[darkdex52]

Hello.
 
I've been a lurker and review reader on this website for quite a while, and it helped me pick up my Sennheiser HD 201 and later HD 202 II. But now I'm thinking of upgrading.
 
The thing is, my budget is up to a maximum of 90 Euros (120$ USD) and no more.To be honest, even that is pushing it. And I'm looking for a noticeable upgrade to my 202's.
Another thing is, I live in Latvia, in Europe, so we don't have a lot of the brands, or some are more expensive than they should. For example, I'm looking at the Sennheiser 429/439/449 direction, and 449 are the top of my budget of 90€, but I have no idea how or what they are like. I've tried going to music stores, but they wouldn't let me test them out, since they'd have to take them out of the box.
 
I'm looking at over-ear headphones, for portable and desktop use. Music, movies, games...
I do have a FiiO E06 portable AMP.
 
I've heard a lot about Audio-Technica ATH-M50(s/x), but they're over 180€ here, so that's a no-go. Same with Shure SRH840 - 130€. We also possibly wouldn't have some of the rarer brands available here.
 
Now, I know it's important to know what kinds of genres I listen to. Mainly it's alt. rock/grunge, but I also listen to Metal, Electronica, J-Pop, Classical, happycore.... I'm very versatile when it comes to music and listen to all kinds of genres. I do like to have a lot of bass, but I also don't like when the headphones or speakers makes every other freq range than bass sound hollow.
 
 
Anyone have any advice? Should I just blindly order then Sennheiser 449's (or 439) or are there other good brands with better priceerformance?

 

[370685]

Try to search Takstar models:http://megamarket.lv/?l=1&ss=takstar
 
They have very good price/performance ratio under 100 EUR.(Pro80, TS671, HI2050)
 
Other good alternatives: Superlux HD681 EVO, Creative Aurvana Live!

 

[sinnottj]

Another vote for the Creative Aurvana Live!
 
Very good headphones and fantastic value.
 
Great review here: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/creative-aurvana-live-classic-reincarnate

 

[darkdex52]

  Try to search Takstar models:http://megamarket.lv/?l=1&ss=takstar
 
They have very good price/performance ratio under 100 EUR.(Pro80, TS671, HI2050)
 
Other good alternatives: Superlux HD681 EVO, Creative Aurvana Live!

 
 

  Another vote for the Creative Aurvana Live!
 
Very good headphones and fantastic value.
 
Great review here: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/creative-aurvana-live-classic-reincarnate

 
Are the Creative Aurvana Live! a substantial upgrade to my Sennheiser HD 202's? They're only 15€ more expensive than the Senn's, and I don't want to buy new headgear if I won't notice the difference.
 
I guess I also don't like their looks a bit, though if it's like, WAAY better sound than anything else on the market at that price-point, that can be glanced over.
 
 
What is your guys opinion on AKG K451's? Yeah, they're on-ear rather than over-ear, but, if the sound quality is comparable to that of over-ear, plus the added mobility which I could use, maybe it's worth looking into/getting these? I've heard some good things about them.

 

[sinnottj]

I haven't heard either the HD202 or the K451, so I can't offer a direct comparison - sorry!
 
The CAL! is a very capable headphone for the price, though. I'd be surprised if it wasn't quite a bit better than both ... hopefully some who had heard them can give their opinion.

 

[kilspeed111]

The AKG K240 is a great headphone, in the Netherlands it's 84 euro's, although I don't know the price in Latvia, I don't even know if they sell them there.
Keep in mind that it's semi-open though, I hope that won't be a problem.
 
It's a bad idea to order blindly, unless you can return the product. Always try before you buy!

 

[darkdex52]

  The AKG K240 is a great headphone, in the Netherlands it's 84 euro's, although I don't know the price in Latvia, I don't even know if they sell them there.
Keep in mind that it's semi-open though, I hope that won't be a problem.
 
It's a bad idea to order blindly, unless you can return the product. Always try before you buy!

The AKG K240's are 140€ here, way above my budget. And about testing, I did try to test some headphones, like the Senn's 439's in some stores 2 days ago, but none of them would open up the box to allow testing and none of them had any demo models below 400€ ones. :/