[Nod2mybeats]

Newb here. Hello.

I'm a New Yorker. I commute among three boroughs everyday and need a good set of headphones for my rides. I'm looking for a portable pair of closed circumaural headphones with good sound quality. Isolation is pretty important as the NYC subway is very, very, loud. I'd be plugging these into my Motorola Droid for the commute, as it sounds better than my ipod in my opinion, so I'd like it to sound "decent" straight from the player. But I also want something that would shine for home use when I opt to buy an amp.

I've got a budget of around $300. I'd like to stay under, but I'd go over if it's really- really worth it.

 

[lie495fc]

you should come to the meet next month to listen to some of the phones, and then decide which sound signature, brand name, series you prefer. but i'll list some of the the most popular closed portable headphones.
sennheiser HD25-1 II, the most popular portable headphone. offers best isolation and built to last, i'd say it's #1 choice for train ride.
audio technica es7, very pretty, warm sound and bass, but you gonna have to bend it a little bit for better fit.
audio technica esw9, a step up from es7.
 
now, if you can't come the meet and need a headphone now, i would recommand you getting a complete portable setup. that means headphone + portable dac/amp. because most our portable players like ipod or cellphone dont offer the sound quality that's comparable to the good old CD player. your mp3 could sound much worse than it was since a good headphone would reveal details of a bad recording.
 
can you tell us all the sound gears you have, include your pc sound card. we can help you put together a setup base on what you already have, maybe.

 

[Nod2mybeats]

I'd definitely be up for that and I suppose I could wait.
I have no real problems with my setup now, but I'm hungry for some real sonic bliss.

It's a very modest setup, to say the least...

Around half of my music collection is ripped lossless .WAV.
I listen out of my Motorola Droid and computer.
My sound card, I believe, is a soundMAX integrated Digital Audio card.
My most frequented headphone is a pair of Monster Beats studio- I know, I know. Spare me.

I'll look into the HD25s, thanks! I've read the AT-ESW9 & 7 sound great but isolate poorly. That train engines and loud conversations easily overpower the sound. Can you attest to that?

 

[lie495fc]

i've tried my friend's beats studio and it wasn't bad, but leaks out sound bad. my ath-m50 leaks some too, im sure the person next to me will be able to hear what im listening if im on a train. of course i listen very loud. i can't attest how well can these phones block sound out since i dont ride train.
 
your weakest link here in your current setup is your sound card. in my own experience, from onboard sound (realtek alc888) to usb dac/amp (Fiio E7) was a big step up. onboard sound can be a big limitation on you lossless sound files.
 

 

[Nod2mybeats]

Are sound cards difficult to replace? I'm sure I could get a good one from Microcenter in Yonkers for a great price. (I just scored an internal 1TB hard drive for $20 with mail in rebate 

) Only, I don't know what to look for with a sound card. At least I've learned so far that price isn't directly proportional to value.

 

[lie495fc]

if you can install hard drive, you can install sound card. it's easy. many of the new sound cards are design with headphone in mind therefor have built-in amp. they are a good alternative way to external desktop dac and amp, since those would cost you a lot more for the money. now there are 3 kinds of sound cards, best for musical, best for gaming, or good at both musical and gaming but not the best. if you dont do gaming, there is no need to consider 2nd and the 3rd.
 
a listing of some of the most popular sound cards for headphone:
asus xonar DG($50). an entry level card.
asus xonar essence STX($170). PCI-x interface.
asus xonar essence ST($200). PCI interface, ability to add a 7.1 channel output card.
creative xfi tatanium HD($170). this one is new.
auzentech forte($160). good at both gaming and headphone.