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[Ethan]

I have never owned a high quality pair of headphones and just recently started looking for some.  Considering the large assortment of diverse audiophiles on this forum, I was hoping some of them might make my search a little easier.  Obviously, everyone has different criteria, but my biggies are noise cancellation, strong bass, excellent audio quality, & comfort (which, for me, means light-weight, relatively small, & preferably circumaural).  I'd prefer to spend between $100 and $200, but those limits aren't set in stone.  And, if this matters, I'll be using the headphones most often with the Nomad Jukebox 3.  All suggestions are greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[Mirko]

I've got the hd570 (it's a little bit cheaper than the hd580) connected to an amp. They sound very good and I can hear the bad quality of my soundcard...

[Ethan]

Thanks efefe & Mirko for the suggestions!

[Ethan]

Sorry, I really am a newbie to all this.  How much would an amp cost, and would it be realistic at all to use it in a car or plane in combination with the headphones?

[phelt]

IMO, Etymotic make good headphones for travel use. They are the "in-ear" style, so there's no bulk to deal with when carrying them. Plus they are less of a theft target. They're pretty pricey, but I think they came out with a lower cost version recently. I can recommend headphone.com from personal experience.

A note: higher impedance is generally not your friend if you are using a portable device (without an amp). I believe there are smaller amps geared toward travelers, but they would likely be outside your stated budget (and one more thing to lug around).

[Matt]

I absolutely love my Senn HD600's.  They say 580's are pretty much the same for about half the money.  It's hard for me to listen to anything else now.

Grado SR-80's are also highly recommended if you're on a tighter budget.

About the headphone amp, I'd save your money.  I bought one because every headphone site says you need one, but really, I can't hear a huge difference between it and my stereo.

Here's a pretty good site with some more info: http://headwize.com/  

Happy hunting...

-Matt

[Ethan]

Thanks everyone.  You've all been a lot of help!

[Mysticeti]

> A note: higher impedance is generally not your
> friend if you are using a portable device (without an amp).

This is good advice.  I recently purchased a pair of Senn HD 250 II's and I thought I'd be blown away but instead they're only OK.  I think the 300 Ohm impedance may be keeping me from enjoying these headphones to their full potential.  They're hooked up to my Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers but I'm guessing I need a real amp or some new headphones (anyone interested?).