[CapitaFK]

Hey guys. I've been lurking a while. I'm not really an audiophile. Probably closer to your average consumer. I have no music background, whether it be playing instruments or production, so I couldn't tell half the things I should be looking for in headphones. I can tell you my very limited experience with headphones that I've tried and maybe get a suggestion based on those?
 
Anyway, the only headphones I own are Astro A30's (I'm a gamer), so I don't really have much to go by. I can say that the A30's sound great to me when it comes to music. The comfort leaves a lot to be desired. Those square pads just don't do it for me, plus the foam is pretty hard.
 
As far as other headphones I've tried:
 
- I have tried Beats Solos, which sounded very muffled to me.
- Beats Pros sounded ok. Not anywhere near $400 worth, though, as I'm pretty sure I've heard similar sounding headphones for way less.
- I read good things about the XB500, but I tried them at the local Sony store on a flat EQ and, while they had a lot of bass, they sounded borderline shrill to me.
- The XB300 was, like the Beats Solo, also really muffled.
- Skullcandy Aviators were pretty average to me.
- B&W P5 at the Apple store sounded nice, but the bass wasn't too impressive. Very minimal impact.
- I have KSC75's that I sewed into my snowboard helmet's ear pads. I like how they sound, but again, not nearly enough bass.
- Sennheiser HD598 had practically no bass, but the rest of it sounded great.
 

I would also like to note that I tried these with a flat EQ, and I want to use my headphones on a flat EQ and absolutely no amping.
 
I'm waiting for my JVC HA-S500 to come in, so we'll see how that goes.

 
I want good comfort, good bass with a nice thump and rumble when the song needs it but not overpowering. I don't think I'm a basshead, but I do like bass impact when a song calls for it. I definitely don't want shrill headphones (I assume that has to do with highs) that could shatter glass. Apparently I'm pretty sensitive to this. Is that what you call sibilance?
 
My main music genres are Indie Rock, with my main preferred subgenres being:
 
- Post-punk Revival (The Killers, The Strokes, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys).
- Synthpop/Electropop (Naked and Famous, Postal Service, MGMT).
- Acoustic/Folk (Lumineers, Bon Iver, Of Monsters and Men).
- Mellow Hip Hop (A Tribe Called Quest, Nujabes, The Roots)
- Various Jpop genres, mainly from Anime soundtracks.
- Equal female and male vocals. I listen to Ellie Goulding, Lykke Li, Little Dragon, Phantogram, etc. just as much as I listen to bands with male vocals.
 
My budget for each is $200, but if there's a great bang-for-buck set under $50, I will happily oblige. So please suggest me one portable on-ear/over-ear and one IEM for my tastes.

 

[Noobmachine]

Hey there, since you're looking for some bassy on-ear stuff, check out KOSS' line of on-ear headphones, they're know for their bass and synergy with rock music, so they should suit your tastes. Remember to demo them first though!

 

[vincentistan]

have you tried the koss portapro?
 
for iem's if you want bassy ones you might wanna look at jvc, shure and klipsch

 

[CapitaFK]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
 
From my understanding, the PortaPro isn't much different from the KSC75? I do like the sound of my KSC75's, though I feel they could use a bit more bass. Is the sound leakage still bad with the PortaPro? I want to use these at work and in college, so it'd be nice if not everyone could hear what I was listening to.
 
As far as on-ear/over-ear, I was fairly attracted to the ProDJ100. Phiaton's MS400 also piqued my interest. I have JVC's on the way, so I'll see how I feel about those.
 
For IEM's, I was looking at MEElec M6 and the Shure SE215. I love the shape of them, and I especially like the SE215's detachable/replaceable cord.
 
Note I have nowhere to try these headphones, unfortunately. At least none of the music stores (Guitar Center, Sam Ash) carry them.

 

[woktrr1919]

It sounds like you're wanting some pretty bass-heavy stuff but don't want to sacrifice too much clarity. For IEM's, I'd say try the Futuresonics Atrio MG7. They easily have the strongest bass out of any iem I've heard (and I've heard most of them.) 
 
Full size... I'd either try the Audio Technica M50 or one of Klipsch's on ear models. Unfortunately, you're either going to sacrifice some bass, or some clarity. 

 

[Noobmachine]

If I'm not mistaken, AKGs line of portable on ears are all pretty solid with little to no sound leakage, like the K451s .The PortaPros do leak sound alot, but has stronger bass

 

[CapitaFK]

Quote:

It sounds like you're wanting some pretty bass-heavy stuff but don't want to sacrifice too much clarity. For IEM's, I'd say try the Futuresonics Atrio MG7. They easily have the strongest bass out of any iem I've heard (and I've heard most of them.) 
 
Full size... I'd either try the Audio Technica M50 or one of Klipsch's on ear models. Unfortunately, you're either going to sacrifice some bass, or some clarity. 

Aye. I do like bass, but not at the cost of clarity. However, I also don't want bass to be anemic. I can't even manage to listen to the Beats Solos or XB300's due to how horribly muffled they sound, even though they have pretty big bass impact.
 
The XB500 I think has too much bass for me. It's just that somehow the pair I listened to happened to have really ear-piercing highs as well.
 
Quote:

If I'm not mistaken, AKGs line of portable on ears are all pretty solid with little to no sound leakage, like the K451s .The PortaPros do leak sound alot, but has stronger bass

I was looking at the K67 recently. There were too many mixed reviews about the K4xx line regarding comfort, particularly the clamping pressure. But I did notice the general consensus that they isolate really well.

 

[xaddictionx]

For a startup, I would recommend you to try the TF10. It has got ample of quality bass in a BA setup and it does provides a bit of "rumble" but definitely cannot match that of bassy IEMs like the Hippo VB. The clarity is there and instrument separation is good. Soundstage is pretty wide which puts you in around 6-8 rows of the concert hall. Treble is well synergized and has lots of energy in them. Vocals are slightly recessed. The TF10 works well with rock music genre as well as pop, R&B. Can be sourced within your budget.