[fiercegt]

ok, first off, i hate both bose and monster as companies. but i enjoy the way the beats solo hd and bose OE sound, oddly enough.
 
i'm more of a fan of the beats, but would accept either sound performance.
 
what i'm looking for is not a recommendation of what sounds 'better', but of what headphones sound similar for a reasonable price.
 
obviously i'm looking for a 'fun' headphone, not an accurate one.
 
i currently have some sennheiser HD203's and for my personal taste they sound weak on bass, and treble. this is something i've found from home audio experience as well. Generally my ears hear a flat response as one with boosted mids. this has always made choosing gear from reviews tough, and i simply can't demo all the headphones.
 
so hoping other who have the experience can point me in the right direction, here's my list of wants:
-plenty of bass(i realize it's artificial, i just want a 'fun' sound)
-adequate mids and highs. i'm not an audiophile, but i am picky. for reference i'm satisfied with both bose, beats, and the HD203's
-relatively small form factor(i use them for travel, often sleeping with them on)
-smooth/flat exterior(see above, the headband on the senns get's caught all the time)
-the quieter the better, but i'm not a fan of active cancellation
-would prefer around ear, closed designed, but will consider on-ear if it seals well
-under $100, might consider up to $150
-must work well off an ipod, no amps
-comfort is at least as important as SQ
 
i know the bose/beats aren't the most highly regarded products, and i'd prefer to not pay for the advertising of either company. but at the end of the day i do like the sound, and the comfort. i just don't like the style or the price.
 
hopefully there are some ppl that can understand not wanted perfectly accurate headphones. i mean let's face it, if we're trying to hear exactly what the composer heard, i'd need to borrow his/her ears as well. i want to hear the sound the way I want it, not the composer, haha.
 
anyway, please be kind. i've buried myself in this website and simply couldn't find a thread about bose or beats that didn't go way off topic, or end up with recommendations for better (more accurate) headphones as opposed to cheaper alternatives to the same sound.
 
appreciate all the help and advice i can get.

 

[fiercegt]

hope i haven't scared ppl off.
if i need to compromise on some of my wants, well they are wants, not 'needs'.
 
i've been looking into several from sennheiser:
HD280 pro: seems like they need amplification, and will be too accurate to satisfy my bass desire
HD202II: same overall form factor as my 203's, so not as comfortable as i'd like, and too awkward to wear in the car when i might fall asleep.
HD428: honestly i ALMOST bought these instead of the 203's, had both in the hands at the same time, but heard mixed reviews on the bass performance and whether or not they need an amp. look very comfy though
HD212: same damn design again
 
and a few from Sony:
MDR V150/250/300: all seem fairly similar with slight upgrades. but i don't know, just haven't seen any reviews that made me think they were anything special. almost seem 'too cheap to be any good'
XB500: just too big to be practical for me, but reviews seem to indicate they are what i'm looking for in terms of sound and comfort
MDR-V6: couldn't get a good read on this one, seems like it might be too linear for me again
MDR-V700dj: recently on sale locally for a good price, but i'm not sure again. seems to have durability issues, and very mixed reviews. hearing the highs are kinda harsh, and they look a tad bulky(tough to tell from online pics though)
MDR-v500: these seemed like a decent compromise between the V6 and 300's in terms of performance and price, but that might just mean they aren't cheap or the sound i'm wanting.
 
as you can probably guess, my local selection is limited to most of the marjor market brands(sennheiser, sony, monster, bose, jvc, skullcandy, etc). prices are fairly outrageous in most cases, so i'm looking to buy online(NCIX, tigerdirect, newegg, etc) which opens up some more options as well, but i wouldn't mind a few options to improve the odds of me actually being able to find some

 

[Red Haze]

M50?

 

[Ishcabible]

M50?

Because they have a small form factor...

To be completely honest with you, I haven't found a cheap portable headphone with a bass centric sound yet still renaining clear. The P5's are contenders though. The Vmoda Crossfades are pretty dang bassy from my experience at the Apple store, and go for around 80 on ebay, but they were TOO bassy for me. Much moreso than the Beats. There's also the AKG K81 I guess but it sounded way too muddy for me, though. About equal maybe a bit worse than the Solos. Then there's the Panasonic HTX7 but other than the bass hump, they're meh.

