Anyone into hifi headphones?

[Funkin']

I have a variety of excellent iem's, but only one proper pair of cans. My Grado's. Which i fucking love(even more after the mods i did to it). But Grado's are open ear headphones(which i love) , and I'm looking for a closed pair of cans for mobile use.

I've tried a few but sent them all back. None of the came close to my Grado's. Now i know I'm not going to get an open ear sound from a closed ear pair of headphones. But surely there's something out there that has the openess and clarity that my Grado's have, right?

I'm looking at the AKG K450's and the AKG Q460's(Quincy Jones line). Anyone own either of these? Am i along the right track? I want something small and portable, closed, and have great sound.

By the way, I'm only looking at the $100 or less range.

[megabyteme]

I do not know if these are in the same league you are talking about/looking for, but I believe I just scored a really good deal (today only) on Newegg:

Sennheiser HD 239 3.5mm Connector On-Ear Stereo Headphone
Free Boombug portable mini premium speaker w/ purchase, limited offer


Full "retail" price $120. Amazon $70. Newegg $39.58 but there is also a $5 rebate on the free Boombug ($16 on Amazon), so I'm all said and done for $35.

Here's the code for the deal: EMCYTZT4958

[Funkin']

I'm not familiar with those particular ones at all, but I've had great luck with sennheisers. Let me know what you think of them when you get them.

And i forgot about Newegg. Gotta check them out too.

[Alien5]

Sennheisers need I say more?

sony mdr range are hard to beat just from the sound is so perfect and they are not overpriced.
They look very old , Don't knock it till you try it range.

I would buy Grados if I was well off but I don't need to spend that much when AKGs, Sonys and Sennheisers are good and cheap.

[Sergey]

I have an Audio-Technica ATH-M50CWH. They are white and closed so they look cool for a mobile use. But I use it at home. They have a good sound but it's not comparable with Grado's. I wish I had Grado's but I'm not ready to spend that amount of money for the headphones.

[Funkin']

Thanks for the replies guys.

Alien i have multiple pairs of sennheisers, and just about every pair i have now or currently have had were/are great. But I'm looking to get into other brands/sounds now. I haven't tried the Sony's that you're talking about though... I love classic looking headphones(like Grado's).

And Sergy, i had the M50's but returned them. I didn't like the sound(everyone has different ears and different tastes), plus i was getting microphonics from the cord. They just didn't impress me as much considering all the hype for them when they came out. Not bad cans by any means, they just weren't for me.

Also(this goes for you too Alien) , you can get a pair of Grado S60i's for like $60. The S80i's are only like $20 more, but I've read over and over there's not much a difference between the two, so i would save money and go for the 60's. Which both are cheaper than the M50's when they first came out, and still cheaper now since i believe the price of the M50's have went up(think they were $99 when i got them, and somewhere in the $150 range now). Plus you can mod these to hell(just check out the thread for them on head fi) to make them sound like the more expensive Grado's. They're probably among the easiest moddable line of headphones that there are.

Anyways i went with the AKG Q460'S(Quincy Jones line). They were a little muddy at first, but after just 50 or so hours of burn-in they have really opened and cleared up. They were something like $95,then amazon put them on lightning deal for something like $60,then i had $50 of reward points on my amazon card, so i got them for like $10. :-)

So all in all I'm very happy with them. Great build, turned out to be really good sound(i can pick out each and every instrument easily and very clearly), and they have a one sided detachable cable. Which i love detachable cables. But I've realized that I'm probably not going to find a pair of closed cans that sound like open ones(at least without paying an arm and a leg for). So these will be my last pair of closed headphones. Plus these are nice and portable. I'm loving them.

Now the Westone 3's iem's are on sale for a good price. I already have the Klipsch X10's, which are my favorite pair of iem's that i currently have(the clarity is fantastic), but the W3's should be an upgrade. After these I'm done with headphones for a while. I'll continue to enjoy what i already have...

Anyways, thanks for the recommendations.

P. S. MBM how are you liking your new Senny's?

[megabyteme]

P. S. MBM how are you liking your new Senny's?

I am quite fond of them. I've always been impressed with the bang per buck of headphones vs room equipment. $80 worth of Sony's will get you $5k worth of sound. I have been out of home audio (picked up an upper-mid level Onkyo a couple years ago) for a few years now, and have not really been paying attention to advancements in headphones for the past decade. Always a nice surprise to find out what bargains can be had on the cheap. Thanky you, Asian countries.

[Alien5]

Yeah AKG's look nice I wanted akg 701s but ended up getting the K451. I broke the wire that's why I went back to the sonys.

I just love my Sony MDR V6 because they sound so fucking good with the volume high or low, there's no need for an expensive set when these sonys can do the same or better than the other overpriced brands.

Can I have these with free delivery? Please

I love these ones alot.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_hd990d.htm

[Funkin']

I haven't even heard of those. I'll have to look more into them. I'm reading that ultrasone's are a very good closed back can alternative line for Grado fans. So i might have to get me one more pair of closeds...

Anyways, i just got a pair of creative aurvana 3's. They're like fucking butter. Best $60 I've ever spent. Dual balanced drives. You're right, definitely don't have to spend hundreds upon hundreds for great sound.

Gonna research those t. bones.

[Tson]

Don't laugh ... Koss KSC75 ... best bang for the buck phones I've EVER owned. Though admittedly the more resent ones I've gotten had lousy cables. I have bought what are respected headphones in the past, like the Sennheiser 280 Pros. They were God awful. Sounded fine but so bloody uncomfortable to wear. I know what you're thinking but you owe it to yourself to try them, they're like less then 20 bucks. Not the best phones out there but you'll be hard pressed to find better bang for the buck.