[billybombill]

Been looking to upgrade to a nicer pair of headphones and was going for the Sennheiser 280's, but stumbled upon the Ultrasone 550's and am kind of torn between them. From what I've read the Sennheiser's sound pretty flat, and clamp on the head a bit tightly, and since I'll be doing casual listening/gaming for extended periods of time I'm not sure having a pair of tight/flat headphones would be best. Personally I like the look of the Ultrasone's more and they seem to have some nice features ('surround sound', anti-fatigue, carrying case). They also fold up smaller by the looks of it (could put them in my backpack or a smaller case than the included one). A few reviewers have mentioned it is excellent at separating sounds, which sounds pretty appealing. 
 
Should mention Amazon shows them as blue but apparently the new (post 2008 or so?) versions are the white/black, which is what I'm planning on getting.
 
I can get the Sennheiser's refurbished for about $70, and the Ultrasone's new for about $140. Really not sure if they're worth twice the price but if I'm going to spend around $100 I want to make sure I do it right. Also considering getting a Fiio E6 as well for my phone to help drive whatever I end up getting. The ATH-M50's seem to get recommended a bunch, although I own a pair of the M30's and while they sound nice I'd rather have something more portable and over the ear (the M30's rest on my ear and while they're not uncomfortable I find I like circumaural headphones better).
 
Anyone have any experience with the Ultrasone's? After looking at them most of the day the order button is looking mighty tempting

 

[Parall3l]

The "surround sound" on the Ultrasones basically translates to a bit bigger soundstage. Don't worry about Ultrasone's included CDs, because those are binaural and have a naturally large soundstage. My experience with the whole anti-fatigue -3dB thing was that there wasn't a noticeable difference, if it exists.
 
At the end of the day I'd still pick the Ultrasones though, but get a pair of earpads from the PRO900s, they are much better for extended gaming periods, I'd know because the DJ1 PRO (which is the PRO550) with PRO900 pads is exactly what I use for games.
 
The Sennheisers I've heard too and for a neutral headphones they do the job well, but soundstage wise they didn't feel as wide for me, and I can't say they feel too durable compared to my rather abused Ultrasones.

 

[billybombill]

  The "surround sound" on the Ultrasones basically translates to a bit bigger soundstage. Don't worry about Ultrasone's included CDs, because those are binaural and have a naturally large soundstage. My experience with the whole anti-fatigue -3dB thing was that there wasn't a noticeable difference, if it exists.
 
At the end of the day I'd still pick the Ultrasones though, but get a pair of earpads from the PRO900s, they are much better for extended gaming periods, I'd know because the DJ1 PRO (which is the PRO550) with PRO900 pads is exactly what I use for games.
 
The Sennheisers I've heard too and for a neutral headphones they do the job well, but soundstage wise they didn't feel as wide for me, and I can't say they feel too durable compared to my rather abused Ultrasones.

Thanks for the information! I'll have to look into the 900 earpads, might pick those up or some Beyerdynamic ones depending on how the stock ones feel. The headphones should be here early next week! I think I'm going to pass on an amp until I see how my pc/phone handles them.