Hey all I'm looking to upgrade to a new pair of headphones, my current pair is the Sony MDRV-V700, and I'm looking for an upgrade. My max price is 310'ish. I want something that is good all around, and has really good bass. I listen to rap, dubstep, metal, and rock so something for those genres would be the best. And this would be an online order.
Well, most headphones in the $300 price range will need a DAC or an amp to run properly, and at their full potential. An external DAC is going to run you around $60+. So I'd recommend buying one as well if you want quality headphones. If you drop your budget to like the $150-$200 range, there are several quality headphones I can recommend you. Since you mentioned bass and hip-hop, I find that the best set of cans in that range would be the Ultrasone HFI 550's. They have a very strong but controlled bass, very good with lows and mids, but the highs can be slightly lacking in certain situations, particularly when listening to some type of Alternative or Rock. They are closed cans, but the soundstage is still very open. They leak a slight amount of sound as well. The Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro's, or any from that line are also great choices. Everything I listed about the Ultrasones in the previous paragraph holds true as well, but the bass is less boomy, and the lows/mids/highs are more balanced. A lot of people like to recommend the AT M50's for Hip-hop, but I find them very overrated. They do have a very boomy bass, but the soundstage is tiny, and the highs are very muddy. They are decent cans for hip-hop, but not nearly as versatile as the Beyers, or Ultrasones I listed earlier. Stay away from Sennheiser, Grado, and Denon for hip-hop. Senns are open cans so the soundstage is massive, but they leak sound and the bass is almost non-existent. Same holds for the Grados and Denons, with the Denons being the best of the bunch having a very good all around balanced sound. Obviously there are more expensive choices, but again, 95% of the time they will need an external DAC to run properly, and without one, you won't be able to fully enjoy them on an iPod, or whatever else it is you listen to. If you have a home theater system with a good amplifier, then that's a different story.
Thanks Pinnecoladaa appreciate the response. I'll check out the ultrasones. I'm also thinking that I may just repurchase the ones I have now as they are almost FUBAR, but are awesome headphones. http://www.moon-audio.com/headphones/hifiman-headphones/hifiman-he-300.html <-- looking at those ones. Although same driver size as my MDR-V700. I don't want something with too huge drivers (even though the MDRXB are 70mm,) 53mm-55mm would be nice. Are Audio Technica any good? I was looking at a pair of 53mm off of amazon. [ame]http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000E9VKUQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d5_g23_i1?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0A6CS781NHJWNBBH8349&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383511&pf_rd_i=915398[/ame] [ame]http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000P62ND6/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d5_g23_i3?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0A6CS781NHJWNBBH8349&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383511&pf_rd_i=915398[/ame]
Yeah Audio Technica is decent, but like I said, I find the M50s to be a little overrated especially at that price point. The ATH700's would be a better choice imo. You really won't go wrong with either if you're just a casual listener, but if you look for the subtle nuances, then you will find some flaws with the M50s.
The one thing I dont like about the technica's are that paddle design. God I hate shopping for headphones D= I think I'm set on [ame]http://www.amazon.ca/Beyerdynamic-DT770-Audiophile-Headphones-ohm/dp/B000F2BLTC/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321823679&sr=1-2[/ame] which is what you recommended. Quick question about the Ohms, what does it effect? and would 32 ohms be good for listening to an ipod, and movies on a computer.
Another question, my MDR's have 50mm drivers but the beyer's only have 40mm. Doesn't that mean there will be less bass? I honestly know nothing about headphones.
I wouldn't look into drivers too much. Drivers are pretty much a barometer on how difficult the headphone will be to drive, along with ohms. The bigger the driver, the more ohms, the more difficult it will be to drive, but the sound reproduction may or may not sound better because it is not the only factor. You take soundstage into consideration, in which case you would have had to listen to the headphones to hear the soundstage, as well as frequency reproduction; how well your cans reproduce lows/mids/highs. These BD DT 770's are 32 ohms, so they can be driven by any PC/iPod without an amp or DAC. Anything above 60 ohms really, you're going to want some type of dedicated amp/DAC. You picked a really solid set of headphones. They're probably the most comfortable set of cans I've ever worn, and they're perfect for some bassy hip-hop.