Can you recommend me some headphones?

Absolutely my pleasure, my friend.

I get very excited when I hear about other fellow prog heads like yourself willing to strive to get the very best out of their music listening experiences.
You begin to appreciate the creatively gifted sound engineers and hear the differences in what makes up a quality recording in general. Another thing is instrument placement. You feel the air and separation in the overall sound stage, but that is really further down the road for you cause you gotta spend some cash to achieve that from your gear. Anyhow, happy listening.
Let me know how it goes and what differences you hear along the way.

AEProgman wrote: progbethyname wrote: If no amp will support your set up just make sure you try to grab a headphone that is at or under 38 OHMS, otherwise they will need an amp so you can drive them properly. It me know what you decide on. The world of audio is fascinating.   Holy Ohms Law Batman!  Never figured on so much details and calculations to ponder.  I am reconsidering the use of an amp, maybe a DAC if I want to get the most bang for my buck.  But it has to be portable and of course low $ for starters.   Nick, you or anyone used a FiiO portable amp?  Or others? I think I found a couple of places locally where I can test drive some of the headphones on my list, hopefully they will have some amps to test to see the differences. <span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Hope I am not becoming an audiophile </span><span style="line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">, will have to figure out how to launder money without the wife's knowledge..</span>

Yeah I know. Electrical resistance is a bitch.

And as for FiiO. Yes! I've used the E17, which is a DAC and AMP hybrid.
A real steal for the money. Sitting at 120 U.S you can't beat that price for the performance of this little sucker, which can drive headphones up to 300ohms!!! Pretty impressive and as my good friend Jośe said, you can band this amp so nicely with any I pod device, especially the Nano.
The FiiO monte Blanc is their flagship for portable amps right now, but the E 17 will be more than enough for the budget price of the headphones you are gonna select.
If you pair the FiiO with the audio Technica ATH M-50's that's a nice starting point for a decent listening experience that will be under 250$.
However, it is frightening how many headphones are out there to choose and how bloody different they sound, but getting a neutral pair of studio monitors like the M-50's is a great starting point...later on the "Upgradiness bug' will set in and you'll need and want a better pair of headphones.
The E17 is a great buy, and I currently use it to drive my Sony MDR Z 7's for a quality on the go music listening experience. Those cans are 70 ohms and the FiiO drives them beautifully.
The DAC quality however is good, but not amazing.

Enjoy man

^ We are all audiophiles, we want to listen to our music in the best possible way to give us the best musical experience...Does not matter if you spend $50 or $5K.

AEProgman wrote: Thanks guys!  Did realize how many different upper end headphones there were available out there, have not really looked into this until now.  The only brand I recognized were the Sennheisers. Nick! How goes it?  Yes RPI will be cranking, although have only gotten 1 RPI title in the past month or so.  Been exploring the Neo-prog world of late.  I plan to use the website you mentioned, Head-Fi on the choices I've come down to before I buy (listed below for any input from anyone).  Would like to test some of them, but I doubt I will find any place around these parts that carry these, except maybe the guitar/instrument stores, will have to check those out. From the info you guys provided and websites, here is the list at this point to figure out which one is the winner: AKG - the K240 or K240 MkII Audio Technica - ATH-M40X Sennheiser - HD280 or HD518 Grado - Prestiege SR80e The Bower and Wilkens, Bang and Olfsen's looked good, but the $$$ for the ones I liked would blow the budget .  Mostly prefer the over the ear type/comortable, and will be used in various locations, devices, and components.  No DACs or amps.

you are most welcome my friend.
If no amp will support your set up just make sure you try to grab a headphone that is at or under 38 OHMS, otherwise they will need an amp so you can drive them properly.
It me know what you decide on. The world of audio is fascinating.

Also 1 RPI album in 1 month?? How unlike you.

Talk soon.

Thanks guys!  Did realize how many different upper end headphones there were available out there, have not really looked into this until now.  The only brand I recognized were the Sennheisers.

I will join with those recommending Sennheiser - they have models to suit most budgets and make great-sounding and durable headphones. I have the huge, dorky-looking HD600s and HD650s and I love 'em. Strictly for home listening in a fairly quiet environment though as they're open-backed. But tremendously comfy and monitor-quality sound.

Mind you with Sennheiser you will generally get an unbiased sound - they don't emphasise the bass or any other part of the spectrum. As it should be IMO!

Edited by Mascodagama - February 15 2015 at 05:20

Sennheiser HD518

Because I am a cheap SOB and do not usually treat my headphones with kid gloves.  Always have gotten headphones less than 40$ (told you I was a cheap @#$^@), and they break within a year or two.

Padraic wrote: Probably won't be until my birthday in 4 months, because I just spent the GDP of a small island on the fam for Christmas.

I really recommend you pass on the 550' series. Go with the 650's. if your prepared to invest in quality I'd start with this. Also, once you get those headphones in the future you'll have to buy a proper dedicated headphone amplifier to maximize those CANS potential. 650 is much better territory audio wise to start with if you are willing to spend a little extra. Anyway, nice to hear that you are making a solid step for a better, more realistic listening experience.

Those seem nice, tell us what do you think of those if you get them. I have a pair of 449's for almost 3 years and they sound very good