BillsonChang007
Headphoneus Supremus
Thanks very much, man.
I guess I'm just looking for sound and comfort and portability and to use an open-design headphone for home use with devices like android phone and iPad.
For musical styles including any Jazz fusion or professional musician like Weckl, Wackerman, Lalle Larsson, Stanley Clarke, etc. As well as experimental music like Dadub and Kilimanjaro Darkjazz and also metal like Meshuggah and Mastodon and groups such as Primus and Neurosis. I guess that to think that there is any one headphone that would sound great with all of those kinds of recordings as well as underground hip-hop might be a bit too optimistic.
For me soundstage and separation and detail retrieval would be most important with a sound signature of any kind that worked well with the kinds of music mentioned above, or that just left the listener satisfied that they'd just witnessed a very competent or even fun (colored or otherwise) way to present any recording.
By the way, it was this very thread along with its many links provided to mentions of the PSB-M4U2/Paul Barton, ClintTheAudioGuy on YouTube, and Amazon reviews that lead me to selecting the M4U2 as my first audiophile-level headphone and it was a great choice. They sound absolutely unreal for a closed back headphone with detail and soundstage and an even perfect sound that amaze me.
Something that I didn't think would happen though is that I've discovered that for me comfort is almost as important as sound in choosing a headphone. While the M4U2 have the most comfortable ear pads I've ever tried on a closed-back headphone, the weight and clamping pressure never allow me to forget I'm wearing phones. The sound quality is worth it though, it's that good. Plus, I'm researching and trying common methods to help alleviate excessive clamping and noodling with ideas for weight reduction.
So I guess in an open back headphone I'd look for something just like the PSB-M4U2 sound only with wider soundstage and more comfortable weight and clamping, along the lines of Grado and Sennheiser.
Sennheiser is for you IMO