ANOTHER HEADPHONE THREAD!

mooshoepork

I'm looking to buy some cans for at home audio, late night movies, and occasionally jack into my guitar amp. I want to spend about 200 Australian dollars. Hopefully less.
I was looking at the Sony MDR-XD400, and that is about it. Any suggestions? Sorry for the repeat of this thread, I'd really like some opinions on these headphones though. Thank you!

gneGne

www.headphonereviews.org, is a site worthy of checking out.
Made by the dudes of www.head-fi.org

Gafoto

I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD212 phones and I have to say, they are pretty amazing. Very good, strong, clear bass. Comfortable and excellent at isolating you from the outside world. It's very difficult to hear anything when you're listening on them. Long cord, comfortable fit. They're also not too hard on your wallet. I also considered those Sony's but I decided that I might take my headphones somewhere and they just looked too silly

JWFokker

Seriously, I recommend just going to www.head-fi.org. Most people here will just tell you to buy whatever pair of headphones they themselves own. The vast majority have never listened to high quality headphones, or even much more than one or two pairs of cheap ones. This is why so many people here suggest shit phones like earbuds under $100 or Bose QuietComfort phones. While the dudes over at Head-Fi can get a bit retarded about cables (they actually believe they can hear the difference), their opinions on headphones are much more valid than any you'll find here.

Personally, I recommend Grado SR-125's if you can get them in Australia. Grados are by far the best cans you'll find for home audio, movies and guitar amp use. They're $150 in the US which is just under $200 Australian dollars. I don't know if they'd be more than $200 for you, due to the fact that they're imported where you are. They have a very forward presentation, which might not lend itself to classical or orchestral music, but otherwise excellent for everything else. Their bass reproduction is quite good, without being "boomy" at all like lesser headphones are.

Another couple pairs you might want to look into that are a few bucks less are the Sennheiser HD580 and the Beyerdynamic DT770-80. The Sennheisers are also quite excellent, but they produce a much wider soundstage, which is good for movies and orchestral music and not so great for most other music. They're also rather dry sounding and may not produce the bass required for rock or rap. The Beyerdynamics are about the exact opposite. They are nearly as visceral as the Grado SR-125, but not as well balanced. There is quite a bit of emphasis placed on bass and the midrange and treble isn't as good as the HD580 or SR-125. Despite this, they're still very good, especially for movies, games and certain genres of music. They're not suited for classical music at all however and the SR-125 and HD580 definitely offer better vocal reproduction.

There are quite a few good options in your price range, but I definitely recommend the SR-125's above everything else barring some very particular requirement you might have (closed design, high impedence, etc). And check out Head-Fi, because you won't find anywhere else that has as much information and you'll get much more informed opinions over there than here.