[Mizu]

Hey there,

I'll soon receive my AMP3 and will probably look for a better headphone pair. I now own a cheap MDR-V300. The pair will be mainly used at my job, but also at home. I need it to be closed so people around won't be bothered.

The problem is I don't know how each headphones sounds. I'm mostly listening to meta/progressive bands (Opeth, Riverside, Tool Stormlord, Agathodaimon,etc). But also Ambient, industrial stuff; Arovane, Ulver, boards of canada, etc.

Which headphone would be good for my listening habits ?

Oh, i'm also fond of good looking headphones, in the AKG 701's style

Thanks

 

[Blackmore]

Any idea about budget? Must be closed back, inst?

 

[Mizu]

Oh yeah, anything between 300-500$ CAN.

I said closed back, but in fact, anything that doesn't spread too much sound out.

 

[Blackmore]

For the music you listen to it Grado would be great choice, SR225 or something, but they do leak a lot, so no go...
from closed back, maybe you can try ATH ES7, which aren't that expensive, but do have quite fun sound and I found them replaying very well to a good level files, but if its bad, its not that bad with them, so they are pretty flexible. However if you are planning to use them on longer run, they wouldn't be that comfy, unless you mod the headband, which means strech out a bit that its not pushing that much, its from metal after all.
Another options, which I am not familiar with, would be Senhh. HD25 or Ultrasone HFI-780, which been regarded very well up here, but for the looks you may not choose HD25, but you must go for the sound, imo.

 

[Mizu]

Thanks,

The ultrasone are interesting, never heard of them before. I was also considering Akg 701, or 702. But i've heard they are clearly dominent in the highs, but lack bass, any feedbacks on this ?

 

[ronnielee54]

You do know that the 701/702 are open don't you?

 

[Mizu]

Yes, as are my MDR-V300, but I believe it's not much of a leak, like the grados, right ?

 

[dcpoor]

grados leak a lot, so do the k701's.

 

[Mizu]

Well then I could keep my current ones for the job and have an open pair for home, does that add much choices ?

 

[rodentdog]

Beyer DT-250-80, neutral, easy to drive, comfortable

 

[AmanGeorge]

K701s are tough to drive and probably aren't worth it unless you're planning on building a whole desktop system (i.e. good source, dedicated desktop amp). They also do leak tons of sound as mentioned above - they're a completely open design.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

i'm not sure how good your MDR-V300's are, but i really like my MDR-V6. they are closed style phones and sounds very close to Grado's having the same forward sound. they are very well rounded phones and sounds great with rock music. they are my grado substitute phones when i need isolation. IMO they are pretty much on the same level as the SR225. they have good instrument separation detail but just not as open and airy. they sound more congested in comparison but gets the job done. an amp won't be necessary as it will sound fine out of an ipod or similar.