Looking for new headphones

[flare4000]

Well after a week with the hd 380 pro I returned them because they were just to plain, so now I am looking for some headphones that are $150 - $200, I live in Canada. The thing that I liked about the 380 was that it was more crisp and not muddy like my xb500 but the xb500 have this nice warm tone that I love. I'm looking the the akg k240 MKII $180, sennheiser hd 558 $149, ath m50 $180, akg k271 mkII $190. If you could recommend a different pair that is better for the money or can help narrow down my list that would help a lot.

 

My prefered genres are jazz, pop, and some classical music.

[lachyman]

I'd get the HD558's.

[flare4000]

I'd get the HD558's.

Forgot to mention that I would use these as both my portable cans and home cans, if I remembered correctly the hd5xx series have a wierd adapter for 3.5mm right? If so a new cable would be roughly $20 so all products are equally price if I factor that in.

[MayflowerElectronics]

I'd get the HD558's.

 

Those headphones aren't warm. At all.

 

K240's (not the mkii) or the K271 would be better.

[Lauen]

Well the only headphone you listed that have a "warm tone" would be the M50's, atleast I think so, as I know they have a little boosted bass, and from some graphs I've seen, the other ones have less bass. 

 

EDIT: failed to mention that the M50's aren't very comfortable, so I'd steer away from them tbh. 

[Lauen]

V-Moda comes to mind when you mention that you want portable bass-filled sound. if you can find the Crossfade LP or the M100 for a nice price somewhere, I'd say go for it. 

[flare4000]

Those headphones aren't warm. At all.

 

K240's (not the mkii) or the K271 would be better.

How come the regular K240 and not the mkii, I heard that the velor ear pads help a lot, and the K271 is better? I was under the impression that the more open headphones would sound better.

 

Well the only headphone you listed that have a "warm tone" would be the M50's, atleast I think so, as I know they have a little boosted bass, and from some graphs I've seen, the other ones have less bass. 

 

EDIT: failed to mention that the M50's aren't very comfortable, so I'd steer away from them tbh. 

Ya hard to find anything more comfortable than my xb500 they are like a pillow I had these for 4 years and not once did they make my ears hurt.

[Lauen]

How come the regular K240 and not the mkii, I heard that the velor ear pads help a lot, and the K271 is better? I was under the impression that the more open headphones would sound better.

 

Ya hard to find anything more comfortable than my xb500 they are like a pillow I had these for 4 years and not once did they make my ears hurt.

Usually open headphones have less bass.. bassy open headphones do exist, like the Beyerdynamic DT990. 

[MayflowerElectronics]

How come the regular K240 and not the mkii, I heard that the velor ear pads help a lot, and the K271 is better? I was under the impression that the more open headphones would sound better.

 

Ya hard to find anything more comfortable than my xb500 they are like a pillow I had these for 4 years and not once did they make my ears hurt.

 

From what I've heard, it's a normal K240 that looks different. Not worth the $100 difference.

[flare4000]

Usually open headphones have less bass.. bassy open headphones do exist, like the Beyerdynamic DT990. 

How are the hd 518 i heard that they have more bass than the hd 588 and they are only $80.

 

From what I've heard, it's a normal K240 that looks different. Not worth the $100 difference.

Sadly in Canada the difference is not that much on amazon and the local music store in my city doesn't carry the normal K240 everything in Canada is expensive, plus there are very few places to try out headphones.

[MayflowerElectronics]

How are the hd 518 i heard that they have more bass than the hd 588 and they are only $80.

 

 

Sadly in Canada the difference is not that much on amazon and the local music store in my city doesn't carry the normal K240 everything in Canada is expensive, plus there are very few places to try out headphones.

 

Might as well get the mkii version then.

[Aphexx]

My prefered genres are jazz, pop, and some classical music.

jazz and classical with portable in mind makes me think of grados

[EmoRarity]

jazz and classical with portable in mind makes me think of grados

Grado's are open. 

[flare4000]

jazz and classical with portable in mind makes me think of grados

Grado's are open. 

I don't mind open but the price of grados are over $150 not the usual $100 over there in America.

[EmoRarity]

I don't mind open but the price of grados are over $150 not the usual $100 over there in America.

Open and portability don't mix. More so the build quality behind the Grado's isn't the best for a portable headphone. 

[Aphexx]

Grado's are open. 

most of the cans he was exploring were open/semi open the only problem is they are on ears

 

edit and yes there are cheaper grados I think the 60 or the 80 is sub $100

[EmoRarity]

most of the cans he was exploring were open/semi open the only problem is they are on ears

 

edit and yes there are cheaper grados I think the 60 or the 80 is sub $100

Confusion created when you mentioned portable headphones and Grados, because they disappointingly are not. 

[flare4000]

When it comes to open and closed my xb500 leak quiet and I can hear my very loud asian family so... ya how bad could going open be? But ya I know the Grados are bad for portable use since they really leak.

[NannerBeans]

Beyerdynamic custom one pros are only $177 on amazon.ca which is a very good price considering it's still $200 in the US. Those would be great for portability and they are closed.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/Beyerdynamic-Custom-One-Pro-Black/dp/B008XEYT48/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389572313&sr=8-1&keywords=beyerdynamic

[jam08060]

I'll just leave this here...

[flare4000]

Well holy buttocks the v-moda crossfade lp is only $79.99 now but how do they sound?

[EmoRarity]

Well holy buttocks the v-moda crossfade lp is only $79.99 now but how do they sound?

Not bad, thats a pretty solid price for them. 

[Aphexx]

great price, that was the price of them on sale a while back the recent black friday sale was 69

 

overall built like a tank. I thought my beyerdynamic was built tough and rugged but now they feel cheap in comparison to the vmoda

 

great bass handling but just like the dt770 it falls short in the mids I havent given it enough of a proper listen but I don't like what it does for accoustic instruments

[flare4000]

great price, that was the price of them on sale a while back the recent black friday sale was 69

 

overall built like a tank. I thought my beyerdynamic was built tough and rugged but now they feel cheap in comparison to the vmoda

 

great bass handling but just like the dt770 it falls short in the mids I havent given it enough of a proper listen but I don't like what it does for accoustic instruments

But do they have a nice warm sound?

[Aphexx]

well despite the mids I still haven't returned them

I haven't given them enough of a listen to really evaluate further than what I wrote. 

 

but now that I am on the spot I think I might like my ath ws55 better than the vmoda the ws55 is lighter on the bass but mids aren't sacrificed as much and now there is a ws55(x) refresh to the headphone making an over ear version instead of the on ear version which was my primary gripe about the ws55

 

but again I am shooting from the hip I still don't have a solid opinion on the crossfade lp