Should I buy more expensive headphones?

[Guest]

Late last year I purchased a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones for just under $100 on Amazon.com to replace my $80 Klipsch headphones that went bad after about 5-7 years of use. I bought the 280 Pro phones because at the time I thought that the max reasonable price for headphones was around $100.

I took about a year's worth of audio engineering in school before switching to computer science 10 years ago. I can to an extent tell the difference in sound quality between an mp3 and CD format song. I listen to various genres of music. When I am studying for hours, I listen to either film score or classical. I also at times listen to rock, pop, new age, and dance music.

I know that the audio source such as a smart phone, tablet, or computer sound card can impact the sound quality along with the type of headphones that the listener uses. I feel that I get good sound quality listening to my music from Google's Play Music app on my Samsung Galaxy tablet and phone with the use of the app's EQ and environmental settings.

When I listen to music on my computer, I connect the 280 Pro phones to my Creative Sound Blaster Omni Surround 5.1 USB Sound Card. I listen to my music in FLAC format. With EQ adjustments such as rock and classical settings, I noticed some audio details that I don't recall hearing before and the music feels more immersive.

I am considering in the near future purchasing headphones with a price tag going up to $150 if they offer even better sound quality. I know everyone's hearing styles and abilities are different, but would it be worth purchasing headphones at $150 instead of $100 or should I stick with the 280 Pro headphones until they go bad then consider getting more expensive headphones?

Thanks.

 

[americanaudiophile]

It's not a given that you will like all $150 headphones more than your $100 ones.
If they are the same brand then there should be an improvement but it would be incremental not huge. $50 more isn't a big price difference.
If they are different brands then the difference, even at the same price, might be big.
If you listen to a pair of Grado headphones for example you might find them more musical and easier to listen to for long periods than the Sennheiser. Or you might not.
You might also consider getting a DAC/Headphone amp. That would improve your current headphones and give you a better source for better ones in the future.
You could try
www.schitt.com
for some options in this direction.