I use Sennheiser HD280's as well, and I like them. True, they give up much of the low end, but they are pretty revealing of any details in the frequencies above the 100-150hz area. Great for sound design, fine-tweaking and other detail work.

As far as bass goes, it's not as important to HAVE the monitors (or heaphones in this case) that are perfect in that regard as it is to KNOW your monitors. From experience in working with the Sennheiser HD280, for example, I've learned that my overall low-end output is going to end up about 3db greater than what I'm hearing in the headphones. So I would bring the bass up to where it sounds right in my headphones, and then pull it back about 3db or so. It takes a bit of trial and error, but it works. Having decent monitors as well does take care of that, though.

Mainly I use the headphones for details, and monitors for overall and mixing.
Oh, and the HD280's are very comfy. I have them on for 6-7 hours at a time sometimes, and don't feel any discomfort.

i am not looking for studio headphones. I would prefer something that sounds excellent. i know that this throes the query into the slippery world of subjectivity. But here is an idea of my taste in acoustics. i would like:
warm but not muddy bass
good soundstage and instrument isolation
mellow highs
etc.
basically, something that is a decent reporducer of the source without the dull flat response of studio phones.

i use audio-technica (lower case intentional) ATH-D40fs Studiophones

i'd say i got them mostly for the price, i use them in my recording studio. when i'm just boppin' around i use those ultra-techno crappy ones that wrap-around behind your head, they wicked suck, they give you serious ear fatigue, and the audio quality is shit, but what did i expect? i had a pair for five minutes that i bought at the Apple Store when i got my iPod that were super comfy and that plugged ever so snuggly into my ear-canals and that sounded great, but the wimpy-ass cords they came with totally broke. that sucked and they weren't cheap.

Until today--Christmas--I'd been using a pair of Sony MDR-V500 headphones (discontinued). They lasted four years for me, and were very reliable. Today my wife and daughter gave me a pair of Sony MDR-V700 headphones--an industry standard for DJs--and I couldn't be happier with the upgrade. Also, I'll still have the old pair as an emergency back-up.

These headphones are capapble of picking up the subtlest vocals in a song (Michael Jackson's low-volume "You're an animal" in "PYT" comes to mind, or the background sounds in track one of Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime" disc). They delver crisp treble, warm midtones, and mud-free lows. If you have a decent sound system, the headphones will be audible over thirty yards away when the volume knob is on "5", so be careful with the volume--you could seriouly damage your hearing.

Sure, I use them primarily for DJing, so I can hear the song I'm cueing over the din of the song the audience hears, but I also use them to shut out the world and float away on the bliss of a live Coltrane disc at a volume setting of "2."

I don't know what kinds of music you like, but if you're trying them out in a store, I'd suggest Pink Floyd, any Led Zep with a drum solo, Public Enemy, Annie Lenox's "Diva", or any post-"Little Earthquakes" Tori Amos to detrmine whether you like their sound.

They retail online for about $130, and cost up to $150 at various higher-end stores.

Also, anything about $75 made by Koss ought to make you happy.

Hope I've helped.

or if yer broke the Grado SR60's are nice for next to nothing.

Hmmmm....Some good headphones listed here.
Why no mention of the CD-3000, W1000, W2002, HD600/650?
More about Grado RS1 or 325, or Krell or Stax would be nice....
I'd love to hear what people think about these headphones.
I have the ER-4P and W1000. I'd get a 650, but the open-air headphones tend to bother folks around me...(mostly my wife). not a fan of the bulky CD-3000's myself cuz they're cumbersome....though that snobbishness would disappear if a pair of R10's were to one day be found at my door....i've never even heard them, but if I had 4K to waste....that's where the money'd go.

And why no mention of 5.1 headphones?
Okay, I dislike them myself, but they seem pretty popular....
Just curious what you folks think.

I use HD-280's for my sealed headphone. For me the sound is very comfortable and non-fatiguing. A real pleasure to listen to, even though they are big and clunky.

For earbuds I am using the Etymotic ER-4p. They have quite a decent amount of detail, they are very transparent, very pure sounding. . The design of the cord is imperfect and they aren't flawlessly comfortable, but it's good enough. My Creative Zen loaded with .wavs powers them nicely and it is an excellent listening experience.