[lolhahaha]

So what headphones are the best after all this?

I can reliably say that I have yet to hear Sennheisers that sound as good (to me) as my new Audio Technica ATH-1000s. The only other phones that I am interested in hearing right now are the AKG 701s or the Beyerdynamic DT 880s.

 

[MaZa]

A score from 1-10

AKG K240S, modded - 8

Good sound but lower-region bass could be stronger and midbass region lower. Treble and mids after modding are really good. I use it to listen music and computer playing.


Philips SBC-HP840 - 7

Great bass impact and it goes low. Excellent for its price. No real badsides, but doesnt shine anywhere either: Annoying middle-roader.
Cheap and good.
Using it when playing console games and watching movies.


Sennheiser PX100 - 8

Excellent portable headphone. I use them all the time with my portable.


AKG K26P - 5

Dont like this headphone a one bit. Uncomfortable, (hurts my scalp after using it an hour or two) bad sound... Incredible bass impact though, but middlebass drowns everything.


Koss Sporta Pro - 7½

Broken now. Good headphones overall.

 

[incognitoedleon]

I got a couple more headphones and my mind's changed on a couple so here's the re-rank:

1. Grado SR325i
2. Philips SHP895
3. Sennheiser HD595
4. AKG K240S
5. Grado SR60 (retired)
6. Koss KSC75 (semi-retired)
7. Philips HP250
8. Creative EP630
9. AKG K26P (EQ'ed)
10. Sony XD400 (trying to sell)
11. Sennheiser HD25SP
12. Sennheiser HD201 (broken)
13. Philips HP170 (broken)
14. Panasonic HJE50 (fed to the lions)

 

[Skylab]

Also time for a re-ranking:

1. Headphile modified Beyerdynamic DT770/80
2. Headphile modified Grado HF-1
3. Headphile modified Sennheiser HD650
4. Headphile modified Sennheiser HD600
5. Beyerdynamic DT801
6. Beyerdynamic DT770/250 2006 version
7. Sennheiser HD25-1
8. Beyerdynamic DT250/80
9. Sennheiser HD590
10. Westone UM2
11. UE Super.fi 5EB
12 Sennheiser HD437

 

[divad68]

1: Senn HD650's
2: ATH-A900's
3: Senn HD485's
4: Senn HD595's

 

[Anarchy965]

Not many:
1. Senn HD-25-SP
2. Ety Er6i
3. AKG K240
4. Sony MDR-V150
5. Stock ZM earbuds lols!(do they even count?)

 

[ej82m]

1. Sennheiser 650
2. AT W10VTG
3. Grado Hf-1
4. ATH A900
5. Shure e2c
6. Sony Eggos

 

[arielext]

of all I had (and remember well)
1) Beyer DT880
2) Westone ES2
3) Senn HD580 Jubilee
4) Senn HD600
5) Beyer DT990
6) Senn HD590
7)Westone UM2
8) Aless MS1
9) Senn HD497
10) Stax SR-34
11) Senn HD201
12)Shure E3
13) AKG K240-DF
14)Senn Unipolar 2K

most notible I guess is that the ES2 and DT880 are almost the same in pleasure; which is a + for both of them.

 

[saturnine]

Everything IMO!

HD-650 + Zu Mobius- Does most everything right. Only lacks the attack & PRAT of the RS-1
RS-1- Ultimate headphone when I'm in the mood for it. Does justice to most genres, including most classical.
RS-2- Very good sound, and the darkest non-Alessandro Grado. Good bass, and more accurate note decay than the RS-1.
SR-325i- Rock only can IMO. Far to bright for most classical & some jazz. Does sound most excellent with older rock recordings, really brings out the detail! Heavy.
Etymotic ER-4P- Most neutral "headphone" ever (I have yet to hear a HP series Grado or any electrostats). Sounds very flat and detailed.
HD-600/580- Great for the price, but are both lacking something that the HD-650 has. I'll call it mojo

Alessandro MS-2- Amazing sound, but not enough bass presence.
Modded DT-770- Extremely thumping loud bass, but the sucked out mids ruined it for me.
Alessandro MS-1- Always my favorite pick in the <$100 bracket. Very fun sound, never fatiguing.
Ultrasone HFI-650- Great sound, bad build quality. Creaky & uncomfortable. "S-Logic" soundstage enhancer must not have been working right, soundstage/positioning less than others in the pricerange.
Grado SR-80- Bright, yet fun as heck to listen to. Gets fatiguing quickly.
Sennheiser HD-570- My first "high end" headphone. Sounded ok, but extremely hard to drive. Very comfortable & great with games!
Bose Triport- Gets bashed way too much around here. Sure, the build quality is lacking & they are overpriced, but they do not sound offensive at all. It's actually my favorite semi-closed can for around ~$100 (Ebay price

