(Re-post)
Trying to compensate for the compromised iPod sound, I've tried a variety of ear buds, closed headphones, open headphones, and speaker cradle systems over the last 5 years, but for full detail and effulgent musical landscapes, the kind that gives you a "head trip," nothing has beaten my $70 Audio Technica ATH-AD500. They're no longer sold on Amazon. Perhaps it's a safe guess that the slightly more expensive $87 Audio Technica ATH-AD700 are as good if not better. And the AD700 is still available.
One thing I learned is that open-air, which doesn't block outside sound, creates a better musical landscape and you get more sound for your money. If outside noise isn't a problem, you should get more bang for your buck with an open-air headphone format.
Jeff, I had to go look up "effulgent" but it's an appropriate word choice. I put it in my style book for future use.
I have Sennheiser HD 435 open-air headphones which I really like because they have big foam earpieces that are very comfortable for extended listening. I need to make a new stereo cord for them because my cat chewed through the original and I'm not paying over $50 for a new one from Sennheiser.
My closed type phones are the venerable Koss Pro 44As. They can handle the bass guitar notes quite well when I practice in stealth mode through the Fender Amp's headphone jack. They do get uncomfortable in warm weather as you can imagine and they are really heavy too. They are my best sounding phones for any kind of music but they are a bit much for some portables to power adequately.
For listening to MP3s or portable radios, I bought a half-dozen Koss HP/6 open-air phones for $1 apiece at the local Habitat-for-Humanity store. Hard to beat and they have an inline volume slider too.
Posted by: Radio Russ | February 27, 2010 at 03:46 PM
Russ, I bought some Sennheiser HD 555, very nice sound, but squeeze my Milton the Monster head. I gave them to my wife. My head doesn't fit any Sennheiser phones.
Posted by: Jeffrey McMahon | February 28, 2010 at 04:45 PM