[room zoom]

Headphones are for listening to music at a decent volume with the wife two feet away, in bed. I mainly listen to rock, ambient/space, classical and instrumental music. My research so far leads me to the ATH-M50s, my budget is up to ~$400 for the headphones and another up to ~$400 for an amp/DAC, if needed. I should mention my source will be my iPad (with the camera connection kit USB to plug into the amp/DAC USB). All of your suggestions are kindly welcomed. Thanks in advance. 

 

[alv4426]

M50 is very good for your isolation needs but only ok for your genres. For your budget Im sure there is something better.

 

[Crossfire23]

Quote:

M50 is very good for your isolation needs but only ok for your genres. For your budget Im sure there is something better.

As much I like my M50's I have to disagree with this statement. They do leak quite a bit if your playing them at anything above 50% volume. If I want to play them without any sound leaking I have to put my audio volume to the point where I can hardly hear any of the details of the song. In your case I would just say go with some in ear headphones because those barely leak even at high volumes.

 

[AltairDusk]

Granted I don't have experience with a ton of headphones but if isolation is top priority I've never experienced anything that isolated like the Sennheiser HD280 PROs.  Borrowed a pair from a friend for a few days and the world basically ceases to exist with those on, they're like a vault.

 

[burrrcub]

In on this.  I listen to the same genres and my ultrasones leak at my preferred volume level.

 

[Bassix]

Not quite sure, M50's can not have leakage if you mod them a little. I used a hot glue gun on my old $15 pair of headphones around the backs of the pads, and on the inside edges of the pads, and it prevented leakage a little, but I would never do that to a legit pair of headphones that cost more than $20. Definitely not worth it, but you can switch out the pads and stuff if you know how to do it right.

 

[room zoom]

Just to clarify...the islolation needed is not to keep the world out, just to keep the music in....no worries.

 

[GoldWarlock]

I use AKG 271s at work and people claim they can't hear anything.

 

[ShahnT]

The isolation of DT770s amaze me, and I can definitely vouch for them.  The sound isolation of these is the reason I'm scared of upgrading cans, I love it so much.

 

[obobskivich]

Beyerdynamic T70 is pretty "dead" - will fit into your $800 budget with a suitable amplifier and cash to spare. I'm assuming the DT770 is equally dead (I've owned the T70, the DT770 looks similar). 
 
Kenwood KH-K1000 seems to do a good job keeping the sound in as well; doesn't seem to isolate as well as the Beyers - not sure if that means it leaks more. 
 
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro is a good suggestion as well, but I don't like their sound. I think most studio monitors will probably accomplish what you want (sound quality not considered at all in this statement).
 
There's also the Sony PFR-V1, which would solve your problem in a different way: you'd have the couch all to yourself, and could be as noisy as you like.