[gapton]

I have always wanted to give open back headphone a try and my current setup seems in need for an upgrade:
DAC: Creative X-Fi HD USB
Speakers: Bose Companion 20
 
Bose QC25
Shure SE215
HiFiMan HM-700 + RE400 combo
 
I am considering :
New DAC (because I read my DAC has a terrible headphone out, also will not power high resistance headphones)
New open back headphone (maybe Sennheiser HD5xx - HD6xx ?)
 
I didn't pick Bose for sound quality, I picked them for space saving (speakers) and noise cancellation (QC25). Most things I read tend to point out for the same price other brands sound much better.
 
As you can see apart from Bose, I tend to stick with most "bang for the buck" items. I really like my Shure SE215 and HM-700, I like the clarity of the HM-700 + RE400 combo a lot, but the combo lacks bass. While I enjoy its very low bass (sub-bass?) and how effortless, deep but yet subtle it sounded, I do hope for a bit more bass as I would have on the SE215. I still like how clean and wide the combo sounds though.
 
So for my first open headphone I am looking at around $250 - $400. I was considering HD600 but it seems its way too difficult to drive. Nevertheless, I think a good open back headphone should be coupled with a better DAC and AMP that I currently have, but I don't know where to start. Some say I can get a good AMP instead of DAC+AMP unit since the Creative X-Fi HD is actually an okay DAC, just poor AMP.
 
It will be awesome if you guys can recommend me some items to look into, thanks alot!

 

[Larsson]

I own a pair of HifiMan 400i and they're great! Not too hard to drive either, my iPhone can handle them just fine in the rare cases I plug them directly into my phone. However the HiFiMan 400i are not perfect for a lot of bass I've noticed, but with the right AMP/DAC a nice bass could be achieved! HiFiMan also has other headphones in their lineup in relatively the same price range.