[andre550]

I really would like some help making a good value for the money i'm willing to spend for new headphones.
I want to upgrade from my old sennheiser pmx 100. To sum up i want the best sub 500€ over the ear headphones that money can buy. I'll mostly use with a portable player at home. I'm wiling to sacrifice confort, design, etc. for top of the line audio quality. Open or close back if it can give me soundstage feeling. I listen to hard rock music. I'd rather prefer low impedance so i can connect them directly to my portable player without amp and still have enough max volume. I'd like heaphones that can give me clean and detailed sound with strong enough bass. I love guitar solos so it has to have detailed high frequencies too. Basically i listen to dvd quality compressed music, so i don't need to pay for something to remind me that, but still i would like my heaphones to have detailed reproduction.
I hope i'm making myself clear, because my english isn't good.
Thank you for your help!
Have a nice 2014!!

 

[andre550]

I forgot to tell that i've been reading a lot of reviews from various sites and if i had to choose just based on what i read, i'd narrow my choices to these: DENON AH-D600, SENHEISER HD598, Áudio-Technica ATH-M50.

 

[ostewart]

SoundMAGIC HP100

 

[andre550]

SoundMAGIC HP100

I really hadn't heard from this heaphones before googling it but i found some pretty good reviews. How do you compare with the ones i mentioned above?

 

[ostewart]

Better than sennheiser (too laid back)
ATH M50 have bloated bass, recessed mids and sharp highs.

Shure SRH1540 would be another to look at.

 

[andre550]

Better than sennheiser (too laid back)
ATH M50 have bloated bass, recessed mids and sharp highs.

Shure SRH1540 would be another to look at.

What about DENON AH-D600?
The more reviews i read from the HP100 the more i ask myself how could i missed it in my search query (and i really search many headphone reviews, comparisons, ... for more than 100hours for sure!!)
It sounds just the ones i was looking for...

 

[ostewart]

Not had the denon, they have more bass presence and punch from what ive read.

 

[andre550]

Not had the denon, they have more bass presence and punch from what ive read.

That's exactly what i was thinking about... Another issue is the fact that the HP100 might sound flat and boring just driven from my iPhone 5. Am i wrong?
 
By ostewart (head-fi forum):
 
"Amping
 
These really do benefit from amping, as i find them to sound flat and boring just driven from my iPod, adding an amp brings out the bass, and widens the soundstage and just brings out the best in them. Also they are not very sensitive so you will have to crank up the volume of you portable source to get decent listening volumes."

 

[andre550]

Then when answering another user questioning what amp could he use to get deep bass he replied:
 
"They have bass out of a portable source, but amping them just brings out the tones better, it doesn't add more bass, it just improves it, with better control and impact. Hope that helps explain a bit."
 
I guess my options narrow in these 2 headphones: SOUNDMAGIC HP100 and DENON AH-D600 (mainly because DENON's deep bass)

 

[ostewart]

They do improve with amping. But are ok without. In the future you can look at getting a JDS Labs C5D

 

[ostewart]

I know it sounds like conflicting info from above. Amping brings out its best. Not a big bass boost, just added body.

 

[FancyDan]

I don't think the ATH-M50 has bloated bass at all. It depends on what you're listening to, but it has what I would call a "strong presence," but not bloating. For producing and mastering songs, the M-50 are my go to. I do agree with the HD598 being too laid back. It sort of takes the fun out of the music IMO. I know a guy who has a pair and absolutely loves them, but they aren't for me. Maybe try the HD650? That seems like a good middle ground between something like the M50 vs the HD598, but it is a bit pricey.

 

[ostewart]

I also find the HD650 too warm and laid back.

M50 would be terrible for mastering/producing. German Maestro GMP 8.35 D would be much better.

I found the M50 to have bloated bass, my opinion.

 

[FancyDan]

I also produce EDM and Trap with the M50. They have a ton of punch and are just a great workhorse while still maintaining tons of clarity. If you go to any legit studio I promise you they will have a pair. For like indie music and rock and stuff I would most likely never use them though. 

 

[ostewart]

I mainly see DT150 or T50rp in studios. Sometimes Sony.