I have had the Bose Around here for a few years now and they have served me well but have been thinking recently about getting the ATH-ES55 or AKG-K450 so hopefully somebody with experience of both can help.

Sorry i'm no help, just hoping to re-ignite this thread.

Depends what sort of music you like.

I thought the Bose AE2 was awful.  I had the original Triport, and have heard the AE.  In effort to appease hifi types, bose gave the AE2 a flatter response curve, which is fine for some music.  If you like Dance Rock or Hip Hop however, they come across as a bit weak in the bass department. 

I found the OE2i to have a much nicer bass (but not in a daft exaggerated way like the Beats and the Klipsch cans I demoed) for the music I listen to, but ymmv etc.  Haven't listened to the other cans mentioned.