[Nalittle98]

Before I start, I have posted once or twice on here looking for advice buying headphones, but have not adequately described what I want etc. So here it goes (hopefully)...
 
So, I want new headphones. I currently have a pair of Phillips SHP-9500 and I love the open sound that they have, especially for the price. I also have ATH-M50s, and I love the detail on those.
 
I want a pair of cans that are bright and fun, but detailed and precise. I like a pretty open sound, so something with a solid soundstage is a must. I am honestly not too sure if I want warm or cold, but I like good separation and a crisp sound to my music, I think that is cold...
 
I listen to primarily rock n' roll, if that helps y'all. 
 
How would the Fostex TH-X00 (Massdrop) suit me? The price is just about right (no pun intended) and I just love the look. 
 
I have also looked at Hifiman He-400i/s, but I am not convinced on those. 
 
Senn HD 650s? 
 
What headphones do you think will suit me? I am looking for something mid-high end, more mid, though. I am planning on buying a Schiit stack as well.... 

 

[pbui44]

Before I start, I have posted once or twice on here looking for advice buying headphones, but have not adequately described what I want etc. So here it goes (hopefully)...

So, I want new headphones. I currently have a pair of Phillips SHP-9500 and I love the open sound that they have, especially for the price. I also have ATH-M50s, and I love the detail on those.

I want a pair of cans that are bright and fun, but detailed and precise. I like a pretty open sound, so something with a solid soundstage is a must. I am honestly not too sure if I want warm or cold, but I like good separation and a crisp sound to my music, I think that is cold...

I listen to primarilyrock n' roll, if that helps y'all. 

How would the Fostex TH-X00 (Massdrop) suit me? The price is just about right (no pun intended) and I just love the look. 

I have also looked at Hifiman He-400i/s, but I am not convinced on those. 

Senn HD 650s? 

What headphones do you think will suit me? I am looking for something mid-high end, more mid, though. I am planning on buying a Schiit stack as well.... 

Have you taken a look at the Grado PS500e?

https://www.amazon.com/Grado-PS500e-Professional-Series/dp/B00L1OHBWE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465691323&sr=8-1&keywords=ps500

Or you can get one used from the Audio Critic with G-Cush ear pads for $549:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00L1OHBWE/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[gotak]

Are you going to take these out and about?
 
If the answer is yes that makes a difference as the ones you listed are all not exactly travel friendly.
 
Now that's said... the following is just my point of view.
 
I am have looked at the x00 from massdrop a few times and thought about them a lot. In the end I can never bring myself to buy because of the cost to bring them to Canada. And also I have the he-400s and frankly I am pretty happy. I know there will be more bass with the x00 but the rest is such an unknown quantity. Plus, I was a bit surprised to see quite a few being sold 2nd hand. While all cans can be found second hand the x00 aren't exactly moving 100s of thousand a year right now. So the fact that seems to be listed online in regular basis makes me wonder if, just if, they are worth the try.
 
I know it's easy to start living the whole headphones adjectives game, so before you spend all your money on stuff chasing a word you should consider a few things.
 
When people talk about soundstage they are talking in inches. Seriously if you want sound stage speakers and a well treated room is your game not headphones. The difference between the open HE-400s vs a set of IEMs like the DN-2000 are to me the difference between 1 inch from my ears to 2 inches.
 
When people talk details it's potentially artificial. What I mean is there are headphones where the quality is just low (think apple ear buds) where you just can't hear something. Then there are headphones where the peaks in the frequency response are set in such a way to give illusion of details. They basically tuned to make things you wouldn't hear in real life audible, which you can argue is details but to me that's not how music is supposed to be enjoyed. Great example of this is Audio-Technica. People often use the word bright to describe them and the meaning of the word maybe generally correct. However, that can make the music sound bad. This took me a while to figure out. The MSR7 for examples are very detailed according to a lot of people. And yes you can hear all sorts of high frequency stuff you can't in another set of headphones. It makes music sounds really hash to be completely honest. I can see them being great for dissecting a recording or as monitors where you want to hear potential issues with a recording. For enjoyment I find them lacking and I don't use them much.
 
As for AMPs don't go spending so much until you had chance to try some stuff out. I personally don't believe in all the money being spent on a pretty box. An O2 amp is cheap and provides more performance than majority of people can use. I personally listen to my collection of: he-400s, MSR7, SE535, DU-2000 with the UHA-6S mk2 and or with my phone directly. With extensive A-B listening I can tell no difference between when any of them are driven directly by the phone or via the amp. 
 
My suggestion after all that talk is that you can't go wrong with the HD650 and something like the O2 amp. There is a reason why often it is the go to set of Cans for people who want something good but don't want to spend above mid range. I don't think you'd be disappointed.