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[Phantom of The Library]

Does anybody know about a good pair of headphones?  I was looking at getting the V-moda Crossfade LPs but then I found out about the cracking problem. 
The price range I'm looking for is around a hundred dollars or less, (although I might conisder paying more) and durability is on the same level of importance as sound quality for me right now as my last few pairs broke after a couple months of use (they were on the cheap side though) so far the best I've found is Skullcandy's Hesh, but they're a little on the bulky side.

[ein]

If you don't mind paying an extra 50 dollars, the audio-technica ATH-M50 headphones are really nice~
They're light and durable, with great sound quality~
They're also DJ style, with rotating cans, which is important if you like being social~

Protip: avoid skullcandy like the plague~

[Phantom of The Library]

Thanks   
I'm currently looking at those and the Sennheiser HD-580's.  Unless I find something else though I'm probably going to go with the M50's
Nevermind, took a second look at the Sennheiser price. 
Unless I hear about something better I'm probably gonna go with these.
>•))>){ happy feesh and a tilde~ 

Spoiler: Skullcandy (click to show/hide)

Just out of interest why should I avoid Skullcandy

[ein]

Skullcandies have horrible build quality, poor sound, and namebrand markups~

[Phantom of The Library]

So, basically they're the exact opposite of what the brand-fans say.

[Patchouli]

Another vote for the ATH-M50.

The only physical issue I've had is with the earpads wearing down and cracking, but that's pretty much bound to happen sooner or later, and I didn't take particularly good care of them in the first place. They drive great out of a Cowon J3. The only thing worth noting is that the cable is pretty long, and can be a huge hassle if you plan on using this as a portable set.

Also, looking at pictures of the Skullcandy Hesh, the size of the M50's are comparable, so I don't know if that's too bulky for you. The rotating cans make it a fair bit easier to hang around the neck or store though.

[ein]

The earpads crack because they're shitty pleather~
Shouldn't be too hard to find replacement ones made of real cloth, or something~

Also, yeah, I can vouch for the ease of wearing with these~
Flipping the cans down is good enough for most everything, and I can rotate them outward to allow for mostly uninhibited chin movement~

As for the issue of the cable, you can just coil up what you don't need with a twist-tie and stick it in your back pocket, or something~

[Jake]

Do you mind the earbud type or are you definitely after full over-ear headphones? I had some rather good Phillips earphones with Active Noise Reduction for a while, which had absolutely outstanding sound quality for under £20 but turned out to be a bit on the fragile side.

[SalmonGod]

If you can tolerate inner-ear types, my recommendation goes to Etymotic.  Amazing sound quality to price ratio, and the best isolation.

[Phantom of The Library]

Also, looking at pictures of the Skullcandy Hesh, the size of the M50's are comparable, so I don't know if that's too bulky for you. The rotating cans make it a fair bit easier to hang around the neck or store though.

I'm used to the fold-up type, so that fact that the Skullcandy didn't move at all combined with the size looked a bit on the bulky side to me.  The M50's fold up and I'm willing to sacrifice the smaller size for them.  Especially given the fact that I haven't seen a single bad review on them, any complaints I've seen are regarding the cushions "get sweaty on a sunny day" or "wear down after time" or have been ultra-hard-core audiophiles or professionals saying that "Yeah, they're good but compared to these which are two to three times the price" I'm light audiophile myself and I find what it offers to be perfect for my needs if a little bit over what I originally intended to pay.  I'm still open to suggestions for a cheaper pair and I'm going to look around some more, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get these.
The cord isn't an issue as I've already got quite a few ties and binders left over from a while ago.

Do you mind the earbud type or are you definitely after full over-ear headphones? I had some rather good Phillips earphones with Active Noise Reduction for a while, which had absolutely outstanding sound quality for under £20 but turned out to be a bit on the fragile side.

If you can tolerate inner-ear types, my recommendation goes to Etymotic.  Amazing sound quality to price ratio, and the best isolation.

I'm definitely set on over-ears, I always carry around a pair of cheap inner-ears as a just in case or for two-person listening, but I have small ear canals and can't listen to them for more that 30-45 minutes or less before my ears begin to ache.  Thanks for the suggestions though.  They're greatly appreciated 

[Max White]

Somewhere out there, Kael was just startled awake, and he may never know why...

