Yeah my HD 497s are a step up from the 202's but the 555's I've always noticed but I think I may go for something a bit nicer. As goes for the MDR-P1s.

I have never heard of the HD-25's Mr. Gooze. My only questions deal with the closed aspect and how they are good for monitoring.

I've been told, and noticed with my HD-497s, how open headphones enhance quality. Now in my situation where I primarily use my headphones on my commute this should be the other way around, especially on the subway, but I don't really mind. How do you feel about closed vs. open?

Concerning the monitoring aspect. I'm not into audio production at all but I feel like for just listening to music do I necessarily want that flat sound?

I do love Sennhesier but I'm really considering a pair of Grado's.

Open in public is imo a strict no as far as I'm concerned. I get pissed off hearing people playing their shit in buses and on railway compartments. A decent in ear headphone is way more comfortable and lighter and less noticeable and so on. Also those things won't fall off even if you are in a hurry.

Also, for the money in-ear phones sound better than the open ones and draw less power which means your portable batteries last longer per charge.

I agree open can be very rude in public and I've been witness to Grado's specifically doing that. My current pair is open and can't be heard unless in a library.

I do hear just as much music on the train from people with buds.

I'm not sure what you mean about in-ear headphones. Do you mean little buds that are directly in your ear? I can't see how those tiny speakers could possibly be better in terms of quality.

If your referring to over ear and open vs. closed I still have to disagree. Although some higher end closed models do sound fine I personally prefer open headphones.

I'm refering to canalphones(I didn't know of the lingo till I looked it up )

A cheap and extremely popular choice would be http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Labs-.../dp/B000EGJZ2O

Not very good sounding(esp. the mids and the his but got a lot of bass). Better than the ipod ones but that is about it. Not that you can expect too much at that price.

I've used a pair of decent canalphones and they just didn't do it for me. I need the full range of sound.

Thank you though, definitely a viable option and by far the most popular choice of headphones people choose.

Well Gooze's suggestion of the HD-25's was my choice up until about a few days ago. I opted instead for the ATH-ESW9's and am very happy with them:



Head-fi.com is the only other forum I've ever used besides this place and it really is the most valuable resource on the net (Grado even made a special run limited to 400 headphones for their users). If any of you are in the market for headphones you really should spend a few days there.

This does free up a pair of Grado SR-125's so if any of you are interested I'd have no problem working out a price and arranging an ebay auction for them.

Those look sweet! I`ve also been a head-fi buff, and once landed on AKG 701s, but I didn`t have anough money for an amp and they looked a bit over the top so I sold them. Currently I own AKG S271 (Closed back), and it`s nice enough, but I`ve been looking for Audio Technicas myself. I understand they make the best closed back headphones today, and I could probably afford them. Do you use a headphone amp with them?

I demoed the 701's since a lot of people love them. I wasn't that impressed but I had just listened to a pair of grado 325i's so they had big shoes to fill as I love the grado sound.

I don't use an amp but I do consider it an option. Part of the reason I went with the ESW9's is because they sound great without an amp. I also did not want over the ear head phones because the bigger ones do look over the top.

I wouldn't go so far to say Audio Technica makes the best closed head phones today but they are big contenders.

Like Gooze had said the Sennheiser HD-25-1 is the premier headphone in a lot of professional settings and takes the cake for sound isolation with out those noise cancellation gimmicks. Their also good without an amp and can be upgraded cheaply and quickly with an HD650 cable ($11 US) which is coper instead of steel. These are the best closed head phone I've heard for under $200.

Other noted contenders are:

The Beyer Dynamic line
AKG's
Audio Technica (ESW9 and ESW7 if you want supra-aural and they have a whole slew of bigger ones)
Ultrasone HFI 780 (I'd suggest looking into these if you like AKG's. But I've only heard great things about these and can't speak personally)
Denon D1000 & 2000

I chose mine because they are very warm sounding, closed (anything closed is a huge isolation difference compared to my old sennheisers), bassy (but not overpowering like bose or sony's). I think the best description I've heard is that they sound like darker Grado's which is exactly what I was looking for.

I could suggest you some more, what are you looking for out of a headphone and how much are you willing to spend?

I`m probably just looking for something that has noticeable better sound than the S271, and close to as good fit. I like the emphasis on mids, so sparkling highs or deep bass are not necessary. I`ve read lots about Beyers and know they could be a good pick, but I`ve also heard they emphasize the highs (?) which is not my style. I also like it more direct than spacey, and I understand Grados are the most direct, a shame I haven`t tested them. This leaves Sennheisers out.

When it comes to price, maybe about $450, but I`ll have to get an amp, hmmm...... I should probably look for an amp first and test it with the S271.

I`ll have a look at the Ultrasones and Denons, new to me.

If you like the AKG sound why not consider an upgrade in their line? I know the 701 is their flagship now but they've got other stuff too.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the spacey comment. This reminds me of talking about soundstage, but I think everyone can agree that a bigger soundstage is better. This is really where open head phones shine over closed.

Speaking of which, are you settled on closed head phones?

I've heard the Ultrasone's have good mids. I know my audio technica's do too, but they also emphasize lower frequencies too. I've heard just about all Audio Technica's sound different so its hard to apply that across the board.

For the amp, head-fi.org is where you should go just to get some ideas. Your post about your ideal headphone would work well there as well so I think you should post that. (the place is much more active then here so it was a little overwhelming at first being on a forum like RM was 4 years ago).

They've also got a great second hand section for both headphones and amps, you can really get yourself a great pair of head phones for $450 even with an amp.

For the record, you should definitely try grado's if your interested in open head phones. They sound great and are all very responsive to amping even though you don't need one.