NWR: Best headphones =<$100 for my bitching new MP3 player?

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SteveTimko

Steve Timko
I got a new MP3 player and it's awesome. I'm listening to it right now. It's the Cowon D2+.
Although the music I hear sounds great, it's obvious my Sennheiser eH-350 headphones are not doing justice to the music. So I need suggestions for the best set of headphones for $100 or less. I'll go to $120 if it really makes a difference. I'm talking about any kind of headphones. And they don't have to have a low impedance. Supposedly this Cowon D2+ amp will drive headphones with higher impedance, so I'll consider them up to 100 ohms.
Right now the leading contender is the Grado SR-60i. I've never listened to them, but the online reviews seem good. Anyone tried them?
So many of these songs sound like I'm hearing them for the first time. For instance, Sheryl Crow's "All I wanna do" has an instrument -- I think it's stringed but it could be percussion -- that shows up in the left channel I've never noticed before. A Creedence Clearwater Revival song -- I think it's "Born on the Bayou" -- has a cowbell that for the last verse switches from the left channel to the center and then to the right channel and as soon as it gets to the right channel the beat changes.
Maybe the most dramatic difference is Steeler's Wheel "Stuck in the Middle with You." There's the bass that starts the song but after that it always seemed as if the bass was just doing a simple plunk to keep the beat. Now with my new player I suddenly hear the bass dancing and grooving. This is like a 35-year-old song and I'm hearing this for the first time now?
It plays FLAC files, which I don't have yet, and I think the sound is only going to get better.
There's some musicians on this board so I thought it would be a good place to ask.
 
Grado without a doubt. I think you can actually upgrade to the SR-80 within your price range, but the difference between the two isn't big. Be forewarned though that these aren't designed to have any insulation, so if you wear them out-and-about you'll still hear all the ambient noise and if you wear them indoors anybody near you will be able to hear your tunes.
 
i recently bought a ipod nano 5g and did my research on headphones. as the cowon, like the nano, is portable, will you be using it on the go and hence want more portable headphones? if so, i highly recommend what i ended up buying, the klipsch image s4.

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reviews.cnet.com

they are comfortable and sound great.
 
For years I've been pretty happy with the Koss Portapro, at least in terms of what it delivers at low cost ($30-$35).

A few years back I bought the AKG K-26P, a folding/portable type. They were alright but no better than Portapros.

It's been a few years since I researched headphones though, so I'm pretty out of it. Anything relatively recent I should know about for ipod/iphone usage?

I love the retro headsets (WeSC, Boosted, Nixon, Zumreed, etc.) that the kids are wearing these days but at the prices I've seen it's likely form over function.

Unfortunately my ear canals are too small to wear in-ear. Even the small size tips drive me crazy. (I believe a joke could be made here but I'll pass.)

And I like Grados but need sealed phones for commuting purposes.
 
Slaton:
I bought the AKG 240s. I'll see how they work. They're supposed to get to me in a couple of weeks from Amazon. They're not completely closed, but will probably do the job.
 
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