So, as many people, I'm taking advantage of black friday sales to upgrade my gear (which are a pair of no-good, silvercrest, closed back headphones). My plan was to get closed back, but I can get open back ones and use my current pair for recording.
Anyway, I'm willing to get molded by you guys saying I should by expensive ones as "one life investment"; but my budget only goes up to 100$ and my current pair is very limiting. My choices are:

Audio-Technica ATH-M40X for 86$ (closed back)

Creative Aurvana Live! for 65$ (closed back)

Sennheiser HD 559 for 70$ (open back)

Have you guys tried them? My preference was M40X, but seeing such great discount on HD559 makes me revalue my choices...

 

I have a pair of M40X. Sometimes I love them because of the balance, good clarity, but sometimes I hate them because they're closed back, It can be difficult to get "open" mixdowns, get a true stereo imaging. If you budget is 100$, get the M40X, in the end they are a good pair of headphones but if you can raise a bit your budget you can get a better option: Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro. They cost 130€ in europe, it's around 150$.

 

Open for mixing. Closed for tracking. The 559 is the 558. The step above that is the 598. They both sound great. A little less bass on the 558/9 though - not a problem. the 40x has less low-end extention vs the 50x - again not really a problem you can't work through.

*edit* I have no idea about what the Creative Aurvana even is.

The only thing i liked by Creative was when EMU merged with them(or something like that?). The 1820m PCI cards were the s*** in mid 2000s for the $$$ too.

 

They started life as the Fostex/Foster 443701 and it is equipped with the same drivers that graced the now-defunct Denon AD-H100

 

Sennheiser 280 pro
https://audiosex.pro/threads/low-priced-mixing-headphone-solved.38456/

 

I'd absolutely go with Creative headphones. They've proven to be a very reliable company, with incredibly quality products, at affordable prices.

[disclaimer: none of what I said is true. ]

 

I'd go with 380, personally. It's not a big difference, but they are more comfy and they cost the same, or just a couple of bucks more.

 

The new version of 280 pro is very comfortable! I use it hours without taking it out.

 

oh well, thanks for the advice guys! I already got Sennheiser, the open back finally convinced me, and the discount was huge.

 

I bought the ATH-M40X based on a number of positive reviews and made a mistake.