Quote (Derkaderk @ Oct 19 2011 08:17am)
^AKGs are badass, but when asking about high quality headphones, it gets really down to specific preference. Noise cancelling vs open backed, more bass vs less bass, how important is soundstage, how important are highs? is midrange (guitars, vocals) your favorite frequency? It depends a lot on what you like to listen to. Preliminary I always recommend: Beyerdynamic DT880s (make sure you get low enough ohms [32/80 maybe]), Audiotechnica ATH-m50, or Sennheiser HD 598s
Pros and cons: The DT880s will give you absolutely the best vocals. They have an amazing soundstage, and are incredibly comfortable. If you like jazz, classical, or maybe classic rock, they're probably your best bet (my friend has a pair, and he likes a wide variety of music which includes electronic. They reproduce electronic reasonably well, but the bass is a tad lacking). The ATH-m50s are studio closed back headphones. Fantastic isolation, good bass, but overall a neutral tonal response. Good all around, but I'd say particularly good for modern music. The sennheisers are fairly similar to the DT880s but they're ultimately cheaper headphones. For the price, the DT880s are my favorite (because of the comfort), but I prefer the sound of my AKG K242s (more neutral, more tamed highs).
One very very important thing to keep in mind is mind your ohms. Do NOT buy some headphones with 250 ohm impedance and expect your iPod to play with it very well. You need amplification if the resistance goes too high.
I almost got a pair of DT880's instead of my AKG702's, I hear they're really top notch studio headphones. Good noting the ohm impedance too, forgot to mention that, hah.