Hi, I'm new here. I have been reading these forums for a while and I thought it would be a good place to ask what would be the best headphones for me. I have Sennheiser HD 201's and feel the need to upgrade. The sound of the 201's is not too bad, it just seems a bit too bassy for my taste and the cups start to hurt my ears after a few hours of listening (they pinch the ears a bit at the top). I am looking for something that is comfortable, sounds good and not too pricey. I am looking for something around $200 Australian, but am willing to spend up to $250. I prefer to have the cord on only one side, but that is not really important. At the moment I am leaning toward Sennheiser HD 555's. What are your recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Actually, I might go with a pair of in-ear earphones as I plan to use them with an mp3 player.

Come on guys, 93 views, no replies?

If that is the case check out the sens PX-100. Comfortable with good fairly balanced sound.

I got myself a pair of Beyerdynamic 880 Pro a couple of weeks ago. At first I thought that it had a sterile sound but after using them longer and longer Istartedto hear things and details in songs that I thought I was familiar with. I guess great/excellent sound sounds boring in the beginning because maybe they don't add anything but instead show you what really is there.

Anyway, I am really glad for my new headphones. I like them miles more than my AKG K240 Studio (55Ohm) which I think has less sparkle/high frequency reproduction.

Different headphone amp will make your phones sound different too. From my Echo Layla3G the Beyerdynamic 880 PRO sounds great but with my SM Pro Audio M-Patch 2, which to start with isn't that much of high end, they sound alot better.

Another pair of headphones that I like my but now think sounds a little like "loudness enabled" is the Philips HP890

I've recently purchased Sennheiser CX300, and I'm very satisfied with the sound.

Thanks for the replies.

@punkrockdude:
Seems like the changes in the sound of your Beyerdynamic's could be due to burning in the headphones. I will be aware of this when trying out new headphones in-store.

I will definately check out the PX100. I am tending toward in-ears/portable headphones now, seeing as I am not prepared to fork out for a headphone amp yet. My only issue with the in-ears is that they tend to be a bit bass-heavy from my experience.

Can anyone tell me how the Shure SE110/210 compare with the Sennheiser CX series?

You can find out something here

They don't boost bass like the CX, but also cut off high freqs more than CX do.

Personally I prefer the sound of the PX200's over the PX100's. So be sure to check both models out.

It's worth being aware that the PX100's are open back phones so they don't reject outside noise well at all, which could be a factor for portable use.

These are definitely worth a look.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/20...jays-review.php

I went with the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 since I couldn't justify the cost of the q-jays. They arrive tomorrow.

Etymotic Research ER6i gets good reviews and cheaper.

The Yuin PK3 are well regarded as well.

I have been very happy with my PX100 headphones. I use them with my Cowon D2.

I'm a proud owner of a pair of PX100s. I've had them for a couple of years now, and they're great. But, like danbee said, they are supra-aural, so traffic can be a problem.

I have a pair of Shure e2c in ear headphones that I love as well as the Etymotic Research ER6, both are great but I prefer the Shure for the kind of music I listen to (Industrial, Gothic, Electronic).

I have PX 100 and PX 200. To my ears, and on my head, the 200 have less bass than the 100 unless you squeeze them on. HD 555 are very nice, but a bit heavy. I've just bought some M-Audio IE-10, which are supposed to be Ultimate Ears redesigned. It's very hard to be TOS 8 compliant when talking about 'phones, but talking about myself, I think I have a more euphonious experience with the 555s, and a more detailed one with the IE-10s. But I couldn't be sure.

In-ear monitors may or may not be comfortable for you--it took me a while playing with the tips to get something with a good enough seal for decent bass, combined with reasonable comfort. Now I think they're slightly more comfortable than heavy headphones.

Edit: corrected 'phone model number

A few days late to this topic, but

I think for me it's a close tie between PX100s for over-ear headphones, and my Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4 in ear headphones. Of course the UE headphones cancel a lot more noise, but the sound appears to be pretty close to the same, even in bass response (Maybe a little more treble on the UEs and more low end bass on the PX100s).

I can personally recommend either one, and of course the PX100s save you $100 over the UEs

I've had the PX100s a lot longer, even ordered new pads from Sennheiser for them, thank goodness they have a parts store!

Has anyone here tried out the CX-500s? The new and supposedly improved version of the CX-300s.

Sennheiser CX-500s

I currently have a pair of Shure e4c's and really dig on them for their sound quality, overall product quality (the chord and headphones are well built) and wide variety of ear tips you can use.

My only problem with them is that they are pretty invasive to use. They go pretty far within your ear canal and aren't very easy to take out and put back in. Makes it somewhat difficult to wear them when in public.
JXL