I've been using the ATH-40f/s for a long time. Bought a second pair when I heard they were being discontinued. I use mine a lot. Eventually they shed and I have to get new covers. The newer model was supposed to fix that but I haven't tried those so can't say.

Andy hope you will update us on which pair you wind up keeping. And I hope you don't mind if I ask this here. Does anybody know how long headphones are supposed to last? Not talking about ear pad covers - does the quality of sound in them degrade over time? I've seen some really old ones on ebay. I wouldn't buy an old pair like that but it made me curious about headphone real usable lifespans. ??? smile