[Waveboy]

As of now, I own a pair of Sennheiser HD595's which i absolutely Adore. The sound that they produce is absolutely amazing. BUT i no longer have the desire to use them for gaming(Total NintenFreak here hehe) because of the ridiculous amount of sound leakage which isn't exactly ideal considering my current living situation. I'll still use them for movies, but for gaming
the SFX & BASS just seem more pearcing and amplified to the point where it can rattle straight through the wall. XP
 
I refuse to lower the volume, because i love my film and gaming experiences loud, it makes the experience all the more engrossing and immersive. Last year i picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD380 Pro's which i was actually quite dissapointed with.
The boxed in sound, sounded unatural, a tad artifical and a bit on the flat side for film. The cans themselves were incredibly uncomfortable to the point where my ears became hot and my head felt like it was stuck in a vice grip after 30 minutes of use.  BUT they did an amazing when it came to leaking next to no sound. I kept shifting back to my HD595's, which sounded a whole lot better.
 
I ended up selling the HD380's to a friend, which i'll admit, i kind of regret...
I think at this point i'd take that hit in sound quality just to get hardly any sound leak, for gaming that is.
But i'm not paying $280 for another pair. I'm currently looking at the DT770's and the sennheiser HD280's.

Which cans in the $100-$200 range sound the best and produce the least amount of sound leak?

 

[kid vic]

Audio Technica M50, Beyer DT770, Sony MDR-7506 would be my suggestions as their all fairly bass heavy and leak no sound as well as being comfortable.

 

[eucariote]

Three closed headphones I'd look into that have quality sound, good soundstage (don't sound boxed-in at all) and minimal leakage are SRH940, K550 and DT770 250/600 ohm.  You could find them used in your price range, or if you're patient, you can check out the deals thread if they are discounted somewhere.

 

[Waveboy]

I've read mixed opinions on the DT770's in regards to the sound leakage. In terms of sound how would you rank the 3 you mentioned? I was set on getting the DT770's but a few reviews noted that they do in fact leak a quite bit of sound to the point where you can hear in the next room.

 

[oblique63]

Quote:

Audio Technica M50, Beyer DT770, Sony MDR-7506 would be my suggestions as their all fairly bass heavy and leak no sound as well as being comfortable.

That's the first time I think I've ever seen the 7506 be called 'bass heavy'... certainly doesn't have nearly as much bass as the other two. As far as leakage, they're probably all equal though.

If you want absolutely no leakage whatsoever, I'd consider looking at some DT1350's, or an HD-25 1. Those are on-ear, so they won't have as much of a soundstage as something like the DT770, but they leak nothing. The DT1350 has a better soundstage than the HD-25 but it's also less comfortable, whereas my Amperiors are just as comfortable as most of my over-ear headphones (though, they do have different pads from the HD-25 1's I believe).

Shure phones are another good option for leakage, but I didn't find them nearly as comfortable as the beyers. And the K550 is kinda tricky to get a good seal with, but it sounds quite good, and has the best soundstage of all the ones mentioned so far.

 

[Waveboy]

I can get the DT770/'80ohms' for $150, or there's
the 250hz version going for $220 including shipping. Still confused on the mixed reviews
about the sound leaking, some state that it's incredibly minimal while others are saying the complete opposite....
If i had to, i'd opt for the K550's but they're $80 more/out of my price range. XP
 
And is there a signifact difference in sound quality between the 80ohms and 250ohms DT770?

 

[eucariote]

My favorite are SRH940, but others prefer K550 over the Shure (I like very neutral signatures, others prefer K550's bass).  All 3 would block sound pretty effectively, and from headroom's measurement it seems that they also block almost as well as the DT770-80, one of the best isolating I've heard (but worst in terms of sound quality, steer clear of the 80 ohm).
 
Edit: there's a huge sound difference between the DT770 80 ohm and 250 ohm- 80 ohm have sloppy bloated bass and barely audible mids.
 

 
 

 

[Waveboy]

Quote:

My favorite are SRH940, but others prefer K550 over the Shure (I like very neutral signatures, others prefer K550's bass).  All 3 would block sound pretty effectively, and from headroom's measurement it seems that they also block almost as well as the DT770-80, one of the best isolating I've heard (but worst in terms of sound quality, steer clear of the 80 ohm).
 
Edit: there's a huge sound difference between the DT770 80 ohm and 250 ohm- 80 ohm have sloppy bloated bass and barely audible mids.
 

 
 

Again, thanks for the info.
How do the DT770 '250hm's stack up against the SRH940's? It's really just the $80 difference that's making me lean towards the DT770 250hm's.
But in the long run i might regret not spending the extra cash and going for more a quality set of cans like the Shure's, IF there's actually a bigger difference in quality.
And while the extra isolation/sound blocking would be great, I'm much more interested is less sound leakage. But i'm sure all of those that you mentioned will fit the bill.
It's the only reason why i'm even buying a closed set in the first place. Because as is, the HD595's sound phenomenal....But good lord is the sound leak nasty. XP

 

[eucariote]

Haven't heard the 250 ohm DT770, sorry can't help you with that one.  Several people here prefer them to the SRH940 so I imagine they're pretty good.  You could always order both and return the one you like less.  That is, after writing up a comparison at head-fi for other people in your shoes..

