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[ein]

Beats are decent headphones, not the best, but still good, especially with bass heavy music, like hip-hop~
Which makes sense, because that's pretty much what they're made for~
However, like Bose, they're seriously marked up~

[Jake]

If you're committed to over-ear headphones, I had an absolutely excellent pair a bit like these, but unfortunately I've no idea where you might get one outside the UK and Ireland.

And regarding someone's comment about cable damage, you should be able to get a new 3.5mm jack from any good electronics store for about the same price as a really cheap pair of supermarket earbuds.

[Phantom of The Library]

If you're committed to over-ear headphones, I had an absolutely excellent pair a bit like these, but unfortunately I've no idea where you might get one outside the UK and Ireland.

And regarding someone's comment about cable damage, you should be able to get a new 3.5mm jack from any good electronics store for about the same price as a really cheap pair of supermarket earbuds.

Those seem pretty good, but as I live in central U.S. I no longer have a cousin living in Britain, I have absolutely no idea how to get a pair.  So for now it's looking like the M50's

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.

Beats are decent headphones, not the best, but still good, especially with bass heavy music, like hip-hop~
Which makes sense, because that's pretty much what they're made for~
However, like Bose, they're seriously marked up~

That's the impression that I got when I looked at the Beats, they seemed to have a whole lot of marketing and celebrity advertisement, but didn't stack up well to that.
I listen to practically every kind of music, leaning a bit towards rock of all kinds.  So the M50's having a nice balance seem to be right around what I'm looking for, if some say they're a little weak on the mid-range compared to the bass and treble, I'm pretty sold on them by this point but still willing to accept suggestions. 

[Starver]

And regarding someone's comment about cable damage, you should be able to get a new 3.5mm jack from any good electronics store for about the same price as a really cheap pair of supermarket earbuds.

Yep, considered popping into Maplins or one of the other places I could have gotten one from.  But while Maplins have a suitable one for GBP1.99, paying a tad under three squid for a whole new assembly that just happened to be sitting in front of me on the end of a supermarket aisle didn't seem to be too exorbitant.  And no chance that I'd do something silly.  And I wouldn't have to even do the trivial working out of which wire matched which bit of the jack's internals.

In other words, I was lazy, and I recognise I paid twice as much as for the product than it took to produce, but paying only half as much again for a DIY repair was probably even less cost-effective if the plug was produced at less than a quid, and I also had to supply part of the labour and had to rely on my not seriously slipping up with the soldering iron at a critical juncture.

[ein]

I listen to practically every kind of music, leaning a bit towards rock of all kinds.  So the M50's having a nice balance seem to be right around what I'm looking for, if some say they're a little weak on the mid-range compared to the bass and treble, I'm pretty sold on them by this point but still willing to accept suggestions. 

Grados are supposedly good for rock and treble heavy music~
I'm planning on getting a pair for my next headphones~

[Phantom of The Library]

Grados are supposedly good for rock and treble heavy music~
I'm planning on getting a pair for my next headphones~

They look pretty good, but it looks like they have bad noise dampening, and only have a life-span of a year.  I want the noise dampening, and I want them to last a good while, so for now I'm deciding between them and the M50's. 
The Grados are cheaper, but the M50's are higher quality, and have more features that I like.  So the M50's are winning by a small margin.
(Note: The Grados that I'm looking at is the SR80i's, is there a better pair in my price range and closer to what I'm looking for that I missed or are those the closest?)

[Lectorog]

I have the SR80i's, and I can affirm that they are good headphones. I don't really have anything comparable for reference, but they do indeed sound quite amazing, especially with the music as ein described. They're also closer to your price range. The SR60i's are even cheaper, and from what I've heard they're almost just as good.

The Grado SR80i's have no noise dampening at all. They are completely open headphones; I hear fully as well with them on as with off.

From what I've seen, both in your position and my own I would go with the M50's. They're more expensive, but they look well worth it. If you want noise dampening, then you should definitely go with them.

Also, I haven't heard anything like that about the Grado life-span. Where did you see that? (I'm just curious, and for my own)

[GaxkangtheUnbound]

I had recently gotten the Turtle Beach X12 Headphones, which are quite good, I must say.
Pros:
Good sound
Bass Amplification
Chat and sound volume dials (you can control each individually)
Toggle-able mic
Free shipping for buying one
Cons:
A pain to plug in if you have the headphone and mic jacks in the back
60$
Little to no noise dampening(Could be pro or con)

They're not as expensive as the SR80i, and are about in the affordable range, I think.

[Lectorog]

Turtle Beaches aren't that great for listening to music. I have the X11 set. They're a great purchase for gaming, but not so much for music. I think they have too much bass amplification - it's more of a distortion than something pleasing. They are also designed for picking up small sounds in games, so that adds to the distortion effect.

That's for the X11, but I don't think there's much change from that to the X12. I noticed the X12 has adjustable bass, which is a very nice add-on. Turtle Beaches are also generally USB-powered, and have microphones, so you won't be taking them anywhere.

[Phantom of The Library]

Also, I haven't heard anything like that about the Grado life-span. Where did you see that? (I'm just curious, and for my own)

Hmmm, I can't seem to find it again.  Maybe I was looking at one of the other Grado models on accident...  Perhaps I was looking at the SR60i... Anyway on one website there were a couple reviewers (I think on Amazon) who said that the cord wore out after a year or so. 
The main complaint I've seen about them is that they tend to get uncomfortable after 1-1&1/2 hours listening.  Have you experienced that?

[Lectorog]

That can happen with any set of headphones. Their design is more comfortable than it might look, but I wouldn't wear them for more than two hours straight. I'd say a ten-minute break after 1-1.5 hours would be good. It just depends on your tolerance for things on your ears. If you wear other headphones for longer than that, these should be fine for quite a while.
They are pressing directly on your ear, keep in mind, not around it.

[Phantom of The Library]

Allright, I'll think over it some more, and compare the two.  Thanks for the help everybody! 
I am still open to suggestions but it's unlikely that I'm going to go with anything else by this point.