Sync iPhone

As you probably noticed these days, more and more hipsters are wearing massive headphones on the street to listen to their iPhone

Interested by this new trend, obviously brewed by advertising / marketing specialists to make you spend some extra bucks, we felt the need to have a closer look at what's available out there and put things in perspective between show-off looks and authentic sound quality

As music lovers, we did not worry much about esthetic considerations, but instead focused mainly on acoustic performance, comfort and price

We tested these models on our own iPod / iPhone with no consideration for their performance with high end hi-fi systems, as the purpose of this test is definitely to figure out which headphones perform best with iPhone, iPod and mp3 songs

Sorted by best results

Grado SR 60X

Definitely our winner!

Pros

Amazing sound quality for the price
Considered as the best headphones under $100 by many
Relatively lightweight

Cons

You got to like its looks, we do

$79

Audio-Technica ATH-M50X

We've had a hard time deciding between the Grado SR 60X and these amazing headphones!
It's really up to you and to your personal preference

Pros

Awesome sound quality at a still reasonable price
Sumptuous basses
Good looking
Very comfortable

Cons

Relatively weak sound, but nothing serious

$159

Sennheiser HD 25-1 II

Pros

A legend in the world of studio recording
Pleasantly lightweight for street listening
Virtually unbreakable and designed to be easily repaired
Exceptional sound quality
Extreme sound isolation

Cons

Can become uncomfortable after a while due to the tight pressure for noise cancellation
Pretty odd look
Very powerful bass can justify some EQ fine tuning

$199

Sennheiser HD 650

Pros

Go for these headphones if you are looking for a smooth sound with loads of details

Cons

Expensive

$499

Denon AH-D2000

Pros

Great isolation
Good looking

Cons

Relatively heavy and bulky

$329

Sennheiser HD 600

Pros

Nearly the same sound quality as the 650 for $100 less

Cons

Less smooth sound than its big brother though

$399

AKG K 701

Pros

Outstanding sound definition
Exceptional precision
Worth some hundreds of bucks more

Cons

You got to cope with its looks when strolling down the streets
More targeted to high end listeners than to mp3 players

$278

AKG K 702

Pros

Very close quality to the 701
Fantastic details throughout all the audio spectrum

Cons

A bit too massive and bulky for street listening
Hard to appreciate the quality of such cans with mp3 files

$289

Shure SRH440

Pros

Phenomenal sound quality for the price
Very comfortable
Well built
Easily foldable

Cons

Relatively heavy

$89

Sennheiser PXC 250-II

Pros

Amazing sound quality for the price tag!
Lightweight and very comfortable
Convenient in-line volume control, easily foldable

Cons

A bit pricey for a relatively small model

$65

Conclusion

All models introduced today are just stunning and only you can take the final decision based on your personal expectations: look, weight, sound preferences, budget, etc

We would definitely recommend both the Grado SR 60X and the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X for their exceptional overall performance, looks and reasonable weight and size

Plus, these two models received positive feedback from users wherever we looked on the Internet