[monoxyde1234]

ath-esw9 is too expensive for me
ath-ad700 is big(is it small enough to be portable or not?)
i hate iems

i listen to a wide range of music genres from rock to trance to classical (mostly rock and pop)

so probably something in between:
1. the rocking goodness of the grados
2. soundstage of the AT's
3. bass of denons
4. and enough isolation so not to disturb people on a library though the more it isolates the better.

sounds like a headphone that costs 1000$ XD
well i guess i want a headphone that has atleast have 2-3 qualities i want even if its has a little of it.
sound signature is no issue for me.
i'll be wearing it on public so the smaller the better well atleast it covers my whole ear. could be big as long as i wont grab too much attention (maybe i can tolerate up to 5 people looking at me at once XD)
probably pairing it with a portable amp, a mini3 perhaps.

i had the ath-ad700(open) or ath-a900(closed) in mind but it looks too big to be portable.

 

[DaMavs]

The ATH-ES7 would seem to be a natural solution to your problem. I stretched and got the ESW9 though and love them. What's an extra $100 for the happiness of your ears?

The Senn HD-25's usually get some pub in this category as do the Denon 1000's (or is 1001?), although I think the Denon is reputed to not isolate incredibly well & there have been some rumors of D2000's near this price point of late potentially, although they may be too big for what you're looking for...

 

[3X0]

The ATH-ES7 is closer to a Grado-like sound than the HD25-1 is by quite a margin. Go for them (I have yet to hear the ESW-9). They have reasonable soundstage and fun bass as well.

 

[monoxyde1234]

i could get the esw9 if its just sweet and worth the jump to an es7 though at ~300$, just need to wait for another month though.

for size, i wore a philips shp8900 and i could say i was pushing it though it went fine on public. well i dont know if anyone has seen this or bothered looking on it, but just for a reference on size, nothing much bigger than this.

 

[chinesekiwi]

If you got a big headl like me, the ES7 is a bad solution as it's not comfortable at all.

 

[3X0]

I've experience differently, I have a gigantic head and the ES7 is fine on me. My headband is lax from frequent use and I've fixed the parallel metal rods, though.

 

[DOUGHN]

hows the isolation of the ES7?for planes..TIA

 

[uraflit]

doesnt the OP want circumaural?

 

[RedSky0]

You could probably find a used or perhaps new Ultrasone Proline 750 for that price, or slightly higher (in fact I there's one selling in the FS forums for $190). That should get you everything other than the expansive soundstage.

I get the impression (and correct me someone if I'm wrong on this), that generally if you're going for a compact headphone, you'll never get a huge soundstage as it's very much proportional to cup size.