well, somehow my hd280s are missing and have been for a couple months. perhaps they'll pop up somewhere in a while, who knows.

anyways, I want to invest in some nicer cans. any suggestions for spending from $100 - $200? I got the hd280s for like $100 on amazon, so if anybody knows of any good deals going on right now, do chime in.

what I didn't like about the hd280s (well it's kinda hard to remember but w/e): mushy trebles, comfort level, dorkiness factor, and lack of volume control.

I also wouldn't mind buying a small preamp w/ dB control instead of spending more on the cans, if a preamp makes that much difference.

so if I could spend $200 total on headphones or headphones + preamp and get better sound, that would be tight.

I also might wanna get a new soundcard for my PC. any suggestions for this? it's not a big concern of mine atm tho


thx

do you mean a headphone amp? preamps are for home theater or studio use mostly and they aint cheap.

anyway, maybe sennheiser hd555? i dunno how better or worse they are than the hd280s but they're the same price on amazon :/

I'm not a headphone nerd or anything but I have those Skullcandy ones. They also say "Smokin' Buds" on the package so you can't go wrong.

i meant headphone amp

I think I'm going to go with non-sennheisers, they just look soooo dorky, it's unacceptable. I don't usually give a shit about appearance, but they are just ridiculously stupid-looking. I have a really old set of hd495 (i think that's what they are) and they are great, but sennheiser cans just don't seem to get loud enough for me.

I'm interested in grados, as I hear they have some nice phones at great prices which are also comfy and stylish.

I think there is something wrong with your head man, sennheisers look nice, grados look all ghetto and dorky and shit but are still good headphones.

I just picked up a pair of IEMs for $150

http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/...description.php

they make my pants happy

hd280s and most of the hd series looks like you put a motorcycle helmet on and then cut away some of the front and back so you can breathe and see... yeah my head probably is oddly shaped or something, though, lol

morm, have you tested any of the etymotics in-ears? i think i'll be going with in-ear buds this time. how is the bass on those little guys? and the clarity? do you prefer equalization or no eq, with the speakers and with headphones?

i'm thinking etymotic ER4s, or comparable... any suggestions?

I have a pair of skullcandy lowriders and they're nice and were only $30

I'm not much of an audiophile and didn't do any kind of research that would probably help you. I based my decison to buy the super.fi 5pros purely on the nearly universal positive feedback I've heard on them, and wanted to try out IEM type phones. That said, I've been using them for a few days now and they're easily the best sounding thing I've ever heard. Hope that helps.

I have them too. I got blue ones...and they were only $20 yay.

i got the etymotic er6i, the one 'for' ipods.
I'm not much of an audiophile either, but the sound is superb, haha. The only gripe about them is that they kind of feel flimsy and somewhat cheaply made. They're light, and the cables are super light too, but I felt my friend's shures, and they felt a lot better. Especially the cord.

http://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige-SR80-...2946&sr=8-1

I bought these (Grado SR80) for my friend for Christmas. He's still pissed at me at how good they are and how he couldn't find a gift nearly as awesome for me. The only thing you have to be wary of is that they're open air, so they aren't good at noise canceling in either direction but they sound fantastic.

Yeah I'll second the Grados. I have the MS-1's which are $100 (and I got the flat pads for $30, slight bass boost) and are supposedly closer to the SR-125s than the SR-80s. Had them for like 3 years now or something and still love them. If you're willing to spend more you could probably try the SR-225s but you'd probably need an amp and I don't know much about that. Can't go wrong with the MS-1s though, no amp needed either.