[Tonio]

Hi everyone,
I’m going to buy new headphones for listening to mainly classical and jazz music at home.  My budget is about 250-300 $ maximum.  I did some research and came up with a selection of six headphones (please feel free to suggest any other cans). 
 
Beyerdynamic DT880 or DT990
AKG Q701
HiFiMAN HE-300
Audio Technica AD900
Mr Speakers Mad Dog (Fostex T50RP mod.)
 
I will use them with my RoCoo P DAP (powerful enough to drive them all I think) and I don’t plan to buy an amp.  I’d like the bass to be deep and not too punchy or aggressive, the midrange to sound sweet and the treble to sound accurate but not harsh or sibilant.  I prefer musical and slightly warm sounding headphones over analytical ones. 
 
Thank you for your advices.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
MadDog easily based on what you described.
 
The DT880 & Q701 will be too analytical for you.
The HE300 is relatively warm, a little darker.
The AD900 is airy, musical, pretty good for your needs.
 
But the Mad Dog easily bests them for what you're asking for. And it doesn't need an amplifier, so you're good to go.
 
Very best,

 

[Tonio]

Thanks a lot,
 
The choice is quite obvious now but I just wonder how the Mad Dogs compare to the HE-300 and the AD900 in terms of soundstage (for classical symphonies for instance)?
 

 

[Tonio]

Finally, I'm considering three headphones, mainly for classical and jazz:
 
- Mr Speakers Mad Dog (soundstage compared to open headphones?)
- Sennheiser HD600 (which seems to handle classical music pretty well)
- Audio-Technica AD900 (I like the idea of a huge soundstage but I don't know if it's realistic)
 
What do you think?

 

[TwinQY]

Quote:

Finally, I'm considering three headphones, mainly for classical and jazz:
 
- Mr Speakers Mad Dog (soundstage compared to open headphones?)
- Sennheiser HD600 (which seems to handle classical music pretty well)
- Audio-Technica AD900 (I like the idea of a huge soundstage but I don't know if it's realistic)
 
What do you think?

I really enjoy the HD580 (same as older driver HD600s) for a smooth midrange experience, this would include jazz and the likes. The AD900s were slightly anemic, not as much as the AD700, but the AD900x (closed variant) were better. Haven't heard the Mad Dogs. People really like their price/performance ratio though.