Top four:
1: Sony DR-Z7:
--Simply incredible. Insane transients that make everything sound organic and real, absolutely ruthlessly revealing and extremely transparent/neutral, impact not only in the bass but throughout the entire sound spectrum, and completely devoid of harshness, etch, or noise. All in a small, supra-aural, foldable package. Almost entirely constructed of die-cast aluminum; easily the best built headphone I've ever held. Timeless styling. Excellent isolation. On the downside they have no soundstage with most material and aren't super comfortable for long (3+ hour) sessions. These headphones are a completely different beast from anything else I've heard, it feels like there's nothing between me and the music, even without a dedicated DAC or amp. I'm almost scared to think about what these could do out of a world class rig.
2: Fostex TH600:
--My "fun" cans. While the Z7 is better in every area except soundstage, these still see a lot of use, mostly with music that doesn't have the best production values in the world. They have a very enjoyable, bassy tonality with flat-line treble extension and a very wide, deep soundstage. Some bass impact, but nothing like the Zs. They have a bit of splash and hiss on the treble caused by a lack of control; it'd probably improve with better amplification but nothing can eliminate it. Keep in mind this is all relative to the Z7; these headphones are aeons ahead of most of the other things I've heard. Extremely comfortable, big and beautiful.
3: Pioneer SE-500 (modded):
--I honestly do not know why these are still on here, but for whatever reason these headphones are still listenable. They don't have bass, at all, and they're kind of splashy, but what they do have is a ridiculously smooth sound with razor flat treble extension and an amazing crispness to the sound that's extremely pleasing to the ears. Excellent soundstage and imaging, though a bit restricted in width. They're bright, but in a very special way, and I adore them. Amazing for metal. Plasticy build, clamp like a bitch, thin pads. Gorgeous.
4: Sony MDR-605 (modded):
--My beaters, and portables of choice. These are the consumer version of the Sony MDR-F1, and have a very good, VERY good soundstage, with a slightly warm, natural tonal balance and pleasing bass. Not the most detailed thing in the world but still quite good with nice treble extension. Unfortunately they are extremely rare, likely due to sounding like complete garbgage in stock form. Sony crammed a lot of frontwave damping on it to make it bassier, at the cost of everything else. Removing it gets rid of the nasty bass bloom and opens up the sound, giving it air and spaciousness as well as nice, crisp treble. You may be curious why a fully open headphone is my portable of choice, and that's because I hang out with friends a lot and this way I can hear everything around me. A bit meh on the build side, but good for a featherlight design. Pretty interesting looks wise, but kind of silly on the head.
Nothing else sees any use, save for one more honorable mention:
Koss PRO/4AAAT:
--Extremely underrated. These headphones have decay similar to the Zs and are generally very very clean sounding with extremely impactful bass and good imaging and soundstaging. However, the tonality is borderline veiled. They're very heavily colored as the driver topology was designed for vocal monitoring. Most people won't be very pleased with it, which is why they have such a bad reputation. However they isolate unlike anything else, so these are my other portables, used for when I can afford to keep everything outside at bay. Big and beautiful. Good build.
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