  You can hear the K550 at Best Buy if you want to hear what those are like.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

As of now, I own a pair of Sennheiser HD595's which i absolutely Adore. The sound that they produce is absolutely amazing. BUT i no longer have the desire to use them for gaming(Total NintenFreak here hehe) because of the ridiculous amount of sound leakage which isn't exactly ideal considering my current living situation. I'll still use them for movies, but for gaming
the SFX & BASS just seem more pearcing and amplified to the point where it can rattle straight through the wall. XP
 
I refuse to lower the volume, because i love my film and gaming experiences loud, it makes the experience all the more engrossing and immersive. Last year i picked up a pair of Sennheiser HD380 Pro's which i was actually quite dissapointed with.
The boxed in sound, sounded unatural, a tad artifical and a bit on the flat side for film. The cans themselves were incredibly uncomfortable to the point where my ears became hot and my head felt like it was stuck in a vice grip after 30 minutes of use.  BUT they did an amazing when it came to leaking next to no sound. I kept shifting back to my HD595's, which sounded a whole lot better.
 
I ended up selling the HD380's to a friend, which i'll admit, i kind of regret...
I think at this point i'd take that hit in sound quality just to get hardly any sound leak, for gaming that is.
But i'm not paying $280 for another pair. I'm currently looking at the DT770's and the sennheiser HD280's.

Which cans in the $100-$200 range sound the best and produce the least amount of sound leak?

 
Heya,
 
The Beyer DT770 PRO (any ohm, get the cheaper one you can, 80ohm to 250ohm, or even the 32ohm if you can find it). It has the better sound stage, all the fun sound. Sounds great for games and music alike. Great for movies. Movies need/love sub-bass and the DT770 does that well. It's very comfortable to wear and it's quite isolating. No one will hear you even at higher volumes unless you have them off your head. The difference between the 80ohm/250ohm DT770 is absolutely over-stated around here like it's hugely different and it's simply not true. Are they different? Slightly, yes, but it has to do with the way an amplifier handles load and less to do with the actual headphone. Grossly over-stated. If you're using a decent sound card or external amplifier, it simply won't matter, get the 80ohm or 250ohm or even 32ohm and you're good to go. The DT770 is great for music/games and is used in studios for recording vocals/instruments. It's a good headphone and there is a plethora of misinformation around here revolving around it.
 
Another set of  headphones to consider would be the AudioTechnica A900X and the AKG K167
 
The SRH940 lacks mid-bass, it has a huge void hole where mid-bass should be, so it sounds thin, shy and anemic with bass. It isolates well, but again, you'll probably not like it unless you just don't like bass at all and want to only hear mids and treble. It otherwise has a great sound stage and is very clear. But again, utterly lacks bass.
Quote:

DT770 .... have sloppy bloated bass and barely audible mids.
 
 

 
This is the kind of massively grossly exaggerated kind of commentary that Head-Fi really doesn't need. Barely audible mids? Give me a frigg'n break.
 
Very best,

 

[eucariote]

^^ Without exaggeration, the DT770-80 placed dead last in sound quality among all the closed headphones I've heard.  Their sound is grossly out of balance- the bass merely thumps without reproducing the range of lower frequencies and the treble is painfully bright.  Mids are there, but they are overwhelmed by the intense bass and treble which dominate their sound.  They do improve with good amplification, but still place dead last among other closed headphones with the same amplification.  If someone wants serious bass, they might be an ok recommendation but the op favors the sound of 595's which are not bass-heavy at all.
 
I'm not the only one who thinks this, I'll repost a funny but honest evaluation of their sound:
 
 
Quote:

If anything, the DT770/80 is the muddy one.

Here is my sophisticated and well-thought description of its sound:

[size=x-large]THUMP[/size][size=x-large] THUMP THUMP[/size][size=xx-small]splashy splash [/size][size=x-large]THUMP THUMP THUMP[/size]

All mid-bass with some splashy somewhat-sibilant treble mixed in.

 

[eucariote]

oops, double post.

 

[Ikarios]

As far as I know the 80ohm version of the DT770 is totally different from the 32/250/600ohm versions, which is newer and much more neutral and even relatively bass-light. When people recommend the DT770 as bass monsters they mean the 80ohm "pro" version.
 
That said, I really disliked the DT770 when I had it stock. However, I opened up the cups and threw in some dampening with some blue-tack and a block of open-cell foam and that REALLY improved the DT770. It tamed the treble and brought the mids up to listenable levels. It also took down a little bit of the midbass hump and didn't mess with subbass extension. After modification the DT770 was my favorite closed headphone ever, and I've listened to many of the options in the $100-200 range. They're also easy to find used and cheap, or at least they used to be.
 
I described my DT770 mods here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/549863/fs-beyerdynamic-dt770-pro-80ohm

 

[pro1137]

Quote:

^^ Without exaggeration, the DT770-80 placed dead last in sound quality among all the closed headphones I've heard.  Their sound is grossly out of balance- the bass merely thumps without reproducing the range of lower frequencies and the treble is painfully bright.  Mids are there, but they are overwhelmed by the intense bass and treble which dominate their sound.  They do improve with good amplification, but still place dead last among other closed headphones with the same amplification.  If someone wants serious bass, they might be an ok recommendation but the op favors the sound of 595's which are not bass-heavy at all.
 
I'm not the only one who thinks this, I'll repost a funny but honest evaluation of their sound:
 
 

 
From the time I had the DT770 Pro 80, I don't recall hearing any kind of imbalance whatsoever. I would BARELY consider them to be a bass-heavy headphone at all. I found the mids to be great for a closed can in the price range.

 

[eucariote]

Comparing the bass (40-200 Hz), mids (200-1 kHz) and treble (6 kHz-16 kHz):
 

 
nuff said.