I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Denon yet.I have 2 pair of Denon's,the AH-D550's & AH-D750's and I have to say they are both great headphones.Especially the 750's.Light,comfortable,sealed,good quality,fairly neutral sound.I've tried various Sennheisers,being that they are so swarmed about,and really couldn't find a pair to match these Denon's in the price range.I only saw some slight improvement in all criteria over the Denon 750's when I the price jumped to well over $150 more.
My 3rd set of HP's are Sony MDR-V7000DJ.I'm not so impressed with these at all as far as sound quality goes.Too bass'y and quite a bit heavier than the Denons.The Denon AH-D550's sound better than the Sony's even,but aren't quite as good a fit or as comfortable for longer periods due to small aural circumference.
So my vote goes to Denon AH-D750's.For the price they cannot be beat and to beat them you'd have to spend a huge chunk more to gain een slight improvement.
I use these for music(Rock,Jazz,Oldies,extesive online gaming for long periods) and have had them for over 2 years without a hitch.There is no sign of wear & tear even after extensive usage(I play for several hours a day-addicted) and have abused them with maxing out volume and they have been dropped and tripped over so many times I couldn't even begin to guess how many times.Theres not a smudge,ding,scratch or any sign they have even been used at all!!! And I'm not exaggerating here people.
They look and sound as good as the day I unpacked them.As for online gaming,they give me very good 3D positioning reference(good for FPS games since you can tell from wich direction the enemy is approaching from)
I favor flat sounding headphones & speakers since IMO the output scourse should never be responsible for enhancing tone's i.e. bass,high's That's the job of the source,pre-amp,amp,receiver,soundcard or what have you and can be adjusted to suit the individual listener/sound source type.
Dynamics,or how the output source i.e. headphones/speakers handle the adjustments is something I look for in a speaker/headphone and these Denon 750's really handle them well.
I'm not sure if they're even still being produced or available anymore,so if and when these fail me,I'm probably back to square one trying to find the best bang for the buck.
I'm surprised at how many recommendations are going to way overpriced headphones & speakers,not just here,but also on online reviews etc.
The average person is not an absolute audiophile with ears sensative enough to appreciate the sound quality of many of these way overpriced headphones & speakers.They may think they are,but trust me,they're not.
My perception is that a vast majority buy those mainly to have bragging rights and try to impess others.It's especially apparent when you see reviews & recommendations by those owners stating "they are the best" or "-insert name brand- are the best!"
So think twice and again before spending your $$ on those big dollar,"highly reviewed" phones.And better yet,go out and actually really compare them in person.The proof is in actual real life usage,not in reviews!
Reviews may be a shortcut to narrow down your choices,but do go out and try them all out in stores.I've spent quite a few years as an amateur aduiophile and basically found that once you reach the "bang for the buck" mark,anything above that really caters to the mega audiophiles and those that have too much money on their hands to waste and who's philosphy is "bigger is better" aka "more expensive is better"
In reality many of these people couldn't tell the difference between a cheap pair of phones/speakers vs. the top-of-line components.
The acid tests were run by some of my very close friends who are/were various stereo manufacturer' rep's while overseas in Ramstein,Germany many years ago.They worked at the BX's & Audio/Photo Clubs on bases and toured regionally promoting their respective brands.These guys really knew their poopoo when it came to Hi-Fi equipment.Well they proved the fact that many people can't distinguish good quality from rotten quality by presenting both to people and having them choose between the 2 without knowing wich was wich.A blindfold study.And most often the rotten quality was chosen because they produced some exaggerated sound quality or something to that nature at flat input settings(no enhancements of any kind)
Goes to show a lot of people don't know what to look for to beging with.
Furthermore they were surprised to find that the flatter sounding phones/speakers of better quality,that they regarded as worse,quickly became the premium choice once tones were enhanced to match the source type i.e. adding bass,treble etc. and they proved to handle the enhancements well i.e. not exaggerating them. whereas the originally chosen "enhanced sounding" phones/speakers ended up sounding like crap once any adjustments were made using the input source(pre-amp,receiver etc.)
And at high volume would become very distorted.
I spent many hours/days over years with these friends of mine and came to the conclusion that the majority of people buy stereo equipment mainly based upon appearance,claimed spec's,especially wattages!!!
The moral of all this rant is to really go out and compare and don't discount your mid-range stuff.Each listener has unique to his/her person aural perception and will distinguish tones differently.And that's why comparing is oh so important.Don't let prices or claimed spec's taint your decision making either.Most often huge wattage claims = something is awry with the rest of the component.
Pricing of course is a necessary category also,but don't run about thinking "more is better".You'd be surprised how many high priced components actually sound like crap compared to your mid-range "bang for the buck" stuff.
Regarding speakers only:Rembember that the speakers you're listening to at the store' sound rooms do not necessarily and most likely will not sound the same in your home!
Tip:Bring the source or sources of input you will be using with you to audition speakers/phones.This will better help you determine what component is better for you.An spend many hours listening to the candidates.What sounded ok today may sound like crap tomorrow.Your distinctions change constantly with mood etc.
Shopping for headphones & speakers is the hardest task for anyone putting together a stereo system or multimedia computer.Afterall these components are what you are actually experiencing in the end.
Add to that your monitor for computers.It's what you really see and hear in the end that counts!
Even the hottest top-of-line computer system or stereo system won't be perceived well if the output components are crap.
Your eyes and ears are what need the most consideration regarding stereo's and computers.So don't just choose and buy according to online or magazine reviews.Go out and look and listen for yourself and remember we are all unique and perceive colors and tones differently.These are the most important components you're going to choose and will require substantial time to audition.