[iandh]

Hi,
 
My boss has offered to buy me a nice set of headphones to use for a long project we're doing at work, and I'm having a bit of trouble deciding.
 
My price range is $100 or so, and I would like very comfortable, over the ear, preferably sealed phones. Foldable is a plus. Right now my main target is the ATH-M50, but I have some concerns.
 
I will be running the headphones from the jack on my Asus G73 laptop... luckily this laptop has built in X-Fi, so the jack output is actually rather decent. Not good, but decent.
 
My main concern is that I've heard the M50's do better amped. If there is something in this price range that does well unamped, that would be a great suggestion.
 
I also am very susceptible to fatigue as far as clamping and ear pain go. I really liked the HARX900's and 700's as far as comfort goes, but after getting three duds in a row from three different resellers, in brand new sealed boxes, I won't be going anywhere near them again. The quality control just isn't there, contrary to what I've heard about them here.
 
I need phones with nice, thick, puffy earpads, preferably the high quality pleather. The most important thing is that they are large enough in circumfrence to not touch my ears, and the cups are deep enough to not clamp against them.
 
 
 
The main listening I will be doing is audio files (sorry I can't go any more in detail, I know that sucks), but I need a critical, monitor style headphone. I also will be listening to music/video at lunch, so I don't want anything critical to the point of absurdity.
 
 
Thank you very much in advance for your time.

 

[yifu]

Go with the M50s if you want a portable closed back headphone that isolates noise. They are just great all rounders. Regarding the amp issue, ALL headphones improve in a way when amped M50 included. However, its sound without amping is also fantastic enough to live with.
 
Quote:

Hi,
 
My boss has offered to buy me a nice set of headphones to use for a long project we're doing at work, and I'm having a bit of trouble deciding.
 
My price range is $100 or so, and I would like very comfortable, over the ear, preferably sealed phones. Foldable is a plus. Right now my main target is the ATH-M50, but I have some concerns.
 
I will be running the headphones from the jack on my Asus G73 laptop... luckily this laptop has built in X-Fi, so the jack output is actually rather decent. Not good, but decent.
 
My main concern is that I've heard the M50's do better amped. If there is something in this price range that does well unamped, that would be a great suggestion.
 
I also am very susceptible to fatigue as far as clamping and ear pain go. I really liked the HARX900's and 700's as far as comfort goes, but after getting three duds in a row from three different resellers, in brand new sealed boxes, I won't be going anywhere near them again. The quality control just isn't there, contrary to what I've heard about them here.
 
I need phones with nice, thick, puffy earpads, preferably the high quality pleather. The most important thing is that they are large enough in circumfrence to not touch my ears, and the cups are deep enough to not clamp against them.
 
 
 
The main listening I will be doing is audio files (sorry I can't go any more in detail, I know that sucks), but I need a critical, monitor style headphone. I also will be listening to music/video at lunch, so I don't want anything critical to the point of absurdity.
 
 
Thank you very much in advance for your time.

 

[iandh]

Ok, thanks. That's the kind of feedback I'm looking for, although I am still open to suggestions.
 
To go slightly more into detail, my office is in the server room, and it's LOUD. I'm going to be reviewing audio files from our testing, and I need to have a reasonable amount of isolation, plus a reasonable amount of clarity.
 
Can anyone say how the M50's are clamping pressure wise?