[petervii]

Hello to you all! I hate starting new threads ,but i thought it would be nice to give you a laugh at what i'm becoming through this forum.
I started out 15 years ago searching for a decent sounding headphone. Look at what i need this month and understand why i want to punch myself:
 
I want a truly portable on-the-ear headphone that:
-Is very good overall (better than say...the senns hd 238) with detail but not too clinical and analytical.But fun.
-NO bass rolloff.Even driven with an iphone.If it could go down to -50Hz i'd be happy.
-Leakage has to be minimal so that other people and nearby mic's can't hear what i listen to, but isolation should be a lot less than that of an iem.
-Minimal looking
-under $150
 
Headphones i've looked into and why i didn't buy them:
akg q460 : Loved the form factor.Leak was bearable.Sound over 1kHz was just bad.
sennheiser hd 25 sp : Good,maybe a bit bigger than i wanted,two-sided cable annoying,a bit of bass rolloff..
aiaiai tracks : Haven't heard them myself, supposedly they leak a lot, for a retro inspired can i find them futuristic looking!
hd228 : I don't find them good enough,don't like how they look, also i have the 238

Notes: I wanted to share my experience more than beg for your help this time...
-I find myself drawn to my triple fi's and i dont like iem fit and isolation and the fact that its not the easiest thing to put them on and take them off all the time...
-I wish i had more info on hd 25 sp .Everyone always says :Buy the hd 25 ii,but they're in a different price range!
-I have the roland rh5.they're semi open.Their leak is minimal and i can hear my voice when speaking.They're ok and cheap.I thought i could get something much better and smaller for more $...
 
Thanks for your patience!

 

[dnullify]

Well that's a tricky one...
 
depending on what volumes you listen at, low isolation + low sound leakage is going to be a tricky one.
Something's gotta give there. Do you need to be able to hear people around you?
 
I'd suggest you check out the ath-m50s if you haven't already. 

 

[seekadds]

Creative Aurvana Live! 
 
Gook luck.

 

[petervii]

low isolation with minimal sound leakage is gonna be impossible i understand that, i'm just searching for the best compromise.Thank you for your suggestions,however even though i'd like to own both headphones mentioned,i find them both too big for portable use(something subjective)My upper limit would be the sennheiser hd 25 ,which i saw again on the store today and i'm very tempted...
What i haven't told you and pushes the list of needs off the cliff, is that the second use of the headphones will be vocal monitoring.I have the akg 271 for studio use(singer-mixer) but besides the fact that i dont like them(sonically) we sometimes film videos where i sing, and they look huge and ugly,and also,you know sometimes in studio videos where you see the singer holding one headphone earcup on his/her ear, leaving the other ear exposed to hear his/her voice?Well,there's a reason for that.And it's why singers also rarely sing with iems in the studio.So, i need decent mids. Not great! just decent.

 

[seekadds]

ATH-ES7, Senn PX200-II.
 
Good luck!

 

[petervii]

Quote:

ATH-ES7, Senn PX200-II.
 
Good luck!

 
Thanks,nice suggestions! I've been checking out px 200 ii ,i've heard px 100-ii. I'll admit you can't do much better for the price.
As for the ES7... they're slightly bigger than the hd 25-1 ii and can't test-listen them.I can get them for  $ 30-40 cheaper than the senns ($200) and i suspect the sennheisers sound way better. ES7's are pretty and have received a lot of love here over the years... I'd love to have a listen.

 

[Kees]

ATH ES7 (as suggested above) and AKG K81DJ.

 

[KT66]

ATH ES55 sounds like the perfect can for you .

 

[daveDerek]

akg k181dj (much sturdier and better than the k81dj!). i kept this in preference to the senn hd25, although they were close. also it can be modded for even better sound. :
http://www.head-fi.org/t/162552/official-k-81-dj-thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/323653/akg-k181dj-review#post_4183439
 
equation rp21

 

[petervii]

Wow,thanks daveDerek! i I'm still searching,but i didn't want the thread to become too "tiring".
First of all, i wasn't even aware of the existence of the rp21's.Nice! I don't like how they look and also find them too big...but i'm reading great reviews from people in the industry.
Now about  the AKG 's
I get the K81's,K181's,and K518's mixed up! Price and the silver part in k181 help a bit to figure out which is which.I've heard the k181 in store and i found them fantastic.But they're not at all minimal.
And while sturdy is a great advantage for a headphone,it doesn't apply much to my situation.
Someone offered to buy me a wesc (something) today to cover this need ,but i'm not that desperate!

I'm kind of leaning towards buying the urbanears plattan.They're muddy,but i'm slowly giving up! 
Does anyone know how the akg518 compare to some of the other models mentioned?also size wise?
 

 

[daveDerek]

the equations were very popular a few years ago. like many items discussed on the boards, they seemed to have become forgotten as a bunch of shiny new toys occupied the limelight.
 
here are some threads about the equation rp21. the first has some simple and reversible mods that improve their sound:
 
Reversible mod: http://www.head-fi.org/t/244888/reversible-equation-audio-rp-21-mod-56k-warning

- http://www.head-fi.org/t/248968/a-short-rp21-review
tbonner1:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/237797/equation-audio-rp-21-review
LTucci1924: http://www.head-fi.org/t/243396/thoughts-on-the-equation-audio-rp-21/15
- http://www.head-fi.org/t/243421/rp-21-are-they-really-that-good
AT ES7 vs RP21:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/239281/ath-es7-vs-equation-audio-rp-21/45