[DangerClose]

  Hmm, I'm now also heavily considering Senneheiser HD439, since you can get them for $35. Would these be a good option, especially if I did the mod?

 
I'd take the Tascam MX2 over the HD439.  And they're cheaper.  They're both in the same ballpark though and have their own minor positives and negatives that someone might prefer.
 
I don't see if you mentioned whether a leaking open headphone is ok or not.  That's important.  If leaking is fine, and you're not a basshead, then imo the decision is easy, and you get a SHP9500 for $50-ish, or maybe a Superlux or Takstar 2050.
 
If sound leaking is bad for your environment, the choice is even easier since lower-end closed headphones are more alike.

 

[Royal Amethyst]

I own the Sennheiser HD 518s and I can say they are pretty good. Just "pretty good," but that's because I also have the HD 598s and the HD 600s. They're certainly better than most headphones you could get for that price, but the Gemini HSR-1000 gets recommended every single time someone asks for under-$100 headphones, so they must have a solid reputation.

 

[JK1]

Do you want a headphone that isolates, or one that is open? The HD518 is a very good open headphone. It won't block any ambient noise though.

 

[Ryker]

  Do you want a headphone that isolates, or one that is open? The HD518 is a very good open headphone. It won't block any ambient noise though.

 
I'm not really sure, because I've never had open headphones. So I don't really know how that would sound like and if it would bother me. I plan on using my headphones at home and I don't expect I'd need to block out too much noise, but I can't tell how much I would. Mostly, it would be so that when my roommate goes to bed, he doesn't hear the bass thumping from my subwoofer and so that I can still listen to my stuff at the volume I want.

 

[Ryker]

   
I'd take the Tascam MX2 over the HD439.  And they're cheaper.  They're both in the same ballpark though and have their own minor positives and negatives that someone might prefer.
 
I don't see if you mentioned whether a leaking open headphone is ok or not.  That's important.  If leaking is fine, and you're not a basshead, then imo the decision is easy, and you get a SHP9500 for $50-ish, or maybe a Superlux or Takstar 2050.
 
If sound leaking is bad for your environment, the choice is even easier since lower-end closed headphones are more alike.

 
Hmm, that Tascam MX2 suggestion is an intriguing one, now that I've looked a bit into it. It seems they really are decent headphones, though I've never heard of the company, so my first thought was to just discard them as an option.
 
As I said, I'm not sure whether open headphones would be OK or not, but would SHP9500 have a much better sound?

 

[Armaegis]

Mostly, it would be so that when my roommate goes to bed, he doesn't hear the bass thumping from my subwoofer and so that I can still listen to my stuff at the volume I want.

 
For the sake of your roommate, get closed back headphones.

 

[Ryker]

   
For the sake of your roommate, get closed back headphones.

 
Well, he'd be behind two closed doors that are a few meters apart, and he doesn't have issues with me playing loud stuff unless the bass is really banging, so I'm not sure that the open back headphones would be audible to him at all. How loud are these exactly?

 

[Armaegis]

Any open backed headphone can potentially sound really "loud" in the middle of the night if there are no other ambient noises. It's better to just play it safe rather than deal with irritated roommates.

 

[DangerClose]

   
I'm not really sure, because I've never had open headphones. So I don't really know how that would sound like and if it would bother me. I plan on using my headphones at home and I don't expect I'd need to block out too much noise, but I can't tell how much I would. Mostly, it would be so that when my roommate goes to bed, he doesn't hear the bass thumping from my subwoofer and so that I can still listen to my stuff at the volume I want.

 
If you don't want to bother another person who is in a next room, you don't want a very open, very leaky headphone like a SHP9500, and you probably don't want any open-back headphone.  Especially if you plan on turning it up a good bit.  Maybe some semi-open ones would be quiet enough, but it depends on your volume and how far away the other person is.  
 
If a main point of the headphone is to not disturb other people, imo they'd have to be farther away than in an adjoining room to not go fully closed-back.  There are exceptions, and it depends on your volume level and how thick the walls and doors are and how quiet the rest of the environment is, but fully closed is probably the way to go.  
 
"Unless the bass is really banging."  Maybe he wouldn't mind if he hears some noise, but that's up to you and him.  If you turn the volume up at all on something like the SHP9500, he's probably going to hear at least something.  SHP9500 are louder on the outside than the inside.
 
Do open-back sound better than closed?  In general, the answer is "oh yeah."  But if the main point is to not disturb a sleeping person in the vicinity, I'd skip the SHP9500 and similar.  
 
If you're not familiar with headphones and what kind of sound and comfort and things you want, you need a starting point anyway, so a cheap but decent closed-back is as good a start as any.  You could also just get a Tascam TH-02 for sometimes $15.  That sounds better than it has any right to for $15.  Just the pads aren't too great.  (They can be changed.)  But pads on most $50 or less headphones aren't too great.  I think the MX2 is overall better, but it's more from a combination of things than it is from sounding a lot better.

 

[Ryker]

   
If you don't want to bother another person who is in a next room, you don't want a very open, very leaky headphone like a SHP9500, and you probably don't want any open-back headphone.  Especially if you plan on turning it up a good bit.  Maybe some semi-open ones would be quiet enough, but it depends on your volume and how far away the other person is.  
 
If a main point of the headphone is to not disturb other people, imo they'd have to be farther away than in an adjoining room to not go fully closed-back.  There are exceptions, and it depends on your volume level and how thick the walls and doors are and how quiet the rest of the environment is, but fully closed is probably the way to go.  
 
