[evomunk]

First, I'd like to give a quick background of my cousin and I. We work all day, everyday. So after work, we like to go home and relax. With me, I go home and listen to music almost all night before going to bed. But with my cousin, he loves watching movies. He's been talking about getting headphones to watch at night while his GF is sleeping in the same room. So I want to get him a pair as an early Xmas present. And if I don't get one soon he may pick up the wireless Sony headphones for the PS3.

This surely won't be his last pair, but I want to give him a nice start with a good pair of headphones to enjoy. Same goes for me. I'll be picking up the Audio Technica ATH-A700s as my first audiophile headphone. I'm currently using a pair of Razer Carcharias with SRS audio enhancer

So, I've done some research and got a number of headphones that I can't decide which to buy for my cousins first pair.

- Audio Technica ATH-A900
- Beyerdynamic DT 770-PRO
- Audio Technica ATH-ES7
- Audio Technica ATH-M50
- Sennheiser HD555

The most important factor would have to be the sound leakage due to the fact that he'll be literally sitting next to her while she is sleeping. The second factor would be comfort. I was looking into more of the DT-700 PROs or the A900/ES7s.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
All headphones, even the closed ones, will leak enough to be heard right next to someone. IEM's are the only way to truly isolate next to someone.
 
Of what you've listed, I'd get the DT770's and then the A900's. DT770's isolate pretty well and are great for movies (good bass, good sound stage). The A900 is larger, doesn't clamp as much (so will likely leak a bit more), is more neutral (less bass).
 
As for yourself, why are you thinking of getting the AD700's? If you're set on them, for the love of all things good sounding, simply get the AD900 and get less of a crippled headphone.
 
Very best,

 

[evomunk]

Thanks for the quick reply! I had a feeling that I the DT 770-PROs is going to be a good first choice after reading reviews on them yesterday. Because I was doing some more research today and finding out that the A900s were also good as well. The A900s made my decision much harder. So then it is set, I'll be picking the DT 770-PROs .
 
As for me, I believe you've misread of what I was going to purchase for my first pair. I'm getting the ATH-A700s not the ATH-AD700s.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

I'm getting the ATH-A700s not the ATH-AD700s.

Ahh, I did misunderstand.
 
Why not spring a little more for the A900 instead then? Or have you seen the new X series of these headphones? They're available I think too.
 
Very best,
 

 

[evomunk]

I'm hearing that there isn't much of a difference between the two. Since I'm new to audiophile headphones, I'm going to go ahead and save the $50 bucks and go for the A700s. These won't be my last pair of audiophile headphones I'll be getting...

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

I'm hearing that there isn't much of a difference between the two. Since I'm new to audiophile headphones, I'm going to go ahead and save the $50 bucks and go for the A700s. These won't be my last pair of audiophile headphones I'll be getting...

When you climb the ladder from the bottom up, you definitely end up spending more money than if you just bypassed the middle ground and went straight for where you know you'll end up.
 
Good luck with the climb.
 
(you're not saving $50, by the way, you're spending more because you didn't spend $50 now, it'll cost you another $200 later to just realize you should have spent $50. Just saying).
 
Very best,