[Madpierrot]

I love my Philips HP1000 (semi-open). Laid back and detailed with fantastic soundstage. I'm looking for the next pair of headphones that will wow me, and although I have a discerning ear I'm pretty novice when it comes to equipment. Budget is ~$200 (I'm sure my budget will increase for the next pair of headphones thanks to head-fi). I've been looking at the ATH-M50, Sennheiser HD25-1 II, AIAIAI TMA-1 (closed, open, or semi-open doesn't matter to me as long as the sound is there). I've read many reviews on all of them and I've demoed the (impressive) M50 for a few minutes at a Guitar Center. Ideally I'd like something like the HP1000 with a little more punch while keeping a nice wide soundstage. From forum hopping it sounds like I would be happy with an AKG K701, but I think I should get something intermediary before making that big a jump financially. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
Alternatively I could just spend the money on an amp. I was looking at the Ibasso D12 (which I plan to get eventually). Would this help my HP1000 significantly enough for me to not want a new pair of phones? Or is the AKG K701 worth every penny and I should just get one now? Currently I just have the FiiO e5 with the Soundblaster X-Fi HD as my most common source.
 
Here's goodbye to my wallet in the coming years!

 

[1Time]

Easiest and least expensive solution - get a decent amp or possibly even better a powerful USB DAC / amp. Choose wisely.
 
If instead you choose other headphones, you'd still need to upgrade your upstream equipment, AND hope you'd prefer the sound of your new headphones to your HP1000 - which you love.
 
Quote:

I love my Philips HP1000 (semi-open). Laid back and detailed with fantastic soundstage.
Ideally I'd like something like the HP1000 with a little more punch while keeping a nice wide soundstage.
Currently I just have the FiiO e5 with the Soundblaster X-Fi HD as my most common source.

 

[Madpierrot]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm only worried that the DAC/AMP (looking at the Ibasso D12) wouldn't give me enough of an improvement to satisfy me while a new pair of headphones would be a full change in sound signature. Looking at more options the Ultrasone HFI-780 is looking pretty good. Are the differences with a proper amp much different?
 
Quote:

Easiest and least expensive solution - get a decent amp or possibly even better a powerful USB DAC / amp. Choose wisely.
 
If instead you choose other headphones, you'd still need to upgrade your upstream equipment, AND hope you'd prefer the sound of your new headphones to your HP1000 - which you love.
 
Quote:

I love my Philips HP1000 (semi-open). Laid back and detailed with fantastic soundstage.
Ideally I'd like something like the HP1000 with a little more punch while keeping a nice wide soundstage.
Currently I just have the FiiO e5 with the Soundblaster X-Fi HD as my most common source.