AKG High-Performance Over-Ear Headphone w/Microphone

I decided to purchase these AKG K545s after many hours of research, and I'm really pleased with the choice I made. These are the best headphones I have ever owned, in every respect: sound, build quality, and comfort. These headphones shine in the mid-to-high end, where they are exceptionally clear and crisp. These are the type of cans that bring out detail you couldn't hear in lesser quality headphones. The details are subtle, so don't get over excited, but you will occasionally hear something and think "I hadn't noticed that before." Conversely, the clear high end can work against you in lower quality audio files. The highs in compressed audio sometime have a grainy or fuzzy sounding quality through these cans, but I've only noticed this in a couple specific tracks. Most of the time the headphones seem to smooth out these potentially unpleasant sounds. Bass response is very neutral; the K545s don't pump out extra "boom" like some people may be accustomed to. Songs with heavy digital bass can sound somewhat lacking. Not tinny, but the oomph is missing. Acoustic bass, on the other hand, has a pleasant, natural resonance that sounds great. In respect to build and comfort, the K545s are phenomenal. The headphones are made mostly from aluminum, which not only looks great but feels very sturdy and durable. The cord is detachable which is excellent for portability and makes it replaceable, although the input jack on the headphones is 2.5mm which is somewhat unusual. Also, the cord feels a little short. That's nice when you're on the go; you won't get tangled up in excessive cord, but at a desktop you feel somewhat tethered when moving or shifting. The K545s are over-the-ear style, and fortunately for me, my entire ear actually fits under the cup. The cups are circular, rather than a more ergonomic oval shape, but they're large enough that my entire ear fits under them. The cushions rest comfortably around my head, and the K545s felt perfectly comfortable after more than an hour of wearing. I previously owned the Skullcandy Hesh 2, which had the same circular shaped cups, but they were smaller and rested on the tops and bottoms of my ear and made them sore after 45 minutes or so. Not an issue on the K545s. These cans have padding running along the head band to provide cushion, and it works. My Skullcandy Hesh 2s with no padding had left my head sore after a while. Again, not an issue for the K545s. The headphones fit snugly around my head, but they don't block out external sound very well. It's best to use these headphones in a relatively noise free environment, e.g. at home. Kind of defeats the purpose of their portable nature, but you can't win them all. They also leak some sound at moderate (and above) volume levels, but not so much to really bother any people around you. There are certainly better quality (and far more expensive) headphones out there, but for less than $150, these are an absolute steal. If you're looking to delve into the $100 and above headphone scene, I would highly recommend these.