerably louder than it is coming from my close.headphones while I'm not wearing them? Obviously they get more air, but it won't be any different than trting to hear my headphones while they're around my neck at the same volume, correct? I own HD 428's.

 

[NA Blur]

You could try a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50's.
 
Here are the charts for the M50 and HD 448.  I could not find the HD428.
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=1&graphID[]=2941
 
You will definitely hear the difference especially on the low end.  I normally would steer you toward the ATH-AD700 which has a bigger sound stage than the HD 428, but you would probably find the sound signature too similar to the 428 to really enjoy them in the long run.  The 428 is really flat so finding a flatter headphone in that price range will be difficult.  The M50 is not perfectly flat, but it does sound pretty flat for a slightly bass boosted headphones.  I do not find the low end out of place and I do enjoy the M50 like so many others do.  I know the M50 remains on Headroom's Top 10 list and many of us here really like the M50 for in the $150 and under price point.