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M50/HD598/SRH-940/HTF600/AE2 Desperately seeking help


swpr

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I've just been through about 2 days of searching high and low for a pair of nice headphones, i'm seeing sparkles around my head right nowconfused_face_2.gif due to the HUGE amount of infos all over the net and the Vast numbers of reviews leaning either way on pretty much every single pair of cans I look at... Hence posting here is like a cry for help, last resort kind of thing for me. Would really appreciate any suggestions/opinions/directions you could offer!

I'll get right into what I'm looking for:

Used for:

Mostly on the Computer (Music, Movies and Gaming) as well as PS3 gaming, maybe ipod(at home)

Main use is at home, so portability is not an issue. I have the ME2i for my on the go use(not the greatest but better than the one that came with my iphone), always felt big headphones are too bulky to drag around

Open or Closed:

I'm ok with either, since i won't be bringing them out with me, just need something not as loud as the speakers because I live in a rented room in a house. Don't wanna bother my roommates, especially at night.

Music genre:

I'm quite wide on this, went through different phases growing up, from popular rock[Linkin' park/cold play/our lady peace/evanescence/James Blunt...], hiphop[2pac/Eminem/Diddy...], r&b, to some alternative genres, artists such as Damien Rice/Devics/Feist/Jem/pj Harvey/Lady&Bird/Eliot Smith...

and I occasionally would enjoy some good old Beatles or some guitar stuff like van halen or Nirvana

You might see why I had a hard time choosing a headphone

I will try the best to describe what i'm looking for...

First and most - Comfort (i wear glasses when using my computer or gaming)

I need to have something that's comfortable enough to wear for at least a couple of hrs without feeling my head is going to explode. Really can't stand something that squeeze my head horizontally or too heavy that the top of my head hurts from the headband. Doesn't matter if the headphone has the GREATEST sound if it's not comfortable enough on my head, cuz i just simply won't wear it. So i'm willing to sacrifice some sound quality for comfort.

On to the sound - looking for something that's balanced with good sound stage(hope that does not limit me to open back only), i want to hear clear triumphant vocals but not the bassy kind, good instrumental melody, and nice bass(I'd like some punchy bass that gives me the boom boom feel but not so much it overpowers everything else, or the muddy sound)

Here is the list i'm considering and the price I can get them at:

ATH-M50s- $137

Sennheiser HD 598 $223

Shure SRH 940 $290

Bose AE2i $130

Currently I have a pair of Sony NC500d i just got a few days ago, I like the sound quality, except the bass is a bit muddy to me, but i'm planning on returning them cuz it's not very comfortable. the headband does not have enough padding considering these cans are on the heavy side, and my ears hurt after maybe a hr of wearing them. I don' know if its because I'm not used to over the ear headphones or what.. also I realized I don't need noise cancellation, because 1. i'm using these at home 2. requires battery and thus constant recharge, 3. the NC feature emits a low frequency noise(normal for NC headphones) that i find a bit annoying. 4. I think I can do better for the price($330) sound/comfort wise, since a big portion of the cost is probably the NC feature.

I was so happy when i read the reviews on the Bose, because one of it's biggest pro is the comfort. and apparently it has good sound. but the more i read about them, the more cons they present. ie. low build quality, flimsy cord, and mostly the sound quality seems to be not that great..huh.pngsad.png so i'm confused about what is good SQ, is it so much so personal preference that 50/100 can say they sound amazing and the other 50/100 says its way below what you'd call good sound.....? and will I be able the tell the difference between them and the 'real' good SQ headphones?

So when reading about the Bose, someone suggested the M50, read the reviews, seems awsome! but how does it compare to the AE2 in terms of comfort? and some say the mids are recessed? what does that mean?

and for a higher price range, I'm considering the Hd598 and SRH940, which is better? read great great things about the HD598, although don't really dig the look(doesn't matter much). but heard it might start cracking after a while? a flaw of the HDxxx series, the comments about that issue's been fixed or not is also mixed. and also it might not be good if the songs are not really high quality, cause these cans would expose it's flaws, and as embarrassed as i am, not all my songs r of high quality, especially some of the hard to find stuff i got from the internet...

the SRH940 is more expensive(not sure original retail price vs HD598) is it worth the extra $? how does it compare to hd598?

Also i came across the Panasonic HTF600, look like it might be a good add-on on top of the HD598 or SRH940. or maybe it's good enough on it's own for my needs? but seems like all the Beyer velour pads are out of stock everywhere on the net.

Thank you so much if you are patient enough to read all this(don' know how it turned out to be so long...), I hope I don' come off as too pick, too wimpy with my headphone choices. And I mean no offends or disrespect whatsoever, just a humble person looking for a good pair of headphones. all opinions are appreciated.

Just remembered a few more i was considering as well:

Sennheiser RS180 @$300

Thought about this cuz it's wireless, looks good, but don't really know about the sound and comfort compare to the hd598 or SRH940

Also,

The Creative lab Recon 3d bundle

MOD EDIT: Or, put another way, what headphone should I get?

Edited by The Monkey
sum up unnecessarily long post
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Get started by buying second-hand. That way, when your experience with a headphone falls short of the rave reviews you've read, you can re-sell it without losing much money and buy the next one on your short list. Eventually you'll figure out what you like.

Or you could try listening to headphones at a brick and mortar store, if you can find one in your location.

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