Best Closed Headphones?

[Mr Bump]

Am looking to get myself a really decent set of closed back cans to listen to mainly rock music. I have a pair of Grado SR80i's which I love but leak sound. I am also tempted to upgrade these to SR325i's.

However, for private listening what are the best closed back cans? Budget to £300, like bass as long as it's controlled. Tried the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which were good but would like to know which are better.

Thank you.

[dalethorn]

Originally Posted by Mr Bump

Am looking to get myself a really decent set of closed back cans to listen to mainly rock music. I have a pair of Grado SR80i's which I love but leak sound. I am also tempted to upgrade these to SR325i's.
However, for private listening what are the best closed back cans? Budget to £300, like bass as long as it's controlled. Tried the Audio Technica ATH-M50 which were good but would like to know which are better.
Thank you.

Audiophile Headphones - High Quality, High End Headphones

If you could pick off the most interesting of the above in your price range, I could offer impressions of some, and other people will too.

[Mr Bump]

Thanks.

The Beyer DT1350 look quite appealing as I like bass given the type of music I tend to listen to most of all. The Denon AH-D2000 are a unit I have heard a lot of good things about but have never really considered Denon over what I guess are some of the more contemporary headphone 'brands' (Grado/Sennheiser etc).

The AH-D5000 look lovely but are a bit pricey.

As a slight aside, and as a fan of Grado stuff generally,how do the SR325i compare with the SR80i as an upgrade? Worth it?

Thanks again for the help.

[dalethorn]

I'm not familiar with the current Grado 325's - I had a 325 about 10 years ago, but I think they upgraded the sound since then. And the sound then was very good, so I have no doubt the 325 would be very good today. But if I remember, the 325 has some advantages over the 80 in the tuning due to the differences with the wood part of the earcups and how the metal is stressed or destressed to reduce resonances. Based on what I hear with the PS-500 and how they really have reduced the resonances and peaks and dips to very little, I'd say Grado is at the top of the manufacturer pile when it comes to smoothing out the bumps and dips. BTW an audio engineering student spotted me at the Apple store Sunday with my Grados around my neck, and she said she learned a lot about Grado engineering in her classes.

So for me the question of upgrading to the 325 boils down to : "How many meals do I have to skip to get it?"

[dalethorn]

BTW, I found the DT-1350's bass to be unusual. Not warm, not bloated, no bumps or fatness anywhere. But still, very strong fundamentals that go clear to the bottom. You will feel bass with those. One of the best headphones ever made, for bass.

[ShaunG]

Yes, I agree with dalethorn about the DT-1350. Very nicely defined bass. I really like this headphone a lot.

The Grado SR325is has a very different sound signature to the SR80i. They have a much brighter sound (due I guess to the metal earcups). The SR325is is a bit of a love it or hate it headphone. They definitely dig out a lot more detail than the SR80i.