[JVinci]

i'm in the same situation and while i can offer no opinion on headphones, i can tell you what i've been looking at. 
 
I've been looking hard at all kinds of headphones for rap/hip hop style music and i think i'm close by saying i'm interested in the ultrasone HFI series. Right now, I'm doing research on which ones would be the best: HFI-580 or 680 (which are both around the $170-190 range on amazon) or ponying up for the HFI-780's (which are about $250 on their as well).
 
i was actually reading an old thread where wind016 said he has purchased a pair and can probably shed more light on them for you OP
 
 
edit: also just came across the ultrasone pro-750, so not sure how that compares either.

 

[ruda1050]

Okay, thanks I'm going back to return the beats tomorrow and pick up those if they ahve them if not i'lll order soem ATH-M50's online

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

Okay, thanks I'm going back to return the beats tomorrow and pick up those if they ahve them if not i'lll order soem ATH-M50's online

are you getting the srh750dj or the ultrasones.

 

[wind016]

Personally, I preferred the HFI 580 over the M50 by far. The M50 just couldn't hit as hard, but the M50's sound sig is less colored. The HFI 580 has high level of detail for the amount of bass that it can kick in your face. It's bass impact is only matched by the Sony XB series, but it's detail retrieval leaves Sony in the dust.
 
The PRO series is excellent. They are not as upfront as the HFIs, but the soundstage is huge. S-logic has a much bigger effect with the PRO series, but none of the PRO series can match the bass impact of the HFI 580.
 
Anyways, it's been a long time since I have had an Ultrasone aside from the PRO 900(which I consider to be the poor man's Denon D7000). I can not comment on the specifics of the sound anymore. However, I remember very well what I thought when doing side-by-side comparisons of almost the whole Ultrasone lines (including ED8) with Audio Technica PRO and M-series; various Shures; Sonys; Beats in a 5 hour audition in DXC in LA (I kept apologizing for taking so long, but they were very nice about it and gave me even more headphones to try XD). I left with Ultrasone HFI 580 and PRO 550 that day (I was an insane basshead, but not to the point that I would sacrifice detail for bass to get Sonys. Sonys may have warmer mids though.)
 
Just to make sure tho, I used EQ to see how much bass impact those headphones could give me.

 

[ruda1050]

I think im going to get the srh750dj

 

[Aizura]

They are great cans. Fully worth their price tag. They are on par with my HD25-1 II's when it comes to detail and resolution, and have HUGE bass. If you like big and impactful, but still pretty tight bass, look no further than the SRH750DJ's
 
In the end, I got a bit tired of the dominant bass and preferred the HD25-1 II's more neutral sound signature.
But I'm just not a basshead, more of a Grado guy.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

They are great cans. Fully worth their price tag. They are on par with my HD25-1 II's when it comes to detail and resolution, and have HUGE bass. If you like big and impactful, but still pretty tight bass, look no further than the SRH750DJ's
 
In the end, I got a bit tired of the dominant bass and preferred the HD25-1 II's more neutral sound signature.
But I'm just not a basshead, more of a Grado guy.

i personally havnt tried the hd25 1's but i love my srh750dj headphones. they are so good i can hear the singer breathing.

 

[airhardbbs]

check and see if theres a guitar center or musicians friend in your area. They should have both the m50s and the 750djs but you have to ask to try them out in store.

 

[astroid]

I have the solo hd as well, the bass calms down after a few days, the pads soften up and they are pretty good portable cans. I recently bought the Denon D1100 and they are better, they have better imaging.
Out of my portable cans i rate as follows -
 
D1100 > Solo HD > ES7 > Sony XB500 > Klipsch image one (sold as they really suck)
 
Solo HD wont snap , Monster added nylon to the plastic and you can bend them flat now.

 

[Mochan]

The XB500 is portable? Well whatever works for you.
 
