[doughing]

 
Hi guys! I'll make this brief! I need advice / suggestions on headphones with:
 
Range: Mid to low range (terms of pricing) headphones
Type: Closed back circumaural
Hours: 4-6 hours a day, longer if weekends.
Size: Full-sized
Source: Laptop & iPhone
For: In order of importance, Music > Movies > Occasional garageband for fun.
Music genre: Mainly alternative rock, heavy metal, psychedelic & prog rock, occasional trance and dubstep.
Movies: At least twice a week, but mostly of indie genre.. not as important as music.
Points: In order of importance, Sound > Comfort > Build quality > Design.
 
Bass ?: Can't really say as I have little-to-no experience. But I do enjoy white stripes, rhcp, ratm and more that I can't think of right now which have strong bass presence in their music.
 
Prev exp: I had an HD555 back in 2004 and I really enjoyed the design and comfort, but stopped using as I needed something that's closed-back (had the famous "crack" issue fully cracked on me so the left side is snapped in half)
Budget: <$150
Would be great (but not necessary) to have: detachable wires, as I plan to use jabra clipper (for wireless bluetooth) if possible.
 
After doing some research, found a few cans but there's not much reviews or overall general opinions about them, probably because they're new or no one has got the time to check them out, but nevertheless i'll try my luck here on headfi.
 
Sennheiser HD 439 , Sennheiser HD 449, Beyerdynamic DTX 710, DTX 910.
 
Thoughts/Recommendations/Advice welcome!

 

[CaveManta]

One headphone I know of that fits everything you need is the Shure SRH-840.
It is closed back, circumaural, has a neutral-ish sound signature with ample bass, can be driven by an iphone/other portable player with no problem, has a detachable cable, and should be quite durable.
However, they look a little bit, shall I say, blank? And they might or might not be super comfortable to you. (If they don't end up being comfortable, you could switch out their ear pads with different ones. The Audio Technica M50's ear pads are comfy to me and can be equipped on the Shures.)
Here's a picture!
 

 
And here is a price graph that will help you find them for less than $150. It's based off of their Amazon prices.(Make sure you have "3rd Party New" selected.)
http://camelcamelcamel.com/Shure-SRH840-Professional-Monitoring-Earphones/product/B002DP8IEK

Guud luck, and happy listening! 

 

[doughing]

looks promising but they're ugly as hell haha but that's not a factor that i'd take into consideration anyway. would you consider these to lean towards the higher-ends of headphones? I'm planning to get something along the lines of 'best bang for the buck' that I would use for roughly a year whilst saving enough to get top-of-the-line ones in the future.
 
i'll be making a trip down to the local mall soon and i'll be sure to give this one a test, any other suggestions?

 

[fir3dp]

Dt770? they are really confortable and blocks out enough sound for me to play drums

 

[ssrock64]

A true performer at almost all of your goals (I own the M50, KNS8400, SRH840, and many other mid-fi cans to compare against) is the Fischer Audio FA-003/Brainwavz HM5/LINDY Premium Hi-Fi, which are all the same headphone. The latter two can be found for $100-$130 if you catch them in  stock. Removable cable, ultra-comfortable, an amazingly open sound for a closed design (it's been compared to the HD600, and also owning one of those I can confirm the resemblance), and work well with almost any genre thrown at it. My main genres are alt-punk, folk-punk, third-wave ska-punk, and indie, and I love the way it sounds on my FA-003.
 
They're one of the few headphones at this price range that you can truly wear for hours, with others having their earpads built extremely close to your head so that large ears rub against the driver. I found the ATH-M50 and SRH840 pretty bad in that respect (I couldn't listen for more than an hour), and replaced the earpads on the former headphone with FA-003 earpads.
 
Sincerely,

 

[doughing]

 
Quote:

A true performer at almost all of your goals (I own the M50, KNS8400, SRH840, and many other mid-fi cans to compare against) is the Fischer Audio FA-003/Brainwavz HM5/LINDY Premium Hi-Fi, which are all the same headphone. The latter two can be found for $100-$130 if you catch them in  stock. Removable cable, ultra-comfortable, an amazingly open sound for a closed design (it's been compared to the HD600, and also owning one of those I can confirm the resemblance), and work well with almost any genre thrown at it. My main genres are alt-punk, folk-punk, third-wave ska-punk, and indie, and I love the way it sounds on my FA-003.
 