[Habblatic]

If you've got the time / energy to find opinions, reviews and such for yourself, check head-fi.org

Most of it is for higher end stuff I think, but you can find a lot of information on there.

[Starver]

I've just replaced the default earphones for an MP3 player (the old ones' cable got damaged, meaning an intermittent left-channel).

The original ones were solid in-ear types and probably weren't too good at the lower frequencies, but that was OK with me because I mostly listen to recorded speech radio through them.  They also let through external sounds, but I liked to be able to have conversations without removing them, and drive the car with them in retaining decent all-round listening awareness.

These new ones are 'ear bud' types, soft rubber, blocking out an awful lot of the outside noise as if (barring their own sounds) I was wearing earplugs, and everything they pronounce directly into my ears is far heavier in the low pitches than I prefer.  Ironically, therefore, the 'better' design points are worse for me.

I was also hoping to have an angled plug (one of the reason the original cable was damaged was the way the straight-out plug put the cable into harms way as soon as it left the rubber 'boot' and flexi-sleeve of the cable), but when I was choosing these new earphones from among a rack, every single one of them proudly displayed the earphones end of the cable but had the plug-end secreted within the non-transparent part of the packaging (upon which was generally emblazoned "gold contacts!" or some similarly prideful boast about the hidden plug's composition), and so I've ended up with another set that can potentially suffer the same damage (after a few months).

I know this doesn't help the OP (who I reckon is looking for an over-ear variety, anyway), but just thought this was a relevant note of caution for anyone in my sort of position.  Or the opposite one, of actually wanting "killer bass[1] and good isolation" and yet getting something that I would have actually preferred to have.

Oh, and I've been listening through these (non-optimal) ones continuously for the last nine hours, at least (although I did remove the RHS one, temporarily, when I had to talk to a shop-assistant, while I left the other in and the player playing).  I do find these rubber bud-types less comfortable than the harder in-ear cases from previously, but don't notice too many lug-hole problems.  No, I don't know what make they are.  I got them for about £3.  (Hmm, what's that...  About US$4.5 or €3.5, at current exchange rates, or, if you prefer, approx 2.3 litres (0.6 US/0.5 Imperial gallons) of fuel at the price I filled up at, today.  Yeah, cheap ones.  Another reason I think it's an over-ear version that's being looked for.)

[1] No relation to killer carp.

[Phantom of The Library]

If you've got the time / energy to find opinions, reviews and such for yourself, check head-fi.org

Most of it is for higher end stuff I think, but you can find a lot of information on there.

Thanks for the link I'll look around a bit, but I still like to hear suggestions because it's easier to search for reviews and info on a specific model that someone or multiple people recommend and use themselves (this is rather important to me as most people reviewing on websites are those that own multiple pairs at one time and cycle through them or use them once and review them then never again) than it is to sort through the vast slog of information available, even with very specific parameters set on a search.

I know this doesn't help the OP (who I reckon is looking for an over-ear variety, anyway)

No problem-o, in fact if anyone else thinks it's a good idea, I might turn this thread into a general thread to get help finding headphones.  What do you think good people of Bay12 forums?

[MaximumZero]

I love my Beats Solo HDs, but I got them free for work, and I listen to very treble heavy music, mostly symphonic metal and whatnot (Kamelot, Dream Theater, etc,) so the heavy bass balances out. The only issues that I've had with them were that the rubber bit on the underside of the frame is put on with shitty two sided tape, and I had to replace that part, but otherwise, they've been good, even with my 3 year old roughing them up. About three months ago, they took a dive onto concrete, and I had to electrical tape them back together, but that's the price of demoing stuff to the public. The sound did not take a hit at all. Did I mention that I demo them 10-35 times a day when I decide to grace the public with my presence? Because I do. Anyway, they're much more durable than was expected, and the sound quality is pretty good (almost as good as my Pioneer system in my car), if a little bass heavy.

Addendum: I'll be the first to admit that I don't have very refined tastes, and I'm aware that my experience may not be typical.