[luukas]

I'll keep this short. I'm quite pleased with the HD25-1's which I'm using currently, except that the comfort could be better, and the isolation is somewhat of a nuisance at home. And considering the attenuation varies a lot between frequencies, it's not really helpful unless I'm gaming or listening at loud levels (.1% of the time). Likewise, while very portable, the HD25's are simply too unwieldy for me - I want to toss the headphones (well, ear or canalphones then!) in my pocket.

What I need is a pair of headphones that:

- can do everything reasonably well (note that I don't find classical music to be lacking even with the HD25's)
- are comfortable,
- do not need a mega-amplifier, I'm using a PC II biased to class A/24V
- cost roughly around 200€, but I don't want to limit my options too much, so any reasonable recommendations are welcome
- almost forgot this one - must be durable to a reasonable degree, so no A900's or crackle-band Ultrasones

These will be used with an A2ZS/0404 (once it arrives). I'm itching for the HD650's, but they cost a minimum of maybe 350€ here. I could propably get them a lot cheaper from the U.S. , but as I understand Sennheiser does not have a world-wide warranty policy. At least I remember reading that the local importer would not honor the warranty of headphones which were bought from Germany.

Hmph, didn't manage to keep it that short after all...

 

[HiroshimaJoe]

I recently got a used pair of AKG K240S off this forum, and theyare very enjoyable. Before I purchased I tried a number of headphones, mostly Sennheiser (580, 600, 555 and 595) and almost bought the 595 from Germany, since that could save me quite a bit of money compared to buying from a local retailer.
I had also tried a pair of AKG K240S in a guitar shop, but they were straight out of the box and driven by my own discman, but still they sounded good. I kinda fell in love with the looks too.

The pair I have now are well burned in (at least I suspect them to be, because no headfier has a pair for 3 months and doesn't burn them in) and I enjoy them everyday. They are very comfortable too, but can get a little hos after a few hours because of the leather.
They are light weight but still seem durable. They are easy to drive, and sound fine out of almost any source I have tried, although they still benefit from a better source.
They are very cheap (at least in the US) so you can buy them from someone in the forums and get them for less than 100euro.

But perhaps they are a little below the pricerange you had thought of, and maybe you want the sennheiser sound again. If so I suggest you use http://www.geizhals.at/eu to find the cheapest european retailer.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

You don't require isolation?

Definitely get something open...mid-fi open headphones trounce closed headphones in almost every regard.

I'd look into Beyerdynamic DT880, Sennheiser HD650 (from the U.S. for about $310 USD), or Alessandro MS-2/Grado SR-325.

I find the Grados/Alessandros comfortable, but that's just me...

All those headphones are amazing...your porta corda should be able to sufficiently drive them, if I am not mistaken.

 

[luukas]

Ack, just can't get over the prospect of buying HD650's. Think I'll just give the importer a call tomorrow and ask how the warranty is handled.

Oh and I forgot one thing out of "the list" (as usual). No Grados. After my long... relationship with the SR125's, I've decided they're good in their own right but not what I'm looking for. Though I wouldn't mind giving the MS-2 a shot. Too bad they can't be audiotioned.