Well, my max budget is around $300, I could maybe go up by like $50 if there was an awesome deal on a pair of headphones. As for music, I listen to a fairly large spread. I really enjoy alt rock and punk music, like Jack White and Blink-182, but I also like orchestral soundtracks and softer listening, such as the Avett Brothers or the Oh Hellos. Oh and I like Blues rock (think Alabama Shakes) a lot. I've looked at the HD 598 and the HD 600 some, as well as the ath msr7 and the Sony mdr1a. Haven't looked into amping or DACs really. I listen to most of my music using Tidal either on my phone (iPhone 6s) or my laptop.
Any and all pointers would be appreciated!
Edit: I also listen to John Mayer a fair amount, I think the quality of his recordings is generally superb, and he's an incredibly talented guitarist
Edit 2.0: I am also a musician and like to record so headphones that both sound good with music and are decent as monitors would be a plus
When reading this (I read it a couple times but didn't have the time till now to respond) I had a couple different opinions. First off! Good job with your descriptions on whats important to you. That helps big time! I also figured since I was in the first timers section I would write this to you, and to other members in general... Now, onto my thoughts...
I'm a big fan of the
HD598 and also the 600... I have heard the 600 more then the 598 so I cant comment a lot on the 598 as much as 600. The 600 is how people usually describe it- Warm, decent sound staging, smooth listen but without a total lack of details. It can scale incredibly well with higher end gear. This headphone would do well with the orchestral soundtracks and softer listening. I also like them a lot with rock but that is just because I like rock music in general ha. I don't think they "add" anything to rock if that makes any sense. My buddy who owns one (we sell them in the store but do not have a demo of them) runs them out of a tube amp and the sound is addicting through his turn table. I get this sense of "being there" with that combo that he has. Mind you that his whole set up, including the headphones, would probably cost around 2K used? but anyways... thats the 600...
Now something else I had in mind from your descriptions was the
Grado line...
They are hit or miss by people. I want to throw that out there. something that is known for Grado headphones is that they are killer for rock music. Due to their sound being more immediate, and forced out for lack of a better word. It's very energetic and snappy sounding. Guitar string strums are sharp when they need to be sharp (sharp isn't always a bad thing by the way gang) and more life like. They make me want to rock out because of their sound signature.
They are also very easy to drive off of just a phone, which is very important for people to know. you can run any can off of a phone but not all cans can be driven to their full potential off that. It takes power (and a ton of other things) to make a driver in a headphone push forward and back. Some drivers are more difficult to do that, so some times the phone can't bring them to their full potential. Most entry level Grados "Grado sr60, sr80, sr125" can be driven effectively off of a smartphone.
Downsides to Grado line- They have not updated their design in regards to comfort. For me they are not as comfortable as other headphones, but that doesn't mean that I can't wear them for extended periods of time. I have them on my head right now actually ha. It's worth mentioning. I Think the sound is worth the trade off though.
"I am also a musician and like to record so headphones that both sound good with music and are decent as monitors would be a plus"- Now this is a tricky and subjective subject ha. I believe the best thing you could do for recording purposes would find a "reference" headphone. If you typed that into the search bar you could find topics for that. NOW wether you enjoy reference sound, or whatever was recorded is what they give you, is another story. I personally am hit or miss on a headphone that tries its best to be dead neutral. So I don't want to speak for you in that regard. I can find it boring and almost stale sounding. Now, take a reference headphone and give it a certain amp, and It can be fantastic.. So in regards to recording It might be best to have a cheaper reference can, and then have another can for enjoyment. I think the 600 might be too warm for what you are doing, but I can always be wrong. It may be able to fit both roles for you.
Another headphone I would consider in your price range, can be driven by a phone and is very fun is the Meze 99 Classics.
They are portable (don't know if that would be important or not) look beautiful in my opinion and would sound great for a mix of genres.... They come in the Maple (pictured) or walnut....
Ok I gotta run! This was off the top of my head and hope I didn't ramble too much... Feel free to check our
website out if you want and also feel free to private message me if you have any more questions. This goes for everyone out there as well!
As we say here "Thank you for listening to the music" ha
-Craig