I'll be buying a pair of headphones, and have narrowed things down to two models:
1) Sennheiser HD 558, available in my country for the equivalent of USD 176
2) Audio Technica ATH-AD700, available in my country for the equivalent of USD 142
The Senn will be really stretching my budget (which is around USD 150) so I'd only want to get this if it's a big step-up from the AD700. On the other hand, the AD700 is overpriced in my country, since it's available in the USA for around USD 100 I think. Is it worth USD 142?
I understand that to recommend one of these for me, you need to know what I'll be using it for, so here goes:
What I listen to: Mainly classical music - usually solo piano and chamber music, sometimes piano concerti and symphonies. I also listen to soft rock and jazz occasionally. I will not be using the headphones for gaming or movies.
Audio source: I do not own a headphone amp, and will be plugging the headphone into my laptop. This laptop does not have a dedicated sound card - it uses onboard audio components (Intel HD Audio). I would like to listen on my mobile phone occasionally, but it is not a requirement that this should be possible. I use original audio CD's, or lossless rips of the same. I'm not above the occasional youtube-spree, but it's not a requirement that low-bitrate audio should sound good.
Recommendations for other headphones are welcome, but only the most common brands and models are available in my country.
I'd be grateful if someone here could help me out, since I'm having a lot of trouble choosing! Thanks!
1) Sennheiser HD 558, available in my country for the equivalent of USD 176
2) Audio Technica ATH-AD700, available in my country for the equivalent of USD 142
The Senn will be really stretching my budget (which is around USD 150) so I'd only want to get this if it's a big step-up from the AD700. On the other hand, the AD700 is overpriced in my country, since it's available in the USA for around USD 100 I think. Is it worth USD 142?
I understand that to recommend one of these for me, you need to know what I'll be using it for, so here goes:
What I listen to: Mainly classical music - usually solo piano and chamber music, sometimes piano concerti and symphonies. I also listen to soft rock and jazz occasionally. I will not be using the headphones for gaming or movies.
Audio source: I do not own a headphone amp, and will be plugging the headphone into my laptop. This laptop does not have a dedicated sound card - it uses onboard audio components (Intel HD Audio). I would like to listen on my mobile phone occasionally, but it is not a requirement that this should be possible. I use original audio CD's, or lossless rips of the same. I'm not above the occasional youtube-spree, but it's not a requirement that low-bitrate audio should sound good.
Recommendations for other headphones are welcome, but only the most common brands and models are available in my country.
I'd be grateful if someone here could help me out, since I'm having a lot of trouble choosing! Thanks!