My first headphone was any closed Pioneer model, if I remember right. My first high-end headphone according to my today's measures probably have been the Beyerdynamic DT 990.
My standard headphone now is my HD 600; I like it a lot. I seem to like the Sennheiser sound, at least I like the lower HD 545 model a bit, though not enough to keep it (I gave it to my son). Well, my HD 600 doesn't sound like the stock one anymore, with my self-made cable and without the notorious foam pads; thus they sound much more open and free from the «veil» that they admittedly have to a certain degree in their original form – surprisingly most other people don't like the sound that way, but to me it's the ultimate experience of fidelity, at least within the limits the HD 600 design allows.
But I don't think I'm a Sennheiser fan. I just like an unspectacular sound, in which I can find all emotions and even the spiritual dimension of the music without being pushed to concentrate to an earthshaking bass or sizzling highs which make everything sound interesting. I can make friends with the direct Grado sound, using the treble-taming flat pads, although there's always still a certain amount of sharpness I perceive as unnatural after all. From what I've read I can imagine that the HP 1000s could meet my sonic demands better, but I'm not sure about the midrange coloration the deep tube-shaped housings of the aluminum and wood models possibly all carry with them (when I think of the SR-325 I own, compared to the plastic models missing this signature, which BTW can be seen on the Headroom curves as a 2/2.2 kHz hump with the 325 and both RS models...).
I need some good, solid bass, not to experience the pure intellectual, but also the sensual dimension of the music, so the AKG K 501 are not entirely satisfying for most of the recordings (though for some they are). The same applies in a certain measure to the Stax Lambda Pro a had some years ago for a short period of time, but it was even more its scratchy character which finally made me part from it. Now that I own two self-built electrostatics which both provide a very strong and deep bass at least equal to the dynamic headphones I know and lack that scratchy timbre at all, thanks to their angled drivers (maybe that's how the SR-404 are designed?) while sounding ultimately transparent and detailed (with the Lambda Signature drivers), I must say that this is a sound which I can listen to without ever get fatigued and which fulfill all the criteria which are important to me. The highs are ultra detailed, but not exposedly so – thus very different to the Grados, which in turn seem to be very slow in comparison. And their soundstage can be called spectacular, but it doesn't demand permanent attention. The only downside, at least to my ears: I miss a bit of the HD 600's midrange, they're just slightly too «extended» to both ends. So it's the HD 600 which has most of my attention; it has nearly all the qualities of the (Signature) electrostat and additionally that sweet and natural midrange. And I don't really miss much details in the treble: they're absolutely there, just a bit less obvious. Besides I like its fast, solid and extended bass, although it's not that «bassy» as the Grado's.
My second favored headphone is the Etymotic ER-4S. It's quite different from the electrostats and the HD 600; to my ears, it's just another possibility to image the musical events on a recording: in a very direct way, without the common «soundstage» which usually is provided by the headphone's radiation characteristic. But it's easy for me to build my own soundcape in my head and to project it to the outside – a really wonderful experience. I mustly use it with my portable Archos MP3 Jukebox, plainly out of its fairly good headphone jack.
I'm quite suspicious against the current Audio Technica hype. From what I read I suppose that even the highly praised 1000 models could have a kind of spectacular sonic signature. But maybe such a speculation is unfair – I just have no access to Audio Technica headphones.
According to
Vertigo's statements I can imagine that the Omega II would be another headphone which meets my personal taste.
JaZZ
