[SirBenn21]

I can't take credit for the following post, but I thought that a very interesting question was posed. So Marcus if you reading this and think "Hey I wrote this!"... You did and I hope you don't mind. 

 
Quote:

Too many people seem to want "the best" headphones around, without taking into account that there's really no benchmark. It's like asking for "the best" food. Does "best" mean "most expensive" or something else?

Watching Iron Chef you'd think that "the best" food would be a mixture of Foie Gras and Truffles.

Now I don't mind a bit of pate, but I'm not a big fan of mushrooms so the truffles would probably be wasted on me.

Best? Hardly. Give me a good burger any day over Foie Gras, truffles and lobster drizzled in champagne.

I remember when I first got into audio - anything above what I had sounded great, because what I had was crap.
When I first dipped into decent sounding audio it was like a veil was lifted, but just a veil, not a wet futon, it wasn't like discovering a new colour, I just discovered some of the finer details of what I'd been missing.
Taking the crap from my system and upgrading to something not-crap was an experience I've yet to replicate, chasing that original "wow" factor when upgrading my audio system just doesn't happen to the same degree any more.

Is this a bad thing? No way, now instead of feeling like I'm missing out on something if I don't have "the best" equipment I can enjoy my music, which is why I got into this in the first place.

When it comes to headphones, some of my favorites are the ones that technically aren't that great.
Beyer T1? Love it - as much as I love going out and enjoying fine dining, that is to say now and then but not every night.
But the headphones that I pick up and listen to the most are actually mostly lower end models. Brainwavz HM3, Alessandro MS-1, AKG K520 and K540, Audio Technica ESW9 and of course my house favorite, the Beyer DT531 (last sold for around $250, if they were sold these days we'd probably see them around the $150 mark or even lower).
That's not to say I don't love higher end models (AD900, DT880, W1000X, MSPro, aforementioned T1), but I can be just as happy listening to a pair of K540 (like right now) as I am when listening to much higher end models.

So... what are your favorite not-the-best headphones?
Beats by Dre? Koss Cheesephones?
 

 
To be honest I have fallen into the trap of "getting the best" to the point where I don't sometimes even listen to my music, but rather analyze. And the focus has shifted from listening to music to testing out my headphones. And music I have always loved gets shelved because the recording is not so great and my headphones has dictated what I listen to. Silly isn't it?
 
So what's your favorite go-to headphones you enjoy. The ones that lets you enjoy to your music or movies with. Like your favorite T-Shirt that your wife threatens to though away when ever she sees it, but you don't care?
 
EDIT:
 
For me... Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro!  

 
 
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[kramer5150]

HF1, K240s-55, Koss A250 fill the bill very nicely when I want to step down from the RS1 or K701, and just groove to the tunes.
 
My fave groove-fi rig, HF1 straight out of the macbook pro.  This setup hits me like a sack of oranges the real reason why I got into headphones in the first place... THE MUSIC!!

 

[SirBenn21]

We must be one of the few then Kramer.

 

[Baxide]

Quote:

So what's your favorite go-to headphones you enjoy. The ones that lets you enjoy to your music or movies with. Like your favorite T-Shirt that your wife threatens to though away when ever she sees it, but you don't care?

My Sony MDR-F1 for normal listening and my Denon D7000 for serious stuff.

 

[davidsh]

JVC HP-DX1000!!
Not that I own, but I have heard it, and I fell in love. Not the technically best headphone, but it is unique and very musical.

 

[Vaughn]

Sony MDR-MA900, I sold my HE500s because I was just reaching for the Sony cans more often and it seemed a waste to have the expensive headphones sitting unused.

 

[KimChee]

Creative Arvana Live for games,movies, and the general computer rig listening!

 

[alv4426]

The W1000. It is lacking in a few areas and the few people Ive let listen to them (definitely not audiophiles at all) think they sound terrible. But I love the sound sig, comfort, and the aesthetics. They are one of my favorite headphones but unfortunately I don't think they are going to survive my next round of downsizing. Damn I wish I had 3 sets of ears

.

 

[whoelse]

Sennheiser HD201!

 

[fabio-fi]

Despite they are on the light side of bass, the AD900 still have a place in my rig for slow paced music and female vocals. They have an amazing clarity. 

 

[1manband]

Even though I just got my HD598's in the mail (and I'm loving them), I still pick up my Monoprice 8323 headphones when I'm out and about or I want to listen to a fun bassy sort of song. Makes me wonder if I should get a nicer bassier headphone to compliment my HD598... I also really like the Grado SR60i's, but they're the can that sort of started my on my audiophile "journey". I use them when I listen to vinyl.

 

[Hellbishop]

Audio Technica Ath AD700 covers all the bases with the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro,Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro and VMODA Crossfade LP doing the same but with the isolation the AD700 lacks when things get distracting in the environment. Koss UR40 is another favorite but like the AD700 is very open when it comes to lack of isolation.

 

[stacker45]

Grado HP-1000, i love the way they sound and they're more comfortable than my PS-1000.

 

[DefQon]

Modded FA-011 because it sounds very similar to my LCD2's and the Sony MDR CD950's because it resembles the sound very close to that of my Lambda Pro, younger brother of my CD3k's which I don't know where it went but they are my favourite too. All 3 have extremely seducing musicality abilities but if comparing reference of sound wise to that of high end, they are not even remotely close.

 

[disastermouse]

Sony MDR-MA900, I sold my HE500s because I was just reaching for the Sony cans more often and it seemed a waste to have the expensive headphones sitting unused.

You're the second person I've heard say this. Are they really that good in comparison to the HE-500? I would LOVE a lighter headphone that have me the same magic as the HE-500.