Need Decent Headphones (OT?)

They're more detailed and crisp than the SR80s, much less blaring, with a wider soundstage. And they're made of wood blah blah blah. (I've not actually done much A/B testing.) They were being sold for $200.

I'm told they resemble the SR325s but I've never tried SR325s let alone SR225s - other than 5 mins with a pair of SR125s in a shop, the SR80s are the 'best' other Grados I've listened to.

To be honest I was disappointed with the relative difference between the SR80s (or my Senns) and the HF1s - there's such a massive jump between cheapo headphones, Portapros, and then the SR-80s, but above that the law of diminishing returns seems to be come in. They're definitely much better headphones, but I can't see myself becoming a big advocate for upgrading from SR-80s if you're watching your finances. (Whereas I encourage everyone with a walkman to spend the $50 for a pair of PortaPros.)

If you're looking for 'where to go' past SR-80s or the equivalent Alessandros, at this point I'd be more likely to suggest investing in Senn HD650s or something - i.e. a mid-range Sennheiser as an alternative to the Grado sound. Your 595s will be more than halfway there, mind.

As for me, I've decided that headphones for 'different uses' is more important than headphones for 'different sounds'. I'm likely to always use the same ones when I'm at home, not switch it up based on material or whatever. But it's great to have walking around headphones, home-listening headphones and isolating long-bus-trip headphones. In a year or two I'm thinking about IEMs to replace my Senn HD280s in the last category.

Man, this is such a nerdy conversation.

Scarily I was viewing it as a relaxing break from talking about maths.

Nick - I guess I'm wondering how the 595s compare to the Grados. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the MS-1s when they arrive, too.

But it's great to have walking around headphones, home-listening headphones and isolating long-bus-trip headphones.

Absolutely - and I feel like I just can't justify having two pairs for home-listening. Part of me does wonder about the whole diminishing-returns thing, and whether the differences between headphones are actually rather smaller than some head-fiers seem to think. But when I start thinking along those lines I start wondering whether it's even worth upgrading from the PortaPros (the rest of the time, of course, I'm thinking about getting custom earmolds etc etc).

For home listening I got the AKG K701 a few months back, and am very happy with them.

I am a bit sceptiocal because some of their offers seem to be achieved by exaggerating the RRP then lopping a bit off.

Oh yes. Pleased with these.

The Alessandros are now my favourite headphones, probably. Other people might talk about "rolled-off highs" or tighter or deeper bass or mid-bass humps and whatnot - all I can say is that they're great. They've gotthe exciting, upfront sound that Grado specialise in, but without the harsh treble that fatigued me from the SR60s, and with better soundstage.

But beyond that... the HD595s tend to make me dissect things, but the MS-1s just make me enjoy them. Vocals are great, brass is amazing, details is terrific. Considering that these were $100 including postage, which is only about £60, they're an absolute fucking steal, and I'd recommend them to anybody.

The 414s tamed the Portapro bass slightly, make them more comfy, and also, um, improve their looks? I tried them with holed pads but the treble seemed far too splashy to me.

I've heard ok things about The Plug, by Koss.

I bought these. Fantastic if a fiddly fucker to put in. I can't do it one handed. They also pop out really easily! Apart from those issues I love them.

Headphones require a different kind of amplification to speakers, and most integrated amplifiers have headphone loops added as an afterthought. That headphone amp wont actually live there with that kit - I have another CD player that I bought it to use with exclusively in another room, I'm just waiting on another component to be able to use it cos the CD player has a faulty line-out so I need to route it through an outboard DAC. Also it has a crossfeed, which is a very very nice thing and makes headphones less jarring if you like it - it allows some of the signal to seep from right-to-left and vice versa, so you don't get, say, the really obvious channel-separation that you normally do - particularly good for The Beatles and other 60s stuff where instruments are jammed very definitely in one channel alone.

Not as great as some of the stuff mentioned in this thread, but I'm super excited because I've never been able to afford a good stereo + receiver + speakers, and the best headphones I've ever had were $20 Koss headphones from Wal-Mart.

A friend of mine has the same Sennheiser's I ordered. I listened to some music on them for about 20 minutes a few weeks ago and was totally blown away.

I am excited to the max.

The MS-1s are my favourites. I adore them. The everything Sean said about the Portapros is true though, and I can't imagine a better headphone to use with an iPod.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Headphones%20and%20hi-fi/IMG_6162.jpg