Recommendation for cans ($350~)

[MiracLe]

Hi guys. Need recommendation for cans. I read a lot of reviews, but quite unaccustomed to the terminologies used. I need recommendations to narrow down the phones I'll be auditioning(not much time to).

Anyways some basic intro to my gear history. Pretty much like clip+'s to sony's B-series sound sig, what is it actually, neutral? not sure. Owned Hippo VB, MS-1i, TF10. Decided not to go iem from my experience with them, doesn't seem rewarding for the price. As for PMP, I decided to jump for it and get a J3 as well, how does it fare with clip+?

Back on topic, as I said, not used to terminologies, so let's go for direct music preferences.

Rock - A bit of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Evanescence and Radiohead. Maybe some Audioslave?
Orchestra(not so sure of this classification) - Nobuo Uematsu's compositions, you know the types.
Vocal centric - Emi Fujita, Lady Antebellum
Classical Music - With emphasis to Beethoven's piano and Bach's Cello.

I was recommended MS-2i, but my previous ownership of MS-1i suggested discomfort, never used other pads than the stock though. Another beef was the cable length. And since I never made a jump from low to mid end unlike VB to TF10, I kept feeling afraid to make this jump.

My own preference (purely aesthetics and built quality) is HD25-1 ii. But knowing myself, I tend to make such decisions.

Another suggestion made to me was DT880 600ohms, but they are seriously fugly (subjectivism, no offense), and although I'm willing to sacrifice portability, I'm not sure the $180 allocated for J3 would suffice a setup that would do it justice. Thoughts?

Last but not least, and I know it's not a can, is the 1964 EARS T. I'd like to ask to those who owns custom monitors, does your gear approach the quality of fullsizes?

Thanks in advance, other suggestions welcome, I'll consider IEM's as well if you can convince me. I'll be auditioning gears (except the 1964T in Jaben MY, but will be purchasing them on Amazon if the difference is huge)

[pseudohippy]

Its too bad you think the 880's are fugly. They sound like they may be right up your alley. But if you plan to use the 600ohm version with a J3 then there is no hope anyhow short of a very powerful portable amp. My J3>Arrow barely drives them.

I also have the MS2i as well as 1i, no doubt a nice scale up to the two's but there is no getting past the comfort issue, I dont have that problem myself but if you did with the 1's you will have a worse time with the heavier two's. My other cans are M50s, think TF10 with a somewhat v shaped sig, this doesnt sound like what you are looking for either. I used to own HD650, not sure this would be a good choice either though.

Im trying to help but I only like to talk about what I own. The only other phones I have are the K1000 and out of your range. So in the end, I hope you get other good suggestions but it is too bad about you feelings towards the 880's looks, I think they are sexy and tend to be my main can. Super duper comfortable fo sho.

[MiracLe]

No no, don't get me wrong, I can stand 880's look though it'll be sacrificing outside use, it's just that I'm not sure whether the money reserved for J3 would suffice a justifiable dac and amp to make use of the 880's.