[aescomic]

It's my birthday today, so I was thinking of buying myself a present. I've been doing research for the past weeks on headphones, but I finally gave in because I am having a hard time making a decision. I had originally planned on spending $300 on the Bose QC15 because the Beats by Dre clearly aren't good for the price you're paying them for. I tried them on again for the 2nd time yesterday and the bass is atrocious. After hard research I found out that I don't need to spend that much unless I'm studio recording, which I'm not. Is $150 - $200 a fair price range? I need as much help as possible. Thanks.

 

[MtnSloth]

There is a thread dedicated to this sort of question. No matter if you go to that thread or not, you will get more useful responses if you share more about your setup and preferences. Stuff like:

1. your existing equipment (and what you like or don't like about it)
2. your music collection (128-bit MP3s versus CD versus DVD-A/SACD versus ???)
3. your favorite kind(s) of music
4. any sound preferences (e.g. "I like lots of bass!!")

 
Hope you get the idea. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

 

[Uncle Erik]

There are lots of headphones available for $100-$200.

The best ones for you will depend mostly on the music you listen to. So, what are your favorite bands, genres, composers, etc.?

 

[aescomic]

There is a thread dedicated to this sort of question. No matter if you go to that thread or not, you will get more useful responses if you share more about your setup and preferences. Stuff like:

1. your existing equipment (and what you like or don't like about it)
2. your music collection (128-bit MP3s versus CD versus DVD-A/SACD versus ???)
3. your favorite kind(s) of music
4. any sound preferences (e.g. "I like lots of bass!!")

 
Hope you get the idea. Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

1. I have these regular Logitech speakers
   
   1. I've encoded all my songs to LAME MP3 -V0 (~245 kbps)
      
      1. I listen to multiple genres like alternative, electronic, hip hop/rap, etc. (mostly alternative)
         
         1. As for sound preferences I just need a fair amount of bass without destroying the quality (consistency)
            
            1. Thanks.

 

[aescomic]

There are lots of headphones available for $100-$200.

The best ones for you will depend mostly on the music you listen to. So, what are your favorite bands, genres, composers, etc.?

My favorite bands are Coldplay, Evanescence, Flyleaf, Linkin Park, Skillet and more.

 

[MtnSloth]

See if you can spend some time with the Grado SR-60i and Sennheiser HD555. These are both well below your price point - with the 555s artificially low because of a product line change (which makes them a good buy if you like their sound). In any event, they are sufficiently different that they should give you some points of reference and maybe even an idea of the kind of sound you like in a headphone; and both are reasonably popular.
 
Of the bands that I recognize, you may find that you favor the Grado's with Linkin Park and Evanescence and the Sennheiser's with Coldplay. Or not. For any of these three bands, these phones should be fine in the bass department (at least in my opinion); but they may not be the best for rap (where I can not offer much advice).