HD-555's worth it for me?

You should have no problems with refurbished headphones.

Well, I'm far from an expert on headphones, but I can give an opinion on what I've heard:

You don't need an amp for these, but they do scale well with an amp.

Yes, it would be worth getting them for $60, but there are probably headphones that are slightly more expensive than these, but suit your music tastes better.

The HD555s are good for acoustic/classical music, and have decent soundstage for gaming. If you want something with decent bass, then you should get JVC RX900s. If you listen to rock, then you should get a pair of Grados headphones, but they don't do too well for gaming.

If you're only going to be gaming on them, then get the ATH-AD700s instead, they're pretty much the best acceptably priced headphones for gaming.

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Pretty varied. Most of my music is classic rock (Led Zeppelin, Boston, Queen, etc.), and some heavier rock like AC/DC too. I also listen to some ska-punk (Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto), a little electronica, and I think I have a few rap/r&b songs. And some more modern rock too, like Red Hot Chili Peppers. I also game, but I'd probably keep my headset for my gaming. I've heard the 555's aren't spectacular for gaming anyway, are they?

I'm sure the HD-555's would be good for me, but I just want to know if they would be worth it for me, since my sound card would probably hold them back. I'm not an audiophile, but I do appreciate good sounding music, and I'm sure these would be better than the headphones I have now. But you guys don't think it would be worth $60 due to the bottleneck by my sound card, then I won't bother.

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Well, I don't really want to pay too much. $60 is my limit I'd say, and the only reason I'm even looking at these is because they're only $60 when they're normally significantly more (everywhere I've looked, anyway).
Do the HD-555's not have good bass? I do like good bass, but if it's overpowering I hate it. I mentioned my music tastes earlier in this post, and I will be gaming (mostly CS:S and TF2, but I do play some others and I'm sure I'll buy some more in the future).
I'm more looking at these headphones for the music than the gaming though. I very well may just use my cheap headset for gaming, mostly for the mic (I like having the mic around my face better than a clip-on mic).

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The HD555s' bass is apparently... balanced, but there's not that much of it. It's well-controlled and tight, from what I've heard. For ~$60 you're going to be hard-pushed to find a better pair of headphones.

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So you don't think my laptop sound card would hold it back so much that it wouldn't be worth it for the headphones? If so, I'll probably order them tonight.

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It's without shipping, actually. I just noticed that before I saw your post, shipping is $13. So they are basically $75, which I guess I'd be willing to go up to.

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They can be driven by an iPod? Really? They may work on my Zune then, which would be nice if I'm chilling in my living room or on my bed or something.

Well, sounds like they would be great. I'll probably order them tonight. Sweet.

Cool.

Well I was about to order them, then I realized that my credit card had been canceled nearly a month ago (they said that information may have been somehow compromised, I dunno). And I still haven't gotten my card yet... gah.
So I may have to wait

Any headphone can be driven unamped. It's only when you get up to like the reference-grade ones (HD650, HA-DX3) where you have to start amping it to get the full benefits, or else it will sound like poo.

I miss my HD201s I lost them in a bag somehow Q_Q

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Gotcha. I figured that they would work on an iPod or Zune or whatever, but I didn't know if they might sound like crap. Good to know they sound nice, that's a bonus!

Anyways, I actually just tried using my debit card instead of my credit card (even though the checkout only mentioned credit), and it seems to have worked. So I got me some HD-555's for $74.57 shipped

I just realized I never linked them, if anyone else wants to order them I suppose:
http://www.dakmart.com/product_info....oducts_id=9816

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Yeah, they work fine on an ipod or a laptop... or pretty much anything. I used to use them with it until I stopped using my ipod.

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Oh hey man, what's up. Haha. Order some, it's a good deal!

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Nice! I will also let people know. Although I'm sure that, compared to my MS headset, they will be fantastic.

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Haha, nice.

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Good to know!

I've heard that you gotta spend quite a few hours burning them in to get the full desired quality. Should I just leave them playing kind of loud for extended periods of time? Or average volume? Or should I burn them in at all?

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They don't sound particularly good at the start, especially the bass which is pretty non-existent. People usually say a 75-100hr burn in is what it takes to get them to normal quality. I just used mine normally, I didn't leave music playing all night or anything like that.