I am looking for over the ear headphones. I use them only to listen to music and movies (and occasionally radio/podcasts).
I want wired headphones, no bluetooth. Also don't want them to be noise canceling (especially not active canceling).
I'm also mostly interested in fidelity. I don't need headphones that have more bass than necessary, etc.
I also want them to be comfortable for long periods of time. I currently have audio-techinca ATH-M35s and they start to feel a bit tight after a couple hours.
Headphones' sound very intimately depends on your brain, your ears and how the headphones couple to them, and the impedance of the headphones and interaction thereof with the driving amplifier.
So you really MUST listen to the headphones yourself, driven by whatever you will be using them with be it a phone or iPod or headphone amp. A liberal return policy is thus mandatory.
Personally I love my AKG K240DFs and hope to be buried with them. They are out of production, but both AKG and Sennheiser have long track records of good designs.
Noise reduction-the only ones worth it are the Bose. The bass response, even in active mode, is at least on my head quite lightweight, not satisfying. For making plane flights (or lawn mowing etc etc) more enjoyable though there is no substitute for good noise reduction.
AKG K 701/702 series are IMHO, the best in terms of fidelity, balance, and capturing the full range, without the pumped up bass booming into your ear canals. I tried several different kinds of headphones and returned to the AKG for its incredible resolution of sounds.
HiFiMan HE-400i are on sale for $250 down from $500. I have a pair and they are amazing for music and they don't need a very powerful amp. The newer ones that currently ship are very comfortable. (Switched the ear pads from older models).
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