"Unless the bass is really banging."  Maybe he wouldn't mind if he hears some noise, but that's up to you and him.  If you turn the volume up at all on something like the SHP9500, he's probably going to hear at least something.  SHP9500 are louder on the outside than the inside.
 

 
Wait, what? You mean that literally?! Wouldn't that mean they're louder than my speakers?
 
As for the vicinity of my roommate, well, he's not in an adjoining room, and my doors are a 2 - 3 meters from his. So could you maybe elaborate a bit more on the loudness of SHP9500? And also, how much noise do those headphones let in?
 
Again, as I said, me playing stuff loud rarely if ever bothers him, the only thing that can cause a problem is the booming bass (so it depends on what I'm watching/listening to). But that has more to do with the pressure since the bass makes the doors shake or bang.
 

 If you're not familiar with headphones and what kind of sound and comfort and things you want, you need a starting point anyway, so a cheap but decent closed-back is as good a start as any.  You could also just get a Tascam TH-02 for sometimes $15.  That sounds better than it has any right to for $15.  Just the pads aren't too great.  (They can be changed.)  But pads on most $50 or less headphones aren't too great.  I think the MX2 is overall better, but it's more from a combination of things than it is from sounding a lot better.

 
Yeah, that's a fair point. I had AKG K66s, but I think they got damaged when I moved, because the right piece isn't working anymore. I haven't used those much, although from what I recall I was a bit underwhelmed. I got used to the sound, I guess, but I'm not sure I liked them more than, say, my $~20 JVC HA-FX101 in-ear headphones. I can't say I'm positive in regards to this statement, since it's been a while, and I might have misremembered.

 

[DangerClose]

 

Originally Posted by Ryker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Wait, what? You mean that literally?! Wouldn't that mean they're louder than my speakers?

 
It would mean having your ear against their outside would be louder than on the inside since they are so open but the inside has dampening felt.  I haven't measured the decibel output of each side, but the point is they leak, a lot.  Turn up the volume on a headphone, set it on the desk with the inside facing out, and that's how loud the 9500 is out the sides.  And its pads aren't dense, so sound will leak from your head side too.  As Armaegis said, in the middle of the night with no other noises going on, that has the potential to be really loud. 
 
At a strong but not hurt my ears volume, the sound from mine can travel through an upstairs room's door 10 feet away, down the hallway another 5+ feet, down the hallway stairway, and can be heard in the room behind the door at the bottom of those stairs.  It could be argued certain hallway echo acoustics of wood floors and tall ceilings or whatever else might be involved, but the point is they leak, a lot.
 
As for how much noise they let in, they let in a lot.  Do you have a fan or TV or computer making noise right now?  Put the SHP9500 on, and that stuff will all sound the same.  Maybe a slight bit quieter, but not really.  Unless you have the music turned up, there's no reason to remove the headphones when having conversations with people.  The big pads and almost total openness is one of the things that makes the SHP9500 special to me.  So much air, (literally), which helps the notes sound free.  They're as open if not more so than an AD700x. 
 
It's too bad the SHP9500 soundstage isn't wider.  It's good all around, has excellent height that a lot of soundstages lack and so feel congested like the notes are hitting a ceiling, but it doesn't have the width one might expect from so open of a headphone.  But it's hard to have everything at its price. 

 
Quote:

 
 the only thing that can cause a problem is the booming bass (so it depends on what I'm watching/listening to).

 
No problem then since the SHP9500 doesn't have booming bass. 

  I think their bass is more adequate than a lot of people give it credit for though.  
 
At the worst, whatever you buy, if it's open and too loud, or it's closed and you hate it, sell it and move on to the next.  If you get one too open, you could at least use it while the roommate is awake.  Well, I guess you'd be using actual speakers instead at that time.

 

[JK1]

  Any open backed headphone can potentially sound really "loud" in the middle of the night if there are no other ambient noises. It's better to just play it safe rather than deal with irritated roommates.

If someone hears the sound from an open headphone more than 10 feet away, then you are likely playing the music at an unsafe volume. Sound leakage from an open headphone might be a factor though for someone sitting very close in a very quiet place such as a library. A much larger factor when wearing an open headphone is the ambient noise that the open headphone fails to block. 
 
An open headphone typically is much more comfortable than a clsed one, as there is much less clamping force, and ears don't tend to overheat, which is typical when using closed headphones.
 
Open headphones tend to provide a better sound stage, however bass impact is usually much less than closed headphones provide. 
 
I no longer use closed headphones very much due to my ears overheating, but instead use an IEM (in the ear canal isolating earphone) when I want sound isolation.

 

[wavid]

My fav under $60 headphones are my Samson sr850's and always recommend to friends that have a low budget, but i havent heard any of the others mentioned in this thread. I find them very comfy and love the soundstage.

 

[Ryker]

Ugh, I still haven't bought the headphones, as I didn't need them, but I think now I do because of the neighbors rather than my roommate (subwoofer is producing vibrations throughout their apartment hah). In addition to the ones mentioned above, what would you say about Sennheiser HD518 for $50? A steal at this price point?

 

[cel4145]

Yeah. Subwoofers can cause that problem. You ought to try my two 18" subwoofers and see what your neighbors think

I haven't heard them, but seems like the HD518 would be a very good value at that price.