I’ve got a pair of these that I love. I’ve had them for a couple of years now, they’ve never given me any problems, they’re very comfortable and the sound quality is great.
The only drawback is that they’re a bit more expensive than $100 – this website lists them at $140, which IIRC is close to what I paid for them at Best Buy – but if you shop around you may find them on sale somewhere.
Can’t go wrong with a $30 Sony. I’ve had a similar model [MDR-G42] for years! Had to get some replacement foam pads when the ones it came with started falling apart, though. They’re more comfortable with the replacement pads, anyway.
The Grado SR-80are IMO the single best pair of knockaround headphones I have ever owned.
Some people find them a bit uncomforable, and being open air…people are going to hear what you are listening to. But they are *good *headphones, and under $100.
The sound quality is good. Not great, but above average for sure.
They’re only $50.
Highly portable.
Koss Lifetime warranty. Replaced mine twice - once for worn-out earmutps (after having listened to them for about four hours every day for two years, during my commute and my evening jog) and once for a blown speaker. Sent them in, wrote off a receipt and got a new pair straight away from the tech. (To be fair, I should have had to wait for my old pair to get back, but the tech made sure it was a genuine product error so he just gave me a new set.)
Thanks for all the recos. Basically, I use my headphones when I’m doing mundane, often loud, chores around the house, like mowing the lawn in the summer and snowblowing the driveway in the winter. So , yeah I need something fairly loud so that I can hear the finer acoustics . Maybe the noise reduction models are the way to go.
I love the idea of getting Bose headphones, although I don’t think I can justify the price. I got my wife a Bose port for her Ipod a couple Christmass’ ago, and the sound quality for such a small unit is awesome. It was expensive, but it made a believer out of me.