Sony 7506. Not the best, not the worst. But standard. You'll find them EVERYWHERE in the world, they're tough, foldable, about 95.00 most places. Slightly past your budget....but they're worth it. They're a benchmark standard, which is why they're so great, because with them, everyone sorta knows what sound to expect.

I just hope the leads are better than the ones on the 7509s, we've got two pairs and the leads on both have died several times. I know it's only a small thing but a major irritation. The other gripe I have with the Sony's is over time the headband looses tension.
At least Sennheiser's leads are field replaceable and relatively cheap, even if the headphones aren't.
For field work though I'll stand by what I said before, for use with Sony cameras any of the expensive cans are next to useless without a headphone amp.
Bob.

Don't laugh please, i often use a pair of big, foldable Koss ER30 for shooting and...walking! . Super confortable, surprisingly well constructed, strong bass and high efficiency.

Sure, these are not my favorite classic AKG 240 DF in term of definition and neutrality, but they cost nothing. These are closed ones, so you get much better insulation from environnement, but also more coloration in the bass/midbass range.

Might be a little out of your price range,, but i just picked myself up a pair of Bose "TriPort" headphones for about $150 and lovin em!

Terrific sound, light weight, extremely comfortable...

only con i guess is they don't fold up travel well.

Ditto on the Sony 7506’s. I love mine. Kind of an industry standard so you really can’t go wrong. Shop around, I got mine for $89.

~jr

Since we're on the off-topic...does anyone have any experience with "surround" headphones? Do they provide decent sound for recreational listening? I'm not concerned with editing accuracy.

Stan, Etronics.com has the 7506 for $89.95, if you're interested.

Apparently the Sony MDR-V6s are the same thing as the 7506 (without gold plating on the plug) and is a little cheaper. It's discontinued so look on froogle.com and/or eBay.

Hmmm, I hope it's not the same as the MDR-V600. I still have a pair of these and it didn't take long for them to require spousal intervention to replace the pleather earmuffs. My wife made new fabric covers instead, lasted better.

The V600 doesn't sound nearly as good as the MDR-7506 which I also have (note that good sound on the 7506 is not about "enjoyment" but about revealing source flaws).

So far, I haven't had any problems with the cables on my Sony 7509 headphones. I suppose it's only a matter of time... Nevertheless, I am so absolutely impressed with the way they sound. I've heard slightly better sounding headphones, but they were in the $1,000 range.

As far as cheap "cans" are concerned, for the money, the AKG K44 headphones sound surprisingly good and are quite comfortable. I picked up a few pair for around $25 each.

All things considered though, the Sony 7506 phones are a "reference standard" in the AV industry and would be a perfectly acceptable acquisition.

John

I've had the same pair of 7506 for nearly 15 years now, used pretty much daily, can't read "Sony" on the ears or leather band any more, and gold plating is worn partially off the 3.5 mm plug, but they're still functioning great.

Stonefield, specs are virtually meaningless when buying headphones. You need to listen them for a long time. See the last paragraph.

Head-fi.org is a headphone forum with tons of info.
HeadRoom is very cool heaphone site with very accurate reviews of what they sell. Check out the link for their recommendations for $40-$80 headphones.
They have cool buying guides too. They rave about the $45 AKG K 26 P which I haven't heard, but looks like a good deal.

The best sounding headphone for under $100 is the Grado SR60 at $70.
Very retro looking, but comfy and unbelievably musical. Great for Rock Music. However they are completely OPEN. Your music seeps out, other noise seeps in. If you have your own office, these are great. You can hear your phone ring. If you have room/office mates, you can not play these too loud.

Sennheisher has a pair of nice headphone under $50 the px100 (open) and the px200 (closed). The 100's only leak a little bit, so if you have volume at moderate levels it should be fine. HeadRoom says that getting a good fit/seal on the px200's is crucial to the sound, but not everybody does.

Going a little bit more expensive at $100, I prefer the the Sennheisher HD-280 pros over the Sony V6/7506. Like the Sony's they are monitor headphones, but provide way more isolation. It lets you listen at a lower volume because you are not trying to cover up outside noise. You definitely need to have your phone right in front of you because these block a lot of sound and you can easily not hear a ringing phone. I bought these when I worked in a crowded office and my cubemate (who was a very quiet guy) became friends with this annoying guy who would stop by and talk loudly for a half hour. The cons to this headphone is they are very large and pretty dorky looking. They are, as Spot has pointed out, made of plastic, where the Sony's are metal. (I have black tape on mine from when I slammed them in a drawer.) I routinely hear things with these headphones that I would have missed with the same CD and player and different headphones and speakers.
I have heard good things about the Sony MDR-D66 which is more stylish and lighter than the Senn 280's. Said to be very comfy. Semi-open I think. I think you have to search around to find them, since they are intended for the Japanese domestic market, but some folks import and sell them here.

If you looking for "monitor" heaphones, only the Sony V6/7506 and the Senn 280's are monitor headphones. That is they intend to be neutral sounding.
Note the Sony V600's are a crappy DJ phone and nowhere near as good as the V6's. The 7506 is the new name of the V6, but you can still find some V6.

Buy your headphones from a place with a good return policy. Because you truly won't know how you like headphones until you spend a long time with them. Ones that sound great initially can become fatigued after a few hours. Also some headphones require a "break-in" period for their sound to come out. The Sennheisher's 280 were harsh and shrill on the high notes when I got them. I hooked them to my stereo, put them in a drawer let them play continuously for about four days and voila, the high notes were tamed and smooth and the bass felt tighter. Headroom has a 30 day return policy guanrantee.

The first thing you need to determine is if you want open back or closed back phones. If you need to isolate much of the outside sounds (usually a must for monitoring audio when shooting) then you need closed back headphones like the Sony 7506/V6.
If it doesn't matter then open back phones like the Grados will be fine except you said you wanted a "good , bass thumping ....headset" which you "usually" get more readily from closed back phones.

Although they don't have "thumping base" I have a bunch of Sennheiser PX100 folding headphones. For $45 they were a steal. They are open back phones. I use them for Walkman's, etc. I also have the Grado SR60 headphones which are nice AND more expensive, but the PX100 sounds better to my ears.

For monitoring audio when shooting I use a JVC HADX3 which is now $99. I paid $150 several years ago. They are more natural than the Sony 7506 (which I returned - "industry standard" or not.) They are closed back phones prducing accurate base and great dynamic range.

Now for high end listening I have had a pair of Audio Technica ATH-7 electrostatic headphones for nearly 40 years. They still sound breathtaking and incredible.


John

I have a number of 7506's which I use for the tracking musicians because of their durability, sound isolation and the fact that they take high sound pressure levels and the musicians are usually not over-concerned with accuracy (7506's are somewhat peaky in the mids).

For music monitoring where I really want to hear what's going on with clarity I've had very good (not 100% perfect) results with the Audio-Technica ATH-M40FS which can be had for $60-70.

Wow, thanks guys....

Lot's of great info here, writing down the model numbers as we speak...

I did a very quick look online for some Canadian pricing of the 7506's and they're in the area of $200 .....I'll do some more research.

My beef with $200 + headphones is that they break just as easy as the $50 ones.

I sure miss those 1/4 inch native plugs with the black curly cords. Those things were tanks.

Thanks again all......you rock. I'll have to reward you all with a bikini video soon.....

Stan

Bikini video?
In Canada?
This time of year?

Anything good in your archives :)

Also once you go above about the $100 range, you generally need an amp to drive the headphones. So $150-200 and up headphones sound weak directly out an Ipod.