Now that I am at work most of the time I decided to give myself a pair headphones as an early Christmas present. Leipzig's Weihnachtsmarkt which is located in front of my office was also a good reason buy these because the "music" playing there the whole day long and other sound pollution spreading around is nothing but enervating to me.
I've done a little research online and then checked the local Saturn store to see what they are offering. There I found a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 880 that were reduced from 250 €. The short sound check (Nothing else matters by Metallica played with a 50 Hz hum indicating bad grounding) inside the large store promised nothing special, so I decided to rely on the very good reviews by Audio and Stereo.
Back at work I connected the phones to my machine and was surprised. The bass is pleasantly heavy, mids and highs are presented very clear and clean. There's also a good spatial resolution. I often refer to "analytic" describing such presentation, which is the way I like to listen to music. The feeling of the phones surrounding the ear is very comfortable. No pressure marks, even after hours wearing them. The half-open headphone design allows listening to music at high volumes without disturbing co-workers.
You may ask why one should spend that much money just for headphones. At least, others to that.
- Unlike your computer, or your car, your headphones will never wear out or become obsolete. I hesitate to say lifetime, but they're multiple decade investments at the very least.
- The number one item that affects the music you hear is the speakers. Without a good set of headphones, everything else is irrelevant.
- The right headphones can deliver sound equivalent to extremely high-end floorstanding speakers worth thousands of dollars.
I don't fully agree to point 3, but that's as always a matter of taste and how much you're into high fidelity. For you Hi-Fi enthusiasts, take a look at the Stax SRS-4040!