Please Help Me Choose Headphones

[fire2havoc]

I'm fairly new to the audio side so I'm in need of some advice. I've been looking for good general (gaming and music) headphones.

-- I listen to a wide variety of music ranging from classical to trance.
-- I don't listen to anything with heavy amounts of bass.
-- Preferably, I would want to get a good pair without breaking the bank.

After some research, it seems as though the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 and the Sennheiser HD555 are the two headphones that most would recommend for gaming and music. As far as I have deduced, the AD700 appear to be more comfortable (although this can be subjective), have a broader and cleaner sound stage, but have worse bass (relative to the HD555). For these reasons, I'm leaning toward the Audio Technica AD700.

Which would you guys recommend? Maybe I'm overlooking another good pair of headphones. It would be great if I could find something around $100 and both the Audio Technicas and Sennheisers fit that bill.

I should add that I'm currently using on-board sound but will be upgrading to a quality sound card in the very near future.

Thanks for the help & suggestions.

---------

After some more reading, I'm also starting to consider the HD 280 Pro.

 

[corkyg]

Can you find a store that has them and try them?

 

[murphyslabrat]

I haven't heard the HD555, but I have heard the AD700. Yes it is ls bass-light, and it will make trance lose some of its magic. However, stuff closer to classical, stuff like classic rock will sound incredible. For gaming, I don't know if there's a set in that price range that rivals them. The ones I use, the Creative Aurvana Live, are still well suited for gaming and music. They probably handle trance better than the AD700's would, but in a lot of genres they lack the energy and detail of the AD700. The latter just sounds so much more exciting.

I also like the Sony MDR-V6 for music, but that's only after some tweaks. They have a very small sound-stage, and it's not very useful for sound-positioning, but it's tons of fun for music. The sound can be a bit harsh in the top end, too.

 

[terentenet]

Sennheiser HD485 (narrow soundstage, powerful bass (but not very clean and deep), harsh highs with some loss of details, overall clean sound, cheap)
Denon AH-D2000 (wider soundstage, excellent bass (not the most refined, but deep and controlled), good highs, overall clean sound, rather expensive but a good buy) - recommended

Both headphones benefit from an external amp or a very good sound card with HP AMP included (Auzen HTHD, Bravura 7.1, Forte 7.1 or ASUS Essence ST/X). Essence ST or STX recommended, it sounds much better in music/movies.