this thread proved to be a total waste of my time. i ended up buying the sennheiser HD25s and hated them so much i returned them even with a $94 deal. they had absolutely NO BASS! i burned them in for about 20 hours too playing dubstep at earsplitting volume levels when i slept, but even then, they had less bass than a pair of 4 1/2" bookshelf speakers. there wasn't just a lack of bass either, they were EXTREMELY bright & forward to the point they were extremely fatiguing to listen to. yes, they were very detailed, but i ended up buying a $50 pair of AKG K44s locally and like the sound better all around. the bass is fuller, though still not as loud as it is on a pair of reference speakers, but at least you can hear it on tracks with really deep bass. the treble on the AKGs is much smoother & flatter and has about as much detail without a direct side by side comparison.
i also hated that the sennheisers weren't over the ear cans either like i thought they were. they might be durable, but they felt lightweight & cheap for the price and i got sick & tired of getting poked in the ear every time i put them on because of the swivel cups and the fact that i only have 1 arm.
i REALLY miss the days where you could go into a shop and actually LISTEN to a pair of cans. i almost bought a really awesome pair of beyers for about $150 back in the 80s because they had an effortless sound from top to bottom with full bass and had extremely comfortable velour pads.
i just didn't like ANYTHING about the HD25s. don't believe everything you read. they would work great for DJing maybe because you can play them at extreme volumes without them distorting or for mixing because of the detail, but for pleasure listening, they sucked rotten eggs. i liked the cheap $25 sennheiser 202s i bought that eventually broke when a heavy duffle bag's strap ruined a wire better. those had really nice bass and even covered more of the ear. i also didn't like using cans with not only extremely long cords, but thick ones at that too. i wish more makers would start offering their better over the ear phones with short cords for portable use as a lot of people don't like in ear phones.
i think i'll upgrade the K44s to something with more bass and really liked the look of sony's top of the line megabass phones (700 series i think), but it seems EVERY phone that has a decent price and bass extension gets frowned on. i'm not a fan of excessive bass at all as it gives me a headache, but when you KNOW it's there but can't hear it even with bass boost sapping your battery life, it's annoying.
as an amateur DJ, i listen to a lot of dance tracks on the bus and NEED phones i can hear the beat with. the K44s are really detailed and even FUN to listen to with a relaxed sound, but they don't have enough bass to "feel it" without some boost on an mp3 player, particularly the cube C30 which is bass limited, but they walk all over those $200 HD25s at just 1/4 the price in the bass department. they sound less closed in too though not as open as a good pair of open air phones. the HD25s are HIDEOUS sounding on the binaural recordings i've made and totally destroy the image. even my old $30 JVC semi-open cans sound more natural.
i wanted to get back here to comment on just how much i disagree with this shootout's premise that the HD25s are "top of the line". they're pure crap as far as i'm concerned and wouldn't pay more than $30 for them. the AKG clone sampsons i bought for $50 with a large diaphragm mic included were more pleasurable to listen to as well though not exactly bass champs either, but were extremely detailed & natural otherwise. the 25s sound like someone put about 5dB boost in the 5-10kHz range.