 

[fiercegt]

hmm, i'll have to have look at those, aside from the panny's i doubt i'll be able to get any kind of hands on experience with them though. never seen those brands locally anywhere.
 
do you think i'd have to go more expensive, or bigger in order to find the sound i'm looking for?
 
if i can find these for a good price, i could probably afford to upgrade my ear-buds as well. so if i can find the sound in a slightly larger package, but still under 100bux, i can use ear-buds for those times i can fit the big guys.
 
going more expensive is an option as well, but if i go up to 150 or so, that's gonna be about it for awhile for my budget. so they'll have to be small enough to use almost anywhere
 
thanks for the recommendation and honest thoughts on them. very helpful so far
 
EDIT:
ok from a quick online search, the v-moda's, and akg's seem the most along the lines of what i'm looking for physically.
 
would be interesting in hearing more about them. unfortunately i don't have a ton of experience, but i'll list everything i can think of that i've listened to, and maybe you guys can tell me where they fit in in terms of bass(levels), comfort, and mid/highs clarity. i don't mind sloppy bass for the most part.
- sennheiser HD203 (to me good clairity, not as bright as i'd like, and not as boomy as i'd like)
-Sony  MDRNC7B (liked very little about these, but i couldn't get passed the horrible noise cancellation, and the fact i thought they were around ear when i bought them for my mom, and this style slips off way too easily for the 'jogging headphone' they were supposed to be)
-panasonic RP-HT850 (i like everything about these except lacking the boomy bass. used these for 10yrs probably before they broke and put me on my current hunt for replacements best 30bux i ever spent on headphones)
demos
Bose AE2 (good comfort, sound was good enough, would have liked more bass)
Bose OE (great comfort, sound was good enough, liked the amount of bass, just wish they were more secure without being tighter-AE design, and weren't over 300bux locally)
Bose NC2 (as the AE2)
Bose NC3 (as the OE)
Beats Solo HD (loved the sound/bass, found them quite comfortable and secure enough, really hate the style though, and obviously the price)
Beats Studio (actually preferred the sound of the solos, but liked that these were AE design, style, and price are even worse though, don't want to deal with batteries either)
 
now i'm off to do some more searching on the vmodas(hopefully finding some cheaper prices), and the akg's

 

[jstockov]

I  really enjoy my m50s. Take your ipod to your nearest guitar center and try them all out. It was between the srh840 and the m50s. m50s sounded nicer to me and was cheaper.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Just get a pair of Denons. I think you'd be happy with them.

 

[jtsai]

You might want to take a look at the JVC HAS700. Word is that they are similar to the Bose AE sound (and look) without the Bose pricetag.
 
EDIT: As Uncle Erik suggested, the Denon 1001 or 1100 are good choices too (at a higher >$100 range), although you may be put off by the protruding hinges of the newer 1100 model.

 

[Red Haze]

Quote:

Just get a pair of Denons. I think you'd be happy with them.

On that note, it might be worth checking out Denon's AH-D1100.

 

[fiercegt]

great suggestions so far. i've got a better chance of finding the JVC or Denon's locally for sure, so i'll be sure to check those out
 
where are some good places to purchase these from that will ship to canada? i was having some problems finding the v-moda and akg's at any of my 'usual stops'.

 

[fiercegt]

after hours of searching an a little good luck, i've ordered the JVC HA-S700
 
very weird situation though, they had two listing at the same store
JVC HA-S700 for 47bux
JVC HAS700 for 39bux
 
two different SKU's but the same UPC's, only the HA-S700 had a pic. i ordered the cheaper ones, hope they are the same thing, haha.
 
i was very close to ordering the AKG's, but found the JVC's almost last minute.
 
M50's and v-moda crossfades were great options as well, but i couldn't find them anywhere cheap, and didn't want to gamble with that much money.
 
i figured with the JVC's, even if they are as bass heavy as i want, they'll be great travelling headphones, and should at least satisfy me until i get the chance to try some more options first hand

 

[fiercegt]

figured i might as well finish this off with my thoughts about the JVC's now that i've had them for a couple weeks.
 
comfort, fit, and general build do seem very similar to the bose AE2
 
unfortunately, so does the sound. it's decent, and i'm about to complain about all the 'wrong' things, but audio is very personal.
 
the bass sucks, well, that's not really fair, the bass is boring. it's fine for some rock music, and anything light, but doesn't cut it at all for techno or rap.
 
if you're looking for sound like the bose AE2, by all means, grab these and save yourself a TON of money. but if you're looking for bass like the beats solo or bose OE, this won't cut it for you.
 
i'm happy with the headphones in the general sense, they are comfortable, extremely quiet, good overal sound, and not too expensive. but they in no way have stopped me from looking at others with more bass. i've just got something adequate to use until i can demo something more to my liking and price range
 
i hate monster so much, and i refuse to buy anything from the company because of their sales techniques, but i'm starting to understand why the headphones are so popular. good SQ or not, they offer a signature sound that isn't easy to find in a small package.