I went from very basic low level headphones to these (actually the LTD version of the K530).I must say that when I first had them I've been very disapointed by the sound they provided. After hours and hours with them, I still felt the same way. I even stopped using them to use 30$ earphones instead.These convinced me that I couldn't make the difference between good and bad headphones.After a while, I read reviews on these headphones and realized I really made a mistake on buying them. So I bought the AKG 171 MKII (130$). That made me realise that the K530 really really sucked. I'm now in the heaven of sound with my K171. I'm sure other cans are far better than the K171, but I'm very very happy with them :D.Don't buy these AKG K530 !!