They're one of the few headphones at this price range that you can truly wear for hours, with others having their earpads built extremely close to your head so that large ears rub against the driver. I found the ATH-M50 and SRH840 pretty bad in that respect (I couldn't listen for more than an hour), and replaced the earpads on the former headphone with FA-003 earpads.
 
Sincerely,

 
jesus christ those look awesome but they're nowhere to be found online, tried amazon and etc (amazon UK at least, as that's where I'm from). I'll research more on these, thank you for the excellent suggestions! They are a little huge but I guess that's not an issue.
 
 

 

[manveru]

 
Quote:

jesus christ those look awesome but they're nowhere to be found online, tried amazon and etc (amazon UK at least, as that's where I'm from). I'll research more on these, thank you for the excellent suggestions! They are a little huge but I guess that's not an issue.

FA-003:
http://www.gd-audiobase.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=4&category_id=5&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2
 
Be wary of GD-Audiobase. Some people purchased things from them no problem, but there are some real horror stories about them as well, like people waiting months for headphones to ship, unresponsiveness to emails, nonfunctional tracking numbers, etc. The other place to get these is Frogbeats, based in the UK, but they're out of stock currently.
 
HM5:
http://mp4nation.net/catalog/brainwavz-hm5-studio-monitor-headphones-preorder-p-663.html?zenid=f2e1ee08008ee4fee2f2adad525be5ec
 
On pre-order sale right now. The new stock is supposed to be coming in by the end of February, which is any day.
 
Lindy:
http://www.lindy.co.uk/premium-hi-fi-headphones/20378.html
 
Also from the UK. Probably the easiest to get for you since you're located there.

 

[ssrock64]

As for GD Audiobase, I think that they've cleaned up their act a lot since most of the bad experiences about them were written. Their sales process is still a bit off (they send you a confirmation email before you enter a credit card number), but I got constant email support and updates on shipping, with the tracking number included, and when I asked a stupid question that already had an answer in the FAQ section of their site, they were very nice about answering it.
 
However, after my FA-003 was shipped out of GD Audiobase, it took about two months to pass Russian customs and get to the US.

 

[doughing]

is there a possibility that these headphones (FA-003, HM5 and Lindy) would be in any store around the UK? I'd like to try them out first before getting them online, £75 is roughly around $120 so that's quite an investment (at my current financial state) so yea I kinda want to be sure of it. Or maybe you guys could tell me how it differs from HD555 and HD25 1-ii as those are the only two serious cans I've ever used.

 

[ssrock64]

I'm not sure about LINDY, but the Brainwavz and Fischer Audios are not sold outside of online distributors. I'd try LINDY's site and see if they have a store list.

 

[doughing]

I think I'm going for Brainwavz Hm5 as they look awesome by design and relatively cheaper than Fischer. So I guess I'm on the preorder list as well. Quick question though, does it come with a case? I heard reports that they don't, saying only Fischer ones does. But saw a video on YouTube a guy unboxing his hm5's from amazon(?) and it came with a case. Also, any way to get the velour pads and replace them yourselves?

 

[manveru]

The first batch of HM5 came with a case, yes. Also two cables (shorter and longer), screw on mini to 6.3mm adapter, airplane adapter, extra set of leather pads. I don't know 100% about the new batch that will be shipping soon, but I don't see why not. I assume the cases are also made by Yoga, since other versions of this headphone come with the same one. I don't imagine Brainwavz going out of their way to design their own box.

 

[manveru]

Also, about the velour pads I don't know. I wanted to get a hold of them myself. Only thing I could think of was to email Frogbeats and see if they had access to them. The guy told me he'd email if they get any in stock but I haven't really heard back since. GD-Audiobase has never answered a single one of my emails.

 

[Mikey99]

I had similar requirements to yours and ended up choosing the Shure SRH840.  I have been using it daily at my office desk with an iPhone for about 6 months now, and am really enjoying it.  For me they have been comfortable, I can wear them for several hours without any issue.

 

[doughing]

Great, much love for all the help! it's a little scary about getting something that has little-to-no reputation about it, but that's just the devil in me enjoying the ego of branded stuff. Can't wait for to try on these cans!