)
Audio Technica A-500- Didn't do it for me. Good soundstage, but not enough detail and the bass seemed weird. I didn't keep them long enough for a better impression..
Sharp MD-33- My favorite cheap isolating earbud. Sounds good, yet metallic & has an extremely annoying cable.
Sennheiser PX-100- Good comfortable portable can, but a tad too bassy & too expensive considering the amazing Koss KSC series.
Koss KSC-75- Great sound for the price! Better than the 35, and sounds even better amped.
Koss KSC-35- Like the 75, but with more bass & a tad less detail.
Sony Streetstyle- Crap, but they are what I listened to for maaany years.
Zalman 5.1 "Surround sound"- Sound absolutely horrible (no bass!!!), and do not offer better soundstage than say, a A-500 or HD-570.

 

[NeilPeart]

1. K 701 - not as technically competent as the K 1000 and of course not as open; it does achieve a more tolerable sound than the K 1000 with poor records and is always as groovy as the HD 650, but more resolving and more immersive
1. K 1000 - a special headphone with a unique perspective that no other matches (not the R10 nor the HE 90) – also the most resolving of the bunch
2. K 601 - an excellent 'phone but lacks the refinement and "3d textures" of the K 701 (it’s a subtle difference but becomes more apparent with time)
3. HD 650 - very smooth & groovy, but even with the Mobius it cannot top the immersion and conveyance of reality the K 701 achieves (and I’m a long-time HD 650 fan)
4. DT 880 - technically better than the HD 650 in some facets (detail, bass texture) but not as groovy and highlighted flaws rather than exposed detail (opposed to K 701 where the same flaws were heard yet in a more musical fashion and never distracting)
5. HD 600 - slightly more open and sparkly than the HD 650 but not as fun and slightly less resolving; the bass still lacks the detail and texture of the K 701

 

[Frip]

Neil Pert,

You wrote the following of the MS1:

"Alessandro MS1: a tad bright and tonally lightweight, but it's the best semi-portable open 'phone I've encountered and it lends nearly all genres a fun spin."

What do you mean by "tonally lightweight"?

Thank you.

P.S. I think your drumming is a bit busy.

 

[cheechoz]

1) Grado SR325i

2) Sennheiser HD600 w/Equinox

3) Sony MDR-SA5000

4) Koss Portpro2

5) Koss KSC75

Since my main listening is Rock music, the Grados always stand out ahead of the rest!

My other cans are used for diferent genres of music, and are all close to one another in time used!

 

[YngwieJMalmsteen]

1. beyer DT 880
2. Grado HF-1
3. UE Super.fi 5Pro
4. Sennheiser HD280
5. Sony MDR-V400

 

[Patu]

With my current cans the listing would go like this:

1) SA5000
2) HD650 + G52
3) RS-2
----
4) PX100

I listen to a lot of rock music also so SA5000 is naturally in first position. HD650 + G52 goes well with almost every other genre (SA5000 does also) and RS-2 is nice to have for some rock tracks and for its fun factor.

 

[Gaughtfried]

In techicality, I still own these heaphones. However, some are not in operating order....

1. Grado SR40 /w MDR v300 pads
- I got these for quite a steal at $40 canadian, considering how much Grados retail up here. The pads on it where yellow at some point at time but turned a dingey brown. I replaced them with v300 pads which sounded considerably better in terms of clarity, bass and overall comfort. Unfortunately I killed them in an ill-fated driver transplant.

2. Sennheiser HD437 /w XD200 pads
- I bought these and where immediately disgusted at how uncomfortable they where. So I took the pads off my previous pair of headphones, a set of MDR-XD200's, added some padding around the circumfurence of the HD's cups and crammed them on. They now feel 100x better and have a better soundstage without any sacrifice in SQ. I'm still using them. On a side note, the pads vibrate like crazy when the volume is set high and there is heavy bass.

3. JVC HA-V560
- They sounded really good and I still remember them as being one hell of a set of headphones. Neutral, comfortable, fantastic! That was until one of the drivers stopped working due to a faulty volume control knob which I promptly "fixed". Eventually a hinge broke and I had to use epoxy to fix that. Then it disappeared into my sister's bedroom where they subsequently lost their cups. These things really where sensitve to my computer's poor sound card at the time and tended to be somewhat staticky. Still, good headphones.

4. Sony MDR-XD200
-Bought after I got it's younger brother the XD100, which was the only headphone I ever returned. It required massive amounts of eq'ing to sound right. It's currently being used for spare parts.

5. Sony MDR-V300 /w JVC heaband
-Bright, bright, bright and given to me for free. Originally, they where only the drivers and their enclosures, but I used a headbad from my JVCs, along with massive amounts of duct tape, to get it to fit right. They felt like medieval torture devices. Currently, the cable is being used as a spare part. Drivers are still OK.

The rest aren't even worth mentioning.