[omgBBQ]

my budget is £300,

i will be listening to music(flac),
they would be connected directly to my x-fi xtreme music(auzentech prelude in future)

closed back would be a bonus but isn't necessary.

i listen to hip-hop, drum & bass and house (and some jazz), good bass will be important.

i don't have a headphone amp but might get one (under£200)

i was thinking about denon ah-d2000...

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by omgBBQ

closed back would be a bonus but isn't necessary.

Closed and open backed phones sound very different. Open sound better, but don't offer isolation. For your choice of music you may prefer closed, as you tend to get more pronounced bass.

The better the phones you buy, the less bass bias you tend to get anyway.

Can't think of any specific phones to suggest. In that price range there tends to be more open backed. Although Audio Technica's "A" range do come to mind.

With that money to spend, it may be worth including an amp in the mix, as it would enable you to choose from more phones, as a lot more up in that range do require amping. Although your soundcard then become the weak link. The x-fi extreme was created for Windows 7, and I've heard reports it doesn't work anywhere near as well under Vista. No exp myself though.

[omgBBQ]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Closed and open backed phones sound very different. Open sound better, but don't offer isolation. For your choice of music you may prefer closed, as you tend to get more pronounced bass.

The better the phones you buy, the less bass bias you tend to get anyway.

Can't think of any specific phones to suggest. In that price range there tends to be more open backed. Although Audio Technica's "A" range do come to mind.

With that money to spend, it may be worth including an amp in the mix, as it would enable you to choose from more phones, as a lot more up in that range do require amping. Although your soundcard then become the weak link. The x-fi extreme was created for Windows 7, and I've heard reports it doesn't work anywhere near as well under Vista. No exp myself though.

i forgot to mention i'd like to use them without people around me noticing but could settle for open back.

as for amps i was thinking

iBasso D2 Boa (awful name)
Graham Slee Voyager
Bloat V2.0

if you (or anyone) has opinion about any of them please share

[Drubbing]

The Basso and the Bloat are DAC/Amps so they will bypass your current card via USB from a PC - this may be better or worse than your current card, I don't know, as I've no experience with those products, or your card(s).

Also, if you wanted to use those with a portable player, you can, but will need a line out dock to connect, but the DAC would not be enabled, only the amp.

The Voyager is the only standalone amp there. Slee has a solid reputation, but charges for it

If you don't want to disturb others, you'll probably want closed phones, as open will leak sound.