[FallenAngel]

Hey guys,
 
I've owned most of the great headphones in the world and keep a very small collection of my personal favorites - Grado HP2 (rock), Sennheiser HD650 (classical and vocals), BeyerDynamic DT770/Pro80 (bass-head). I have an acquaintance who is a DJ and generally spins trance, dance, a little hiphop, but mostly club-style music. I want to get her some new headphones for DJing and would love recommendations as I'm purely an audiophile and all of my experience is in the listening world, not production, mixing or playing live sphere.
 
Detailed requirements are mostly irrelevant, just keep things within reason for a person that would be on stage with DeadMau5,
 
Thanks

 

[shadow419]

In a dj/club environment what you need imo is isolation, cup swivel, sensitivity, and durability.
 
Isolation for scanning through a track for the specific point you're looking for.
Cup swivel for one ear monitoring through transitions.
Sensitivity because they will need to get loud but at the same time you don't want to worry about bringing an amp with you.
Durability is self explanatory since these will be work headphones.
 
Sennheiser HD 25-1 II's fit the bill in my book.  While not the most comfortable headphones for some, it's somewhat irrelevant since you don't wear them continuously for long periods of time

 

[ProjectDenz]

Yep, the Sennheiser HD-25 is a favorite among the DJ world and has been for like 20 years.

 

[musubi1000]

AKG is about to release a new DJ series in conjunction with Tiesto. The K267 and K167. Take a look at the K181 as this was made for DJs with big bass accurate mids that don't suffer from bass bleed super fast and can take a lot of volume. Not the most comfortable cans but sound awesome.

 

[Lurkumaural]

HD25-1 is a good choice.  I also liked the Crossfade LP2, and it has the added benefit of being circumaural, for those who are obsessed with that kind of fit like I am.  The Sennheiser does isolate very well for an on-ear, but on-ears would give me comfort issues and while spinning, a full-size is easier to slap over one's ear without as much manual dexterity.
 
I used an actual "DJ headphone" (the Sony V700DJ) and while the sound is not what I would consider audiophile grade, I've been quite vocal about the DJ form factor being very valuable when actually DJing.  Swivel cup, power handling, and size/weight are pretty important to me and trump sound quality when all I need to do is cue up, and the Sony worked out well for me when it was all I had.  In fact, I even started to appreciate the lack of resolution when monitoring at high volumes because I think it helped manage ear fatigue.
 
They (i.e. DJ headphones) all break though, say the DJs I've spoken to, usually at the swivel, so there's a compelling argument to be made for the Sennheiser or the V-moda instead of the (IMO) obsolete design (for durability reasons) of the DJ cans of their respective era.
 
Two cents for you.