The Solo HD (not to be confused with the Solos) is a very warm can with a very soft, fatigue-free sound signature. Detail retrieval is only average but it is not muddy. It is slightly behind the M50 in detail retrieval, but with a warmer and bassier sound. The 750DJ itself is also more detailed than the M50 with better highs and mids and less bass.
 
Be careful with the 750DJ -- I have personally seen one snap before my eyes -- the headband is that lousy. People complain about the Solo's build but the 750 DJ is not any better, and the comfort level is far worse. The Solo HDs are an improvement over the original Solos in build quality and detail retrieval and are not a headphone to be laughed at.
 
I've also read that the D1100 is like a better version of the M50. I have yet to try it out but I am quite excited to hear one.
 
 
Anyway I personally love the Solo HDs. The build is still not perfect and I have an issue with the inner headband padding being flaky, but otherwise it's quite good. I love the detachable cable. Makes cable-fu a lot easier. I have a Cardas cable in the works for this, just need to solder a neutrik jack on. The sound is laidback, warm and bassy, but not ultra-veiled or muddy. Not a very fast can but that's fine by me. Works great for club, house, bossa, r&b, pop, some jazz and certain kinds of rock and alternative. 
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I thought you disliked warm cans Mochan? I like very warm sounding cans and yes warmness often leads to worse separation and sometimes fine details can be more difficult to pick out from complex songs with lots of different layers, yet I like warm sounding headphones for some reason, to me this sounds more like a live concert, I don't hear all details as crystal clear as I would on something like HD 800 for example on a live concert either, but I still concider it more engaging and enjoyable to listen to as to me it sounds more realistic to me personally with a warm/forward sound.
 
That being said I have to ask about the Solo HDs, what about deep bass, does it cut off quickly? Every1 seem to describe it like very strong punchy bass so does that mean the bass is rolled off too soon as well so deep bass output is a lot weaker? I'd love to try out other warm bassy headphones but it seems to be very difficult to find a warm sounding headphone with a very balanced deep/upper bass output like on XB500. There's a really great track to test deep bass vs upper bass relationship with a certain dubstep track that plays both a very deep constant rumbling tone with drums/upper bass at same time, Chase & Status - End Credits.
 
D1100 is too laid-back (sounds like there is a distance to the music but then again the separation is good), bass rolls off too soon and mids are too recessed for my liking.
 
Is there a big difference between the Solo and Solo HD? I just checked the Solo frequency graph out of interest on headphone.com and compared to XB500 for example, compared to them it looks like XB500 is even more warm/forward but lets through more highs, just take a look at the insane dip for Solos at 8kHz, that can't be good, anything darker sounding than XB500 would definitely miss out on details from the highs. The bass curve looks very much to my liking though seeing how I decrease XB500's upper bass at 125 - 250Hz range somewhat so they'd have very similar shape according to my XB500 EQ setup for the bass.
 

 

[astroid]

The solo HD is VERY different from the Solos , in build and sound quality. The Solo HD has a much more balanced presentation, they are still very bassy but the mids and treble are boosted in comparison to the Solos.
The Solo HD are one of the only Two way headphones i have seen, they have two drivers!
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Sounds interesting, do you know how they compare to the Sony XB500 or XB700? Bass quantity & type, mids (less/more recessed?), highs (smoother/brighter?)

 

[delgeezee]

Is there a place they have them where you can go and try them out?

 

[Xymordos]

Quote:

Sounds interesting, do you know how they compare to the Sony XB500 or XB700? Bass quantity & type, mids (less/more recessed?), highs (smoother/brighter?)

I tried my friend's Studios and compared to my XB700s, 700s have more bass. I found the studios more balanced. 700 also have brighter highs. 700 is less warm than the Studios, so I could tell more details from 700s. Oh, and the mids are about the same. I think Studio have more forward mids than the 700s. In general, 700 have a more V shaped graph than Studios.
 
@OP: At that price range, Try the Monster Turbine, or XB700. They're very good.