What next?

[gazzington]

I am trying to work out what headphones to get next. I am an OCD sufferer so I apologise if I come across as weird. I currently own:

Meze 99 classics - my all rounders
V moda m100 - bass music at work
Jvc z2000 - home bass
Sony ex1000 - end game for all round listening.


I listen to all sorts of music, hip hop, edm, rock, metal, folk, classical, jazz etc.

I kinda fancy open backed ones, but would these leak too much sound in a work environment?

I just really love getting headphones, and the thrill of listening to their sound improve as they burn in etc. I have a job working in computer graphics so I listen to music pretty much all day as answering phones etc does not happen much but I am in an open plan room with lots of other people. My budget is about £450

 

[zazex]

Any open backed headphones would most likely leak too much sound
in a work environment.

Of course this will depend on how quietly you play them, how close you
sit to your colleagues, what type of physical environment there is (e.g.
plenty of thick carpet vs. slightly covered drywall...

But without knowing any of these parameters, I say stay with some
good closed backs - the Shure 1540, perhaps. Audio Technica
and Sony have some nice ones as well.

 

[gazzington]

Lol we have wooden floors so open properly a bad idea. Those shure look really nice. Which Sonys would you recommend. I absolutely love my ex1000 IEMs.

 

[zazex]

Lol we have wooden floors so open properly a bad idea. Those shure look really nice. Which Sonys would you recommend. I absolutely love my ex1000 IEMs.

Well, you may know that Sony makes an absolutely vast array of headphones,
at all price points.

Without definitely knowing your price range, there are Sony's always popular
V6 and 7506 which are almost identical. The MDR1A is a pretty nice sounding
and well made headphone which has also received many good reviews.
For a bit more there's the Z7 which has been
controversial since it first hit the market. (I happen to like them, but I think
it's a tough choice between them and the Shure 1540's at a similar price
point - the Sony's retail for a bit more).

An older Sony headphone that's still
made and still receives plenty of positive reviews is the MDR-7520. I personally
like them a lot, though I did sell mine about a year ago. And there's a "smaller
brother" version, the MDR 7510, which I must say I didn't like very much at all.
But, as always, YMMV.

Also, I'd be entirely remiss if I didn't mention probably the most popular and successful closed
headphone since it was released just a few years ago > the Audio Technica ATH-M50X.

The newer ATH-MSR7BK, IMO, are nicer sounding headphones. They are really very, very
good at their price point (about $200.) However, they are a tight fit. I actually bought
them twice, but ultimately had to return them both times because I found they clamped
too tightly for me, and I've got pretty much a normal size head.

These are the closed headphones that come to my mind unless you want to move into
the $1,000. and up range. I won't go there right now, but FYI will point you to
Inner Fidelity's picks up there:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-over-ear-sealed


Happy shopping!

 

[watersedge1234]

PM3s also get good recommendations around here, great isolation as well. Not sure it gets much better for that kind of money than the Meze cans you have though.

 

[serman005]

If you can stretch your budget, I would highly recommend the MrSpeakers AEON. It is really fantastic and you wouldn't have to worry about leakage/isolation at work. Maybe read about it and see what you think. It's possible it could work for you. If that is not doable, maybe check out the MEZE 99 Classics--it's a fun headphone that is also beautiful to look at.

 

[Treeko]

your next step *if you already haven't got one sorted* would be to look into some sort desktop dac/amp combo. You would see further gains with the equipment that you already have.

 

[galaxy999]

Open backed ones always mean sound leaking

 

[waveSounds]

But without knowing any of these parameters, I say stay with some
good closed backs - the Shure 1540, perhaps.

Go for the 1540s. Seems your preference is to lean towards a fuller sound (as do I) and the 1540s offer this, whilst being one of the comfiest pair out there.

I don't find my Elear to be uncomfortable, but putting the Shures back on is like getting on to a Tempur memory foam mattress after sleeping on the sofa.