Closed up to 150€ Headphone (and music !) reccomendation

[Strontium Wizzard]

Hi everyone,
As a regular on this forum (What? I'm on it every other day !), I thought it might be a good idea to get a pair of closed cans. My budget goes up to about 150€, but the TMA-1 is still a possibility, even though I'm not sure it's the right one for me. I own a pain of Sennheiser CX880s (IEMs), and the open Sennheiser 218s.

So, on to what I would like.. I'd like very good isolation and build quality, using it mostly in the bus, being kept in a bag with books, and then static use at home. I'd prefer the sound to be fun, and for there to be a good PRaT. A nice punchy bass, a reasonable soundstage, and good instrument differenciation would be ideal, and so would good clarity.
I listen mostly to... Everything ? Rock, punk and metal (Disturbed, the Clash, Calavera Conspiracy and Faith no More..) are often playing on my J3, but so is pop (the Smiths, Bombay Bicycle Club, Mogwai...), Electro (Justice, The Bloody Beetroots, the chemical brothers, B-Complex, Flying Lotus..), little snippets of rap (Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Downset). (none more than the others).

I was thinking of the Senn HD25-II, AGK K181DJ, Shure SRH-750DJ, Shure SRH-840, Audio Technica M-50, and am willing to take a look at others. Unfortunately, there's only one chain of stores (Fnac) where I live where you can listen to headphones, and tere's a limited range. There are beats, a broken koss portapro and urbanears

Also, if anyone has any musical recommendations that would be great :3

[steinburger1109]

The Audio Technica ATH-M50 are very comfortable and sound phenomenal. Well within your range, I believe, though I know some things are more expensive across the pond.

[jupitreas]

The KRK Systems KNS 6400 would be a great choice that satisfies all your needs.

[koolkat]

Just a suggestion: You should spend some money on a dac/amp. The Fiio E7 is amazing for about 90 USD. In my experience, it has countered the bloated and congested I get from my onboard audio.

If you like bass/electro, you might want to consider ultrasone hfi-580.

My .02

[Syndrome]

I've got these headphones in my possession right now.

My favorite of the bunch are the ATH-M50's. The Shure's just don't have enough detail, the M-Audio's aren't comfortable enough(but sound good), the KRK's don't have enough bass for me and the highs are to harsh(though they are very comfortable and isolate good).

[Confispect]

Yeah i've heard good things about the M-50 hopefully there's a review coming

[koolkat]

Get a Grado or Alessandro for your rock needs, and buy a pair of cheaper iems for portable use?

[Strontium Wizzard]

I'll have a look, but on quite a few of the M-50 reviews it says that it doesn't excell at rock I'm surprised noone has quoted the HD25 yet

@koolkat I was thinking of an amp, but it's a bit much to carry around, even if just a fiio E5 ...

[koolkat]

I haven't tried any of the HD25s yet, but according to many others, they are extremely durable and are quite clampy. I'm not sure about the sound quality.. The TMA-1 looks better than the hd25s imo ...

[mbamg]

Originally Posted by koolkat

Get a Grado or Alessandro for your rock needs, and buy a pair of cheaper iems for portable use?

If he finds the highs of the KRKs to be too harsh, then he shouldn't get the Grados.

[koolkat]

Originally Posted by mbamg

If he finds the highs of the KRKs to be too harsh, then he shouldn't get the Grados.

I find that a little hole poking, or some flat pads makes the sr60 a lot more musical. But stock Grados might be too painful for some.

[TackyTiger]

Originally Posted by koolkat

I haven't tried any of the HD25s yet, but according to many others, they are extremely durable and are quite clampy. I'm not sure about the sound quality.. The TMA-1 looks better than the hd25s imo ...

I find the HD 25-1 II very clampy, though I have got a rather large head. I've also got a pair of HD25-SP which I find more comfortable for day to day use. I also find the relaxed high-end on them a little less fatiguing.

Both are extremely durable and have incredible isolation.

Originally Posted by koolkat

I find that a little hole poking, or some flat pads makes the sr60 a lot more musical. But stock Grados might be too painful for some.

I think SR60 isolation and leakage is unacceptable for public usage.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by TackyTiger

I think SR60 isolation and leakage is unacceptable for public usage.

Yup, home use only for my Grados.

[koolkat]

Originally Posted by TackyTiger

I think SR60 isolation and leakage is unacceptable for public usage.

my main peeve is the long, thick cable. iems are much better for portable use.

Btw, is the HD25-1 ii a lot better than the HD25 SP in terms of sound quality?

[TackyTiger]

Originally Posted by koolkat

Btw, is the HD25-1 ii a lot better than the HD25 SP in terms of sound quality?

It's more revealing (which is probably why it's the outside broadcast sound engineer's headphone of choice), but I prefer the warmer sound of the SP for casual listening.

[Strontium Wizzard]

Still no music recommendations, ey ?

Well, I've narrowed my options to 3 (4 ?) headphones:

-AKG K181DJ, which has the same sound sig as the HD 25 (option 4), but with more recent drivers and better isolation/more easily removable cable. It might be fragile though

-AIAIAI TMA-1: my only concern is clamp and isolation, and I'm not sure how well it performs with rock.

-Audio Technica ATH-M50. Looks good enough, no visible faults. EDIT : Non replaceable cable could be a
problem.

EDIT no 2: the Sony MDR-ZX700 seems to have quite a following, both on outside reviews and on head-fi (which I know you fing reaaaaaaaaly bad, unles if I'm confusing). It has a replaceable cable, but not much bass, but a few people reccomend it over bassier phones.

What do you say ? Anyone with experience (or not) please help

[IDvsEGO]

k181 has significant clamp also. most on-ears do. Not sure if they really clamp harder than the larger brothers but it feels more uncomfortable since it is on your cartilage. I loved the sound of the k181 but had to return it. couldn't take the fit for more than 30 minutes.

[Strontium Wizzard]

@IDvsEGO : Couldn't you strech them over a dictionary or something like that to loosen them up ?

[Satellite_6]

Bend the headband - had to do that for the HD 650's.

Buy a Sennhesier! No, I haven't tried the HD 25's tho. . .

[IDvsEGO]

I have heard some people had success with stretching it out. I have thought about picking up a pair used and giving that a shot. They really did have the sound I liked and they were perfect size for tossing in my bag.