[32liner]

Hi
 
I need some recommendations my budget is $300 and I want open or semi open headphones.
They will be used for music heavy metal only and gaming the only requirement for gaming is for them to be very comfortable and I don't care about the impedance because I will buy a amp/dac if I need to.
 
I have listen to 2 other headphones Senn HD598 and AKG K271 mkII. I found both not aggressive enough and lack some punch in the bass, I want it to sound like I'm at the concert, impossible but you know what I mean also the akg isolated very well which annoyed me.
 
SHORTLIST:
 
Beyerdynamic DT990
Ultrasone HFI-2400
Shure SRH1440
Philips Fidelio x1
 
Any recommendations, suggestions and advice would be very helpful

 

[viralcow]

+1 for the HFI2400. Classic Ultrasone signature with less peaky treble.
Take out the SRH1440. They have more bass than the SRH1840, but I wouldn't consider either to be bass-heavy or aggressive.
DT990s are quite fantastic, but its treble might be an issue.
Haven't heard the X1, so no comment there.
 
Hope this helps!

 

[gradofan1]

OH GAWD NOT THE THE SRH1440. JUST, NO. They aren't the SRH1840's, which are actually good. I have a SRH1440 and don't particularly care for it.
 
+1 for the DT880 (not 990), actually, 600-ohms if your amp can drive it. Don't get the "pro" version that is actually cheaper, get the "premium" version. They need significant burn-in time though, before you'll get the sound sig you want. And damn comfy too.
 
IF you really want BASS -- Ultrasone PRO 900. Very aggressive and punchy bass. Might be a little over $300 (used or new), but worth the money.

 

[zunehdrocks]

http://noblehifi.blogspot.com/2013/05/soundmagic-hp200-review.html?m=1
Theres the soundmagic hp200

 

[SteveHiFi]

HP200 +1
 
Or the DT880 as suggested - I tried one with a Chord Hugo earlier (we were trying a few headphones with our Hugo here) and the Dt880s really shone.

 

[Lorspeaker]

wait for the new grado e series??
waiting for reviews in a week or two.

 

[32liner]

  +1 for the HFI2400. Classic Ultrasone signature with less peaky treble.
Take out the SRH1440. They have more bass than the SRH1840, but I wouldn't consider either to be bass-heavy or aggressive.
DT990s are quite fantastic, but its treble might be an issue.
Haven't heard the X1, so no comment there.
 
Hope this helps!

by Classic Ultrasone signature you mean v shape I"m a bit worried because I want strong mids and why do you say the dt900 treble might be an issue
 

  OH GAWD NOT THE THE SRH1440. JUST, NO. They aren't the SRH1840's, which are actually good. I have a SRH1440 and don't particularly care for it.
 
+1 for the DT880 (not 990), actually, 600-ohms if your amp can drive it. Don't get the "pro" version that is actually cheaper, get the "premium" version. They need significant burn-in time though, before you'll get the sound sig you want. And damn comfy too.
 
IF you really want BASS -- Ultrasone PRO 900. Very aggressive and punchy bass. Might be a little over $300 (used or new), but worth the money.

I've read the dt880 have less bass then the dt990 I'm not a bass head but i want the bass drum to have impact

 

[cel4145]

I've read the dt880 have less bass then the dt990 I'm not a bass head but i want the bass drum to have impact

You could always add a bit of bass boost if you want more impact out of the DT880s. Nice thing about them is that they are fairly linear through bass and midrange, and don't start to roll off until deep into the subbass region.

 

[viralcow]

  by Classic Ultrasone signature you mean v shape I"m a bit worried because I want strong mids and why do you say the dt900 treble might be an issue
 

 
The DT990's have very energetic, sibilant treble. If you don't like those sharp s-sounds, stay away.
 
Ultrasones generally do have a v-shaped signature, but not so much for the HFI-2400. The mid and midbass have a lot of presence and the treble isn't nearly as bright as closed Ultrasones like the pro900 or ed8. I feel like the HFI-2400 is for people who like Ultrasone's aggressive house sound but are put off by its harshness.
 
The graphs show a considerable difference between the HFI2400 and the Pro900:

 

[32liner]

Sibilance is a no no.
 
Are all the graphs accurate because the the Ultrasones HFI-780 look a bit off I thought they have more bass. The Ultrasones Pro-900 look good a bit over my budget.
 
OK I can't post attachments yet but I had the Senn HD518 vs DT990 600ohm vs Ultraone Pro900 vs AKG K712

 

[Folex]

  Sibilance is a no no.
 
Are all the graphs accurate because the the Ultrasones HFI-780 look a bit off I thought they have more bass. The Ultrasones Pro-900 look good a bit over my budget.
 
OK I can't post attachments yet but I had the Senn HD518 vs DT990 600ohm vs Ultraone Pro900 vs AKG K712

 
The grado's sibilance is worse then the 990's. If you can handle the grados you can easily handle the 990's.
 
The 990's are probably going to be your funnest gaming headphone. The Sennheiser 650's are a close second. I don't listen to a lot of metal so I can't say how the 990's are gonna be for that. 
 
For me personally the 880's were lifeless. People call this neutral I call it boring.
 
Anything Sennheiser 5xx is going to sound artificial. It was one of my first headphones and a headphone I've had multi times during my audio venture. If you are somewhat used to the grado sound you're going to absolutely hate the Sennheiser 5xx series on a direct a/b comparison. 

 

[gradofan1]

  Sibilance is a no no.
 
Are all the graphs accurate because the the Ultrasones HFI-780 look a bit off I thought they have more bass. The Ultrasones Pro-900 look good a bit over my budget.
 
OK I can't post attachments yet but I had the Senn HD518 vs DT990 600ohm vs Ultraone Pro900 vs AKG K712

K712 actually isn't bad. Idk why it wasn't mentioned earlier. It does take some power to drive however, so mind posting your current dac/amp status? Much better than the original K/Q701/K702. +3db bass boost, definitely no sibilance (actually the treble rolls off a bit more than ideally). Good for the price if you can get it. 
 
PRO900 is more affordable than you think because unlike the DT9900-600, it takes nothing to drive but a Macbook Pro; i.e. you don't have to spend money on an amp. Or get a cheap USB Stick DAC/AMP (Dragonfly is heavily on sale) if you really want one, but for the PRO900, it's completely unnecessary. 

 

[Currawong]

Expensive, but a full-size equivalent of a pair of Grados would be the Audio Technica AD2000X (and to some degree the opened-backed models down from it).

 

[Claritas]

Either of the Beyers should do. DT880 would be a safer choice. The 250 ohm versions are much easier to drive reliably without sounding too different.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i dun fancy the pro900 without an amp...this beast needs a harness