Headphone recommendation

[chonk]

I am rather new to the audiophile scene and recently decided to make my first purchase. I am a student. So I only have a budget of around 200$. 
I listen to quite a few genres, but mostly jazz and funk. I also enjoy listening to hiphop, synthwave and electronic so I am thinking of something with balanced sound.

I also have no DAC/AMP right now because my last DAC which is a FiiO E10K recently broke. So I think they have to work well without the DAC until I save up enough to get one.
I did a bit of digging here and there and found a few pairs of headphones:

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

Sennheiser HD 598

Plantronic back beat pro 2
However, I can't decide on which of those 4 to get as I have never listened on any of them. I dont know much about the sound quality as well as how comfortable they are. I have heard that the DT 770 without a DAC is kinda meh while the Plantronic is rather uncomfortable.
I am fine with either wired or wireless. I would be grateful if you could help me with which DAC to pair with the headphone as well. 
Thanks.

 

[Musicophile]

On 4/29/2019 at 3:01 AM, chonk said:

I am rather new to the audiophile scene and recently decided to make my first purchase. I am a student. So I only have a budget of around 200$. 
I listen to quite a few genres, but mostly jazz and funk. I also enjoy listening to hiphop, synthwave and electronic so I am thinking of something with balanced sound.

I also have no DAC/AMP right now because my last DAC which is a FiiO E10K recently broke. So I think they have to work well without the DAC until I save up enough to get one.
I did a bit of digging here and there and found a few pairs of headphones:

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

Sennheiser HD 598

Plantronic back beat pro 2
However, I can't decide on which of those 4 to get as I have never listened on any of them. I dont know much about the sound quality as well as how comfortable they are. I have heard that the DT 770 without a DAC is kinda meh while the Plantronic is rather uncomfortable.
I am fine with either wired or wireless. I would be grateful if you could help me with which DAC to pair with the headphone as well. 
Thanks.

 

I’ve had the Sennheiser HD595 for years before I finally upgraded to the HD800. 

 

It‘s both very good for its price range and very comfortable. I’d probably just complement with a portable DAC like the AQ Dragonfly or an entry level IFI product. 

 

However, headphone recommendations are probably the most subjective thing I’ve seen in hifi and will very much depend on what you’re looking for. The Senns for example are quite balanced but no bass monsters. They worked well for me with Jazz and Clasical but may not be the best for some other genres. Nothing replaces your own listening experience here. 

[davide256]

If you stream rather than have a collection and  lack funds for a dedicated headphone system, blue tooth capability becomes important. You can survive quite well

with an iPhone, bluetooth headphones, and Qobuz. Check out head-fi.org for user recommendations.

[asdf1000]

On 4/29/2019 at 11:01 AM, chonk said:

I am rather new to the audiophile scene and recently decided to make my first purchase. I am a student. So I only have a budget of around 200$. 
I listen to quite a few genres, but mostly jazz and funk. I also enjoy listening to hiphop, synthwave and electronic so I am thinking of something with balanced sound.

I also have no DAC/AMP right now because my last DAC which is a FiiO E10K recently broke. So I think they have to work well without the DAC until I save up enough to get one.
I did a bit of digging here and there and found a few pairs of headphones:

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO

Sennheiser HD 598

Plantronic back beat pro 2
However, I can't decide on which of those 4 to get as I have never listened on any of them. I dont know much about the sound quality as well as how comfortable they are. I have heard that the DT 770 without a DAC is kinda meh while the Plantronic is rather uncomfortable.
I am fine with either wired or wireless. I would be grateful if you could help me with which DAC to pair with the headphone as well. 
Thanks.

 

 

What phone do you have?

 

I would recommend waiting and saving, till you can stretch your $200 budget to $800 for something like MrSpeakers Aeon Closed... this goes to another level in sound quality but isn't too far out of reach, as long as you're not in a rush to get something right now.

 

If you have one of the newer iPhones for example, this will do fine for these low impedance headphones, until budget opens for a DAC/Amp in future.

 

If you can take your phone to a store that stocks these headphones you give them a good demo with your own music.

 

I listen to much the same music you do btw and have tried all sorts of headphones and these MrSpeakers Aeon Closed have my favourite balance...

 

 

[chonk]

Hi. Thanks a lot for your advices. As I am just a cusual listener, 800$ is a bit too much for me. I think I could try and save up to 300-400$ or so.
I asked around for a bit and got recommend with AKG K553 and ATH M50x for an budget entry level headphone. I hope you guys can give your opinion on these two if you have used them.
About the phone, current I am using iPhone 4 for music listening. I am thinking of upgrading to LG V20 because I prefer android and I also heard that it has a better intergrated DAC.
As for the portable DAC, I think I will get a Dragonfly Black and maybe a Schiit Fulla 2 if I got money to spare. I read that these two DACs perform quite well for their budget.